In a heart-warming gesture, the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Sreedhara Somanath met Indian chess player
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa at his house in Chennai on Monday.
The ISRO chief presented a replica miniature of the
GSLV rocket to the chess player as an encouraging gift and wished him all
success in his upcoming matches.
During Somanath’s visit, Praggnanandhaa showed his
prizes to him and expressed his wishes for the success of ISRO scientists and
for the future Mission Gaganyaan.
Praggnanandhaa’s father Ramesh Babu was also there
when Somanath met the chess player in Chennai on Monday.
Exhorting the chess player to be active to make Bharat
proud in the upcoming days, the ISRO scientist expressed, “We are very proud of
him for his accomplishments and also for his world ranking, which is 15. I
believe in the coming days he will become world number one. He is Praggnan on
the ground, and we have Pragyan on the Moon. What we have achieved on the moon,
he has done it on land.”
Adding that the chess star will be working with ISRO in
promoting space, Praggnanandhaa remarked, “It is a very proud thing that he has
visited us. He also invited me to visit Sriharikota where rockets are being
launched. We are very proud of what ISRO has achieved.”
On August 24, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated
grandmaster Praggnanandhaa to clinch the title of the International Chess
Federation World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. He fought hard but fell short with
Carlsen summoning all his big match experience when it mattered the most.
ANI
