Arpora, Nov. 1 -- World Junior champion GM Pranav V, GM Pranesh M and the experienced GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly began their FIDE World Cup 2025 campaign with comfortable victories, while Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh's spirited fight wasn't enough to salvage a draw in the first match of the opening round here on Saturday.

Local favourite Leon Luke Mendonca could not convert his chances and split points against China's Shixu B Wang after 50 moves. Pranav, the highest-ranked Indian player in action on day 1 of the competition, defeated IM Ala Eddine Boulrens of Algeria. Ganguly controlled the middle game against GM Ahmad Ahmadzada of Azerbaijan to eke out a hard-fought win, while Pranesh defeated IM Satbek Akhmedinov of Kazakhstan...