New India Assurance award for Sports Editor

THE MEDIA has come in for high praise for their reporting of chess in Trinidad and Tobago.

Delivering the kudos was Srinivasan Gopalan, managing director of New India Assurance Company who has been in the forefront of sponsorship for the sport since his posting here over 18 months ago. The Madras, India native singled out Sports Editor of Newsday, Zaid Mohammed, for blazing a trail during the past year in his treatment and presentation of the sport in the pages of the leading daily tabloid newspaper. And because of the consistent and high quality journalism, Mohammed was presented with a media award when the Trinidad and Tobago Chess Association presented their annual prizes on Saturday at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

Gopalan, a keen chessist, stressed that the media can play a vital role in spreading the gospel of chess with special emphasis on the young junior enthusiasts. “When we concentrate on the young players they grow up into senior champions. At the junior level, the game can be used to combat the problems of crime, deliquency and violence,” Gopalan said. He said the award for Mohammed was made by a select committee which also included Raoul John, a top chessist who is a former Chamber of Commerce president. John is also a member of the Elections and Boundaries Commission.