To be brutally honest, it is indeed very difficult for a sport other than a major sports like cricket or football to find it's footing in India. In the past, many non-cricketing sportspeople have faced problems due to lack of money alloted to their sport but sadly, this time the pressure of lack of funds told on chess wonderkid Shahil Dey, forcing him to opt out of the Asian Championship scheduled to start from March 31 in Uzbekistan.
Sanjay Dey, Shahil's father had said that a total money of ₹ 1.7 1akhs would be required for the entire trip, which was not within their financial capabilities. In a press release he had said,
“I have already sent letters to the office of our Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare Department but till date didn’t get any kind of response. Hence I have sent letter to the All India Chess Federation and informed them that Sahil, who is now second in national rankings (Under-9), will not be the part of this competition.”
However Sanjay Dey revealed the fact that Shahil was the national champion last year and the government was sponsoring him. But his problems lay somewhere else.
" Yes the government is sponsoring Shahil as he was the national champion last year but the problem is in the fact that the government will only sponsor Shahil and no one else who is accompanying him. Since he is a child right now, so someone has to accompany him and I find it difficult alone to match up to the financial requirements. "
Sports like chess aren't that popular and "trendy" in India because of many flaws. One of them surely is the fact that the government turns a blind eye to such sports and does not look into their matters. Even Sanjay Dey is aware of this fact and couldn't stop a chuckle out of his mouth when asked about whether the government( Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare Department ) replied to his letter or not. He said "They (the government) didn't bother to reply back. And so I had written to the AICF, for informing them that Shahil wouldn't take part in the tournament due to financial problems. They too didn't give any reply."
Sanjay Dey, who works in the sales department of a private company is the only breadwinner in the family and quite rightly so it is difficult for him to bear such high costs whenever Shahil gets a chance to showcase his talent abroad.
" I am feeling really bad for him because for the last two-three times, I had gathered the money myself but this time it is impossible for me to pay such an amount."
But he has full faith in his son's talent, so much so that he said, " I know that if he would have gone, then he would have surely got a medal. But this time, it is impossible for me to pay this amount and hence he would have to miss out."
Shahil Dey is a wonderkid in chess for a reason. After learning to play the game at the age of five, he has shown a lot of maturity to go up the ranks at a good pace as in such a short span of time he has already been crowned the national champion twice in his four-year career. He is nine years old now.
Says his father, " He has won the U-5 Asian School Championship, got the silver medal in the U-7 category in Asian games, got the gold medal in the Commonwealth games in the U-8 category, won the bronze medal in the U-10 category of the Asian championships and in 2015, he was named as the tenth best chess player in the world among kids of his age."
For a fact, he is the second-ranked player in India and has a remarkable rating of 1774.
Quite an achievement that for a nine-year old.
But his father still regrets the fact that he would have to miss out to due to lack of funds. "The only problem is with the lack of funds" says Sanjay.
Shahil for that matter would represent India in the U-10 category Youth Chess Championship in Brazil which is slated to be held in August. Looking forward into the future, Sanjay Dey says, " I am saving for that tournament as a result of which I cannot pay for this one. That is a big tournament no doubt and I have to pay for that anyhow."
On asked how would he like to see his son in the future, he said, " I will make my son a grand master in the next three to four years."
And his plans are also set accordingly.
He stresses on the need to improve the ratings in order to do perform better in these international tournaments and for that he is leaving no stone unturned. He says, " To improve his ratings, we have appointed a local coach from Guhawati. We also have appointed a coach from Kolkata as well."
On the money spent behind the coaching of Shahil, he says, " We are paying 2.5- 3 lakhs per year behind the coaches. Although it is difficult but we still have to do it."
He also suggests that the government could sponsor this coaching by giving an amount of ₹1,00000 or ₹2,00000 every year.
On his further plans of procuring sponsors, he said that he isn't giving up and that he would look up to the private sector companies who often sponsor children for various reasons as a part of their CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) programs.
His words exuded hope when he said, " I am not letting it go. I will try to gather sponsorship from the private sector companies who often do CSR programs."
It was just back in 2015, when the chess prodigy fetched a gold medal in the U-8 category at the Commonwealth games. Nothing but an evergreen financial problem for sportspeople other than cricket has formed a major hurdle in his path at such an early stage of what has been a very promising career so far. His father's words although ushers in that hope and faith that somehow things would work out and fall into place at the end, people like Bharat Singh who say, " The AICF cannot help him. His father has to write to the Government of India for help" reminds us of the dark reality that exists, for sports like chess and sportspeople like Shahil Dey.
