Paes, Bhupathi should not have washed their dirty linen in public: Anand

Chess world champion Viswanathan Anand on Thursday said that Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi should have sorted out their issues much ahead of the Olympics instead of washing their dirty linen in public just ahead of the London Games, says a report in The Times Of India.

Terming the bitter tennis selection row an unpleasant episode, the five-time chess world champion said, "They should have made some efforts to finish this much earlier and not bring it up in public when there's a deadline to submit the teams.

"They have disagreements and that's normal in a sport. But they should have done it much ahead and done it quietly when there's time. It's unpleasant," Anand said.

Meanwhile a report in Indian Express says, Viswanathan Anand always chose to be modest in victory. If a former player (read Gary Kasparov) tries to put him under the scanner, the very affable world champion will retort. But even then he will not lose his dignity.

Some former players had spoken about how difficult it would be for Anand to retain his crown prior to and during his world championship match against Boris Gelfand in Moscow. As the match meandered to a tie-breaker, the critics sharpened their knives. But Anand had the last laugh.

By winning the world title for a record five times, the 42-year-old from Chennai proved that for talent like his, age is just a number. “I was not thinking about my age. If you love the game and enjoy it, you can play even at 42. As for the critics, generally it’s not my duty to answer them. I wanted to win against Boris and I was happy to win the title. So, the best is not to pay any attention to the critics,” said Anand in Kolkata on Thursday.

According to a report in The Times Of India, Viswanathan Anand said he was not interested in thinking who would win the next title but believed that he would do it again. "I hope it's me. After me, me... what can I say... I am not trying not to think of who is coming next. Because, I am not interested," the chess wizard said when asked who would be the next world champion.

Anand said that he does not believe in numbers when asked if he was looking to emulate Russian legend Garry Kasparov's feat of six titles. "I only think one championship ahead. I don't think about numbers. This time I was only playing against (Boris) Gelfand, I was not thinking about the fifth (title) or something."