Ivana attends Anand's felicitation

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado,
her father Eli Furtado and GSCA President
Sameer A. Salgaocar attended World Champion
Viswanathan Anand's felicitation at Chennai.
On this occasion, Anand was presented a cheque
of Rupees Ten lakhs by the AICF President
N. Srinivasan in the presence of Asian President
Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, AICF
Secretary D.V. Sundar and cricketing legend
and former Indian captain Rahul Dravid.

During the function, Ivana was asked to present
a bouquet to the World Champion. The crowd broke
out into a spontaneous rapture as India's youngest
champion and the senior most champion came
face to face on the stage. Ivana also described
this moment as 'absolutely thrilling' and her father
Eli said that she was simply 'overwhelmed'.

'When I see these young kids (including Ivana)
I can see in their eyes what Anand means to them'
stated Dravid. 'He has been an inspiration to all of us.
I’d also like to congratulate his family,” he added.

Ivana also got some time to spend with her idol
and Super Grandmaster Koneru Humpy before
the function. Her coach Dronacharya Awardee
Raghunandan Gokhale also flew down from Mumbai
for this momentuous occasion.

Ivana later presented a resolution passed by
Goa State Chess Association commending Anand’s feats.
She also invited both Aruna and Vishy Anand to visit
Goa when they have some free time to which she received
a positive answer from Aruna.

GSCA President Salgaocar gave the credit to AICF
Secretary D.V. Sundar for having initiated the novel scheme
of having all of India's chess champions visit Chennai
for participating in Anand's moment of glory. 'When Ivana
went up on the stage, Goan chess had a moment that
will be indelibly imprinted on our minds', he later mentioned.