Im satbek akhmedinov

South African FM Daniel Barrish: World Junior champion GM Pranav V, GM Pranesh M., and the experienced GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly began their FIDE World Cup 2025 campaigns 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 in 48 moves.