The Patriotic Thread

[Joseph]

David Nalbandian

RTE SPORT
Nalbandian through to semi-finals
Tuesday, 06 June 2006 6:58


David Nalbandian is through to the semi-finals of the French Open

David Nalbandian, the third seed from Argentina, ousted sixth seed Nikolay
Davydenko in four sets to progress to the French Open semi-finals for the
second time in three years.

Nalbandian, 24, who reached the last four at Roland Garros in 2004 only to
be beaten by Gaston Gaudio, overcame his Russian rival 6-3 6-3 2-6 6-4.

After winning the first two sets, Nalbandian suffered a lapse in form in the
third, with Davydenko raising his game to narrow the deficit.


In the fourth set, however, Nalbandian broke his opponent in the fifth game
to take a 3-2 lead and held serve thereafter to seal victory.

Nalbandian won the Masters Series event in Shanghai in 2005 after defeating
world number one Roger Federer, who he will now face in the last four at
Roland Garos.

[Joseph]

I will never look at my chess set the same way again...

Seriously! Hot chicks, fights, damn! Never knew chess could be this exciting.

[Hovik]

Britain



The Times June 06, 2006



By Rajeev Syal and Raymond Keene

Battle of the chess grandmasters as leading England player 'attacks' rival over dancefloor move



Arianna Caoili, Australia No 3 - described as the Anna Kournikova of chess

FOR one British grandmaster, his rival had made a move too far. Danny Gormally, one of Britain’s leading chess players, allegedly attacked the world No 3 at an international tournament for dancing with a beautiful Australian player.
Levon Aronian, leading light of the Armenian chess scene, was apparently punched and shoved, and ended up on the floor during a party at the recent Chess Olympiad in Turin.

He had been spotted jiving with Arianne Caoili, 19, an Australian grandmaster known as the Anna Kournikova of the chess world. Mr Gormally was known by team-mates to be fond of her.



But the next day, after the England captain apologised to the Armenian team, the repercussions continued. When Mr Gormally went out for a coffee with friends, he was attacked by a group of young Armenian players seemingly bent on revenge for their star player.

The unseemly events are expected to lead to an urgent inquiry by the English Chess Federation into Mr Gormally’s behaviour. He was advised to leave the tournament early to avoid further confrontation.

Allan Beardsworth, the England captain, said that drink appeared to play a part. “Danny seems to have punched Aronian for innocently dancing with a girl that he liked. The following day, there was a retaliatory incident. It is a shame, and something that we will have to look into properly,” he said.

The Olympiad is held every two years between 150 international teams and brings together the world’s best players. While the tournament went badly for Mr Gormally and the England team, the Armenians eventually won.

The party was held four days ago at a nightclub called “Hiroshima Mon Amour”. Mr Gormally, 30, from Durham, spotted Ms Caoili, with whom he had struck up an e-mail relationship, according to colleagues. They are also known to have met in London.

Ms Caoili, a child prodigy of Filipino descent who has ambitions of becoming a professional singer, was dancing “energetically” with Mr Aronian. She is ranked No 3 in Australia. Mr Aronian, 23, often referred to as a future world champion, is adored in his country where chess is the national sport.

For Mr Gormally, the sight of the pair dancing was apparently too much — but his actions were unjustified, according to Mr Beardsworth. “I have spoken to several people who were there, and there is no doubt that Danny was in the wrong. Aronian is a lovely guy and at the very peak of his national sport. I have been told that he is treated like David Beckham at home,” he said.

The England team’s management was informed of the incident and held an impromptu meeting. By 11am the next day, it had apologised to the Armenian team leader, who also happens to be the country’s defence minister. There is no suggestion of any criminal inquiry.

Mr Gormally was informed, and hoped that the incident was over. However, when he went out with friends for a coffee, he was spotted by young chess players from Armenia. “They set upon Danny — he was hit several times. Luckily, one of the team-mates with Danny could speak Russian and managed to calm them down,” Mr Beardsworth said.

Denis Jessop, president of the Australian Chess Federation, said that he may launch his own inquiry. “I have heard that an incident took place and that Aronian was thumped and that it was over Arianne.

“I am not surprised at anything that chess players do. It is not the first time that there’s been an argument at a chess tournament and people have hit each other,” he said.

Mr Gormally, 30, a professional player, declined to comment from his home, where he lives with his parents. On asked why he had been sent home, he replied: “It’s personal. It’s nothing to do with you.”

I'm confused
Was Serji there?

[Hovik]

Seriously! Hot chicks, fights, damn! Never knew chess could be this exciting.

No kidding, I wonder if our Armenian team can get her in the draft Don't we have first pick this year ?

[Gavur]

Nkr President Congratulated Ra Chess Players On Victory In World Olympiad

Nagorno Karabakh Republic /NKR/

President Arkady Ghoukasyan sent a congratulation message to RA Chess Federation President, DM Serge Sargsyan on the victory scored by the RA men’s team in the 37th World Olympiad in Turin.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the Nagorno Karabakh President’s Press Service, the message runs, in part, “the victory of the men’s team on the Italian land showed the world the high level of the national chess school, resuming the traditions of glorious victories founded by unforgettable Tigran Petrosyan”. “Besides, our chess players’ victory at the international level has exhibited our nation’s unfailing mental capacity, staunchness and belief in its strength. The victory in Turin will become a powerful impetus for the chess’s development in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as for the growth of new talented chess players”, the message says.

In conclusion, Arkady Ghoukasyan invited the chess players to visit Artsakh.

[Gavur]

DARCHINYAN KOS MEXICAN TO RETAIN TITLE
Grantlee Kieza

Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
June 5 2006

VIC Darchinyan is a little man with a huge punch and yesterday
Australia's world flyweight champion showed it on the world stage,
knocking out previously unbeaten Mexican Luis Maldonado in Las Vegas.

Australia's best fighter stunned the crowd at the Thomas and Mack
Centre, trading heavy shots with the rugged Mexican before finally
overwhelming him in the eighth round to retain his IBF flyweight title.

When referee Joe Cortez rescued Maldonado from Darchinyan's relentless
onslaught it was the Mexican fighter's first loss in 35 starts.

The undefeated Darchinyan scored his 26th win and his 21st KO. All
five of his world title bouts have ended inside the distance and he
looks a good chance to emulate his friend Kostya Tszyu in unifying
all the world titles in his 51kg weight division.

Both fighters promised fireworks and both delivered, trading heavy
shots in the opening three rounds until Maldonado was cut above the
right eye in round four.

Darchinyan, a Sydney Olympian, dropped the Mexican in round six and
although Maldonado bravely fought back, he was taking a beating when
the referee intervened midway through round eight.

The bout was scheduled as the main supporting bout to the third war
between lightweight stars Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. But
after Castillo failed to make the weight for the bout, Darchinyan's
title defence was elevated to the main event on a huge pay per view
card throughout the world.

"It was a great chance to show the world my power," Darchinyan said.

"I put on a good show and hopefully this win against a very good
Mexican opponent will give me more fans. I hope my supporters in
Australia liked what they saw because I have many more world titles
to win.

"I feel I can beat the champions now in three more weight classes
all the way up to super-bantamweight if I have to."

Darchinyan's trainer Jeff Fenech implored Australian boxing fans to
support the Armenian-born southpaw who has much more success attracting
fans overseas.

"We just saw 30,000 people turn up to see Anthony Mundine-Danny Green
in a non-title fight that no one outside Australia could care less
about," Fenech said.

"Vic Darchinyan is an outstanding, undefeated world champion who has
crushed everyone put before him. He deserves to get recognition as
a global boxing star."

[Joseph]

David Nalbandian

Federer, Nalbandian Book Meeting at French Open

Posted on June*07,*2006
World No. 1 Roger Federer beat a fatigued Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday in the quarterfinals at the French Open, putting him just two wins away from attaining the lone Slam title that has eluded him.

Ancic, coming off a long five-setter in his previous match, also complained of dizziness during the contest.
Federer will next face his nemesis, No. 3 seed David Nalbandian who dismissed Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Federer trails Nalbandian 5-6 in their career meetings, and barely edged the Argentine in a third-set tiebreak in their most recent contest on clay a few weeks back at Rome. Nalbandian also snapped Federer's 24-match winning streak in finals at the end of 2005 with a win at the Masters Cup.
The Ancic defeat was also Federer's 26th consecutive Slam match win, second on the Open Era list behind Rod Laver's 29 in 1969-70.
"It's definitely going to help," said Federer of his easy road to the semis as compared to some of his opponents. "You saw it I think a little bit today with Mario. Can sometimes cost you like a tournament or a match if you play a very tough one, then you come out and you can't really feel like you maybe have to shorten the points and stuff and you have to change your tactics because of fatigue. That's the worst. I feel like I can back up tough matches now. I got two days now, so I guess fitness won't play a factor any more now."
Federer added that he is also a better player than the Roger Federer from 2005 on clay.
"My physical form is quite similar compared to last year but I think my game is better this year," Federer said. "I also have more experience as I have played more games on clay. This is also the second consecutive time I have reached the semifinal so I have a better feeling about it. I would say that I have progressed as a whole and I have also found solutions that allow me to make things better on clay."
On court Wednesday in quarterfinal play are (2) Nadal vs. Djokovic (first meeting), and (4) Ljubicic vs. Benneteau (tied 1-1).

[Joseph]

Andranik Teymourian

TEYMOURIAN STANDS OUT FOR IRAN

Globe and Mail, Canada
June 14 2006

Friedrichshafen, Germany - Many soccer players have a habit of
routinely crossing themselves as they emerge onto the field for a
World Cup match.

But Anderanik Teymourian is different.

His simple gesture has amazed television viewers around the world
because Teymourian plays on the national team of Iran, one of most
thoroughly Islamic nations in the world.

Teymourian is a member of Iran's tiny Armenian minority, part of
an Orthodox Christian presence dating back to biblical times. About
200,000 Armenians currently live in Iran, mostly in Tehran and other
towns of the northwest.

Although Iran is an Islamic theocratic state, Christianity and other
non-Muslim religions are not banned as in other strictly fundamentalist
states such as Saudi Arabia.

"I'm the first Christian Iranian player in the World Cup since 1978,"
Teymourian said.

The last non-Muslim player on the national team was defender Andranik
Eskandarian in 1978. He now lives in the United States.

The gangly, 22-year old midfielder, who is seen as one of the great
hopes of Iranian soccer, plays for the Aboo Muslim club from Tehran.

He also has played for Iran at every youth level so far before being
drafted to the national squad by coach Branko Ivankovic.

"He is a wonderful player. Very serious, very committed, I can rely
on him to fulfil any task," Ivankovic said. "He will definitely play
a big role on the national team for many years to come."

Teymourian says he gets along very well with his teammates, and that
religious differences don't affect their relations on the field or
on a personal level.

"I am very happy that as a Christian I am playing for a Muslim team,"
he said. "I will put all my abilities at the disposal of the nation
and the team."

He said that normally he regularly attends church in Tehran.

"But it's been impossible to get out of the camp in Germany because
of security, so I haven't been able to do so here."

[Joseph]

Alecko Eskandarian

Fiery Player, Simmering Conscience
Eskandarian's Passion Extends to His Heritage
By Mike Wise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page E01

On the morning of April 24, Alecko Eskandarian finished practice with D.C. United, jumped into his sport-utility vehicle and showered quickly at his Georgetown apartment. He got back in his car and made it just in time for an event that had nothing to do with a photo-op or fan appreciation day.

Unbeknownst to many of his teammates, Eskandarian joined more than 1,000 Armenian-Americans in front of the Turkish Embassy. The demonstrators were trying to persuade the Turkish government, as they do every April 24, to recognize what is known as a forgotten genocide, carried out from 1915 to 1920. Later, the protesters marched to the Capitol.


"It's a matter of justice. It's a matter of admitting a fact," Alecko Eskandarian said of efforts to raise awareness about Armenian genocide.

"I wouldn't say I'm activist or anything like that, but it's something I believe in," Eskandarian said. "I don't think it's political. I just think it's a matter of justice. It's a matter of admitting a fact. There's a lot of people out there who have lost 1.5 million family members and they have no closure to that."

A 23-year-old professional athlete with a social conscience. What gives?

"Someone mentioned my name on TV at some point," said Eskandarian, pausing over lunch last week. "I was like, 'That's kinda weird, man.' I expected it to be on ESPN. But not C-SPAN, you know?"

Eskandarian is United's second-leading scorer through nine games. He is a compact, free-radical striker with four goals, two assists and one compelling comeback tale.

He suffered a frightening concussion last June at RFK Stadium and after missing 10 months and any shot at playing for the U.S. national team in this summer's World Cup, he scored a theatrical goal in United's season opener on April 2. The whole scenario was typical of Eskandarian's existence, which does not include much middle ground.

"The kid's life is like 'The Truman Show,' " United midfielder Josh Gros said. "Everything he does is dramatic. And I don't know what it is, but he always seems to find the pot of gold."

Like? "Like he kept talking about this band he loves, System of a Down," Gros said, referring to the alternative metal band whose four members are of Armenian ancestry and whose music espouses social and political views related to the genocide. "So he shows up at the embassy that day and there they are. He ends up hanging with System of a Down the whole day."

Said Eskandarian, "Very cool."

"He also meets Playboy models all the time," Gros said. "I have no idea where he meets them, but he does. He goes to a Wizards game once and ended up getting auctioned off for a date on Singles Night. The guy is unbelievable."

"Oh, and remember the Red Bull thing?" Gros added
skandarian was fined $250 for spitting out a swig of Red Bull after scoring a goal against New York on April 23. Red Bull was invented by the Austrian beverage company that purchased the New York/New Jersey MetroStars and changed their name to Red Bulls. "So, a local company takes up a collection and ends up giving him $275," Gros said. "Then one of our fan clubs donated another $250 toward a charity in his name. Alecko makes money when he gets fined."

Said Eskandarian, "Stuff happens to me that doesn't happen to normal people."


Eskandarian is essentially 5 feet 9 inches and 168 pounds of hyperactivity. His hunched-back shoulders give him the appearance of a middle linebacker, but overall, he's more boyish than brutish.

That includes his thick black hair, which is cropped close to his head and protruding ears. It just sits there, still and meticulous.

Eskandarian's olive complexion and roundish brown eyes give him that 23-going-on-16 appeal. Some friends say he looks like Jason Biggs, the lead actor in "American Pie." "I don't know what they were thinking," Eskandarian said. "I'm nothing like that dude."

Indeed, Eskandarian's soft exterior belies his hard Armenian roots. His father is Andranik Eskandarian, a hellion defender who played in the 1978 World Cup for Iran and for the New York Cosmos from 1979 to 1984.

"Myself, always I play tough," Andranik, 54, said by telephone from Hackensack, N.J., where he has owned and operated two sporting goods stores since the 1980s. "I was a small defender, but I also challenge the bigger players. I only weigh 155 pounds then, but I would beat 200-pound people. Ninety-nine percent of time, I win."

Early on, father taught son two lessons: 1) Be aggressive, not dirty, and 2) punish the defenders who punish you.

"At a young age, he taught me I could stay on the field if I wasn't just playing offense," Alecko said. "He was a defender, and he told me defenders hate to get hit by forwards. He was right. Plus, I found out: it's fun to hit defenders."

Alecko's blood runs somewhere between hot and molten. He has accumulated 15 yellow cards in three-plus years of professional soccer. In 2004 he tied for the league lead in cautions with eight, which is little freakish for a scoring forward.

"Sometimes you're like, 'Esky, chill out,' " Gros said. "But it works for him. [A] lot of times he's over the top in practice. He'll punt the ball, say some words. But everybody knows, 'It's Alecko.' So we just let him cool off and it'll be all right."

Said Eskandarian, "I make decisions with my heart and not my head sometimes."
Eskandarian's lone ejection came his rookie year, when an assistant coach who is no longer with the team pulled him aside before a match went into overtime and said: "I don't care if you break someone's leg, I don't want any free service from their defenders to their forwards. I don't care if you get a red card."

Said Eskandarian: "I was so livid, I felt like I was being used. So I went in aggressively on a tackle the first chance I got and was kicked out. He ran over and said, 'What the hell are you doing?' I said, 'I'm doing exactly what you told me to do,' and I walked off."


In his own moral universe, Esky showed them.

He always sees more black and white than gray. For example, he can't understand why New England goalkeeper Matt Reis never personally apologized for his role in the injury.

Eskandarian had been named most valuable player of the MLS Cup in 2004, and 2005 was expected to be his coming-out party. But in a violent collision last June 18, Reis went right through him, leaving Eskandarian out cold.

After more than seven months of waking up with intense migraine headaches, after an early misdiagnosis and multiple neurology tests -- concerned that one doctor might tell him his career was over -- Eskandarian finally returned.

"To put your knee into someone's skull at full speed and to just walk away after you knock someone out, you got to be a cold soul," Eskandarian said. "I hate to say it, but he's dead to me. "

Reached through a team spokesman in the preseason, Reis said he did not intend to injure Eskandarian on the play.

The Turkish government also is on Eskandarian's list. Turkey considers the Armenian deaths near the beginning of the last century a consequence of World War I, with severe casualties on both sides, while Armenians -- and many historians -- say the deaths constitute genocide.

Eskandarian says he understands why any nation would not want to be compared with Nazi Germany. But he cannot grasp why Turkey won't admit the atrocities after almost a century, how the Ottoman Empire deported, abducted, starved and massacred his people. "I have Turkish friends that don't even know about it," he said.

Growing up in the Armenian Christian church, attending an Armenian school from nursery school through eighth grade -- "I had classes in a trailer," he said, "only eight kids were in my grade" -- Eskandarian's Armenian identity was nurtured from birth. Nothing enraptured him more, though, than his grandfather's life story.

Galoost Eskandarian died last September at age 92. He never knew his actual birthday because his parents were said to have been killed in the genocide. He ended up in Tehran. Like many Armenians, his history had been eradicated.

"My mom was orphaned at 5 years old," said Andranik, who said he wants to make a pilgrimage to Armenia with Alecko and his brother, Ara, very soon. "It's not a nice story I tell you, but I never saw my grandparents from my father's side. This is why we are so close. They try to save their kids, they give everything. This is what they respect to this day."

"My grandfather was actually really protective of me," Alecko said of Galoost. "Every time something happened, he wouldn't let my dad get ahold of me. I'd go over to his house and we'd play backgammon for hours. We developed a real bond. It wasn't a shock when he died, because he lived a great life. But it still hurt."

The day of Galoost's funeral, Alecko and his family gathered around his grandfather's table and shared memories of the man who lost his parents and was forced to leave his homeland.

"It just kind of hit me that day," Alecko said. "I was like, 'This is all I've got.' Obviously, I've got friends and good people in my life. But blood, that never goes away."

[Tursian]

TEYMOURIAN STANDS OUT FOR IRAN

Globe and Mail, Canada
June 14 2006

Friedrichshafen, Germany - Many soccer players have a habit of
routinely crossing themselves as they emerge onto the field for a
World Cup match.

But Anderanik Teymourian is different.

His simple gesture has amazed television viewers around the world
because Teymourian plays on the national team of Iran, one of most
thoroughly Islamic nations in the world.

Teymourian is a member of Iran's tiny Armenian minority, part of
an Orthodox Christian presence dating back to biblical times. About
200,000 Armenians currently live in Iran, mostly in Tehran and other
towns of the northwest.

Although Iran is an Islamic theocratic state, Christianity and other
non-Muslim religions are not banned as in other strictly fundamentalist
states such as Saudi Arabia.

"I'm the first Christian Iranian player in the World Cup since 1978,"
Teymourian said.

The last non-Muslim player on the national team was defender Andranik
Eskandarian in 1978. He now lives in the United States.

The gangly, 22-year old midfielder, who is seen as one of the great
hopes of Iranian soccer, plays for the Aboo Muslim club from Tehran.

He also has played for Iran at every youth level so far before being
drafted to the national squad by coach Branko Ivankovic.

"He is a wonderful player. Very serious, very committed, I can rely
on him to fulfil any task," Ivankovic said. "He will definitely play
a big role on the national team for many years to come."

Teymourian says he gets along very well with his teammates, and that
religious differences don't affect their relations on the field or
on a personal level.

"I am very happy that as a Christian I am playing for a Muslim team,"
he said. "I will put all my abilities at the disposal of the nation
and the team."

He said that normally he regularly attends church in Tehran.

"But it's been impossible to get out of the camp in Germany because
of security, so I haven't been able to do so here."

He was by far the best player on the field for Iran against Portugal and he did well for a 22 year old who was just thrown into the mix in his first World Cup experience.

Im not muslim myself and im surprised that they let a Christian play in such a big spot light like the World Cup because this shows other countries that Iran doesn't interfere with the Christians, Bahai's and the jews but we all know thats not the case but good for him he'll be an amazing player for Iran in the future.