World champion D Gukesh shows off his iconic dance moves at a felicitation ceremony [Watch]

Reigning world champion D Gukesh showed off his dance moves during a felicitation ceremony at Velammal School on Friday, February 28, in Chennai. Gukesh, who became the youngest world champion last year in Singapore and the first teenager to win the World Championship after beating Ding Liren, shook a leg with ease.

The youngster got a prize money of Rs 1 crore at the felicitation ceremony. As he went to the stage, chants of ‘Gukesh Gukesh’ echoed at the venue. Fireworks adding to the ambiance and confetti dropping on the Indian chess star ensured that Gukesh got a grand welcome.

Watch the video of D Gukesh dancing:

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Aoora, a Global K-pop singer, also performed at the ceremony. The singer also took Gukesh on stage and performed the song ‘Manasilaayo'. On being asked about his favorite player and team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gukesh replied MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), conjuring cheers from the fans at the venue.

D Gukesh keeps reaching new heights

On Saturday, March 1, Gukesh climbed to his career-best ranking of No.3 in the latest FIDE classical ratings. He currently boasts 2787 rating points after gaining 10 points. Since becoming the world champion, Gukesh has lost a bit of form, especially after losing to Praggnanandhaa in a tiebreak at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

After finishing with 8.5 points each, Praggnanandhaa held his nerves and got the better of Gukesh in the tie-break. With the win, Praggnanandhaa became the first person since the legendary Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the championship.

The defeat didn’t impact Gukesh’s rankings, and he went past Fabiano Caruana and Arjun Erigiasi to No 3. He is only behind the legendary Magnus Carlsen, who has 2833 rating points, and Hikaru Nakamura with 2802 rating points.

About the author

Farzan is a journalist at Sportskeeda covering the Indian sports section. He has a previous experience of 4 years working for some top names like CricTracker, Chennaiyin FC, Rajasthan Royals, and more.

Farzan is a well-known name in the industry and has exclusively covered various major sporting events like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 Asian Games, 2023 Squash World Cup, 2023 Indian Premier League, 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League, etc. He has also had the privilege of interviewing some famous sports personalities like Indian Table Tennis star Manika Batra, Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak, British American Volleyball player Ciara Michel, FC Goa defender Adil Khan, Malaysian Squash player Darren Pragasam, multiple hockey players from India, Japan, New Zealand and Chile, and several others.

His favorite Indian sports athlete is Neeraj Chopra and admires him for his calm, composed, and friendly demeanor. Chopra winning the gold medal for India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the javelin throw event is a moment that Farzan cherishes a lot.

To ensure the best content for his readers, Farzan believes in honest and unbiased writing, thorough research, proofreading, being ethical and to the point. In his free time, he likes to play games on his Playstation, read books, and travel with family and friends.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer