New Delhi [India], July 29 : India's legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday congratulated young 19-year-old chess grandmaster Divya Deshmukh following her successful campaign in the recently concluded FIDE Women's Chess World Cup.
Taking to X, Sachin wrote, "An all-Indian final. A historic win. Congrats Divya Deshmukh, India's first women's World Cup champion and newest Grandmaster. Full credit to Koneru Humpy for a thrilling contest yesterday!"
https://x.com/sachin_rt/status/1950064006124740947
Divya, a 19-year-old rising sensation in the world of chess, became the first Indian woman to clinch the Chess World Cup after overwhelming Koneru on Monday evening in the final via tiebreaks. She became just the fourth Indian woman grandmaster and overall the 88th in the nation to clinch that title.
During the tense contest, a string of inaccuracies in the second rapid game contributed to Koneru's downfall. She found herself a pawn down in the rook endgame, which played out in Divya's favour. The veteran allowed the situation to sink in and resigned on the 75th move and fell short in a gripping final with a score of 2.5-1.5.
Divya failed to capitalise on the two windows that Koneru left open for her with her inaccurate moves. However, on the third time, Koneru inflicted more damage on herself by capturing the f pawn on move 69, which changed the tide in Divya's favour towards the final moments of the contest. This time around, Divya made no mistake, played the right moves and forced Koneru to resign after six moves.
Her eyes welled up with tears as she began to grasp the scale of her victory. She tried to compose herself, but soon became overwhelmed with emotions again after embracing her mother in a heartfelt moment.