Indians in action in semifinals; match-ups, colours, live streaming info

FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025, Indians in action in semifinals: The third edition of the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 will feature two Indians, Koneru Humpy and Divya Divya taking on two Chinese opponents, Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi respectively, for a place in the final. It also guarantees India at least one spot in next year’s Candidates Tournament – that will decide the eventual challenger to women’s world champion Ju Wenjun, who has held the title since 2018. The top three finishers from the ongoing tournament make it to the Candidates and even if both Humpy and Divya are defeated at the semifinal stage, they will face each other in a third-place playoff.

Humpy handed tournament giant slayer China’s Yuxin Song a straight 1.5-0.5 defeat in the Classical match to become the first ever Indian to reach World Cup semis, whereas Divya had taken her quarterfinal match against compatriot Harika Dronavalli into tiebreaks, where she beat Harika 2-0 to advance through.

The FIDE Women’s World Cup is the most crucial event in the World Championship cycle, offering three qualifying spots for Candidates. The Women’s Grand Prix Series 2024-25 and the Grand Swiss provide two spots each, while the last is reserved for the highest-placed player in the ‘FIDE Women’s Events 2025-26’ series. The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, in this case, China’s Ju Wenjun.

Story continues below this ad

Semifinal match-ups

• Koneru Humpy vs Lei Tingjie (CHN)
• Divya Deshmukh vs Tan Zhongyi (CHN)

Colours

Both Humpy and Divya will play their first match with white pieces.

Schedule

• Semifinal 1st leg – July 22; 4:45 PM IST
• Semifinal 2nd leg – July 23; 4:45 PM IST
• Tiebreaks (If needed) – July 24; 4:35 PM IST

Live Streaming Info

The FIDE Women’s World Cup will be streamed live on FIDE’s YouTube channel.

FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 Tournament Tree

QF 1		SF 1		Final
	GM Lei Tingjie
	GM Nana Dzagnidze
			GM Lei Tingjie
QF 2			GM Humpy Koneru
	GM Humpy Koneru
	IM Yuxin Song
QF 3		SF 2
	GM Vaishali Rameshbabu’
	GM Tan Zhongyi
			GM Tan Zhongyi
QF 4			IM Divya Deshmukh
	GM Harika Dronavalli
	IM Divya Deshmukh