Levon Aronian ranked highest among Candidates Matches 2011 participants

Review of April 28 – May 2 main sports events

Chess: FIDE has published the rankings of world’s 100 strongest chess players. The men’s list is topped by India’s Viswanathan Anand (2817 points), followed by Norway’s Magnus Carlsen (2815 points) and Armenia’s Levon Aronian (2808 points). Sergei Movsesian is 35th, Gabriel Sargissian is 65th and Vladimir Akopian is 71st. Among women, Elina Danielyan is 14th while Lilit Mkrtchyan is 31st. Armenia is ranked as 4th best chess playing country.

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 1st round of the Candidates Matches 2011 launched on May 5 in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian (2808) who’s ranked the highest among tournament participants will play against Russia’s Alexander Grischuk (2747) with white pieces. The other pairings for the 1st round of the Candidates Matches are: Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) - Gata Kamsky (U.S.), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) – Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Boris Gelfand (Israel)– Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan). The winner of the Candidates Matches 2011 will qualify to challenge the World Champion GM Vishy Anand in a 12-game match during the first half of 2012.

Boxing: King Arthur Abraham traveled to the U.S. after the referee row has been resolved. The former Super Six World Boxing Classic Tournament point leader is set to take on WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Andre Ward in the semi-finals at the Home Depot Center in Carson on May 14. Abraham knows that the odds are against him. “I know that many people consider Ward the favorite – probably the same who considered me the favorite to win the tournament after my first-round KO victory over Taylor. All I can say is that I am looking forward to May 14 and that everything can happen in boxing, especially when you got a lot of punching power,” he said.

After Vic Darchinyan celebrated a win over Yohnny Perez of Columbia, talks surfaced about his rematch against WBO/WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire. Last year Donaire and Darchinyan were in negotiations for a rematch. The fight fell through after it appeared to be close to being finalized. Team Darchinyan claimed that Donaire didn't want the fight and that he waited to long to sign the contract. Darchinyan signed a contract to face Joseph Agbeko instead. Donaire insists that it was Darchinyan who really didn't want the fight and just used that as an excuse. "There were still three months before the fight was going to happen. Don't give me that crap about I am taking to long to sign. The first time I fought him I signed the day of the weigh in so don't give me that, I signed too late bull crap. We still had three months. He just didn't want to fight me at that time," he said. "If he goes up against me it will be the same thing. The same story. If he goes up against me, goodnight."

Judo: Armenian youth judo team won 3 medals at World Children’s Games festival in Ankara. Karlen Ghazaryan (50kg) defeated Azerbaijan’s Emin Damirzade, winning a bronze medal for the Armenian team. Grigor Sahakyan (60kg) and Shavarsh Sahakyan (+60kg) lost their semifinal fights. Armen Davtyan (55kg) finished 5th. Earlier, Edgar Garnikyan and Gor Hakobyan won silver and bronze medals respectively.

Football: Armenian U17 team finished 7th in Kazakhstan President Cup. In the match for the 7th place, Armenia defeated Uzbekistan 2-0. The earlier match against Ukraine ended with the same score.

Gohar Nalbandyan, Hasmik Babayan / PanARMENIAN News
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