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Tag: championships

  • Commonwealth chess championships from 20 April

    MUMBAI: The Commonwealth Chess Championships along with the International Open Chess Tournament will be held in Mumbai at the Tulip Star Hotel in Juhu from 20-27 April. Doordarshan will air the crucial matches live.

    In addition, the live webcast will take place on the Commonwealth Chess Championship site. Word will be spread across prominent chess sites about the event. The Union Bank of India is one of the associate sponsors. The Maharashtra Chess Association (MCA) chairman RM Dongre said that a title sponsor is expected to be found within the next three days.

    As reported a couple of months ago by indiantelevision.com over 30 grandmasters and 50 international masters will participate. The opening event, which takes place on 19 April, sees 15-year old Koneru Humpi playing games at the same time with 20
    players. She gets a shot at both the women’s as well as men’s Commonwealth title.

    Another major attraction is eight-year old prodigy Prasanna Rao. He had 11 wins in as many games at last year’s Bournvita Chess Championship’s under eight for boys.

    In order to boost interest among school kids in the city the event will have under 8, 10, 12,14,16 and under 19 categories. The ten rounds take place in the morning from 9-1 pm and 2-6 pm in the evening. Grandmasters participating include Uzbekistan champion
    Ruslan Kasimdzhanov, Maharshtra’s Abhijit Kunte, Indian veteran Pravin Thipsay.

    The prize money for the entire tournament is Rs 500,000 and the winner will get Rs 1,25,000. The Venus Chess Academy, which is affiliated to the All India Chess Federation is organising the event. The academy has acquired 2000 square feet space in Juhu and will start coaching for kids below the age of 15 from 14 April.

  • BBC signs tennis legend Jimmy Connors for Wimbledon coverage

    BBC signs tennis legend Jimmy Connors for Wimbledon coverage

    MUMBAI: BBC Sport in the UK has announced that former Wimbledon champion Jimmy Connors will be joining its television commentary team to cover the 2005 Wimbledon Tennis Championships on a new one-year deal.

    Connors will join the team for the second week of the tournament. World number one Rodger Federer is the defending champion. In India the event will air live on Star Sports.

    BBC executive producer for Tennis Paul Davies said, “We are absolutely delighted to have Jimmy on board for our Wimbledon coverage. He is an absolute legend in the tennis world and will bring his wealth of experience to the team. He already has some commentary experience and the thing we like about Jimmy is that he calls it as he sees it on the court.”

    Connors won Wimbledon twice in 1974 and 1982.

  • TWI’s TV innovations for darts championships

    LONDON: Independent sports producer and sports programme distributor TWI will produce an innovative Lakeside World Professional Darts Championships for BBC TV next January.
    Part of the IMG Group of companies founded by Mark McCormack in the 1960s, TWI will be introducing new production and presentation techniques, and on-screen innovations. These will include three-way split screens, and the most up-to-date and informative graphics and statistics ever seen in televised darts.
    TWI executive producer Graham Fry was quoted in an official release saying, “We are delighted to be producing the Lakeside World Professional Championships for the BBC. We are hoping to make them even more colourful and entertaining than they have been in the past – with a whole range of feature ideas, entertainment initiatives, and a competition with a prize”.
    TWI already produces snooker including the Embassy World Championships from The Crucible as well as many more major televised sporting events around the world TWI will also be producing the 30th Anniversary Winmau World Masters for BBC TV from 1-2 November. 
    In addition to Fry, the TWI darts production team will include show producer Stuart Watts and director Simon Wheeler, who has previously produced darts for BBC, satellite and cable TV. The match director will be Malcolm Kemp, who has been producing the coverage from Lakeside for BBC TV Sport since 1998..