Erigaisi, Humpy win bronze each
Doha: World No 1 Magnus Carlsen underlined his dominance by clinching a record-extending sixth World Rapid title, while India’s Koneru Humpy endured heartbreak, settling for bronze in the women’s section at the FIDE World Rapid Championships here on Sunday.
Carlsen, already a five-time world rapid champion, finished on 10.5 points in the Open category after winning three consecutive games on the final day and drawing his last-round encounter against Anish Giri. The Norwegian recovered strongly from a seventh-round loss to Vladislav Artemiev to claim the title and the €70,000 prize. Artemiev finished second on 9.5 points, while India’s Arjun Erigaisi secured bronze with a final-round win to also finish on 9.5.
In the women’s section, Humpy came agonisingly close to winning an unprecedented third world rapid crown. The two-time champion tied on 8.5 points with China’s Zhu Jiner and Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina after the final round but missed out on gold due to tie-break criteria. Goryachkina went on to defeat Zhu in the playoff to claim her maiden world rapid title.
Humpy’s campaign hinged on her final-round draw against compatriot B Savitha Shri. A win would have taken her to nine points and outright gold, but she missed a winning line and had to settle for bronze. Savitha finished fourth on eight points, while R. Vaishali was fifth.
The World Blitz Championships begin on Monday, with Carlsen again the overwhelming favourite.
