44th Chess Olympiad: Odisha CM hands over Torch Relay to Padmini Rout

Bhubaneswar:  Marking a glorious moment for Chess in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik handed over the first-ever Torch Relay for 44th edition of the Chess Olympiad to International Master and Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout during a function at Lok Seva Bhawan here today.

Woman Grand Master (WGM) Kiran Manisha Mohanty brought the Relay Torch to Lok Seva Bhawan and handed it over to Chief Patron of All Odisha Chess Association (AOCA), Achyuta Samanta, who later forwarded it to CM Patnaik.

The Torch Relay will be taken to the heritage sites in Puri and Konark.

Both Kiran and Padmini are celebrated international chess players from Odisha. As many as six players from Odisha including Padmini Rout will participate in Chess Olympiad that will be hosted in Chennai, a release from Chief Minister’s Office stated.

Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said, “It’s a proud moment for India as it is hosting an international sport event like Chess Olympiad on the 75th year of independence,” adding, “The board game was originated from India and was known as Chaturang.”

“Odisha has been producing good results in Chess. Some of our players have done exceedingly well at national and international events. We have also organized the World Junior Chess Championship in 2016. We intend to further strengthen the game across the state especially in schools,” he said.

Sharing his vision for promotion of the board game that does not require much infrastructure or equipment, Patnaik said, “We will conduct competitions at school and college levels regularly and promote the game in a professional manner.”

Patnaik later extended his best wishes to the All India Chess Federation, All Odisha Chess Federation, Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu for organizing the grand event that will host representatives from hundreds of countries across the world.

“India has so far produced some of the finest Chess players in the world. This mega event will further promote the game and create future champions,” he said.

Extending his wishes to the Indian contingent participating in the Olympiad, the Odisha CM said that he hoped for the contingent’s victory.

The Olympic Relay Torch was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 19 in New Delhi and he had handed it over to Grand Master Viswanathan Anand.  The Relay Torch will be carried to 75 iconic places of India including Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark in Odisha.

Sports Minister Tushar Kanti Behera said that Odisha has received immense appreciation in the field of sports under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

“We are building international standard sports infrastructure and hosting international sporting events quite successfully,” he added.

Dr. Achyuta Samanta in his address praised the Chief Minister for his phenomenal efforts to build sports infrastructure and promotion of sports and also for launching Olympic value education in Odisha.

 

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