Gukesh gets his trophy, revels in stardom

PTI Singapore: His eyes were expectedly burning after a sleepless night but the adrenaline kept D Gukesh going as he smiled through a plethora of engagements, including signing hundreds of autographs, before finally getting his hands on the world chess championship trophy a day after becoming its youngest owner. The 18-year-old Chennailad got the better of defending champion Ding Liren of China on Thursday for the historic triumph that made him the 18th overall and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the crown that came with a whooping prize of USD 1.3 million.

The morning after began with getting a glimpse of the trophy, which he refused to touch as he wanted to wait till the closing ceremony in the evening. He finally held it after it was presented to him by FIDE (International Chess Federation) President Arkady Dvorkovich. In his introduction, the FIDE presenters spoke of his "brilliant poise" and, "performance for the ages" that he delivered against an older and more experienced rival. "I mean this moment, it feels like I have lived it a million times. Every morning when I woke up, this moment was the reason I woke up.

To hold this trophy and this reality means more than anything else in my life," the graceful teenager said in his acceptance speech after being presented with his gold medal and the trophy that came with a USD 1.3 million reward. Before that, he sat down to meet and greet a seemingly never-ending stream of fans, both the young and old, even toddlers. Those who lined up included not just the Indian diaspora but also local Singaporeans, carrying chess boards which became priceless memorabilia after Gukesh scribbled his name on them.