Dr Rajini Kanth does not like the word sacrifice. The father of Dommaraju Gukesh, the youngest Candidates Chess champion, thinks that’s the wrong word to use when it comes to the parents-children relationship.

“No, parents do not sacrifice for their children. It’s their duty to groom the children, to help their kids to develop, to show them the path, to back them to the hilt. If they do not, then who will? Sorry, I am not amongst those who say parents sacrifice a lot for their children,” the 46-year-old ENT surgeon told The Telegraph from Toronto (10.15am local time) on Monday. A triumph by an Indian in any international field is followed by unbridled euphoria back home. So it was not surprising that Gukesh’s Candidates triumph caught the nation’s imagination.

“It’s yet to sink in. May be, it will take another 48 hours to realise what Gukesh has achieved. It’s not processed yet,” the father said. Rajini Kanth wriggled out some time to speak to this paper when his 17-year-old son was giving the “official interview” at the tournament venue.

Rajini Kanth said that before the tournament he thought this would be a sort of learning experience for Gukesh to prepare for the next cycle of Candidates. “But he and his mother (Dr Padma Kumari) were confident of a good performance. Both son and mother insisted that Gukesh had it in him to excel in Toronto.”

Rajini Kanth said there is no secret to making a champion. “You just have to understand where your child’s knack is. That comes from observation. And once that happens then you give all kind of support. In our case what happened was I am a keen follower of tennis. So obviously I wanted Gukesh to pursue my passion. But my wife said since Gukesh was showing a liking for chess, we had to help him with that. From then on, we figured out how many tournaments were being played in and around Chennai, how Gukesh would travel to play in other cities. I know sometimes parents do thrust things upon their children against their wishes like I was pushing for tennis.”

Well, tennis is very much a part of Gukesh’s fitness regime. “He is a die-hard Novak Djokovic fan, while for me it’s always Pete Sampras.”

Rajini Kanth said Gukesh did not have a slump in form after last year’s Chess World Cup. “He just failed badly in Fide Grand Swiss Tournament. That was because the pressure of qualifying for the Candidates got the better of him. These things happen. As we saw he recovered quickly and won the Chennai Grand Masters in December to guarantee a berth in the Candidates.”