Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa faces anxious visa wait to play in Europe

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa is facing an anxious wait for his visa in order to participate in three upcoming tournaments in Europe. 

The 15-year-old from Chennai has received an invitation to play in the FIDE World Cup in Russia from July 10 and is set to leave for Russia on Friday to take part in his maiden World Cup. 

While he got his Russian visa a while ago, the issue is to do with the subsequent three tournaments: Biel GM Invitational in Switzerland (July 24-August 4), Riga Technical University Open in Latvia (August 6-16) and Ciutat de Barcelona Open in Spain (August 18-26). 

He is due to get the Schengen visa only on July 15 as things stand, which will be too late and result in Praggu missing out on the three events. His father Rameshbabu wrote to the Union Sports Ministry on Monday, following which the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has got in touch with the embassy concerned. 

“He hasn’t played an over-the-board tournament for the last one-and-a-half years. He is very keen to be playing in these tournaments. We are hopeful that he will get his visa before he leaves for Russia now that SAI is helping us,” Rameshbabu told this daily on Tuesday. 

AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said that the federation is trying its best to help the youngster after being told about the situation on Monday night. 

“The embassies are not functioning at full capacity due to Covid-19. We were informed about the issue only on Monday night. In case he is not able to get the visa before leaving for Russia, we can still try to get him the visa once he is in Russia,” he said. 

Praggu’s coach, RB Ramesh, informed that his ward had applied for the Schengen visa on June 23 and that they didn’t expect to be in such a desperate situation. Ramesh will be travelling to Russia with Praggu and has all his travel requirements in place. 

“We thought there will be sufficient time for him to get his visa. But the visa office in Chennai asked him to submit his biometrics only on Monday,” Ramesh said