The torch for the 44th Chess Olympiad to be held at Chennai from July 28 reached Tamil Nadu on Monday after travelling across the country. The Olympiad torch relay that first reached Coimbatore was received at CODISSIA here on Monday.
Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthusamy, Minister for Information and Publicity M.P. Saminathan, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthil Balaji, and Minister for Forests K. Ramachandran received the Chess Olympiad Torch at Codissia.
Speaking at the gathering of more than 2000 school and college students, Mr. Senthil Balaji said, the state takes pride in organising the Chess Olympiad, that is taking place for the first time in India. He also highlighted that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government has passed orders to designate ‘silambam’ as one of the games to be included for the 3% sports quota recruitment in government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs).
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“Arrangements have been made at a vast ground of 76,000 sq ft in Mammallapuram for the Chess Olympiad to accommodate more than 2,000 players from 187 countries with all the facilities,” said Mr. Muthusamy. A total of 708 chess boards have been planned to set up, he added.
Mr. Saminathan said, the State Government has been taking steps to encourage children and youngsters to excel in sports, as a result the State has produced 73 Chess Grand Masters, out of which 11 of them are women.
The Ministers handed over the 44th Chess Olympiad torch to Grand Master Shyam Sundar and the representatives from the Chess Federation. They also distributed model torches to the Collectors of Erode, Tiruppur, Nilgiris and to the representatives from 16 other districts.
The Ministers honoured the coaches, and sports persons who have excelled in various sports. Earlier, Coimbatore Collector G.S. Sameeran flagged off, a rally in which the torch was taken from Avinashi road to Codissia. The Olympiad relay reached Coimbatore from Puducherry, would be taken to Madurai on Monday evening.
BJP walks out
Meanwhile, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, who were seated in the front row led by district president Balaji Uthamaramasamy staged a walkout from the function alleging that, the Ministers and Collector failed to mention the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during their speech. They also said that Mr. Modi has taken the initiative to conduct the event at Mammallapuram , to bring out the pride of Tamil Culture.
