India, July 5 -- Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won three matches in a row on the final day to tie for the first place with Firouzja Alireza of France on 12 points as the rapid section of the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour ended here.

Having fallen a little behind after the second day, Praggnanandhaa reserved his best for the last three rounds and defeated Ivan Saric of Croatia, Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania and Anish Giri of the Netherlands to finally catch up with Alireza.

The other Frenchman, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan remained within striking distance of the two leaders with a fine finish in the rapid section to reach 11 points, while world champion D Gukesh of India and Vincent Keymer ...