Gukesh D cries in his father's arms after becoming youngest-ever world chess champ, has emotional call with mother

D Gukesh had an emotional moment with his father after his historic win vs Ding Liren, and was seen crying on his arms.

18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest-ever world chess champion in history on Thursday, defeating defending champ Ding Liren in the decisive 14th game of the World Chess Championship. It was a see-saw battle that looked like heading into a tie-breaker, as planned by Liren. But a massive blunder from Ding in the 55th move at the end game saw Gukesh come out victorious after an intense battle. Gukesh sealed a 7.5-6.5 victory in Singapore.

D Gukesh hugs his father.

When Liren made the blunder, Gukesh immediately spotted it and his emotions were visible right away. After Liren resigned, the pair shook hands, as an emotional Gukesh put all the pieces back on the board, tears rolling down his cheeks.

His father, who was present in the venue with mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, was equally overjoyed with pride. After the win, Gukesh walked out of the room and had an emotional moment with his father. Surrounded by photographers and fans, the two shared an extremely emotional and long hug. Gukesh was visibly wailing. He then also hugged a team member and after the win, was also seen falling in Upton’s arms and crying his eyes out.

The tears didn’t stop, even as Gukesh entered the team car where his team members gave the champ company. There, he also had an emotional phone call with his mother.

Speaking after the win, Gukesh labelled Liren’s blunder as the ‘best moment’ in his life. He also paid his respects to Liren, and called him ‘one of the best players in history’, lauding him as a ‘real world champion’.

“Representing my country.. 11 years back the title was taken away from India. When I was watching in 2013, looking into the glass box, I thought it'd be so cool to be there one day. I had the dream 10 years ago of bringing the title back. There's nothing better than this,” he further added.

Speaking on his blunder, Liren said, “It took me a while to realised I blundered.”

"I think I played my best tournament in the year. I could be better, but considering yesterday's luck, it's a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets.”