Around 800 athletes from 24 States are expected to participate in the three-day Para Athletics National Championship 2012, which will begin at Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Monday.

The images of a V.V.S. Laxman interacting may not have registered . But, the message from the great Indian cricketer to the visually challenged seemed to have clearly touched the emotional chord if their response to the encounter was any hint.

Visually impaired or blind football fans in Ukraine will get an opportunity to follow Euro 2012 matches at Ukrainian and Poland stadiums through headphones with live match commentary.

According to Valery Sushkevich, head of the Ukrainian National Assembly of Disabled, Ukrainian specialists are training volunteers to comment on football matches for the blind, Xinhua reported.

The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) will install special equipment with microphones and headphones at each of the eight Euro 2012 stadiums, Sushkevich said.

Approximately 400 athletes from all over the country will be seen in action in the 8th edition of the National Athletics for the Visually Challenged to be organized by the Punjab Sports Association for the visually challenged persons with the help of Bharat Blinds Sewak Samaj at Baddowal village on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road on April 17 and 18.

The information was given at a press conference here today by chief organiser Gurpreet Singh Chahal and organizing committee chairman Tit Ram.

On a day when Vishwanathan Anand won the world chess championship for the fifth time, as many as 106 visually impaired players competed against one another at the all-India chess tournament here at the Devnar School for the Blind on Wednesday.
Twenty of the players are currently ranked with the world chess federation body and Darshan Patel was the top seed at this tourney as he has 1838 points.
With age being no bar, children too got into the fray in right earnest and took on much older opponents.