Karthik Venkataraman became the fifth Indian to reach the fourth round of the ICC World Cup after surviving a nerve-wracking decider against Bogdan-Daniel Deck on Sunday. Besides Karthik, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Pentala Harikrishna and Pranav V will also be part of the 32 players who will return to the board after the first break of the action on Monday. Meanwhile, it was sad for Vidit Gujrathi and SL Narayanan who were eliminated in the third round after playoffs.
For Vidit, his grief was all the more bitter as he won his first fastball Sunday against Sam Shankland with some brilliant late-game maneuvers. But he then lost the next match to send the competition into a mini-battle with two other matches, drawing the first and eventually losing the second to close the door on his candidates’ chances.
After his win over the flipper on Sunday, two-time national champion Karthik said he was in “total fear” entering the World Cup because everyone is “so strong”. While some of the best players in the world like world champion De Jokic, Anesh Giri, Nodirbek Abdosatorov, Ian Nepomniatchi and Wesley Sow have been ruled out, Karthik will continue his stay in Goa for at least three more days.
Interactive: How Karthik Venkataraman beat Bogdan-Daniel Dick
Karthik, who will play against Vietnamese Lee Quang Lim in the fourth round, said that his journey in the sport actually began on his seventh birthday when his mother gave him a chessboard. It was a case of love at first sight and Karthik never looked back.
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When asked if reaching the fourth round of the World Cup was his biggest achievement so far, especially considering that several top players have made early exits, the 25-year-old from Tirupathi said: “Winning the national championship twice is probably my biggest achievement. Very few people have done that. I mean I have won a few tournaments. But you can’t call winning it the best achievement. To be a national champion twice is even more amazing.”
With the win over Deac, five rounds stand between Karthik and the chance to do something even more remarkable: win the Viswanathan Anand Trophy, secure a place in the prestigious Candidates Tournament (awarded to the top three finishers in the World Cup) and take home a cool prize money of $1,20,000 (about Rs one crore).
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(tags for translation)Karthik Venkataraman
