Divya Deshmukh Upsets Zhu Jiner To Book FIDE Women's World Cup Quarters Spot

Last Updated:July 18, 2025, 21:52 IST

Divya Deshmukh advanced to the FIDE Women’s World Cup quarterfinals by defeating Chinese GM Zhu Jiner. Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R. Vaishali are also through.

Indian IM Divya Deshmukh (PTI)

Divya Deshmukh shocked Chinese GM Zhu Jiner to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Friday. The 19-year-old Divya won Game 1 of the 25+10 Rapid tiebreaks and drew Game 2, securing her victory.

Earlier, Deshmukh lost her second game with black pieces to Zhu on Thursday, after having defeated the world no. 6 from China with white pieces the previous day.

In another match, GM Koneru Humpy knocked out GM Alexandra Kosteniuk to also reach the Quarterfinals. Both their classical games ended in a draw. Humpy triumphed in Game 1 of the 15+10 Rapid tiebreaks and drew Game 2 to win the match.

Harika will face Divya in an all-Indian quarterfinal.

Along with Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and R. Vaishali secured their places in the quarterfinals.

R. Vaishali split the games in the 15+10 and 10+10 Rapid tiebreaks against Kazakhstan’s Meruert Kamalidenova. The match proceeded to blitz tiebreaks, where each player had five minutes with a three-second increment per move in each game. Vaishali drew the first game with the black pieces before ultimately defeating the Kazakh with the white pieces in the second game.

Vaishali’s quarterfinal opponent will be China’s Tan Zhongyi, who lost to compatriot Ju Wenjun at the Women’s World Championship earlier this year.

What Is FIDE Women’s World Cup?

The FIDE Women’s World Cup follows a format where all games are played head-to-head over two classical games, with each player using white and black pieces once. If no winner emerges after two classical games, the match proceeds to tiebreaks, with progressively shorter time controls until a winner is determined. The two classical games are played over two days, and the tiebreaks take place on the third day.

Initially, players compete in best-of-two games in the 15 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move) format, known as 15+10. If this does not separate the players, the time control is reduced to 10 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move), called 10+10, for another two games. If the tie persists, the time is further reduced to five minutes + three seconds (5+3). If still undecided, the competition moves to a sudden death format with a single game of three minutes + 2 seconds (3+2) until a winner is found.

The top three finishers in the FIDE Women’s World Cup earn a spot in next year’s Women’s Candidates tournament, the final step towards challenging the reigning women’s world champion.

Ritayan Basu

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes on cricket content, ha...Read More

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes on cricket content, ha...

Read More

News18 Sports brings you the latest updates, live commentary, and highlights from cricket, football, tennis, badmintion, wwe and more. Catch breaking news, live scores, and in-depth coverage. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated!

Location :

Batumi

First Published:

News sports Divya Deshmukh Upsets Zhu Jiner To Book FIDE Women's World Cup Quarters Spot