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Chequered journey of mentors

A doting father and a coach rolled into one, Ashok is busy training Humpy to scale greater heights and Lakshmi assists him in the task, says MUBIN SULTAN

ALL SMILES Ashok and Lakshmi cannot stop grinning at their daughters' success PHOTO: RAJU.V

Walking in with a warm smile on their radiant faces, Koneru Ashok and Lakshmi exude simplicity at its best. A post-graduate in chemistry, Ashok has put teaching on hold to continue doing what he does best. He is one of the nation's best coaches in chess. Lakshmi too has brushed up her sporting talent sufficient to be able to assist her two daughters, Humpy and Chandra Hansa - a world champion and a national champion respectively.

Natives of Gudivada, the couple migrated to the city 12 years back to utilise better sporting facilities available here. As a child, Ashok remembers spending more time on the playground than in the classroom, trying various sports, from tennis to cricket. But it wasn't until his father; a lecturer in mathematics, brought home a chessboard one day, that Ashok fell in love with the game and developed a passion for it. "Losing a game often made me angry. The anger in turn, helped me reason every move and analyze the game better," he says. Notwithstanding lack of technical assistance, Ashok soon recognised the genius in him when he found himself defeating most of his father's colleagues in the game.

Role model

Drawing inspiration from his father who was undefeatable, either in tennis or chess at the Gudivada Officer's Club, he recalls how he clung on to his father when the latter learnt the nuisances from a national champion settled in Gudivada. "Nobody realized that I was promptly grasping all the rules of the game that were being taught to my father," he says with a smile.

It was the phenomenal finals of world championship between Bobby Fisher and his Russian counterpart in 1972 that drew Ashok's attention to the professional face of the sport. But it was more important for him to study further than concentrating on the game and so he had to remain contented with winning titles in Andhra championships twice and South India championship once. Lakshmi was studious and did not show interest in any sport. "It is only now that I am playing a little chess. Had I shown little interest in the game immediately after marriage, he would have made a champion of me too," she chuckles gazing at Ashok.

"I wanted Humpy to play tennis. I even preserved the racquet used by my father for her. But her tilt towards chess was evident when she was just six, even before I realized that she was big enough to play any sport," says Ashok relishing vegetable Cantonese soup with murg nurjahani and baby corn majestic. He juggles the dual role of a doting father and a professional coach to his daughters and the five minutes that he spends with them before unleashing them into the tournament hall are very crucial for him. Interestingly, playing chess is his way of relaxing at the end of an exhausting day. "Not a day passes without spreading the board and playing a game," says Lakshmi.

Parents' role

The couple believes that parents play an important role in molding their children's career. "They should guide but not spoon-feed the child," Ashok emphasizes.

"We look at the moon and dream of landing there some day. Having a dream helps in working towards a goal. To be precise, it is a short cut to success," says Ashok savouring Luckhnowi gosht dum biryani with gosht roganjosh. "I feel we are successful, in the sense that we have a comfortable life with a house to live in and see our daughters play the game well and settle in life," says Ashok while Lakshmi nods her head in conformity.

They have been to places like Hungary, Spain, Greece, England, Russia, Malaysia and Dubai to witness tournaments. Of all, Ashok likes Hungary and Hungarian cuisine the best. "That's because people there love chess," quips Lakshmi digging into khurbani ka meetha. "People in Russia still remember the historical Indo-Soviet friendship," he remarks.

Ashok had always thought of Russians to be the strongest contenders. It touched him when Humpy was featured in a French newspaper with a title `Indian girl beats Russians' during her first world championships in Cannes, France.

The family enjoys watching movies and Aparichitudu is the latest flick they viewed together. A fan of Chiranjeevi, Ashok likes his modesty and the charity work he does.

Currently busy training Humpy for four major tournaments in the next one year, he is relentlessly working to see his daughter as an international grandmaster among men in the near future.

The couple hopes to find a sponsor for Humpy's future endeavours.

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