The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Sahaj — the new darling of the media

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Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005

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Sport - Chess

Sahaj — the new darling of the media

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: World under-10 boys' chess champion Sahaj Grover is the latest darling of the Capital's media persons. This charming nine-year-old, who looks even younger, made all the right moves by delighting one and all during his first-ever press conference at the Russian Cultural Centre here on Monday.

Sahaj answered questions with all the innocence of a child. He acceded to requests from the electronic media and even sang like a canary. While doing all this, he carried himself like a champion and held the gold medal in place for the benefit of the photographers.

Here are samples of Sahaj's responses to some of the questions.

"Why do you like Gary Kasparov?"

Sahaj did not spend a moment in coming up with an answer. "Because I think, nobody can beat him."

"When you get stuck in a tough situation in a game, whom do you think of?"

Without uttering a word, Sahaj pointed to his coach Gurpreet Pal Singh.

"Do you think you can match your friend Parimarjan Negi?"

Sahaj's candid response was appreciated by all when he said, "I am afraid of him. He is very good and I would like to be like him."

Looking for support

Even as Sahaj continued to charm the mediapersons, father Vijay and mother Sangeeta were worried about their talented son's future. "So far, we have tried to support his chess without getting any financial help from anyone. For the World Championship (where Sahaj was an official entry and hence cleared on cost by the Union Sports Ministry), I had to borrow Rs. 2.5 lakhs to fund the expenses for Sangeeta and Gurpreet. But I am not too sure about his future in chess. Without corporate support it will be very difficult for Sahaj to continue," said Vijay who runs a cloth shop.

Gurpreet, too, felt that it was time for Sahaj to get better coaching and participate in more open events. "Even after winning the World title, if he's unable to attract any sponsor, I would prefer Sahaj to concentrate on his studies instead of continuing with the game under trying circumstances. What's the use of sacrificing so much if the cash crunch is eventually going to spoil his plans? If it ever happens, it will be a pity."

Though Parvsnath Developers and Sahaj's school, Kulachi Hansraj Model School, came up with some assurances of financial help, nothing concrete has emerged so far. Meanwhile, the Delhi Chess Association announced a cash award of Rs. 30,000 apart from Rs. 1.25 lakhs for coaching under a Grandmaster.

Oblivious of all the constraints faced by his parents, Sahaj was most excited about what Viswanathan Anand had to say about him in The Hindu. After learning that Anand had monitored his progress at Belfort and was very impressed by his performance, Sahaj said, "I am so happy that Anand uncle saw my games and said nice things about me." But before long, Sahaj faced a predicament. "That means Anand uncle also knows all the mistakes that I committed (during the gold-winning campaign). What do I do now? You know, when he came here (in June), I had drawn with him (in a simultaneous display given by Anand). Next time, I will have to try harder," said Sahaj, as he did some loud thinking and turned to meet another request for an interview.

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