'What a sensation': Sporting world reacts to Praggnanandhaa's heroics in Chess World Cup

R Praggnanandhaa's magnificent run in the Chess World Cup came to a halt as Magnus Carlsen defeated him in the final. The Norwegian prevailed in the summit clash with a scoreline of 1.5-0.5 and clinched his maiden Chess World Cup title in Baku, Azerbaijan. Both players have now qualified for the prestigious Candidates event.

3 things you need to know

• Praggnanandhaa got the better of Fabiano Caruana in the semifinal
• The 18-year-old is the youngest ever to feature in a Chess World Cup final
• He could have been the second Indian to lift the World Cup title after Viswanathan Anand

Social media heralded the player pretty highly and let's have a look at how the sporting world reacted.

Also Read: Chess World Cup: Praggnandhaa goes down fighting against Magnus Carlsen, wins silver medal

Pragg. 👏👏🤗 you made us proud as usual. #praggnanandha @rpragchess

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) August 24, 2023

Chin up, Champion! ❤️🇮🇳

You've brought immense pride to the entire nation at the #FIDEWorldCup2023 🙌#AavaDe | #Praggnanandhaa pic.twitter.com/bcivZe9yt0

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) August 24, 2023

Next Move: Roar Back Stronger! 💪🏻#WhistlePodu #ChessWorldCup 🦁💛@rpragchess pic.twitter.com/CmsAolDXNh

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 24, 2023

Chin up, Pragg. We're always going to be proud of you! 💙#FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/nrevUYUMJZ

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) August 24, 2023

Praggnanandhaa can come back with a candidates spot and a truly wonderful result.@FIDE_chess #FIDEWorldCup2023

— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) August 24, 2023

Hold your head high Praggnanandhaa. The whole nation is proud of you 🇮🇳🫡@rpragchess pic.twitter.com/YqUAOiNl6u

— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) August 24, 2023

A proud of you Praggnanandha. What a sensation! Truly remarkable what you have achieved at this age! pic.twitter.com/NCT3oECetu

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) August 24, 2023

.@rpragchess becomes Runner-up at #FIDE World Cup 2023 🥈#Chess

🇮🇳 Chess Grandmaster gave an impressive performance at the Final but lost to World #1 Magnus Carlen in the tiebreaker.

Kudos to your efforts Prag 🥳 pic.twitter.com/jpyrpGA1fs

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 24, 2023

Congratulations on an incredible tournament, @rpragchess!
Keep chasing your dreams and making India proud. ♟️🇮🇳 #FIDEWorldCup

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 24, 2023

You've done the entire country proud @rpragchess! And your story is very inspiring. My best wishes for everything the future has in store for you 🙌

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) August 24, 2023

Well played @rpragchess...

The future belongs to you! ♟️🇮🇳#ChessWorldCup #FIDEWorldCup pic.twitter.com/lM0Yj2bnDm

— DK (@DineshKarthik) August 24, 2023

R Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen go through the hard grind

The two classical games on Tuesday and Wednesday had ended in draws forcing the final to a tie-break. Praggnanandhaa enjoyed an incredible run in the tournament, having beaten world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura and world No.3 Fabiano Caruana to set up a final date against Carlsen.

ALSO READ | India Shows It's Admiration For Chess Prodigy R Praggnanandhaa

The results in the ongoing tournament also helped Praggnanandhaa qualify for Candidates 2024 tournament, which will be held in Canada. Praggnanandhaa, thus, became the third youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament.

(With inputs from PTI)