NEW DELHI: Teenaged Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has been awarded a wild card for the FIDE World Cup 2025, to be held in Goa from October 31 to November 27, following a last-minute withdrawal of one of the participants.

The 19-year-old from Nagpur, who recently competed at the FIDE Grand Swiss, will now join 20 other Indians in the single-elimination event which will be spearheaded by reigning world champion D Gukesh.

FIDE said Deshmukh's entry came after a “last-minute cancellation of one of the participants, with Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan having earlier declined the invitation.”

The biennial World Cup features 206 of the world's best players battling in a knockout format of mini-matches over three weeks. The top three finishers will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which decides the challenger for the world titl