India gets 64th Grandmaster
New Delhi: Prithu Gupta became India’s 64th Grandmaster on Friday after he crossed the Elo threshold of 2500 points by beating IM Lev Yankelevich in the fifth round of the Portuguese League 2019. “And we are complete. 64 th GM!! Welcome our newest GM Prithu Gupta,” legendary Viswanathan Anand tweeted. “Thank you Anand sir .. You have always been the biggest inspiration,” replied Delhi-based Gupta. Gupta achieved the feat at the age of 15 years, 4 months and 10 days. For the record, D. Gukesh is India’s youngest Grandmaster at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days. (IANS)
U-19 nat’l team tastes defeat
New Delhi: The Indian U-19 national team, preparing for the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers later this year, lost 2-1 to Oman U-19 in Turkey on Friday. The Indian U-19s started the match on a defensive note and it were the opponents who had much of the possession in the first half. In the 34th minute, Oman had taken the lead as the teams went into the tunnel at half-time with the opposition leading by a solitary goal to nil. Changing over, the Indian players started to dominate possession early in the second half and Ninthoi, in the 53rd minute from a free-kick, came close to equalising. India finally had the breakthrough in the 68th minute when Robin was brought down inside the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot. A confident Givson Singh found the back of the net from the spot to equalise. In the 78th minute however, Oman breached the Indian citadel once again and scored to hand them a solitary goal lead. (PTI)
Odisha to have a Sports Policy
Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Friday said the state will soon have a Sports Policy of its own to promote different sports activities. This was stated by Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusharkanti Behera while replying to questions in the Assembly. Stating that the National Sports Policy is in force in the state, Behera said a draft on Odisha’s own sports policy has been prepared. However, the minister said the state has a policy to release special grant to different sports associations for conducting national and international championship in Odisha under the aegis of the concerned recognised national federation. Replying to a question on the number of sports persons in the state, the minister said no such survey has been done in Odisha. Sports persons are being given identity cards under different categories. He said sports persons, who have played at international sports events, have been provided jobs in various sectors. While sprint queen Dutee Chand got job in Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), athlete Srabani Nanda was given job in Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC). A total of 96 sports persons have been given jobs in Odisha Police, he informed. (PTI)