GRAND SUCCESS, MORE IN STORE

Chennai GM here to stay, organisers may expand event to other centres

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @ Chennai

HE Chennai Grand Masters event is here to stay. Those were the words of Srinath Narayanan, the GM-turned tournament director, who willed the inaugural edition out of thin air in 2023. After two more editions, in 2024 and 2025, Narayanan is a relieved man as he has put the building blocks in place for India's biggest super tournament to become a permanent place in the calendar. On Friday, Narayanan and Sreekar Channapragada, the co-founder of MGD1, the competition's organisers, fielded a few questions from select media on a number of issues pertaining to the tournament's future and player feedback from this year. Excerpts:

On how the tournament went
Srinath: We are pretty happy and pleased, and felt everything went smoothly despite last-minute challenges (one of the players withdrew with days remaining and the tournament opener was pushed back by a day after a fire broke out). From the perspective of the fans, there was an overwhelming positive feedback. I heard so many people say how much they enjoyed it and how much they would like to be back. The fans get access to players for selfies and getting autographs... I know it happens in other tournaments as well. These things worked out well.