India's sporting culture getting stronger: Modi

Indians are zealously taking to sports as a mix of energetic youth and enabling environment is brightening the country's prospects across major sporting events, as borne out in the recent wins in the Olympics and others, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the opening ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai.

"Our talented youngsters from small towns and villages are bringing glory to the country. It is heartening to see women at the lead in India's sporting revolution," the Prime Minister said.

The 44th Chess Olympiad took off in Chennai on Thursday. It was the first time for the event to be held in Asia in three decades, and a first for India. After the International Chess Federation decided to change the venue from Russia, India had emerged as the host country. Soon after winning the hosting rights, the Tamil Nadu Government allotted ₹102 crore for the event, chief minister MK Stalin said at the inaugural speech.


Prime Minister Modi said the event had many firsts, including the highest number of countries, teams, and women entrants.

Chief Minister MK Stalin said the state government set up 18 sub-committees to oversee arrangements, and managed to pull it off in four months. "Tamil Nadu's tourism and sports are bound to jump several notches because of the Olympiad Chess event," he said, adding that Tamil Nadu was a natural choice for the chess tournament, given that 36% of the Indian grandmasters hail from Tamil Nadu.

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur said the Chess Olympiad torch covered 27,277 km across the nation, garnering support from fans and passing through locations include Red Fort in Delhi, Statue Of Unity in Gujarat, and iconic locations in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Tirupati, and finally reaching the 75th and final destination Mahabalipuram in Chennai.

Over 2,000 participants from 187 participating countries have landed in Chennai for the tournament.