{"id":215305,"date":"2026-04-09T12:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/?p=215305"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:17:18","slug":"vaishali-rameshbabu-topples-divya-deshmukh-indian-grandmaster-claims-top-spot-in-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/vaishali-rameshbabu-topples-divya-deshmukh-indian-grandmaster-claims-top-spot-in-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaishali Rameshbabu Topples Divya Deshmukh! Indian Grandmaster Claims Top Spot in Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The battle for supremacy in the Candidates Tournament has reached fever pitch in Cyprus, with Indian women leading the charge. In a high-stakes ninth-round encounter, Chennai\u2019s Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu delivered a masterclass, defeating compatriot and World Champion Divya Deshmukh to clinch the top spot on the points table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vaishali, now tied for the lead with China\u2019s Jiner Zhu at 5.5 points, dismantled Divya\u2019s defense in just 31 moves. While Divya had shown immense grit in previous rounds by defeating Anna Muzychuk, she found no answers to Vaishali\u2019s clinical precision today. Despite the loss, 20-year-old Divya remains a dark horse in the race, trailing slightly behind the leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it was a day of disappointment for Vaishali\u2019s brother, Praggnanandhaa, in the Open Category. Needing a win to stay in title contention, the young prodigy was forced to settle for a draw against China\u2019s Wei Yi after a minor slip on the 42nd move. With only 4 points in his kitty, Praggnanandhaa is effectively out of the title race. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan\u2019s Javokhir Sindarov continues his dominant run, leading the open section with 7 points. All eyes are now on Vaishali as she edges closer to challenging the defending World Champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The battle for supremacy in the Candidates Tournament has reached fever pitch in Cyprus, with Indian women leading the charge. In a high-stakes ninth-round encounter, Chennai\u2019s Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu delivered a masterclass, defeating compatriot and World Champion Divya Deshmukh to clinch the top spot on the points table. Vaishali, now tied for the lead with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":215306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-215305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vaishali Rameshbabu Topples Divya Deshmukh! Indian Grandmaster Claims Top Spot in Candidates - Ekjhalak English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsfed.in\/english\/vaishali-rameshbabu-topples-divya-deshmukh-indian-grandmaster-claims-top-spot-in-candidates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vaishali Rameshbabu Topples Divya Deshmukh! Indian Grandmaster Claims Top Spot in Candidates - Ekjhalak English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The battle for supremacy in the Candidates Tournament has reached fever pitch in Cyprus, with Indian women leading the charge. In a high-stakes ninth-round encounter, Chennai\u2019s Grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu delivered a masterclass, defeating compatriot and World Champion Divya Deshmukh to clinch the top spot on the points table. 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