Sport Folio

Number Game 1.09 In metres, the difference between the Indian women8217;s pole vault record 3.8m set by Chetna Solanki on Wednesd...

Number Game
1.09

In metres, the difference between the Indian women8217;s pole vault record 3.8m set by Chetna Solanki on Wednesday, and the world record of Russia8217;s Yelena Isinbayevay

50Q
Vishwanathan Anand

What book are you reading?
8226; Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

A sportsperson you8217;d pay to watch?
8226; The young John McEnroe. You get your money8217;s worth both for on court entertainment and first class tennis.

Your most embarrassing moment?
8226; When I was in school, in the Philippines I was chosen to act in a play. My team seemed to be the most enthusiastic as they had set up special lighting, etc. I had just one line, but the most critical line in the play. I went up on stage, the lights and sound came on but I had completely forgotten my line. I stood there for two minutes, then thought I had marked my presence and returned to the wings. My teammates didn8217;t share my thoughts and I was never offered a part in a play after that. Maybe chess got me on the rebound!

Your pet superstition?
8226; Never repeat using a pen after a loss or never eat breakfast after a loss

If you weren8217;t a chess player you8217;d like to be 8230;
8226; Being Viswanathan Anand would have been the coolest thing to aspire to

Memory Jog
Manoranjan Bhattacharya
FOOTBALLER

Two decades ago, Maidan football was about two great defenders: Mohun Bagan had Subrata, who bled green-and-maroon, East Bengal had Manoranjan. But while Subrata is in the spotlight, Manoranjan is largely forgotten. He came to East Bengal in 1977 and stayed with the club throughout the eighties, before making the short trip across the Maidan to Mohun Bagan in 1991. In between he put in a string of performances for India, including at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, before retiring in 1993.
He began coaching in 1996, taking over the reins of a beleaguered East Bengal in 2001. He gave East Bengal their first NFL title, but his contract was not renewed the following year. Since then he has hardly been seen in public. He goes to the Nimta branch of the Vivekananda Sports Foundation twice a week to coach youngsters apart from his regular bank job. Always a reclusive figure, Bhattacharya hardly goes to the ground to watch matches, neither does he appear for interviews or on talk shows.

Sport Speak

Hey Grandpa, you8217;re still playing well
8212; Yannick Noah
to Ilie Nastase, during an over-45 legends8217; match at the French Open. Nastase is 58, while Noah turned 45 four days before the Open started