LONDON: Koneru Humpy: Chess player is BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year

LONDON: Chess player Koneru Humpy has
won the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award for 2020, following a public
vote.

The
33-year-old beat sprinter Dutee Chand, airgun shooter Manu Bhaker, wrestler
Vinesh Phogat and India hockey captain Rani Rampal to the award.

Humpy is
the World Rapid Chess champion having won the title in December 2019 after a
two-year maternity break. In 2020, she won the Cairns Cup, an elite-level
tournament for the top female players.

“Being
an indoor game, chess doesn’t get as much attention as sports like cricket gets
in India. But with this award, I hope the game will draw people’s attention,”
she said after winning the honour.

Advising
young sportswomen to “just enjoy the game”, she added: “Try to
make it to the end and believe in yourself. You have to earn your respect and
recognition, be confident and look up to the goal.

“I
won over the years because of my willpower and confidence. A female player should
never think about quitting her game. Marriage and motherhood are just a part of
our life and they should not change the course of our lives,” she said.

The female chess grandmaster who
relishes beating men

Born in
the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Humpy was identified as a chess prodigy
at an early age by her father. She lived up to the reputation by becoming the
youngest grandmaster, aged 15, in 2002 – the record was broken by China’s Hou
Yifan in 2008.

She
received the Arjuna Award, one of India’s top sporting honours, in 2003, and
India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2007.

The BBC
Indian Sportswoman of the Year initiative was launched in 2019 to celebrate
female achievements in sport and highlight the issues and challenges faced by
women and girls in India.

BBC
director general Tim Davie, who hosted the virtual ceremony and announced the
winner, said: “I’m pleased the BBC is leading the way in recognising the
success of India’s sportswomen; BBC ISWOTY isn’t just an award, it’s part of
our editorial commitment to representing all voices and people in society so
that our journalism is a fair and impartial reflection of the world we live
in.”

Former
long jumper Anju Bobby George was given the Lifetime Achievement award
for her contribution to Indian sport. She remains the only athlete to win a
World Championship athletics medal for her country.

Indian legend Anju Bobby George
believes setbacks can make young athletes stronger

“I
would like to tell every athlete across the globe that battling setbacks will
only make you stronger,” she said. “Never lose sight and always try
to be a better version of yourself with every passing day.”

England
cricketer Ben Stokes announced the winner of the Emerging Player of the Year
award, with Manu Bhaker receiving the honour, which was added to the
awards for the first time.

The
19-year-old became the youngest Indian to clinch the women’s 10m air pistol
gold at the Shooting World Cup in 2018.

Manu Bhaker, winner of the
Emerging Player of the Year honour, was also nominated for the main award

She also
won gold at the 2018 Youth Olympics Games and shot a Commonwealth Games record
of 240.9 points to win gold in the 10m air pistol event in the same year.

She added
a further gold medal in 2019 by claiming the 10m air pistol event at the World
Cup finals.

“It
feels like my hard work has been recognised. It feels like people know about my
hard work now,” she said while addressing the ceremony.

The five
nominees for the BBC Indian Sportswoman award were announced in February,
having been chosen by a panel of sports journalists, writers and experts.

In the
run up to the event a ‘Sports Hackathon’ was held, with the aim of adding more
information about Indian sportswomen to Wikipedia in Indian languages. The project
focused on athletes about whom there was minimal or no information available on
the online encyclopaedia.

More than
300 entries of 50 Indian sportswomen were added into the site in collaboration
with 300 journalism students in 13 universities across India.

The
season also captured inspiring stories of five Indian sportswomen who have
overcome barriers or sexism and gender inequality. The ‘Changemakers’ series
featured para-badminton player Parul Parmar, heptathlete Swapna Barman,
para-skater Priyanka Devan, former kho-kho player Sarika Kale and wrestler
Divya Kakran.