India’s Divya Deshmukh broke down in tears after stunning Koneru Humpy and clinching the women’s World Cup title on Monday, and she, speaking to FIDE, called herself fortunate!
Divya outclassed compatriot Koneru Humpy in the tie-break, winning the second rapid game in a tense rook endgame on Monday in Batumi, Georgia.
“I need time to process it. I think it was fate that I got the Grandmaster title this way. Because before this, I didn’t even have one norm, and before this tournament, I was thinking ‘Oh, where can I get my norm,’ and now I’m a Grandmaster,” said Divya in an interview with FIDE right after clinching the title.
Divya is now the fourth Indian woman to become a GM, after Humpy, R. Vaishali, and Harika Dronavalli.
Despite ending up on the winning side on Monday, Divya believes her endgame skills need further polishing.
“I definitely need to learn endgames. I’m pretty sure at some point I messed it up. I’m not sure how. It should have been an easy win. I think I should not allow g4. But I think maybe I should just go rook a3, rook f3, rook g3, and that should be a win,” said the 19-year-old.
Divya is also hoping that the World Cup win, the biggest triumph of her young career, will lead to more glories.
“It definitely means a lot. But of course, there’s uh there’s a lot more to achieve. So this I’m hoping this is just a start,” added Divya.
