GOING PLACES: Chess gold medalist Koneru Humy greeted by Mayor Mallika Begum at Vijayawada railway station on Saturday

VIJAYAWADA: The busy city railway station wore a busier look on Saturday afternoon with a number of sports lovers, along with young athletes holding tricolour in their hands, according a warm welcome to chess prodigy Koneru Humpy, who won two gold medals for India in the recently concluded Asian Games at Doha.Athletes and officials showered a rain of flowers on the smiling Humpy as she emerged from the train along with mother Latha and father-cum-coach Koneru Ashok.

Slogans of `Humpy zindabad' reverberated on the platform even as the champion-performer went ahead accepting bouquets and signing autographs with a wide grin on her face.

"Though I won many international tournaments, my participation in Asian Games will always remain special, as the honour of our country was at stake. I felt very happy listening to our national anthem while receiving the medals," said Humpy.

Humpy said she would always be indebted to the city of Vijayawada for supporting her right from the beginning. "I shall always be grateful to the city elite, Municipal Corporation and the district administration for supporting me in pursuing the game at the highest level," she added.

Humpy said that her next goal would be to cross the 2,600 Elo rating and emerge World Number 1 in the world women segment. Analysing India's performance in the team championship, Humpy said there was some apprehension facing China, as it comprised quality players. "Once we (Humpy, Harikrishna, Sasikiran) defeated them, we were sure of the coveted gold medal," she said.

Mayor Mallika Begum congratulated Humpy for her stupendous show at the Games. Corporator M. Narasimha Rao, District Sports Development Officer B. Sudhakar, SCR Vijayawada Division Human Resources Inspector (Sports) N. Arjuna Rao, Krishna District Chess Association secretary Srihari and several sports administrators hailed Humpy's feat.

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