New Delhi [India], July 28 : Indian Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan applauded Divya Deshmukh's victory in the FIDE Women's World Cup. She defeated Koneru Humpy with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the tie-breaks on Monday in Batumi.
He felt it was a moment of immense pride for both Divya and India. He also noted her achievement of becoming a Grandmaster. With this win, Divya not only claimed the World Cup crown but also fulfilled her final GM norm, officially becoming India's 88th Grandmaster.
While speaking to ANI, Srinath said, "I think it's a very proud moment both for Divya as an individual and also for us as a nation. Divya winning the World Cup and becoming a grandmaster was a remarkable achievement. Hampi also won the silver medal, and both of them qualified as the candidates going one step closer towards becoming a women's world champion."
Divya Deshmukh secured a gold, Humpy Koneru pocketed silver, while China's sensation Tan Zhongy finished the tournament with a bronze medal.
Srinath feels India is doing incredibly well in chess. Last year, GM D Gukesh won the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore and became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, followed by Divya Deshmukh in the FIDE World Cup.
"We are doing incredibly well in chess. We won the Olympiad in both open and women and we also have won the open world championship. Gukesh is the world champion, and now we also have the world cup winner," he added.
Narayanan said the achievements of Divya Deshmukh and Humpy Koneru are highly inspirational and highlighted their roles as role models for different age groups. He emphasized that their success demonstrates that winning the World Cup is achievable regardless of age.
"I think it's very inspirational especially two sets of role models one a 19 year old champion another the 38 year old champion both of them inspiring a different set of a different age group of people so this certainly augurs well in inspiring and showing an example that you can you can do it you can win the world cup as a 19 year old and there's nothing stopping you."
Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay felt Divya's victory was a historic and fantastic achievement, emphasizing the significance of the World Cup and World Championship in chess.
He noted that Divya's win is particularly impressive because she defeated Chinese players to reach the finals, who have consistently competed in world championship candidate events.
"I think it's a sort of historic achievement, a fantastic achievement in a sense. The World Cup and World Championship they have always had a special sort of place in be both men's chess and women's chess. She [Divya] has defeated Chinese players who have been playing world championship candidates for the last several years," Thipsay told ANI.
Humpy and Divya entered the final, defeating their Chinese opponents to set up the title clash. Divya Deshmukh defeated her Chinese opponent Tan Zhongyi 1.5-0.5 in the semis, whereas Koneru Humpy won against Lei Tingjie by a 5-3 margin.
Indian Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua felt the 19-year-old is now a role model for the upcoming young generation. He also said Divya's victory will definitely motivate or inspire the Indian women, and those who are coming up.
"She is now a role model for the upcoming young generation. And I am sure that this victory will definitely motivate and inspire the Indian women, and those who are coming up," Dibyendu told ANI.
"Both of them played well, Divya and Humpi both, and they both qualified for the finals by defeating the Chinese players. The final two games were normal, and in the first game, Divya was much, much better. But she could not convert it to a win. And then second game it was a draw. But then it went to the tie-break," Dibyendu added.
Humpy made a mistake by capturing the f pawn, which changed the tide in Divya's favour towards the final moments of the contest. The Indian players, who were left tied at 1-1 each after the two classical games in the Final, entered the tiebreaks today to decide the ultimate winner.
Divya became the fourth female Indian grandmaster, following in the footsteps of Humpy, R. Vaishali, and Harika Dronavalli.
Earlier, the opening game of the FIDE Women's World Cup final saw two of India's finest talents, Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh, settle for a hard-fought draw. The scoreboard read 1/2 - 1/2. The second round of the FIDE Women's World Cup also ended in a draw. Two of India's finest talents, Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh, settled for a hard-fought draw. The scoreboard read 1/2 - 1/2.
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