New Delhi, July 24 -- On a day of missed chances and massive blunders, nerves were the decider. India's Divya Deskmukh prevailed in a roller coaster Game 2 to beat China's world No.4 Tan Zhongyi and become the first Indian to reach the final of the FIDE Women's World Cup. As a result of the win - her third over a GM in a row, she also earned a place in the Candidates 2026 tournament, which will give her the chance to challenge for the world title, and secured her first GM norm. Her opponent in the final of the tournament being played at Batumi, Georgia will be decided on Thursday after Koneru Humpy and China's Lei Tingjie fought to another draw. They will now play the tiebreaker consisting of four Rapid games. If there is no clear winner after that, the match will move to Blitz games. If Humpy qualifies for the final, she too will be assured of a Candidates spot. If she loses, she will still have a shot at making it by doing well at the Women's Grand Prix Series 2024-25 or the Grand Swiss, which provide two spots each, while the last place goes to the highest-placed player in the FIDE Women's Events 2025-26 series. Humpy had clear winning positions but failed to drive home the advantage despite having the white pieces. However, compared to the Deshmukh-Tan game, this was a cruise. Deshmukh, who is also the world No.1 junior girl (U-20), started off well, manoeuvring her pieces to put Tan under early pressure. She could have had a nearly decisive advantage after trading queens, although after 15.Qxc1, it still gave her the edge. With 17... Nd3, black was clearly struggling and the evaluation bar gave the Indian a +1 advantage. But that was just the start of the ride. Deshmukh's position deteriorated rapidly after that and if Tan hadn't missed 32... Rg4, we might have had a very different result on our hands. But Tan, a former women's world champion, wasn't at her best. Before the players could catch their breath, they had to contend with time trouble. The Women's World Cup has a classical time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move from the first move. This is when Deshmukh seemed to take complete control of the game. She soon built a two-pawn advantage and the evaluation bar was +4. But on the board, the players were dealing with nerves and the pressure of a semi-final. Tan kept chipping away and Deshmukh made a few blunders as it suddenly became an equal game. But perhaps it was only right that a game like this was decided with another blunder. Tan went with Kh3 on her 90th move and it once again moved the needle Deshmukh's way. Tan finally resigned after move 101. A visibly nervous and excited Deshmukh could finally take a deep breath and relax. "I think I could have played much better," Deshmukh said after the win. "I was winning at a certain point and then things got complicated. I think I messed up in the middle game. I think I should have had a much smoother win. She put up such a good fight that I thought it was a draw. I think I got lucky at the end." Deshmukh has been relying on her preparation in this tournament and this has seen her beat second seed Zhu Jiner of China and also compatriot Harika Dronavalli in the quarters, but Game 2 of the semi-finals pushed her in a very different way. She'll be glad it ended the way it did. The result shouldn't surprise anyone though. Deshmukh served early notice by winning the world youth titles in under-10 (Durban, 2014) and under-12 (Brazil, 2017). And then in 2024, she won the World Junior Girls' under-20 Championship in 2024 with a dominant score of 10/11. The Nagpur girl also played a crucial role in India's team gold at the 45th Chess Olympiad (2024) in Budapest. As the match didn't go to the tiebreaker, the youngster will have two extra days to prepare for the final. But, for now, she only has one thing on her mind. "I need some sleep," said a relieved Deshmukh. "These days have been so anxious. I just need some sleep and food."...