The finalists for Kerala's biggest sports award, instituted by Malayala Manorama in association with Santa Monica Study Abroad Private Ltd, have been announced.
The three final contenders for the Manorama Sports Star 2019 Award are: Nihal Sarin (chess), Chitharesh Natesan (bodybuilding), and Anish P Rajan (disability cricket). The winner will be determined via online/SMS voting.
The sportsperson with the maximum number of votes will receive the Manorama Sports Star 2019 award and a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh. The second and third prize winners will be awarded trophies and a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively.
Starting today, we will profile each of the three nominees to help readers make their pick. Let’s begin with chess prodigy Nihal, who has had an exceptional 2019.
Eventful year
2019 was a great year for teen sensation Nihal Sarin. In June, he became the world's third youngest player to cross 2,600 Elo points on FIDE's rating list, accomplishing this feat at the age of 14 from the TePe Sigeman & Co International tournament in Sweden. He also became India's youngest ever to reach the milestone, beating the record set by Parimarjan Negi in 2009 as a 15-year-old.
The teenager, who is the 12th youngest Grandmaster in chess history, also had a dream run at the blitz event in the Asian Continental Chess Championship at Xingtai, China. In the high-profile event, in which 20 Grandmasters from across the continent took part, Nihal stood on top without losing a single game. He scored 8/9 and finished a full point ahead of Vietnam's Le Quang LiemLiem, the main event winner.
Though he could not go beyond second round at the Chess World Cup 2019 that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from September 9 to October 4, Nihal scored an incredible win over top-rated Azerbaijani Eltaj Safarali in 37 moves. World champion Magnus Carlsen, commentating on a popular chess site, reportedly called it a 'perfect game'. Nihal was also only the second Indian GM to score a win in the first game of round two, the other being Pentala Harikrishna.
In November, Nihal pulled off a surprising 2-2 draw against former world champion Anatoly Karpov in a four-game rapid and blitz challenge exhibition match at Cap d’Agde, France.
The 53rd Grandmaster of India, the Thrissur-born youngster turned heads when he gave former world No. 2 Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine a run for his money in a battle of generations in the semifinal of the Leon Masters 2019.
Wins over Iranian Grandmaster and former junior world champion Parham Maghsoodloo and Chinese Grandmaster and four-time women's world champion Hou Yifan were also among his major achievements in 2019.
The elder son of dermatologist Sarin Abdulsalam and psychiatrist Shijin, the 16-year-old is a Plus One student of Devamatha CMI Public School, Thrissur.
Format to vote:
A. Nihal Sarin: MSA<space>A
B. Anish P Rajan: MSA<space>B
C. Chitharesh Natesan: MSA<space>C
The SMS should be sent to 56767123 (charges applicable) in the prescribed format. For example, if your pick is the first person on the list, the format should be MSA<space>A.
For online voting, log on to www.manoramaonline.com/sportsawards
