R Praggnanandhaa reaches final to clash with World No 1 Magnus Carlsen

Baku: Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana to reach the final of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday.

The Indian prodigy managed to beat the American player 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks. He will face World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for the title clash.

Earlier, Praggnanandhaa beat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi 5-4 in a sudden death tie-break to book a place for himself in the semifinals on Thursday.

The 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa already secured a spot in next year's Candidates event.

The Chennai lad is going to be the only other Indian other than five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to compete in the Candidates.

Praggnanandhaa had orchestrated one of the biggest upsets of the FIDE World Cup after he eliminated American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in the tiebreakers.