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Gukesh Bungee Jumps, Gets Hero's Welcome Back In India
Gukesh Dommaraju fulfilled his promise to bungee jump, while Ding Liren is welcomed home. Images: Gukesh's Twitter/Chinese Chess Association.

Gukesh Bungee Jumps, Gets Hero's Welcome Back In India

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
Staff
| 67 | Chess Players

Before leaving Singapore, new World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju fulfilled his promise to bungee jump, but in terms of danger it seemed like nothing compared to the crush that greeted him in the airport when he arrived home a hero in Chennai, India. GM Ding Liren had a much calmer homecoming back in Hangzhou, China, where those welcoming him home included newly-crowned Girls U8 World Champion Chen Zhihan. 

Gukesh Bungee Jumps—A Promise Is A Promise!

At the post-match press conference Gukesh, perhaps to the dismay of his coach GM Grzegorz Gajewski, told a story about a promise they made on one of the rest days. 

On the penultimate rest day, we went for a walk on the beach and we looked at this... I’m personally quite scared of heights, we both looked at the people who were trying bungee jumping, and Gaju said, if you win this thing, I’m going to do bungee jumping! And then I don’t know why I said this, but I said I’ll also join you, so now… probably also Paddy [Upton] can join. Looking forward to jumping off a bridge!

And so, before leaving Singapore, there was a visit to the Skypark Sentosa, and Gukesh climbed 47 meters into the air above the beach. How was he feeling? "Scared!" 

But it didn't stop him:

GM Magnus Carlsen getting thrown in a swimming pool in Chennai after winning the world championship in 2013 no longer looks so impressive!  

Gukesh Arrives In Chennai

A car fit for the new king of chess. Photo: Chess.com India.

In terms of danger, however, it feels as though bungee jumping came nowhere close to the peril of navigating the wild crowd of fans and media that greeted Gukesh on his return to India. He'd already had a hero's welcome in Chennai after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament, but this was another level.

"I’m very glad to be here and I could see the support and what it means to India!" Gukesh managed to say amid the airport crowd. Asked for a message to his fans, he added: "You guys are amazing! You gave me so much energy."

It was no easy task to leave the airport.

ChessBase India caught the whole path from emerging from arrivals to reaching the car.

Gukesh also gave a press conference at his school.

He largely spoke in Tamil but with sections in English. He repeated that this is only the beginning. 

My target has always been to become the best player in the world and when I was a kid, world champion is a very important step towards the dream, but still, it’s clear there are a lot of strong players and I still have a lot of improvement to do, and players like Magnus, they keep motivating me to work harder. Although this is a big achievement and I know it comes at a very young age, I think it’s still a very, very long way to go, and my goal is to keep enjoying chess and to have a very long career and hopefully one day to become the best player. 

My target has always been to become the best player in the world. 

—Gukesh Dommaraju

For the next couple of weeks, the challenge for Gukesh may simply be to adapt to his new celebrity status.

Ding Liren Arrives In Hangzhou

Meanwhile in China, Ding had a much more modest homecoming as he arrived at Hangzhou Airport. 

He was welcomed warmly, however, and one of those who met him is a champion herself. Chen Zhihan last month scored 9.5/11 to win the World Under-8 Girls Championship in Italy by a full point. 

For Chen Zhihan, simply lifting the trophy was a challenge! Photo: FIDE.

Is she a future successor to GM Ju Wenjun as the women's world champion or to Ding as overall world champion? We'll see, but for now it was a heartwarming moment after a difficult few weeks for Ding.

Chen Zhihan gives Ding Liren flowers on his arrival back to China. Photo: Chinese Chess Association.

We'll keep an eye especially on Gukesh's appearances after his return to India, but now the attention of the chess world will switch to Oslo, Norway, where GMs Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja head the field for the Champions Chess Tour Finals, starting Tuesday, December 17.  

Previous world championship coverage:

Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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