CHENNAI: When D Gukesh won his World Championship match in Singapore, a thousand miles away, his mother J Padmakumari had switched off her phone. She was too tense and could not follow it live. “I got to know about Gukesh’s victory from his aunt,” is what she said during an interaction with a TV channel in Chennai on Thursday.
Gukesh had said during a post-event press conference that his mother would be joining him and his father in Singapore on Friday. However, she wanted to surprise him and set off for the airport to take the earliest flight.
After hearing about the victory, Gukesh’s mother cried. “I cried for 10 minutes,” she said. “He worked really hard for this since childhood and we are extremely happy for this victory. He is a very disciplined child and sacrificed so much for chess.”
SDAT comes through
On Thursday, D Gukesh was crowned the youngest world champion in Singapore, but the journey had already begun well. He had to qualify for the Candidates and ensure there was competition for him to enter. Chennai stepped in and hosted the Chennai Grandmasters which Gukesh won and eventually qualified for Candidates.
The Tamil Nadu government and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) played a very crucial role in organising the tournament on a very short notice.
Meghanatha Reddy, member secretary of SDAT, congratulated Gukesh and said that SDAT has been supporting in every way they can. “We are very proud of what Gukesh has achieved. It is incredible,” said Reddy. “SDAT has been part of this journey, because it is going to be a very long journey. Just after he won the Candidates, our chief minister (M K Stalin) had given him a cheque of Rs 75 lakh to help him prepare for the world championships.”
“He is also a part of our Elite Scheme where we give athletes `30 lakh a year for training and competitions. We are perhaps the only state to have this scheme open for chess players and we had made a special case for Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali to accommodate them in the scheme.”
CM, DyCM and others extend congratulations
Chennai: In his message congratulating Gukesh, Chief Minister M K Stalin said, “Your remarkable achievement continues India’s rich chess legacy and helps Chennai reaffirm its place as the global chess capital.” Reflecting a similar sentiment, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin stated that the win shines a spotlight on Tamil Nadu. Governor R N Ravi also extended his greetings to the champion. ENS