‘Magnus is a fun guy, very social’

CHENNAI: Media-glare has been Magnus Carlsen’s constant companion ever since he landed here on Monday evening. But he has got down to doing his thing right away. Far from the clutter that accompanies city-life, Carlsen has found calm in the serene surroundings at a hotel in the outskirts. 

The 22-year-old plans to head to Hyatt Regency, the venue of his World Championship duel with holder Viswanathan Anand, on Wednesday evening. Apart from a haircut, on the agenda is a quiet dinner with his family and team. 

On Tuesday, his manager, Espen Agdestein, spoke to The Hindu on Carlsen’s preparations, his love for outdoor sport, and his interests that extend beyond the 64 squares.

Excerpts: 

How hectic have things been since you landed here?

It’s been very busy for me. For Magnus, it’s been quiet. He is relaxing. I am trying to take the tension away from him. He will try to sleep well, play other sports, and get ready.

Tell us about Magnus, the person.

Magnus is basically a fun guy, very social, and likes to pull pranks. He keeps track of all kinds of stuff and is very interested about sports in general. Magnus follows football, but is very interested in American basketball. 

How does he prepare for such important contests?

It’s quite similar to how he prepares otherwise. He tries not to train too much, and has been very successful with his routine.

How has he been relaxing ever since he came here?

Magnus has been playing some water-sports, swimming in the ocean, and things like that. He loves outdoor sports.

Having brought his chef along, is he sticking to a specific diet?

The chef is here mainly as an advisor. Magnus likes Indian, Italian and Chinese cuisines. So, he does plan to eat Indian food here. He will cut down on sugar to keep the blood-sugar levels intact.

How has the Oman stint helped?

Magnus likes warm climate and the sun. He can’t get that in Europe at the moment. Also, he needed to stay somewhere close to India to acclimatise to the time-difference.

How crucial is his family’s presence here?

Magnus thinks it makes him feel relaxed and calm. He doesn’t do it always, though. His father accompanies him generally, but he has, on occasion, travelled with his family too.

How big a star is he in Norway?

He is a superstar. Magnus has fans in all countries, I guess. He has endorsement deals. He likes to do the fashion things (modelling) because he thinks its fun. It helps him broaden his horizons. It’s not necessary for a chess player to play all the time. You can do other things and it’s good for your balance. People in other sports can handle other interests. I guess chess players can do that as well.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/magnus-is-a-fun-guy-very-social/article5318165.ece

'Our goal is to be a strong No. 2 to cricket'

SACRAMENTO: “Shaq is swinging a cricket bat at the Arena? Can you imagine that?” asked a voice with disbelief. “There will be a Bollywood dance show at half-time today,” quipped a professor who teaches immigrant and ethnic relations at the University of California. “Quite an apt thing for a region which has the fastest growing Indo-American population isn’t it,” he adds.

For a good two hours amidst all the festivities before the season opener between Sacromento Kings and Denver Nuggets at the Sleep Train Arena, a humdinger which the Kings later won 90-88, the match itself seemed incidental. Five months ago, the locals weren’t even sure whether there would be a team to cheer for. This was until an Indian businessman settled in the United States, Vivek Randive, Chairman of the billion-dollar enterprise TIBCO Software, impressed on the NBA to sell the Kings to him rather than to someone who was intent on moving it to Seattle. The ‘someone’ was none other than the current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer!

From exhibition cricket, to Bollywood dances to bill board’s carrying the message ‘Namaste India’, there was Indian touch to practically everything. Randive now has a majority stake and in late September, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal became a minority owner.

Prior to the celebrations, Randive, in a media interaction dwelt on how he plans to take the game to India, making a dent in a country that seems to favour cricket disproportionately and his future plans for the team.

Excerpts:

On the vision for the club: We pledge to build a winning franchise, that enhances the lives of all those it touches, adds a set of values – excellence, integrity, openness, hard work and fun. We hope to never let the fans and the local community down.

On plans to expand the game in India: We know that cricket is the national pastime. So we are not looking at Basketball to surpass it. Our goal is to be a strong No. 2 to cricket. We have launched a Hindi language website. TV broadcast has started. We will have clinics and exhibition games. Out team will go to India and O’Neal has promised to come with me.

Can increasing viewership translate into more talent emerging? Doesn’t seem to be happening with Football: We are not expecting any overnight success. But it is becoming one of the fastest growing sports in India. Our commitment is long-term. It’s the only American sport that easily connects with Indians. It has no competition vis-à-vis NHL which has field hockey and Baseball, cricket. We have players coming from Punjab like Satnam Singh and the Bhullar brothers who could one day turn out for NBA teams. In the next five years I would be very surprised if there wasn’t an Indian player in the NBA.

Edited version:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/our-goal-is-to-be-a-strong-no-2-to-cricket-ranadive/article5303019.ece

'I hope to make my team better'

LOS ANGELES: “We want to be the best team in LA (Los Angeles),” said Matt Barnes, the LA Clippers’ small forward. In the three seasons that have passed since LA Lakers’ last NBA triumph, the Clippers have indeed managed to be at least on par if not better than their cross-town rivals. So much so that in the last season, the Lakers lost all four matches against the Clippers. Injuries, coaching changes, form dips all contributed to it. A string of free-agent acquisitions of relatively unknown talent raised eyebrows and it was tough to refute claims that their inexperience would show up and not their potential.

For close to three-quarters of the season opener between the two LA sides at the staples center on Tuesday, it seemed that there would be no change in the storyline. But a commanding display by the Lakers’ bench – both the experienced hands, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, weren’t on the court – ensured a 106-103 win. Prior to the game, the Spanish international Gasol spoke on the very same aspects in an interaction.

Excerpts:

How different are the expectations this season from last year? Then the word ‘title’ was being mentioned in spite of a bad pre-season but not now. Will it then be about trying to prove people wrong?

Yeah. They are different situations. We need to play as well as we can. Try and improve every day. We knew something wasn’t clicking last year. After that pre-season [0-8] there were alarm bells. But this pre-season has been a lot more positive and we have done things a lot better; the attitudes of the players, the togetherness and the atmosphere have all been good.

So will there be extra build-up and excitement?

We have been looking forward to this moment throughout the summer. There will be more energy and more tension as well, especially for me. I didn’t play in the off season with my national team, which is rare. I am coming off an injury but I had a good pre-season, perhaps one of the best I have ever had. I focused well, maximized every opportunity and so it’s about bringing all that together.

Is it odd that people have more expectations of the Clippers rather than the Lakers?

Life is a cycle, so is NBA. There are ups and downs. But every year is different so it doesn’t mean much to me. We have had high expectations before and they ended in failures. So we need to try and turn these low expectations into successes.

Any additional responsibilities that you will be carrying this year with Kobe Bryant still out with an injury?

Yeah. I’ll be carrying more load offensively and to an extent defensively as well.

Is that more exciting then and the fact that all the balls have to go through you?

It is and i am looking forward to it. I hope to make my team better by making better decisions and finding the open man, to make sure that every player moves and is active. And to make everybody understand that if he is open he is going to get the ball.

Any personal targets?

Not really. I am just looking for good individual performances that can contribute to the team’s success.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/i-hope-to-make-my-team-better-gasol/article5297029.ece