"Hikaru v. Nihal | Can One Of Chess’ Brightest Young Stars Defeat The Reigning Speed Chess Champion?"
No.
More precisely: he can, in some sense, but didn’t.
Nihal Sarin is a rising star, and especially in blitz and bullet he’s a terror. There aren’t many players in the world who can handle him, but Hikaru Nakamura is one of the few, and he did - with difficulty. Nakamura led throughout their match, but every time he seemed about to put the match on ice Nihal rose like a phoenix, keeping it a genuine contest. In the end it was Nakamura’s defensive skill, and perhaps Nihal’s propensity to run too short of time, that proved the younger player’s undoing, and Nakamura won the match 14.5-10.5. He has earned his place in the final of Chess.com’s Speed Chess Championship, where he will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Is the result of that match a foregone conclusion? If Carlsen plays like he did against Caruana, then Carlsen vs. any non-computer is a foregone conclusion. But if he reverts to “ordinary” world champion status, MVL will have a chance - he did manage to beat Carlsen two years ago in the same round of the same event, and he is also the defending World Blitz Champion. So don’t count him out.
The video is here, and, time permitting, I may update this post later with a look at some of the games.