Thipsay proud to be part of Queen's Baton Relay

Updated on: 10 September,2010 11:08 AM IST |
Harit N Joshi | [email protected]

Chess Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay was elated by Maharashtra government's gesture to invite him to participate in the Queen's Baton Relay for the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, which reaches Mumbai by sea from Pune today

Chess Grandmaster Pravin thipsay was elated by Maharashtra government's gesture to invite him to participate in the Queen's Baton Relay for the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, which reaches Mumbai by sea from Pune today.

The Baton is expected to enter the city at the Karanje Naval jetty at around 9.00 in the morning.Thipsay's wife Bhagyashree, woman chess Grandmaster, is also invited for the event. "It is an honour for us to be a part of the Queen's Baton Relay.
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Chess is neither a part of the Commonwealth Games nor the Olympics. Despite that they invited us. It is a very kind gesture. It gives us pride in our achievements," the former Commonwealth Chess champion told MiD DAY yesterday.

The Thipsays are the only chess players from the city to be invited among a host of other sports personalities. Table tennis great Kamlesh Mehta, hockey Olympians Dhanraj Pillay and Joaquim Carvalho and former athletes Adille Sumariwala and Rachita Mistry will be part of the relay.

However, Thipsay felt chess is a popular sport, but its popularity is not extended to the masses. "Chess is played a lot in Tamil Nadu and some other parts in southern India. A lot of chess players are coming up from New Delhi and Maharashtra too.