Tan Zhongyi Divya Deshmukh qualifies for Candidates 2026, reaches FIDE World Cup final & wins first GM norm after beating former World Champion Tan Zhongyi
written by Atharva Jori
India’s teenage superstar Divya Deshmukh’s dream run at the ongoing FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 continued as she knocked out former World Champion China’s Tan Zhongyi in the semifinal in Batumi on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian to reach the finals of this elite tournament. This also meant Divya qualified for the Candidates Tournament as well.
The 19-year-old stunned World No. 4 for the biggest win of her career. She handed Tan a loss in the second leg of their semifinal clash by white pieces to win the tie 1.5-0.5 after drawing the first leg with black pieces.
The monumental feat also helped Divya get her first GM norm and get closer to becoming India’s fourth-ever female Grandmaster. Only Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R. Vaishali have the GM title among Indian women.
The teenage sensation had earlier ousted second seed China‘s Zhu Jiner in the fourth round, before eliminating compatriot Harika Dronavalli in the quarterfinals. The India No. 2 Harika, who had already reached the quarterfinals in 2023 (the first Indian to make the top eight), took the quarterfinal clash to the tiebreaks after playing two draws in the Classical leg, but the youngster proved too good to handle for the 34-year-old Harika.
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