Nagpur's Divya Deshmukh wins bronze at World Rapid Team Chess Championships

Nagpur: Divya Deshmukh secured a bronze medal at the FIDE World Rapid Team Championships, which concluded in Hong Kong on Friday. The 21-year-old Grandmaster from Nagpur was a member of the Hexamind Chess Team, which included Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Volodar Murzin, Vidit Gujrathi, and Kateryna Lagno.

Hexamind's Strong Finish

In the 12th and final round, Hexamind defeated Birdie and Friends 3.5-2.5, sharing the top position with 18 points alongside eventual champions Dragon Chilling, led by former world champion Ding Liren of China, and Arjun Erigaisi's Team MGD1. Based on a tie-break score of 611.5, Hexamind finished third, earning Divya the team bronze medal.

Divya's Performance

On the sixth board, Divya played seven of the 12 games and collected 4.5 points. On Friday, she held D Harika and Chinese GM Lei Tingjie, guiding her team to victories in the ninth and 10th rounds, respectively, and sharing the top position. After Aronian defeated China's Wei Yi on the second board, Divya played a solid 71-move draw against Lei Tingjie as Hexamind beat Dragon 4-2.

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Nagpur's Divya Deshmukh celebrated with American World No.6 Levon Aronian after winning the 10th round against eventual champions Dragon Chilling.

Raunak Sadhwani's Solid Showing

While Divya rode on the heroics of her 19-year-old Russian teammate Volodar Murzin's unbeaten run to clinch the bronze, Nagpur's first Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani missed the podium but delivered a solid performance while leading Team Chessnut Nova on Board 1. The 21-year-old Raunak played all 12 rounds, facing the world's best Grandmasters on the top board. He won three games, drew seven, and suffered two defeats, finishing with 6.5 points. The 2576 Elo Raunak achieved a performance rating of 2650 and earned 11.9 international rating points.

Final Day Performance

On the concluding day, Raunak scored 2.5 points in four rounds, forcing Azerbaijan's No. 1 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to split points in the final round.

Raunak's Reaction

Satisfied with his performance, Raunak said, "I delivered a decent solid performance overall. Playing on the top board against such strong opposition is always challenging. I am happy with some of my games; I could have converted a few better positions. There are always areas to improve, particularly in capitalizing on key moments and maintaining consistency."

He added, "It's definitely a morale-boosting performance. Playing and holding players of that stature gives a lot of confidence. It reassures me that I can compete with the very best, but at the same time, it also motivates me to push further and convert such opportunities into wins. The biggest positive is the confidence of performing on the top board against elite players. It was a great learning experience, and I take away a lot of positives in terms of preparation, resilience, and handling pressure situations."