“I think I could have played much better. I was winning at a certain point and then it got complicated. I think I messed up in the middlegame and that I should have had a much smoother win,” she said about her semifinal match.

“She put up such a great fight at a certain point. I was just doubting if it was just a draw, I think I got lucky in the end.”

Humpy was stretched to the tiebreaker in the pre-quarterfinals by former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland, and she followed it up with a clinical performance against Yuxin Song.

Her best, thus far, was reserved for the semifinals as she outclassed top seed Tingjie Lei of China in the five-minute games after the players had reached a 3-3 deadlock.

“I played a bit shaky in the rapid, but she also gave a very good fight. It could have gone either way,” Humpy said about her semifinal opponent.

“It was a very tough match. Initially, I played quite badly with the Black pieces and she always had the advantage. After the loss (in Game 3), it was a very difficult situation, but I was able to come back.”

Saturday’s final will also be played over two classical games and, if the results stand at 1-1, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.

The minimum prize for finishing second is USD 35,000, while the winner will take home USD 50,000.

The additional bonus is qualification to the next Women’s Candidates Tournament, in which both the Indians have now secured their spots.

The eight-player Candidates Tournament will decide the challenger for reigning world champion Wenjun Ju of China in the next World Women’s Championship match.

Humpy has the ability to sit through long games without making mistakes. Deshmukh, on the other hand, has an attacking style.

It is going to be a battle of wits in the final that begins after a lone rest day.