Off the field

And now with the Ultimate World Chess Championships being put off till next year, Viswanathan Anand has decided to turn out for a Yugoslavian team "Agrouniverzal Belgrad" in the European Club Chess championships. Many of the world’s leading players figure in the event and Anand’s teammate is Boris Gelfand, who now stays in Israel.

As for the results, Anand’s team is naturally on top. As Anand won one game and drew another in the games he played, his team topped their Group.

Gelfand had one loss and one draw. The six teams topping each of thegroups move into the finals, where they will be joined by the defending champions, Breda and the hosts. The final will be held in late October.

Fazal in Bhupathi’s shoes

The security guard at the Kanteerva Stadium in Bangalore did not recognise the taller half of World’s top doubles pair, Mahesh Bhupathi, and turned him out because he did not have the card, or whatever it takes to get in. But poor Syed Fazaluddin, who virtually grew up at the South Club lawns in Calcutta, we have learnt, was nearly booted out of the place. Fazal was told that he "had played enough" after half an hour practice because it was "Members’ Day" at the Club. "At least the guy who kicked out Mahesh had no clue who he was… Maybe I’m wrong to expect that I should get first priority because I play for the country and I’m on my way to a Satellite .. The members need to play, but mind you there was another court available," Fazal told a friend.

The South Calcutta Club has been the stage of many of India’s victories.Players like Leander Paes and before him Dilip Bose, Akhtar Ali, Jaidip Mukherjea, Premjit Lall and Zeeshan Ali are among those who have virtually learnt their tennis here and consider the Club as their home turf. So Fazal, also a Calcuttan, and son of one of India’s finest footballers, Syed Nayeemuddin, getting this treatment certainly does no credit to the prestigious Club or the city which supports sport so much.

I am a friend of the media’

The Mithun Manhas episode’ which put the BCCI secretary J Y Lele in an embarrassing position has made cricket administrators wiser. At least that was the impression one got when the ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya spoke to newspersons in the Capital on his way to Calcutta from Dubai where he attended the executive board meeting. “Correct me if I am wrong anywhere… Yes, putting it that way will be better. I agree with you …,” Dalmiya kept saying while briefing newsmen on the decisions taken at Dubai. The former BCCI secretary went out of the way to pleasenewsmen. “I am always willing to talk to you gentlemen (from the Fourth Estate) whenever I get an opportunity. You, too, can approach me whenever you want any clarification. It is better to talk to each other than to create misunderstandings,” he volunteered, probably keeping the Manhas-Lele episode in mind. “Even when I was BCCI secretary I held most of the board meetings in Delhi,” Dalmiya informed, indicating his soft-corner’ for the Capital’s journalists.

Bordering on glory

The morale of Indian spikers was low after their arch rivals had beaten them in pool match of the recently concluded SAF Games in Nepal. The think-tank of the Volleyball Federation of India (read observer and team management) struck a novel idea. VFI observer Vijay Pal Singh disclosed that the members were shown film Border. It really worked wonders, exclaimed Vijay Pal. Thereafter, the Indians were a transformed lot and went on to thrash the overconfident Pakistanis in the final.