Chess
FIDE Women's World Cup: Padmini, Nandhidhaa win; Vantika held to draw in first round
Humpy, Harika, Vaishali, and Divya received byes in the first round.
Indian chess player Vantika Agrawal (Photo File)Â Â
India's Padmini Rout and PV Nandhidhaa started their campaign on a positive note, winning their opening game of the 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia on Sunday.
Rout, a former national champion, got the better of China's Zhang Linin, while Nandhidhaa took down Ortiz Verdezoto Anahi of Ecuador in what is a knockout tournament.
Rout and Nandhidhaa will now need just a draw in their second classical game against the same opponents to advance to the second round.
Among the other Indians in action on the first round, Kiran Manisha Mohanty and K Priyanka lost their respective matches. They find themselves in a must win situation ahead of the second classical game.
Meanwhile, the Chess Olympiad winner Vantika Agrawal drew her game against Lala Shohradova of Turkmenistan. The Indian will hope to push for a win with the white pieces in her second face off against Shohradova.
On the other hand, the likes of Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, and Divya Deshmukh all received a first-round bye in the tournament. They'll start their campaign directly in the second round.
The 2025 FIDE Women's Chess World Cup is a high stakes tournament with the top three finishers set to earn themselves a spot in the FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament to have a shot at becoming the world champion.
Besides, the event also offers a total prize pool of USD 6,91,250.
