Nasheman News: It is business as usual for Chennai boy D.Gukesh despite becoming the World’s second and India’s youngest chess Grand Master (GM) on Tuesday.

“Yes, I am happy. My goal for 2019 is to increase my rating to 2,650 from the current rating of 2,510,” Gukesh, studying in Class 7 in Velammal Vidyalaya school here told IANS over phone in a matter-of-fact tone.

With a score of seven points out of nine rounds in the tournament, Gukesh was busy preparing for the next round in a hotel room near the New Delhi railway station.

“My favourite chess players are late Bobby Fischer and V. Anand. My favourite opening while playing white is Reti opening,” Gukesh said.

But his doctor parents – D. Rajinikanth and J. Padma Kumari – were very happy and relieved of tension.

“I didn’t sleep yesterday (Monday) night. Gukesh had missed the GM norm narrowly earlier,” Rajinikanth told IANS.

“I was very tense about his getting the GM norm in the morning. But Gukesh was not much perturbed,” Padma Kumari told IANS.

The world’s youngest chess GM record is held by Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, who won the coveted title at 12 years and seven months.

“He will next play in the Gibraltar Masters later this month and it will be followed by Aeroflot Open Chess tournament in Moscow,” Padma Kumari said about the path forward towards Gukesh’s rating goal.

For the doctor couple, life was tough ever since Gukesh started to make his mark in the chess circuit.

“He plays in all the GM tournaments held in India and also in Atournaments overseas. But playing in overseas tournaments is a very costly affair. We had even sold a piece of land to fund his chess pursuits,” Rajinikanth said.

Queried about sponsors he said: “City based company Microsense is a sponsor. Similarly Velammal Vidyalaya’s Correspondent M.V.M. Velmohan had also supported while ONGC gave him a scholarship.”

Praising his wife Padma Kumari, working in a government hospital, for carrying on the family burden while he and Gukesh were on tour, Rajinikanth said during the initial days of overseas travel they used to stay in a comfortable hotel.

“Now we look at cost effective options like sharing,” he added.

“Gukesh is a calm boy. He is more of a positional player who calculates lot and has a very high strategic sense,” GM Vishnu Prasanna, the coach of India’s latest chess sensation told IANS.

“Gukesh has patience and interest in chess, which are most important qualities. He has a good attitude and handles a loss in a matured manner,” Prasanna said.

According to him, Gukesha’s focus could be on World Juniors and also play in the open tournaments.

“Indian players (barring GM V. Anand) reach a stagnation level on touching a rating of 2,650. One has to see how Gukesh crosses that barrier. Further there are about 10 players in India in the 10-14 age band with a rating similar to Gukesh. The challenge begins now,a Prasanna added.

Be that as it may, Rajinikanth said Gukesh breathes and eats chess and spends several hours before a computer reading and analysing games.

“Before a game Gukesh listens to spiritual music. He is trained by C. Krishna Prasad a mind trainer for sportsmen,a Rajinikanth added.

Nasheman News : All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel thanked outgoing coach Stephen Constantine for his contribution to the national team.

Constantine, who had taken over as the head coach of the senior men’s national team in February 2015, announced his decision step down after India bowed out of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 on Monday.

Constantine’s contract with AIFF ran till January 31.

“It’s been a wonderful journey. We have travelled a long distance together, and the world has seen it all. I would like to wish Stephen all the very best for the future, and thank him for all his efforts and contribution towards Indian football,” Patel said in a statement.

At the Asian Cup, India notched up four points to finish at the bottom of Group A which also included hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain. 

India had a splendid start to the tournament with a 4-1 trouncing of Thailand. But they went down 0-2 to UAE 0-2 and 0-1 to Bahrain in the next two games to bow out.

[Nasheman news] Sharjah India lost 0-1 to Bahrain in their last Group A match to crash out of the Asian Cup football tournament here on Monday.

Jamal Rashed (90+1) converted a penalty in second half added time as Bahrain managed to break India’s dogged defence after 90 minutes of grim battle.

India finished at the bottom of the group with three points from as many matches.

With hosts United Arab Emirates being held 1-1 by Thailand in the other Group A match of the night, both teams entered the next stage.

The UAE finished the group stage with five points, while Thailand and Bahrain ma naged four points each.

 Nasheman News : Saudi Arabia’s national soccer team on Saturday qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, having earned a 2-0 victory over Lebanon in their Group E second-round match at Al Maktoum Stadium in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai.

Forward Fahad Al Muwallad and midfielder Hussain Almoqahwi scored for Saudi Arabia, leading the three-time AFC champion to the Asian Cup round of 16 for the seventh time in history, reports Efe.

Al Muwallad opened the scoring for Saudi Arabia just 12 minutes into the game with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box, sending the ball to the high center of the goal.

After the break, Almoqahwi doubled the Saudi lead seven minutes after the hour-mark with a close-range right-footed shot, seizing on a cross by teammate Hatan Bahbri.

Iran and Iraq have secured their last-16 round places as well, after defeating Vietnam (2-0) and Yemen (3-0) in Group D contests earlier in the day.

Nasheman News : Shubman Gill, the 2018 U-19 World Cup hero, earned his maiden India call while all-rounder Vijay Shankar was recalled to replace the suspended duo of K.L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya.

While Shankar will join the team before the start of the second One Day International (ODI) in Adelaide and will be a part of the squad for the ODI series in Australia and the tour to New Zealand, Gill has been picked only for the ODI and T20I series in New Zealand.

“With K.L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya set to return from Australia, the All-India Senior Selection Committee has decided to send all-rounder Vijay Shankar and batsman Shubman Gill as replacements,” a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) statement said late on Saturday.

The BCCI had earlier suspended and sent Rahul and Pandya back home from Australia after their alleged “sexist” comments in a television chat show.

On Saturday, India went down by 34 runs in the first of the three ODIs against Australia.

The second and third ODIs will be played on Tuesday and Friday at Adelaide and Melbourne, respectively.

Nasheman News :  Former champion Maria Sharapova began her 15th Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Harriet Dart in 63 minutes here on Monday.

The No. 30 seed, who has been struggling since her return from a doping ban in 2017, was her ruthless self and powered her game with drive volleys, drop shots and lobs, opening the 2019 Grand Slam season at the Rod Laver Arena, reports Efe news.

The 22-year-old Briton Dart, who described Sharapova as her idol before the match, is 101 places behind her in the rankings and was playing in just her second Grand Slam main draw.

Sharapova had the 2-0 break within seven minutes, and shrugged off a detention for three deuces in the fifth game, and a time violation to hold for 5-0.

Dart got one breakpoint on her serve in the eighth game but Sharapova stormed back soon after.

“It’s been many years since I won the trophy here,” Sharapova said after the match, according to the event’s official website.

“Despite my opponent not having the best day, I still had to get the job done today. I love what I do, I love competing and challenging myself to get better. The youngsters are coming up – but not yet,” she added.

Sharapova will next play against Swede Rebecca Peterson, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-1.

Nashaman News : Boxers from Haryana, Maharashtra and Manipur launched their campaigns on a winning note on the first day of the Under-17 boxing event at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) here on Sunday.

In the boys’ light bantam (52kg) category, Haryana’s Harshit outpunched Deepak Kumar of Goa 5-0 while his statemate Sachin prevailed over Hikum Haji of Arunachal Pradesh by an identical score in the light fly weight (48kg) category.

The Maharashtra team, studded with fighters from the Boys Sports Company enjoyed a successful day out — Naoba Singh, Bishwamitra Chongthham, Yaiphaba Meitei and Soibam Singh all winning their respective bouts.

In the girls’ Under-17 category, Maharashtra’s Aarya Kulkarni beat Delhi’s Sakshi Choudhary 5-0 in the light bantam (52kg) and was joined in the next round by state mate Prajkta Shinde who beat Mudrika Gururani of Uttarakhand in the same category. 

Haryana girls also started on a winning note as Sheetal Rani advanced with a close 3-2 win over Komal of Punjab in the flyweight (50kg) category.

At the first Khelo India Games, Haryana had topped the medal tally with 10 gold, six silver and 10 bronze medals. The state will be eying another such finish here with AIBA world youth champion Sakshi Chaudhary leading the way.

Nasheman News : Devanshi Ranas solid start provided her the necessary insurance against a less than productive showing in the final stages to win the junior (Under-21) womens 25m pistol gold in the Khelo India Youth Games here on Sunday.

In the end, National junior pistol coach Jaspal Rana’s daughter held off a challenge by Haryana’s resurgent Anjali Choudhary.

In a field that was bereft of shooters like Manu Bhaker and Muskaan (both Haryana), the Delhi girl won by the barest of margins, 24-23 after dueling with Anjali Choudhary. 

The Haryana girl’s confidence and rhythm found expression after she secured four hits (10.2 points or higher) in the ninth series to force a shoot-off with the consistent Abhidnya Patil (Maharashtra). 

She won that battle to get the chance to topple the Delhi girl from the pedestal. The 19-year-old from Delhi managed just one hit to finish with 24.

Devanshi heaved a sigh of relief that Anjali did not replicate her score from the previous round but had only three hits in the last series. She herself had done well to start the final with nine hits from the first competition stage of 15 shots.

Anjali hit a purple patch, scoring 17 hits off 30 (against 15 by Devanshi) but by securing just three hits in that final series, she let Devanshi Rana, who has represented India in Junior World Cups and Junior World Championships, keep her nose ahead and claim the gold medal.

West Bengal’s Mehuli Ghosh became the first double gold medallist in shooting at KIYG2019 when she teamed up with 10-year-old Abhinav Shaw in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. 

Despite slipping into practice mode after winning the individual gold on Saturday, Mehuli Ghosh kept her tryst with the 10s every time today to steal a march on Gujarat shooter Elavenil Valarivan again.

Manisha Keer followed suit not too long after by winning the mixed trap gold for Madhya Pradesh with Anwer Hassan Khan. She had claimed gold in the women’s trap yesterday. The Madhya Pradesh pair shot down 35 birds in the 50-shot final. Delhi’s Vrishankaditya Parmar and Kirti Gupta shot 32 to take the silver medal.

Yet, despite Mehuli and Manisha’s double gold medals, it was Devanshi Rana who took the largest share of the spotlight on Sunday.

Nasheman News :  Spain’s Rafael Nadal said on Saturday he was feeling healthy and approaching full fitness ahead of next week’s Australian Open, after his rival, Britain’s Andy Murray, announced plans to retire due to injury.

Nadal, who won the Melbourne tournament in 2009 and has been dogged by injury problems for much of his own career, was forced to retire from last year’s quarter-final against Marin Cilic.

“If I was not feeling good, I would not be here”, the World No.2 said at a press conference in Melbourne, reports Efe news.

Nadal, who pulled out of the Brisbane International due to a thigh strain last week, said he was recovering well from foot surgery, and that while he had struggled for fitness and had had setbacks, he was confident of being able to perform in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, which starts on Monday.

“It’s nothing new for me”, the 17-time Grand Slam winner said adding: “I just accept the challenges the body and the tennis present.”

He was speaking one day after his friend Andy Murray tearfully announced that he feared he would be forced to retire this season due to his struggles with injury.

Nadal paid tribute to the Scot, calling him a “great competitor” who had been part of some of the greatest tennis rivalries of all time.

 Nasheman News : Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday became the fifth Indian to reach the elusive 10,000-run mark in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for the country.

Dhoni, who was missing the feat by just a run, entered the 10,000th club with a single off Jhye Richardson in the ongoing first ODI between India and Australia. 

The Ranchi stumper had earlier accumulated a total of 10,173 runs in the 50-over format during a home series against West Indies in October 2018 however, the record also contained the 174 runs, which he smashed against the Africa XI, while representing the Asia XI in a three-match rubber in 2007.

Before Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli had scored 10,000 ODI runs for India. 

Overall, Dhoni is the 12th player in history of ODI cricket to reach the 10,000-run club.