Panaji, Nov 24 (IANS) India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra made a special appearance at the FIDE World Cup 2025 and made the ceremonial first move in the opening game of the final between Chinese GM Wei Yi and GM Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan here on Monday.

The 43-year-old, who bagged the 10m Air Rifle gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and gave every Indian sportsperson the belief that they can also aim for world glory, was in Goa to witness some top-quality chess action and also tried his hand at playing the sport that was invented in India by playing a couple of games with a FIDE official.

Even though Bindra retired as a player after the 2016 Rio Olympics, his dedication to sporting excellence has led to the formation of the Abhinav Bindra Foundation, which identifies and nurtures the country’s future sports stars with a focus on implementing Global Best Practices of sports science in the country.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the FIDE World Cup here, the former world champion expressed happiness that chess fans got an opportunity to watch so many top players in action thanks to AICF and FIDE’s decision to host the World Cup in the country after a gap of 23 years.

Bindra also expressed the possibility of supporting the development of chess in the future, “I am quite sure that chess is just not played sitting down. It requires a bit of physical preparation. You can see a lot of people who require self-discipline, physically and mentally. Both of them are very resilient. So, if they react more to the sport itself, I would be happy to help them if any chess brands are interested in it.”

Later, Chinese GM Wei Yi played another solid game with black pieces to hold GM Javokhir Sindarov to a draw in the opening game of the FIDE World Cup 2025 final, while GM Andrey Esipenko defeated GM Nodirbek Yakubboev in the third-place match.

–IANS

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