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World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has returned to his native India from the London Chess Classic and, in spite of a somewhat disappointing result, he was plunged back into the media spotlight. In fact in a nomination that included snooker star Pankaj Advani, Olympic badminton competitor and world number three Saina Nehwal, wrestler Sushil Kumar, sport shooter Vijay Kumar, cricketer Virat Kohli, Viswanathan Anand ("for defending his World Championship title for the third time in a row") it was the chess player who was chosen "Indian of the Year". Here is the CNN/IBN coverage of the gala presentation:
The video is well worth watching – Anand speaks candidly about the course of the World Championship match against Boris Gelfand and on the question of motivation after five such matches.
Actually Anand won two awards: one was for the Indian Sportsman of the Year, the other and bigger award was for the absolute "Indian of the Year". This cuts across all fields and professions and is voted upon by the public and an eminent jury. For the first time a sportsperson has received such an award. The previous recipients of the Indian of the year include the Prime Minister of India, Shri Manmohan Singh. There is a second CNN/IBN report on the event here:
We also suggest you read this NDTV Sports report on Anand, who looks ahead at the year 2013:
And here is an article on Anand and Chess in Indian Schools
Finally Anand appeals to another Indian sporting god, who has had a bad year, not to retire. Sachin Tendulkar, 39, is an Indian cricketer widely acknowledged as the greatest living batsman, and second only to Don Bradman in the all time greatest list in Test.
And as little bonus here is a video of Anand and wife Aruna promoting a leading Indian real estate company:
