Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on Sunday defeated Vladimir Kramnik in the No-Castling match for the Sparkassen Chess Trophy. Anand won the first game and drew the remaining three to win the event. On Saturday, Anand was held to a draw by Kramnik in the third game of their four-game No-Castling match.

The fourth and final game was contested on Sunday. Heading into the final game, Anand just needed to draw to register a win. The second game between Anand and Kramnik had ended in a draw on Wednesday. Anand had earlier won the opening game on Tuesday to

With just five days to go for the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics, the organising committee on Sunday informed the first cases of coronavirus have been detected at the Games Village among athletes.

According to Kyodo News, the Tokyo Olympic organising committee said two athletes who are staying at the Games Village and another participant who is outside the Village have tested positive for coronavirus. This comes a day after it was reported that the first case of coronavirus was detected at the Games Village. However, the person found to be COVID-19 positive on Saturday was a non-athlete.

Meanwhile, after the latest meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB), IOC President Thomas Bach highlighted the successful implementation of the COVID-19 countermeasures outlined in the key stakeholder Playbooks and promised to bring the vibe of the world into the venues of Tokyo Olympics.

During the meeting, the IOC EB was informed by Tokyo 2020 that, between July 1 and 16, around 15,000 athletes, officials, and representatives from the media and other stakeholders had arrived in Tokyo. Only 15 had tested positive on their arrival or during a screening test, accounting for 0.1 per cent of arrivals so far on Saturday.

Meanwhile, three members of South Africa’s men’s under-23 football team have also tested positive for Covid-19 and they currently are in isolation in the Tokyo 2020 facility. The three members to test positive for Covid-19 are — Thabiso Monyane (player), Kamohelo Mahlatsi (player), and video analyst Mario Masha.

These three returned positive results in the latest round of daily sputum (saliva) testing.

As part of measures to manage the COVID-19 situation, the Organising Committee highlighted the decision made earlier this month that no spectators will be allowed to attend Tokyo 2020 events.

An 88 member Indian contingent including 54 athletes arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for the upcoming Olympic Games which gets underway from July 23. Athletes and support staff in eight disciplines Badminton, Archery, Hockey, Judo, Swimming, Weightlifting, Gymnastics, and Table Tennis arrived in Tokyo. Sports Authority of India (SAI) shared a video informing about the arrival of the Olympic contingent for the Tokyo Games. With 127 athletes, Tokyo Olympics will be India’s highest ever playing contingent.

Indian Boxing team spearheaded by Amit Panghal and Mary Kom arrived in Tokyo on Sunday for the upcoming Olympic Games which gets underway from July 23. The India boxers had trained hard for the showpiece event in Italy and departed for Tokyo on Saturday.

The men’s boxing side comprises number one and Asian Games champion Panghal (52kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), and Satish Kumar (+91kg). The women’s squad includes Mary Kom (51kg), Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Pooja Rani (75kg).

The Indian shooting team had arrived on Saturday in Tokyo for the upcoming Olympic Games. The Indian shooting and boxing contingent at the Olympics would not be required to undergo a quarantine period. This means that both the contingent would be able to start their training once they settle down.“No quarantine is required for shooters as they have come from Croatia. The shooters are fine and they are currently resting in the Games Village after a long flight. They will start training in a short time after completing their rest,” NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told.

Speaking about the boxing contingent, sources in the know said: “They are not required to undergo quarantine as they are headed to Tokyo from Italy.

You can expect them to start training once they test negative for COVID-19. The whole idea behind training in Italy was to ensure that there is no break in training when the boxers reach Tokyo due to quarantine rules.”A total of 127 Indian athletes have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, which is a record overhauling the 117 that qualified for the Rio Olympics.

“Touchdown Tokyo. Our contingent has safely landed in Tokyo. Here’s a peek from their arrival at the airport. #Hockey #Cheer4India,” SAIMedia tweeted.

Mind and art mattered more in hockey in our time but in modern hockey, physical strength is more important than mind.  I am glad that despite all this, the way Indian players did in the FIH Pro Hockey League, beating powerful teams like Netherlands, Belgium and finished fourth. It raises hopes from our team in the Tokyo Olympics. At least this team deserves to reach the semi-finals. There are five players who played in the Rio Olympics in the team.

As far as the defence line of Harmanpreet, Rupendra, Surendra, Birender Lakra, are concerned they all are very experienced, many of them are capable to score goals through penalty corner. This time in the half line, we have Hardik, Manpreet, Vivek, Neelkant, Sumit and Vivek Sagar. I have watched these players very closely at the World Cup in Odisha. These players are also adept at keeping the ball in their possession. These players help the forward line and also pay attention to the defense behind it.

Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Mandeep Singh are in the forward line. Everyone has to keep in mind that the forward line has the ability to attack goals intelligently. After winning gold in 1980 Moscow Olympics, Indian team attacks less because European players started playing very attacking hockey. That time, our emphasis was on defense. We started playing two center halves but with the change of time, hopes have risen. In an organized manner the forward line will have to counter attack. Australia along with New Zealand, Argentina, Japan and Spain are there in our pool. We should focus on climbing the ladder one by one.

While playing the first match, we have to think that this is our last match. The strategy of the team will be decided by the coach but also in the mind of every player. Strategy should be made according to the need. Our ‘W’ formation used to be attacking. Now I think playing with four forwards is more fruitful and effective. Players rotate very quickly today. Inner players also come to the rescue from behind. If anybody in team misses the ball, then our defense should be strong enough to make up for that mistake. This game should be full of cleverness. Players’ eyes should be alert all the time and have the ability to grow fast like a deer. Have a clear vision. Releasing the ball, strategy, combinations are all part of the game. I am sure that this team will definitely end the desolation of the last 40 years.

Writer is a former Olympian and played four World Cup and a son of great Dhyanchand

Shikhar Dhawan (86*) and Ishan Kishan (59) starred with the bat as India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

With this win, India has gained a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second ODI will now be played on Tuesday. Chasing 263, India got off to a flying start as Prithvi Shaw took a special liking to Sri Lanka seamers. However, Shaw’s (43) knock was ended in the sixth over as Dhanajaya de Silva sent him back to the pavilion, and this brought birthday boy Ishan Kishan to the middle.

Kishan took a special liking to Sri Lanka spinners and he kept on dispatching them all around the park. En route, Kishan brought up his fifty off just 33 balls, and as a result, he registered the second-fastest fifty for a player on his ODI debut. The 85-run stand for the second wicket came to an end in the 18th over as Lakshan Sandakan dismissed Kishan (59), reducing India to 145/2.

Manish Pandey then joined Dhawan in the middle and the duo kept the scoreboard moving for the visitors. Both batters put on 72 runs for the third wicket, but with just 48 runs away from the target, Pandey (26) lost his wicket to Dhananjaya de Silva. In the end, Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav (31*) guided India to a victory by seven wickets with 80 balls to spare.

Earlier, India kept on taking wickets at regular intervals, but Chamika Karunaratne’s unbeaten 43-run knock helped Sri Lanka post 262/9. For India, Kuldeep Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Deepak Chahar returned with two wickets each.

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a steady start as openers Avishka Fernando and Minod Bhanuka put on 49 runs inside the first nine overs. However, the introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal paid off straight away in the 10th over as the leg-spinner dismissed Fernando (32).

Bhanuka Rajapaksa then joined Minod in the middle and the duo put on 36 runs for the second wicket, but this stand was cut short in the 17th over as Kuldeep Yadav sent Rajapaksa (24) back to the pavilion. In the very same over, Kuldeep had Minod (27) caught at the first slip and as a result, Sri Lanka was reduced to 89/3.

Dhananjaya de Silva (14) disappointed with the bat as he went in for an inside-out shot over the covers, but he only managed to hand a catch to Bhuvneshwar Kumar off the bowling of Krunal Pandya, and Sri Lanka was left in a spot of bother at 117/4. Skipper Shanaka and Charith Asalanka then got together at the crease and both batters moved the scoreboard slowly and steadily. However, the 49-run stand between these two batters was ended by Deepak Chahar in the 38th over as he dismissed Asalanka (38), reducing Sri Lanka to 166/5.

Shanaka played a knock of 39 runs, but India bowlers managed to keep the run-scoring in check and as a result, the hosts were restricted under the 265-run mark. In the final overs, Dushmantha Chameera (13) and Chamika Karunaratne (43*) hit some valuable big shots to give Sri Lanka a competitive score in the match.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 262/9 (Chamika Karunaratne 43*, Dasun Shanaka 39, Kuldeep Yadav 2-48) vs India 263/3 (Shikhar Dhawan 86*, Ishan Kishan 59, Dhananjaya de Silva 2-49).

Former India skipper and goalkeeper Bharat Chetri said merely featuring in the London Olympics gave the side a much-needed motivation as they had missed out in 2008. After facing the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2008 Olympics, Chetri was very excited about leading the Indian team in the 2012 Olympics.“The year 2008 was a sad one for us as we couldn’t qualify for the Olympics, so when we qualified for the 2012 Olympics, it was a great feeling. It felt really good to go for the 2012 Olympics in London,” said Chetri in the twelfth article of Hockey India’s Flashback series. However, the Indian team couldn’t find their groove and finished last in the competition. The former captain expressed that the Indian team had a good set of players, but they couldn’t produce the necessary performances.

“We had a good team in the 2012 Olympics, but we couldn’t put in the performances match after match, that were required. We played well against Netherlands in our first match, even though we lost 2-3,” said Chetri.“We should have taken our game to the next level in the rest of the matches, but we couldn’t do that. Once we lost the second game against New Zealand, we couldn’t find a way to improve our game,” he added.

The former goalkeeper added that things could’ve been slightly different if India had at least drawn their first match against the Netherlands. “If we would’ve at least drawn our first game against the Netherlands, then things could’ve been different for us. If we drew that game, then our confidence would’ve been up. We had chances to win that game as well. The first game was very important for us wherein we couldn’t put in the necessary performance,” he said.