9-year-old Chess talent Bodhana Sivanandan from England faces racism for being Indian origin
Bodhana Sivanandan is almost 15 years younger than Lan Yao, the next-youngest teammate who is 23 years old.
Bodhana Sivanandan - Tamil Guardian Twitter handle
A nine-year-old chess genius, Bodhana Sivanandan, is the talk of the town as she is set to make history as the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport. The young girl from Harrow, north-west London, will join the England Women's Team at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary later this year. She is almost 15 years younger than Lan Yao, the next-youngest teammate who is 23 years old.
While many are praising this young talent, the excitement was marred by racist comments from some people in England. They posted mean things under the BBC News post that first revealed the news. Comments ranged from "she is clearly not English" to "Why is she playing for England' to even many derogatory words on X (formerly known as Twitter).
In the past few months, racism against Indians and people of Indian origin on X has been rampant, with many posting things online just to gain reactions from Asian countrymen. Now, with the comments under the news celebrating Bodhana Sivanandan, it has not sat well with many, especially Indians who are responding to the X users, urging them to stop being mean to a child.
Many have stated that the racist comments have overpowered the good news that she is just 9 years old and is achieving so much in the field of chess.
About Bodhana Sivanandan:
According to England's chess team manager Malcolm Pein, the schoolgirl is the most amazing prodigy the sport has ever seen in Britain. However, Siva, the father of the nine-year-old, told BBC News that he and his wife are both engineering graduates and have no particular expertise in the sport, so he is perplexed as to where his daughter obtained her knack.
The youngest person to achieve grandmaster status is Abhimanyu Mishra of the US; he did so in 2021 at the age of twelve. Bodhana, however, is eager to emphasize that she plans to win the championship one year before she completes elementary school—at the early age of ten.
Updated: July 05, 2024 01:05 PM IST
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