Divya Deshmukh is Like MS Dhoni in Crucial Moments, Says Her Former Coach After FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 Win

The sport of chess in India has a new top star in 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh, who won the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 final by beating compatriot Koneru Humpy in an intense chess match that had to be decided via the tiebreaks. 

The win sees Divya qualify for the Candidates event in 2026, which if she wins, earns her the chance to challenge women's chess world champion Ju Wenjun from China. 

Divya made history by not only becoming the first Indian to win this event, but also showcased her grit and mettle - something that saw her compared to former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni. 

ALSO READ | Divya Deshmukh Beats Koneru Humpy in All-Indian FIDE World Cup Final

How Divya Compares to Dhoni

The comparison was made by her former coach Srinath Narayanan, who said that she was similar to Dhoni in her ability to take games deep and then triumph in the most crucial moments. 

"She's quite an aggressive player. But with time, Divya has become more all-round, more versatile. I think she's equally good across all the different formats... Classical, Rapid and Blitz. And her strength is, I think, turning up in those big moments, crunch situations. Like how Mahendra Singh Dhoni used to win the matches in the last over. I saw something similar in Divya in those last-round situations or situations where everything was hanging in the high-pressure moments," Narayanan told PTI.

It is worth noting that she won the tournament by defeating several higher-seeded opponents, including 2nd seed Zhu Jiner in the fourth round, 10th seed Harika Dronavalli in the quarterfinals, and 3rd seed Tan Zhongyi in the semifinals.

ALSO READ | WATCH: Divya Hugs Her Mother, Breaks Into Tears After Winning Chess WC

Reliving Divya's Chess World Cup Triumph

The two classical matches between Deshmukh and Humpy ended in draws, meaning they needed to go to tiebreaks to determine a winner. 

The tiebreaks start with rapid games, and much like the first 2 classical games they also ended in a draw, handing both of them 0.5 points each. In this round, Deshmukh played with the white pieces.

But the big moment came in the next round as Deshmukh, now armed with the black pieces, secured an impressive victory - and thus ended the match, crowning herself the winner of the FIDE Women's World Cup.