India’s chess star Gukesh Dommaraju returned to a hero’s welcome in his home city yesterday after becoming the youngest world champion aged only 18.
Hundreds of fans crowded the arrivals area of Chennai International Airport, cheering alongside banks of television cameras as Gukesh made his way out of the airport after victory in taking the World Chess Championship title.
“It means a lot to bring back the trophy to India,” Gukesh told reporters, with garlands of flowers draped around his neck, brandishing the glittering trophy in his hand.
India’s Gukesh Dommaraju holds his World Chess Championship trophy as he is greeted with a garland during a news conference in Chennai, India, yesterday. Photo: AFP
“I can see the support and what it means to India, I am glad to be here,” he added, as celebratory petals thrown into the air smothered his hair.
Gukesh downed China’s Ding Liren in a dramatic endgame in Singapore last week — becoming a sudden superstar in a nation where sporting fans are usually only obsessed with cricket.
The scenes in the south Indian city of Chennai were reminiscent — albeit on a smaller scale — of this year’s triumphant homecoming of the country’s cricket stars with the T20 World Cup trophy.
Young fans, mainly from Gukesh’s school, held placards and photos of their new hero — whose victory has given a boost to dreams of pursuing chess as a professional sport.
When he won in Singapore — after about three weeks and 14 games of intense battle against the 32-year-old Ding — Gukesh burst into tears.
Gukesh, who is usually reserved and more used to quiet and cerebral tournaments than wild celebrations, looked almost overwhelmed by the rock star welcome yesterday.
“You guys are amazing,” he told fans, before he was swiftly ushered into a car smothered in posters of him, alongside his father.
“You gave me so much energy,” he said.
Gukesh’s father, a doctor, has been by his son’s side in a roller-coaster ride that took off when he became India’s youngest grandmaster aged 12 years, seven months and 17 days — among the youngest in the history of the game.
In April, he became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Candidates Tournament, clinching his entry into the world championship.
Gukesh surpassed a record held by Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at age 22, after Ding, 32, faltered at the final hurdle of his title defense.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS