NEW DELHI: On this digital age, when each gesture is scrutinised underneath the microscopic lens of social media, a fleeting alternate on the recently-concluded Grenke Freestyle Open snowballed right into a large-scale social media debate.As India’s Grandmaster (GM) Harika Dronavalli prolonged her hand to resign her sport towards Uzbekistan GM Nodirbek Yakubboev, the latter responded with a well mannered, folded-handed “Namaste” as an alternative of the normal handshake.
The clip, as quickly because it landed on social media, went viral nearly immediately, drawing a mix of cultural reward and sharp criticism towards Yakubboev for “rejecting” the handshake.Nonetheless, Harika has now stepped in to clear the air, expressing her disappointment over how the younger Uzbek participant is being handled by the digital court docket of public opinion.Talking solely to TimesofIndia.com, Harika was fast to dismiss any notion of malice or disrespect, revealing that the alternate was way more coordinated than it appeared on the display screen.“I used to be shocked to see these movies and other people blaming him for it as a result of I felt actually unhealthy. Particularly earlier than the sport, he got here and mentioned, like, ‘I can’t do a handshake.’ I mentioned, it’s utterly fantastic. I imply, I perceive,” Harika mentioned.The confusion that viewers witnessed on the finish of the sport was not a results of Yakubboev being chilly, however slightly a byproduct of Harika’s personal decades-long skilled habits.Having performed on the highest degree for over 26 years, the act of extending a hand on the conclusion of a sport is an involuntary reflex for the Indian legend.“In so a few years, the hand simply went off instinctively as I used to be resigning. Then when he mentioned Namaste, I realised. I mentioned sorry, it was simply out of behavior. Sadly, that’s the one board which was having this digicam on us, and that in some way went viral otherwise, which I by no means would need any individual to be blamed for one thing which he did not do,” the 35-year-old GM remarked.‘He by no means did something fallacious’: HarikaFor twenty-four-year-old Yakubboev, this isn’t the primary time his spiritual beliefs have intersected with the inflexible protocols of the chessboard. Final 12 months, through the Tata Metal Challengers in Wijk Aan Zee, the same incident occurred with Vaishali Rameshbabu, which led to vital confusion and subsequent apologies.On that event, Yakubboev went out of his solution to current Vaishali with flowers and goodies on the sidelines, clarifying that his refusal to the touch ladies was rooted in his spiritual beliefs and never an absence of respect for his opponents.Harika, who is aware of Vaishali carefully, famous that neither of them took offence. She believes it’s unlucky that Yakubboev is being seen in a lightweight that contradicts his precise character.“He by no means insulted anybody, he by no means did something fallacious. He simply knowledgeable. However once you see solely actions, you miss the context, and you may take it the fallacious means,” Harika added.Past the viral clip, Harika’s efficiency in Germany was a milestone for Indian sports activities, as she secured the highest ladies’s prize and have become the primary Indian to qualify for the inaugural FIDE Girls’s Freestyle Chess World Championship.But, she lamented that such catchy moments usually overshadow precise sporting achievements and expressed concern that the pointless limelight might take a toll on a participant’s psychological well-being, particularly once they have carried out nothing fallacious.ALSO READ: ‘Clean thoughts’ and daring leap – How Harika Dronavalli cracked freestyle chess on debut“It’s unhappy to see sure issues taking the limelight greater than chess. It might have affected him mentally, which was not even wanted. For me, I imagine that everybody is sweet, everyone seems to be making an attempt to do their greatest and has their very own perception system. We simply respect one another and attempt to play chess on the board,” she concluded.
