FIDE World Cup Cadets 2025: Eight Indian kids to battle for medals
by
Shahid Ahmed - 01/07/2025
A total of eight Indian kids have advanced to Stage 2 of FIDE World Cup Cadets for Under-8, 10 and 12. Srinikhila Yadavilli secured second place in Under-8 Girls Group B Stage 1. She will face Tharshan Kajishana (SRI) for Bronze. Sarbartho Mani and Oishik Mondal topped Under-10 Open Group A and B respectively. They will clash against each other for Gold. CM Aarit Kapil finished second in Under-10 Open Group B. He will fight for Bronze against Iman Nabiyev (KAZ). WCM Divi Bijesh topped Under-10 Girls Group B. WCM Sharvaanica A S secured second place. Divi will face WCM Zhihan Chen (CHN) for Gold. Sharvaanica will battle Nadezhda Vlad Volkova for Bronze. Aadya Gowda and WCM Pratitee Bordoloi won Under-12 Girls Group A and B respectively. They will inevitably clash for Gold in Stage 2. Photo: Official site
Minimum five medals are guaranteed
The second edition of FIDE World Cup for Under-8, 10 and 12 Open and Girls players were divided equally in two Groups - A and B. After seven rounds of Swiss league group stage, the winner of Group A will face winner of Group B, runner-up of each group will face each other and so on in the Final stage. The Final stage is going to have a match of best of two games in Classical time control. In case of a tie, two Rapid games were played with a time control of 15 minutes + 2 seconds each. In case of another draw, the tie would get resolved in two Blitz games having the time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment each. For more details, check out the tournament regulations at the end of the report. India is guaranteed to get five medals, maximum can be eight.
The tournament hall in Batumi, Georgia | Photo: Official site
Under-8 Girls: Srinikhila Yadavilli
Srinikhila Yadavilli scored 5.5/7 to secure second place in Under-18 Girls Group B stage 1. She will battle Tharshan Kajishana (SRI, 1472) in stage 2 for Bronze.
Under-10 Open: Sarbartho Mani, Oishik Mondal and Aarit Kapil
Sarbartho Mani (1847) won the Under-10 Group A stage 1 scoring an unbeaten 6.5/7. He will face his compatriot Oishik Mondal (1857) who topped Group B scoring an unbeaten 6/7. They will battle for Gold. Whoever loses the match will get a Silver medal. Thus, two medals are confirmed for India from this match. CM Aarit Kapil also scored 6/7, remained undefeated and secured second place in Group B. He will face Iman Nabiyev (KAZ, 1716) in stage 2 for Bronze.
WCM Divi Bijesh (1872) won Under-10 Girls Group B Stage 1 scoring an unbeaten 6.5/7. She finished a full point ahead of the rest. WCM Sharvaanica A S (1884) secured second place with a score of 5.5/7. Divi will face WCM Zhihan Chen (CHN, 1785) in Stage to battle for Gold. Thus, at least one medal from this age group is confirmed. Sharvaanica will be up against Nadezhda Vlad Volkova (1685) to fight for Bronze.
Aadya Gowda (1703) finished first in Under-12 Girls Group A Stage 1 scoring 6/7. The inaugural edition's Silver medalist, WCM Pratitee Bordoloi (1971) scored an unbeaten 6.5/7 to top Group B in stage 1. Aadya will face her compatriot Pratitee in Stage 2 to battle for Gold. It means India is guaranteed to get two medals from this match irrespective of the outcome.
