MUMBAI: In it, he would meet Gukesh Dommaraju shortly after the Indian Grandmaster won the World Chess Championship title. They would embrace, and Upton would tell him, "You deserve this."
"It was uncanny that the movie I played in my head played out exactly in real life as I'd imagined," Upton tells HT over the phone, reflecting on his first-ever meeting with Gukesh, who beat China's Ding Liren to become world champion last week.
Upton, a renowned mental coach from South Africa, has had a long history of helping Indians on their journey to success. He worked with the Indian men's cricket team that won the 2011 ICC World Cup, as well as the men's hockey team that won bronze at the Paris Olympics in September.
He now has a fresh success story to share - that of being part of 18-year-old Gukesh's team. Excerpts:
How have the last six months been for you working with Gukesh?
Gukesh was an absolute pleasure to work with. He had remarkable self-awareness and ability to reflect on his thinking and he would arrive with great questions. He was so receptive to different ideas and new thinking, but he still had the maturity to discern what was relevant for him and what wasn't.
Gukesh comes across as a mature and measured person. Do you feel that sometimes he needs to perhaps act his age, be a teen once in a while?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 21, 2024 من Hindustan Times Punjab.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 21, 2024 من Hindustan Times Punjab.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Utterly butterly delicious
Celebrity chefs love butter. This is true whether it is Julia Child, Alice Waters or Anthony Bourdain.
Pausing internal chatter
Namita Gokhale's Never Never Land, a novel set in Kumaon, encourages forgiveness and a letting go of long-held notions.
Of pilgrims, time tombs and Shrikes
My standout book of 2024 is the gorgeous Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
BFI sticks to evaluation system to select teams
Indian teams will continue to be selected through the evaluation process at the national camp, with selection trials being held only in 'certain circumstances' at the discretion of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), as per the draft selection policy announced for the new season.
The importance of being an enlightened citizen
When I was asked to recommend a book for 2024, a lot of things were going through my mind: the ongoing war in Palestine, the recent blow to queer rights in India, the unrest in Congo, farmers' protests, and more.
We had to hide him, he's his own enemy: MCA on Shaw snub
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has brushed aside Prithvi Shaw's emotional outburst after his exclusion from the Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, asserting that the temperamental batter has flouted disciplinary norms regularly and is \"his own enemy\".
Australia make their move, will India also follow suit?
Three Tests down, two to go. And that is the score that the team management from both sides will be key to tracking.
'Idea was to prepare Gukesh so that there would be no surprises'
Paddy Upton described a scenario he played \"over a hundred times\" in his head as he flew from South Africa to Singapore.
Following Manu, Suruchi claims hat-trick of gold
Manu Bhaker's achievements at the Paris Olympics are serving as an inspiration for young shooters.
Mkts snap 4-week rally as Fed rate outlook hurts
Indian shares plunged on Friday, with the benchmarks logging their first weekly decline in five weeks, as sentiment soured after the Federal Reserve projected fewer rate cuts next year, spurring an exodus of foreign funds.
