Praggnanandhaa loses to Liem

MIAMI, Aug 20: The brilliant winning spree of Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in the FTX Crypto Cup came to a halt after four perfect rounds as he slumped to a 0.5-2.5 defeat against Vietnam's Liem Quang Le, ending his chances of taking sole lead in the event.

With world champion Magnus Carlsen losing the fifth round to Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland in tiebreak, Praggnanandhaa had an opportunity to take sole lead.

The Indian wonderkid Pragg, who has looked so impressive in this event and was in a neck-and-neck battle with Carlsen, finally cracked under pressure after four straight match wins. He went down in three games 2.5-0.5 to Vietnam's Liem Quang Le, ending his hopes of taking the sole lead.

It was Pragg's (12) first defeat of the tournament and it leaves him one point behind Carlsen, who clawed his way into a narrow lead with a point salvaged from a disastrous Round 5 match on Friday. IANS

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