Monday, December 31, 2007

Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mohun Bagan bt East Bengal 1-0

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 62'

MoM - Douglas Da Silva (MB)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

30th Dec 2007 -
Chandigarh Dynamos bt Maratha Warriors 1-0

Goal Scored - Sher Singh (CD) 26'

MoM - Rajpal Singh (CD)
------------------------------------------------

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-1

Goal Scored - Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PC) 47', You Hyo-sik (BHF) 67' and Gurvinder Singh (SeJ) 69'

MoM - Arjun Halappa (BHF)

So with these wins Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Chandigarh Dynamos moved into semis of 4th edition of PHL ... Maratha Warriors r in spot of bother as now for them last match against Hyderabad Sultans is do or die battle.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

Qualifying Second Round -
(1) KUNITSYN Igor (RUS,116) bt (WC) GHOUSE Mustafa (IND,UNR) 62 3-0 Retd
(8) KUDRYAVTSEV Alexandre (RUS,254) bt RASTOGI Karan (IND,359) 75 63

(2) PLESS Kristian (DEN,129) bt RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA,1258) 76(3) 63
ZOVKO Lovro (CRO,759) bt MATSUKEVITCH Denis (RUS,323) 63 16 61

(3) LEVY Harel (ISR,161) bt KANNAN Kamala (IND,1479) 62 61
(7) RAM Rajeev (USA,252) bt MERTINAK Michal (SVK,295) 62 75

(4) GALVANI Stefano (ITA,171) bt AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND,1238) 61 61
(5) PEYA Alexander (AUT,187) bt MARTIN David (USA,1127) 76(5) 63

Maindraw -
[R1] (WC) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,279) vs Qualifier
[R1] (WC) VARDHAN Vishnu (IND,944) vs ROGER-VASSELIN Edouard (FRA,97)

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK)

[R1] (WC) AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND)/ AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND) vs (2) LEVINSKY Jaroslav (CZE)/ MERTINAK Michal (SVK)
-------------------------------------------
At $465K Adelaide Open, Australia

[R1] (1) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) vs ANCIC Mario (CRO)/ STEPANEK Radek (CZE)
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube de Goa bt Air India 1-0

Goal Scored - Elijah Obagbemiro (SCG) 39'

MoM - Elijah Obagbemiro (SCG)
---------------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l JCT Phagwara 0-2

Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (JCT) 27', Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT) 68'

MoM - Sunil Chhetri (JCT)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

29th Dec 2007 -
Orissa Steelers bt Maratha Warriors 4-2

Goal Scored - Ajitesh Rai (OS) 7', Shakeel Abbasi (OS) 50', Ignace Tirkey (OS) 58', Damandeep Singh (OS) 59' and Looijem Melchior (MW) (PC) 57' & 62'

MoM - Shakeel Abbasi (OS)
------------------------------------------------
Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chennai Veerans 4-2

Goal Scored - Cheyanna (BHF) 17' & 56', Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PS) 40', Hariprasad (BHF) 69' and Raghunath (CV) (PC) 14', Adam Sinclair (CV) 49'

MoM - Cheyanna (BHF)

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Tennis News -
At 2008 Hopman Cup, Australia

India l USA 1-2

Sania Mirza l Meghann Shaughnessy 36 64 36
Rohan Bopanna l Mardy Fish 26 46

Sania Mirza/ Rohan Bopanna bt Meghann Shaughnessy/ Mardy Fish 64 64
---------------------------------------------
Sania's 2008 schedule -

- The Hopman Cup - from 29th December 2007

- Hobart International - from 7th January 2008 (defending 50 points)

- Australian Open 2008 - from 14th January 2008 (defending 60 points) ... Sania will be playing doubles with Meghann Shaughnessy of USA.

- Asia-Oceania Group I Federation Cup - from 28th January 2008 at Bangkok.

- Pattaya Women's Open (Tier IV) - from 4th February 2008 (defending 50 points)

- Qatar Total Open, Doha (Tier I) - 18th February 2008

- Dubai Tennis Championships (Tier II) - 25th February 2008

- Bangalore Open (Tier II) - 3rd March 2008

And then she moves to America for playing in all major tournaments in month of March.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

Qualifying First Round -
(1) KUNITSYN Igor (RUS,116) bt NARAYANASWAMY Srirambalaji (IND,1479) 62 63
(WC) GHOUSE Mustafa (IND,UNR) bt SELVARAJ Ajai (IND,1385) 61 63
RASTOGI Karan (IND,359) bt SHARAN Divij (IND,557) 75 46 64
(8) KUDRYAVTSEV Alexandre (RUS,254) bt WAGH Akash (IND,1346) 62 60

(2) PLESS Kristian (DEN,129) bt SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,688) 63 64
RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA,1258) bt PERANANALLUR CHANDRASEKAR Vignesh (IND,1385) 76(6) 61
ZOVKO Lovro (CRO,759) bt SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,445) 76(1) 63
MATSUKEVITCH Denis (RUS,323) bt (6) RYDERSTEDT Michael (SWE,236) 64 75

(3) LEVY Harel (ISR,161) bt (WC) LEVINSKY Jaroslav (CZE,UNR) 61 61
KANNAN Kamala (IND,1479) bt BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,1479) 75 64
MERTINAK Michal (SVK,295) bt KANNAN Vijay (IND,707) 61 64
(7) RAM Rajeev (USA,252) bt (WC) SINGH Karunuday (IND,UNR) 61 62

(4) GALVANI Stefano (ITA,171) bt (WC) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) 61 61
AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND,1238) bt LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,778) 64 36 63
MARTIN David (USA,1127) bt VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1213) 63 60
(5) PEYA Alexander (AUT,187) bt SRIDHAR Vinod (IND,1093) 63 62
Football News-
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo Sports Club dw Mahindra United 1-1

Goal Scored - Nicolau Borges (DSC) 16' and K Ajayan (MU) 19'

MoM - Sandip Nandy (MU)
----------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

28th Dec 2007 -
Chandigarh Dynamos bt Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-1

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (CD) (PC) 52' & 67' and Jarnail Singh (SeJ) 7'

MoM - Ghazanfar Ali (CD)

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Basketball News -

Atlast some good news for Indian Basketball ... BFI asking government for extension of India's Serbian coach Aleksander Bucan's contract by 2 1/2 yrs.

BFI also announced much awaited National Basketball League for men will begin from October 2008 with top 6 teams from ongoing Senior National Championships ... This National Basketball League will be played over a period of one month ... They r giving option to teams of choosing two players each from other state teams or overseas.

This is still short of Bucan's vision for a full-fledged professional league, but atleast some positive moves by BFI after long time.

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Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

27th Dec 2007 -
Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Hyderabad Sultans 2-1

Goal Scored - You Hyo-sik (BHF) 23', Tushar Khandekar (BHF) 60' and Didar Singh (HS) 46'

MoM - Tushar Khandekar (BHF)

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

26th Dec 2007 -
Orissa Steelers bt Chennai Veerans 3-0

Goal Scored - Eliazer Lakra (OS) 26', Sunil Ekka (OS) 41', Joga Singh (OS) 42'

MoM - William Xalxo (OS)
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

25th Dec 2007 -
Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chandigarh Dynamos 3-2

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (CD) (PC) 10' & 12' and You Hyo-sik (BHF) (PC) 23'& 37', Cheyanna (BHF) (PC) 67'

MoM - You Hyo-sik (BHF)
-------------------------------------------------

Sher-e-Jallandhar bt Maratha Warriors 5-4 (1-1)

Goal Scored - Jarnail Singh (SeJ) 8' and Vikram Pillay (MW) 58'

Penalty Shoot-out -
SeJ - Gurvinder Chandi, Sarvanjit Singh (Missed Chances - Don Prinse, Gurvinder Singh, Yudhvir)
MW - Viren Rasquinha, Shivender Singh (Missed Chances - Bharat Chikara, Gurbaj Singh, Girish Pimpale )

Sudden-Death - Gurvinder Chandi
SeJ - Gurvinder Chandi, Sarvanjit Singh
MW - Viren Rasquinha (Missed Chance - Shivender Singh)

MoM - Salman Akbar (SeJ)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

24th Dec 2007 -
Hyderabad Sultans bt Orissa Steelers 4-3 (1-1)

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (HS) (PC) 40' and Jitender Saroha (OS) (PC) 65'

Penalty Shootout -
HS - Sardar Singh, Pramod Kumar, Pawal Lakra (Missed Chances - Didar Singh, Chengappa)
OS - Kim Chul, Roshan Minz (Missed Chances - Prabodh Tirkey, Ajitesh Roy, Joga Singh)

MoM - Oscar Tar Weme (HS)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -

So 3 wild cards are announced for the Chennai open, Prakash Amrtiraj, Vishnu Vardhan and Salva Vidal from Spain.
About Movie 'Taare Zameen Par' -

I generally write about sports and scores but this film asked me to do something which I never imagined.

My suggestion is go and watch 'Taare Zameen Par'!!! My recommendation is “Don’t MISS”.

I know that I m 'emotional fool' but when my 8 yrs niece and nephew cried while watching this movie then I really feel this movie is something special ... This movie is about dyslexic child.
Football News -

Sunil Chettri pipped Dempo duo of Mahesh Gawli and Climax Lawrence to emerge as the AIFF Player of the Year for his excellent performances for his club and country.
-------------------------------------------------
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Salgaocar SC l Mohun Bagan 4-5

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 4', Jose Barreto (MB) 33' & 35', Jonathan Bobo (MB) 45', James Singh (MB) 69' and Boniface Ambani (sal) 13', Felix Chhimakwu (sal) 21'& 53' & 62'

MoM - Felix Chhimakwu (sal)
-----------------------------

JCT Phagwara bt Sporting Clube de Goa 4-2

Goal Scored - Edu Ardo Silva (JCT) 3' & 46', Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT) 8', Baldeep Singh (JCT) 19' and Denzil Franco (SCG) 22', Lawrence Adjei (SCG) 68'

MoM - Edu Ardo Silva (JCT)
-----------------------------

Churchill Brothers bt Viva Kerala 5-0

Goal Scored - Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 10' & 75', Odafa Onyeka Okalie (CB) 66' & 90+', Robert Lalthlamvana (CB) 62'

MoM - Mboyo Iyomi (CB)
-----------------------------

Mahindra United bt East Bengal 2-1

Goal Scored - Debabrata Roy (EB) 31' (own goal), Mohd Rafi (MU) 72' and Edmilson (EB) 50'

MoM - Sushanth Mathews (MU)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

23rd Dec 2007 -
Maratha Warriors bt Bangalore Hi-Fliers 2-0

Goal Scored - Dhananjay Mahadik (MW) (PC) 61', Kweeom Moon (MW) 62'

MoM - Vikram Pillay (MW)
----------------------------------------------

Sher-e-Jallandhar bt Chennai Veerans 2-0

Goal Scored - Gagan Ajit Singh (seJ) 38', Jugraj Singh (SeJ) (PC) 41'

MoM - Dilawar Hussain (SeJ)

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[SF] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) l (1) GARD Catalin-Ionut (ROU,257) 63 26 16
----------------------------------------
At Grass NAtional Tennis Championship, Kolkata, India

Final -
(6) Vishnu Vardhan (AP) bt (4) Divij Sharan (DEL) 63 64

Congrats to Vishu for winning Grass Nationals and importantly gaining direct entry into Chennai Open maindraw ... First time he will be playing in the maindraw of ATP tournament ... Go Vishnu, make a full use of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

22nd Dec 2007 -
Hyderabad Sultans bt Sher-e-Jalandhar 3-0

Goal Scored - Pawal Lakra (HS) 43' & 59', Diwakar Ram (HS) 65'

MoM - Pawal Lakra (HS)
----------------------------------------------

Chandigarh Dynamos bt Orissa Steelers 2-0

Goal Scored - Prabhjot Singh (CD) 3' & 52'

MoM - Prabhjot Singh (CD)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

21st Dec 2007 -
Maratha Warriors bt Chennai Veerans 4-1

Goal Scored - Rehan Butt (MW) 19' & 45', Bharat Chikaria (MW) 32', ShivenderSingh (MW) 55' and Raghunath (CV) (PC) 39'

MoM - Rehan Butt (MW)
-------------------------------------------

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Orissa Steelers 6-5 (2-2)

Goal Scored - Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PC) 42' & 68' and Eliazer Ekka (OS) 25', William Xalxo (OS) (PC) 58'

Penalty Shoot-out -
BHF - Bimal Lakra, Arjun Halappa, Vikramkanth, Sandeep Michael (Missed chances - Tushar Khandekar)
OS - Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, Roshan Minz (Missed chances - Shakeel Abbasi, William Xalxo)

MoM - Bharat Chetri (BHF)
Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[QF] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) bt (5) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU,509) 76(4) 63

[SF] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) vs (1) GARD Catalin-Ionut (ROU,257)

Doubles -
[SF] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) l BABALOLA Abdul-Mumin (NGR)/ IGBINOVIA Jonathan (NGR) 67(3) 57
----------------------------------------
At $25K Womens Lagos Challenger II, Nigeria

[SF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) l (1) KURYANOVICH Iryna (BLR)/ SZATMARI Agnes (ROU) 26 46
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India l Dempo Sports Club 1-4

Goal Scored - Edeh Chidi (DSC) 36' & 62', Ranti Martin (DSC) 69' & 78' and Njoh Jean (AI) 44'
MoM - Ranti Martin (DSC)

Dempo is increasing gap between them and second place JCT ... Showing superb consistency and professional approach in their performance.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

20th Dec 2007 -
Chandigarh Dynamos bt Hyderabad Sultans 1-0

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (CD) (PS) 24'

MoM - Sandeep Singh (CD)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[R2] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) bt (Q) NORTEY Michael (GHA,UNR) 61 61

[QF] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) vs (5) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU,509)

Doubles -
[QF] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) bt (4) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) 36 63 10(8)

[SF] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) vs BABALOLA Abdul-Mumin (NGR)/ IGBINOVIA Jonathan (NGR)
----------------------------------------
At $25K Womens Lagos Challenger II, Nigeria

[R2] (7) LAKHANI Isha (IND,362) l DU PLESSIS Lizaan (RSA,605) 63 06 46
[R2] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) l (4) SZATMARI Agnes (ROU,312) 16 26

Doubles -
[QF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) bt ABINU Fatimah (NGR)/ IBRAHIM Sabath (NGR) 36 75 10(7)

[SF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) vs (1) KURYANOVICH Iryna (BLR)/ SZATMARI Agnes (ROU)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Motor Sports -
GP2 Series season 2008 -

Really big opportunity for Karun as race driver for iSport International team, who is current Constructor Champion in GP2 Series and also their driver Timo Glock won Driver Championship ( in 2008 he is joining Formula1 Toyota team as a race driver.).

Year 2007 becoming break-through year for Indian Motor Sports as Karun winning Sprint Race at Spa in GP2 Series, Narain winning Feature Race in A1 GP at China, Mr. Mallya becoming owner of Force India (old Spyker) team and serious chance of F1 race going to happen in 2 yrs time in India (also talk is going on for A1 GP road race in near future on border of Rajasthan and Haryana.).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -

So atlast its confirmed, the World Chess Championship will be held from October 11 to 30, 2008 in Bonn, Germany between Current World Champion India's Viswanathan Anand and his challenger from Russia's Vladimir Kramnik (who will be WR No. 1 in January ELO points list).

The match will consist of twelve games, played under classical time controls, in the period from Oct. 11 to Oct. 28, 2008 ... If there is a tie at the end of these games a tiebreak will be played on Oct. 30, 2008.

The prize money will be distributed equally between the players, is 1.5 million Euro (approximately 2.1 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE licensee fees.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Salgaocar dw Mahindra United 0-0

MoM - Sukhwinder Singh (MU)
----------------------------------------

Viva Kerala dw Sporting Clube de Goa 0-0

MoM - Tutu George (VK)
----------------------------------------
2007-08 ONGC I-League Team Standings (after 6 rounds)

Pos Team P W D L GF GA PTS GD
1 Dempo Sports Club 6 4 2 0 10 2 14 +8
2 JCT Phagwara 6 3 3 0 8 2 12 +6
3 Churchill Brothers 6 3 1 2 13 10 10 +3
4 Viva Kerala 6 2 3 1 7 5 9 +2
5 Kingfisher East Bengal 6 2 1 3 10 11 7 -1
6 Mahindra United 6 1 4 1 5 6 7 -1
7 Air India 6 1 3 2 4 5 6 -1
8 McDowell Mohun Bagan 6 1 2 3 7 10 5 -3
9 Salgaocar Sports Club 6 0 3 3 5 11 3 -6
10 Sporting Clube De goa 6 0 3 3 2 9 3 -7

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[R1] SINGH Navdeep (IND,742) l (5) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU,509) 67(2) 36

Doubles -
[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) bt (WC) ALADE Kehinde (NGR)/ FORD-DA SILVA Destiny (NGR) 64 36 10(7)

[QF] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) vs (4) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR)
----------------------------------------
At $25K Womens Lagos Challenger II, Nigeria

[R2] (7) LAKHANI Isha (IND,362) vs DU PLESSIS Lizaan (RSA,605)
[R2] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) vs (4) SZATMARI Agnes (ROU,312)

Doubles -
[R1] (4) ALBANESE Lauren (USA)/ LAKHANI Isha (IND) l ABINU Fatimah (NGR)/ IBRAHIM Sabath (NGR) W/O
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) bt ANUNA Blessing (NGR)/ TENU-MICHAEL CHRISTON Mary (NGR) 62 62

[QF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) vs ABINU Fatimah (NGR)/ IBRAHIM Sabath (NGR)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[R1] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) bt (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1480) 75 76(2)
[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) l (Q) EMMANUEL Sunday (NGR,1343) 62 36 36

[R2] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) vs (Q) NORTEY Michael (GHA,UNR)

Doubles -
[R1] (2) SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND) l MENSAH Emmanuel (GHA)/ NORTEY Michael (GHA) 46 46
----------------------------------------
At $25K Womens Lagos Challenger II, Nigeria

[R1] (7) LAKHANI Isha (IND,362) bt (Q) AGUGBOM Christie (NGR,NR) 60 60
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) bt MONTEIRO Nicole (NED,961) 62 57 64

Doubles -
[R1] (4) ALBANESE Lauren (USA)/ LAKHANI Isha (IND) vs ABINU Fatimah (NGR)/ IBRAHIM Sabath (NGR)
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ DAY Tamara (RSA) vs ANUNA Blessing (NGR)/ TENU-MICHAEL CHRISTON Mary (NGR)
Football News -

India moved ahead to #143 in newly declared December 2007 FIFA World ranking despite losing 4 points, now we r on 158 pts ... Bermuda (who lost 44 points) and Dominican Republic (who lost 60 points) dropped below our ranking.
----------------------------------
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India bt East Bengal 1-0

Goal Scored - Paresh Shivalkar (AI) 62'

MoM - Paresh Shivalkar (AI)

Monday, December 17, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K(+H) Nigeria F4 Mens Futures 2007, Lagos

[R1] (3) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) vs (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1480)
[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) vs (Q) EMMANUEL Sunday (NGR,1343)
[R1] SINGH Navdeep (IND,742) vs (5) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU,509)

Doubles -
[R1] (2) SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND) vs MENSAH Emmanuel (GHA)/ NORTEY Michael (GHA)
[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND)/ MCGAHON John (IRL) vs (WC) ALADE Kehinde (NGR)/ FORD-DA SILVA Destiny (NGR)
----------------------------------------
At $25K Womens Lagos Challenger II, Nigeria

[R1] (7) LAKHANI Isha (IND,362) vs (Q) AGUGBOM Christie (NGR,NR)
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) vs MONTEIRO Nicole (NED,961)

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Motor Sports -
At A1 GP, Zhuhai, China

THIS IS A HUGE WIN ... We r proud of u NARAIN!!!

What a incident-packed Feature race at Zhuhai Circuit in China ... It's India's first A1GP victory and India is the 14th different nation to take a win in A1GP.

Narain also improved his position by 2 in Sprint race to finished on 7th ... So with win in Feature race Team India improved their standing and entered into top 10 with total 27 pts.

Its memorable win and more importantly it was in China that gives extra pleasure ... :)


Narain Karthikeyan - ‘The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend. Both the pit stops were excellent. Unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on the out lap of my second stop, so I couldn’t push, but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal - after that I just got the job done.

Zhuhai Feature - race result (Sunday, December 16, 2007)
Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap

1 India Narain Karthikeyan 45 1:08'30.759

2 New Zealand Jonny Reid 45 1:08'31.261 0.502
3 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 45 1:08'34.887 4.128
4 Germany Michael Ammermüller 45 1:08'35.666 4.907
5 Great Britain Oliver Jarvis 45 1:08'36.026 5.267
6 Switzerland Neel Jani 45 1:08'45.275 14.516
7 France Loïc Duval 45 1:08'49.331 18.572
8 Czech Republic Tomas Enge 45 1:08'57.899 27.140
9 China Cheng Cong Fu 45 1:08'58.338 27.579
10 USA Jonathan Summerton 45 1:09'04.147 33.388
11 Mexico David Garza 45 1:09'20.112 49.353
12 Portugal João Urbano 45 1:09'34.590 1'03.831
13 Lebanon Chris Alajajian 44 1:09'01.358 1 lap
14 Pakistan Adam Khan 44 1:09'11.681 1 lap
15 Australia Ian Dyk 42 1:09'35.597 3 laps
16 Ireland Adam Carroll 27 1:03'01.695 18 laps
17 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 19 31'17.476 26 laps
18 Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 9 16'08.328 36 laps
19 Canada Robert Wickens 3 6'41.803 42 laps
20 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 1 1'53.984 44 laps
21 Brazil Sérgio Jimenez 1 2'37.624 44 laps
22 Malaysia Alex Yoong 0 45 laps

Zhuhai Sprint - race result (Sunday, December 16, 2007)
Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time Gap

1 Germany Michael Ammermüller 13 20'31.432

2 Switzerland Neel Jani 13 20'32.033 0.601
3 China Cheng Cong Fu 13 20'36.064 4.632
4 Ireland Adam Carroll 13 20'38.139 6.707
5 Czech Republic Tomas Enge 13 20'38.818 7.386
6 Great Britain Oliver Jarvis 13 20'39.297 7.865
7 India Narain Karthikeyan 13 20'40.093 8.661
8 France Loïc Duval 13 20'40.465 9.033
9 Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 13 20'41.082 9.650
10 New Zealand Jonny Reid 13 20'44.424 12.992
11 Italy Edoardo Piscopo 13 20'46.141 14.709
12 USA Jonathan Summerton 13 20'48.327 16.895
13 Australia Ian Dyk 13 20'48.601 17.169
14 Pakistan Adam Khan 13 20'52.376 20.944
15 Canada Robert Wickens 13 20'53.216 21.784
16 Mexico David Garza 13 20'54.820 23.388
17 Indonesia Satrio Hermanto 13 20'55.224 23.792
18 Brazil Sérgio Jimenez 12 20'55.457 1 lap
19 Portugal João Urbano 10 16'26.238 3 laps
20 South Africa Adrian Zaugg 1 3'15.105 12 laps
21 Malaysia Alex Yoong 1 3'26.864 12 laps
22 Lebanon Chris Alajajian 0 13 laps
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Viva Kerala bt Salgaocar SC 3-1

Goal Scored - Wisdom Abbey (VK) 40', Badmus Baba Tunde (VK) 54', CS Saleel (VK) 73' and Boniface Ambani (Sa) 48'

MoM - Wisdom Abbey (VK)
------------------------------------------

JCT dw Dempo SC 0-0

MoM - Marcos Pereira (JCT)
------------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers dw Mohun Bagan 2-2

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeka Okolie (CB) 67', Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 71' and Dharamjit Singh (MB) 47',Baichung Bhutia (MB) 69'

MoM - Mboyo Iyomi (CB)
Tennis News -
At $15K Nigeria F3 Futures 2007, Lagos

[F] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) bt (2) MARK Idan (ISR)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR) 76(2) 36 10(7)

Navdeep and his British partner repeated their performance to won title in doubles ... It was superb performance by this unseeded Indo-British pair, who won their all matches in super-tiebreaks ... And also interesting thing to note that they defeated all top 3 pairs in the draw to won the title in style.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motor Sports -
At A1 GP, Zhuhai, China

Zhuhai Feature race grid
Pos A1 Team Time Gap

1 Switzerland 1'23.465 -
2 Great Britain 1'23.650 0.185
3 India 1'23.767 0.302
4 France 1'23.784 0.319
5 Germany 1'23.890 0.425
6 China 1'23.930 0.465
7 USA 1'23.992 0.527
8 Malaysia 1'24.036 0.571
9 South Africa 1'24.100 0.635
10 New Zealand 1'24.114 0.649
11 Canada 1'24.149 0.684
12 Portugal 1'24.250 0.785
13 Ireland 1'24.294 0.829
14 Brazil 1'24.328 0.863
15 Lebanon 1'24.328 0.863
16 Czech Republic 1'24.350 0.885
17 Pakistan 1'24.378 0.913
18 Netherlands 1'24.460 0.995
19 Australia 1'24.538 1.073
20 Indonesia 1'24.667 1.202
21 Italy 1'24.810 1.345
22 Mexico 1'24.886 1.421


Zhuhai Sprint race grid
Pos A1 Team Time Gap

1 Germany 1'23.203 -
2 Switzerland 1'23.425 0.222
3 Ireland 1'23.675 0.472
4 China 1'23.784 0.581
5 Great Britain 1'23.850 0.647
6 Czech Republic 1'23.921 0.718
7 France 1'23.928 0.725
8 Netherlands 1'23.965 0.762
9 India 1'23.972 0.769
10 Canada 1'24.029 0.826
11 USA 1'24.104 0.901
12 Brazil 1'24.141 0.938
13 New Zealand 1'24.141 0.938
14 South Africa 1'24.207 1.004
15 Portugal 1'24.263 1.060
16 Italy 1'24.307 1.104
17 Malaysia 1'24.391 1.188
18 Australia 1'24.770 1.567
19 Indonesia 1'24.893 1.690
20 Lebanon 1'24.915 1.712
21 Pakistan 1'24.958 1.755
22 Mexico 1'25.246 2.043

Performance which Team India showed in testing never displayed in qualifying ... But atlast Team India managed to change that at Zhuhai race track ... Team India finished 9th on Sprint race grid and they produced their best-ever performance to finished 3rd on Feature race grid in qualifying ... So hopefully we can expect good performance tomorrow on race day by Narain.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Tennis News -
At $15K Nigeria F3 Futures 2007, Lagos

[QF] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) bt (3) EL AMRANI Reda (MAR)/ FATTAR Anas (MAR) 46 76(5) 14(12)

[SF] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) bt (1) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WESTERHOF Boy (NED) 64 36 10(6)

[F] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) vs (2) MARK Idan (ISR)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR)

Navdeep having superb run in doubles with his Brtish partner in Nigerian futures ... He and his partner had superb comeback victory over 3rd seeds but then in semis they scored another huge win over top seed pair ... Now interesting to see, can they repeat same performance in the final against second seeds?
-----------------------------------------------
At $25K Lagos Challenger I, Nigeria

[QF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ PETUSHKOVA Vladlena (RUS) l (1) KURYANOVICH Iryna (BLR)/ SZATMARI Agnes (ROU) 16 26
[QF] (3) ALBANESE Lauren (USA)/ IYER Tara (IND) l AKINGBADE Ronke (NGR)/ EKE Hannah (NGR) W/O
[QF] LAKHANI Isha (IND)/ MARSHALL Lisa (RSA) l (2) ANDERSON Kelly (RSA)/ SCHEEPERS Chanelle (RSA) 26 36
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Churchill Brothers bt East Bengal 3-2

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeka Okolie (CB) 32', 41' (Pen) & 44' and Edmilson Marques (EB) 24', Mehtab Hussain (EB) 86'

MoM - Odafe Onyeka Okolie (CB)
-----------------------------------

Sporting clube de Goa l Mahindra United 0-3

Goal Scored - Douhou Sey D Pierre (MU) 1',Steven Dias (MU) 51',Tarif Ahmed (MU) 90+'

MoM - Steven Dias (MU)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Badminton News -
At $15K VII Italian International 2007, Roma

[R1] Arvind BHAT (IND,49) bt (8) Petr KOUKAL (CZE,38) 21-19 21-19
[R2] Arvind BHAT (IND,49) bt Juergen KOCH (AUT,63) 16-21 21-10 21-12

[QF] Arvind BHAT (IND,49) l (1) Dicky PALYAMA (NED,30) 22-20 28-30 15-21

Arvind reach inside top-50 in few months after his year long injury break ... Here he missed chance of defeating top seed in quarter by whisker in second game.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $25K Lagos Challenger I, Nigeria

[R1] LAKHANI Isha (IND,362) l KUCOVA Zuzana (SVK,326) 26 26
[R1] IYER Tara (IND,385) bt KURYANOVICH Iryna (BLR,351) 63 76(6)
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) bt (LL) ANUNA Blessing (NGR,UNR) 62 60

[R2] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND,796) l KAYSER Syna (GER,693) 36 16
[R2] IYER Tara (IND,385) l (Q) GIORGI Camila (ITA,824) 57 0-2 Retd

Doubles -
[R1] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ PETUSHKOVA Vladlena (RUS) bt (WC) OGHENEKEVWE Beauty (NGR)/ ONWOCHIE (NGR) W/O
[R1] (3) ALBANESE Lauren (USA)/ IYER Tara (IND) bt (WC) KIENKA (NGR) / MACLEOD (NGR) 60 61
[R1] LAKHANI Isha (IND)/ MARSHALL Lisa (RSA) bt (WC) OGUNDARE Olawaseun (NGR)/ OYEGOKE Abiodun (NGR) 61 62

[QF] APPINENI Prerana-Mythri (IND)/ PETUSHKOVA Vladlena (RUS) vs (1) KURYANOVICH Iryna (BLR)/ SZATMARI Agnes (ROU)
[QF] (3) ALBANESE Lauren (USA)/ IYER Tara (IND) vs AKINGBADE Ronke (NGR)/ EKE Hannah (NGR)
[QF] LAKHANI Isha (IND)/ MARSHALL Lisa (RSA) vs (2) ANDERSON Kelly (RSA)/ SCHEEPERS Chanelle (RSA)
----------------------------------------------
At $15K Nigeria F3 Futures 2007, Lagos

[Q1] (2) ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) bt ALADE Kehinde (NGR,UNR) 63 57 62
[Q2] (2) ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) bt MICHELEVITZ Guy (ISR,UNR) 60 62

Maindraw -
[R1] (6) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) bt MCGAHON John (IRL,971) 76(6) 61
[R1] (Q) ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) bt (Q) ADAMU Sanni (NGR,UNR)
[R1] SINGH Navdeep (IND,742) l RUCKELSHAUSEN Richard (AUT,716) 26 75 36

[R2] (6) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,435) l SANON Valentin (CIV,659) 16 36
[R2] (Q) ROY Rupesh (IND,1133) l (7) SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR,543) 63 36 36

Doubles -
[R1] SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l IDOKO Candy (NGR)/ SHEHU Lawal (NGR) 67(5) 46
[R1] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) bt HEYL Heinrich (RSA)/ RUCKELSHAUSEN Richard (AUT) 75 57 10(6)

[QF] SINGH Navdeep (IND)/ SLABINSKY Alexander (GBR) vs (3) EL AMRANI Reda (MAR)/ FATTAR Anas (MAR)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo Sports Club bt Mohun Bagan 2-0

Goal Scored - Nicholau Borges (DSC) 15' & 71'

MoM - Nicholau Borges (DSC)
----------------------------------------------

Air India dw JCT Phagwara 0-0

MoM - Nirmal Chhetri (AI)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

For 7th Position -
(10) India l (8) Netherlands 0-3

Saurav Ghosal l Laurens Jan Anjema 10-11(1-3) 4-11 4-11
Ritwik Bhattacharya l Dylan Bennett 6-11 4-11 7-11
Siddharth Suchde l Piedro Schweertman W/O

With that India finished on 8th position ... This is our best performance but still I m disappointed by performance in last 2 matches ... Pakistan finished on 9th position, that means first-time ever we finished ahead of Pakistan in Squash Team events.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Tennis News -
At $75K Dubai Challenger, UAE

[R1] (WC) UBEROI Neha (USA,310) l (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,360) 46 26

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) MALOO Parija (IND)/ TSEPLUKHOVA Alina (RUS) l (3) MAES Caroline (BEL)/ MIRCIC Teodora (SRB) 06 06

[R1] (2) UBEROI Neha (USA)/ KUDRYAVTSEVA Alla (RUS) l ERAKOVIC Marina (NZL)/ NICULESCU Monica (ROU) 26 46
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

For 5th to 8th Positions -
(10) India l (6) Canada 1-2

Siddharth Suchde l Shawn De Lierre 3-11 10-11(1-3) 11-10(5-3) 8-11
Saurav Ghosal bt Shahier Razik 11-10(2-0) 9-11 11-10(2-0) 6-11 11-9
Ritwik Bhattacharya l Matthew Giuffre 8-11 6-11 11-6 7-11


So now India will play against Netherlands for 7th position ... Good win by Saurav against Canadian Shahier and also fighting performance by Ritwik and Siddhath.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube de Goa dw Salgaocar 1-1

Goal Scored - Milagres Gonsalves (Sa) 49', Elijah Obagbemiro (SCG) 65'

MoM - Rocus Lamare (sa)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Tennis News -
At $75K Dubai Challenger, UAE

[Q1] MALOO Parija (IND,693) bt PAVLOVIC Andrea (SRB,UNR) 62 62

[Q2] MALOO Parija (IND,693) l (4) POLTORATSKAYA Anastasia (RUS,313) 26 16

Maindraw -
[R1] (WC) UBEROI Neha (USA,310) vs (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,360)

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) MALOO Parija (IND)/ TSEPLUKHOVA Alina (RUS) vs (3) MAES Caroline (BEL)/ MIRCIC Teodora (SRB)

[R1] (2) UBEROI Neha (USA)/ KUDRYAVTSEVA Alla (RUS) vs ERAKOVIC Marina (NZL)/ NICULESCU Monica (ROU)

Good to see Neha is playing in this tough Dubai Challenger ... She recieved wildcard in singles and also she is 2nd seeded in doubles with her Russian partner.

In singles she had match against another wildcard player, former top-20 Uzbek player Iroda Tulyaganova ... This will be good match up as both players r coming out of injury.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

[QF] (10) India l (1) Egypt 0-3

Ritwik Bhattacharya l Wael Elhendy 10-11(1-3) 4-11 8-11 (44m)
Saurav Ghosal l Amr Shabana 5-11 8-11 9-11 (30m)
Siddharth Suchde vs Gethro Binns 6-11 10-11(1-3) 7-11 (38m)

So with that our impressive run in this World Men's team Championship is over ... But this is our best performance, now interesting to see where we finished in 5-8th position matches.
These r year-end ranking of top 10 Indian players for year 2007, may be few exceptions like Sunil, who r playing 2 more futures in Nigeria in 2006.

ATP Singles Ranking as on 10th December 2007
267 Bopanna Rohan 147
280 Amritraj Prakash 137
359 Rastogi Karan 96
435 Sipaeya Sunil Kumar 69
545 Singh Ashutosh 43
558 Sharan Divij 40
648 Madkekar Aditya 28
689 Shokeen Vivek 25
706 Kannan Vijay 23
742 Singh Navdeep 20

ATP Doubles Ranking as on 10th December 2007
12 Paes Leander 2870
21 Bhupathi Mahesh 2210
66 Bopanna Rohan 833
181 Ghouse Mustafa 325
251 Amritraj Stephen 222
367 Raja Purav 143
373 Singh Ashutosh 139
401 Shokeen Vivek 127
410 Sipaeya Sunil Kumar 123
462 Kannan Vijay 100


WTA Singles Ranking as on 10th December 2007
31 MIRZA SANIA 921.00
195 RAO SUNITHA 153.00
310 UBEROI NEHA 77.00
362 LAKHANI ISHA 57.00
385 IYER TARA 52.00
447 CHAKRAVARTHI RUSHMI 40.00
528 BHAMBRI ANKITA 29.00
558 BHAMBRI SANAA 25.00
568 NAGARAJ SANDHYA 24.00
698 MALOO PARIJA 15.00

WTA Doubles Ranking as on 10th December 2007
18 MIRZA SANIA 1680.00
120 RAO SUNITHA 324.00
186 UBEROI NEHA 192.00
261 UBEROI SHIKHA 119.00
324 IYER TARA 84.00
386 BHAMBRI SANAA 59.00
422 CHAKRAVARTHI RUSHMI 51.00
490 LAKHANI ISHA 38.00
501 BHAMBRI ANKITA 37.00
662 NAGARAJ SANDHYA 20.00

Being a semi-finalist in last week' Challenger as expected Sunil moved inside singles top-450, he jumped 92 places from his last week's ranking.

But sad to see now Harsh is out of official ranking as he doesn't have a single ranking point ... Also Shikha's ranking come down to #724 due to her absentee from the tour due to her Asthama problem.

But with current ranking Sania will be seeded in singles at 2008 Australian Open.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

[PQF] (10) India bt (9) Wales 3-0

Ritwik Bhattacharya bt David Evans 11-6 11-10(3-1) 11-7 (38m)
Saurav Ghosal bt Alex Gough 10-11(2-4) 11-7 11-3 0-11 (Retd) (50m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Gethro Binns 11-8 7-11 11-2 (31m)

Impressive performance by our team to reach quarter-finals of World Men's Team tournament ... Now in QF we r facing formidable #1 team Egypt, who r entering with their strong lineup; WR #1 Amr Shabana, WR #8 Karim Darwish, WR #9 Wael El Hindi and WR #14 Mohammed Abbas ... So playing against these Egyptian players will be great experiance for our players; WR #47 Saurav Ghosal, WR #63 Ritwik Bhattacharya, WR #130 Gaurav Nandrajog, WR #156 Siddharth Suchde.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Volvo Masters of Asia, Bangkok, Thailand - Final Standing

T12 Rahil GANGJEE 70 74 70 69 - 5 $11,760.00
T19 Shiv KAPUR 70 72 69 74 - 3 $ 9,064.00
T19 S.S.P. CHOWRASIA 69 73 71 72 - 3 $ 9,064.00
T44 Gaurav GHEI 75 73 72 76 + 8 $ 4,508.00
----------------------------------------------
UBS Order of Merit (Asian Tour 2007)
(Top 60 players grabbed 2008 full Asian tour card)

POS PLAYER EARNING PLAYED

10 Gaurav GHEI (IND) $261,057.00 20
12 Shiv KAPUR (IND) $239,085.00 11
32 S.S.P. CHOWRASIA (IND) $135,871.00 22
37 Rahil GANGJEE (IND) $115,526.00 23
77 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) $ 52,413.00 9
84 Gurbaaz MANN (IND) $ 41,894.00 14
86 Arjun SINGH (IND) $ 35,872.00 12
93 Amandeep JOHL (IND) $ 31,445.00 21
99 Digvijay SINGH (IND) $ 28,453.00 16
108 Harmeet KAHLON (IND) $ 22,668.00 12
116 Uttam Singh MUNDY (IND) $ 15,236.00 11

---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mahindra United dw Viva Kerala 0-0

MoM - Nelson MV (VK)
-----------------------------

JCT Phagwara bt Churchill Brothers 3-0

Goal Scored - Marcos Pereira (JCT) 49', Nigerian Abdul Latif Seriki (JCT) 56', Sunil Chhetri (JCT) 68'

MoM - Marcos Pereira (JCT)
-----------------------------

Mohun Bagan bt Air India 2-0

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 21' & 85'

MoM - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB)
-----------------------------

Dempo Sports Club dw East Bengal 2-2

Goal Scored - Valerino Rebello (DSC) 26',Roberto 'Beto' Silva (DSC) 85' and Macdonal Mukansi (EB) 36', Edmilson Marques (EB) 59'

MoM - Subarta Pal (EB)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

(10) India bt (17-24) Kenya 3 - 0

Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Hardeep Reel 11-4 13-11 12-10
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Otto Kwach 11-5 11-6 11-9
Siddharth Suchde bt Hartaj Bains 11-0 11-4 11-3

So with that group level round-robin finished ... India finished 2nd behind Pakistan in Group G ... From tomorrow knockout stage is begining ... India will play against Group H winner #9 Wales ... So having good opportunity to move in quarter-finals.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Volvo Masters of Asia, Bangkok, Thailand - Third Round

T13 Shiv KAPUR 70 72 69 - 5
20 S.S.P. CHOWRASIA 69 73 71 - 3
T21 Rahil GANGJEE 70 74 70 - 2
T43 Gaurav GHEI 75 73 72 + 4

Friday, December 07, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[SF] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) l CAKL Tomas (CZE,325) 46 26

Was hoping much after win over Aisam in previous round but still great week for Sunil.
----------------------------------------------
At Grade A Orange Bowl Tennis Champinships, Florida, USA,

[PQF] (13) Yuki Bhambri (IND,35) l (2) Ricardo Berankis (LTU,2) 36 76(4) 16

Superb performance by 15 yrs old Yuki ... Taking a set against World Junior No. 2 is not a joke ... Go Yuki, u r on right track.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At 21st ICL World Men's Team Squash Championship, Chennai, India
(December 6th - 12th, 2007)

(10) India bt (25-29) Bermuda 3-0

Saurav Ghosal bt Chase Toogood 11-3 11-5 11-4 (24m)
Siddharth Suchde bt Mel Cairnes 11-1 11-2 11-5 (13m)
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Robert Maycock 11-3 11-10(4-2) 11-8 (25m)
--------------------------------------

(10) India l (7) Pakistan 0-3

Siddharth Suchde l Farhan Mehboob 11-8 10-12 5-11 5-11
Saurav Ghosal l Amir Atlas Khan 10-12 6-11 13-11 11-6 9-11
Ritwik Bhattacharya l Mansoor Zaman 6-11 9-11 3-11
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Volvo Masters of Asia, Bangkok, Thailand - Second Round

T22 Shiv KAPUR 70 72 - 2
T22 S.S.P. CHOWRASIA 69 73 - 2
T33 Rahil GANGJEE 70 74 + 2
T49 Gaurav GHEI 75 73 + 4

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[QF] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) bt (2) QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK,145) 36 76(5) 76(4)

[SF] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) vs CAKL Tomas (CZE,325)

Its not a simple upset, Its more than that ... I think with this win Sunil definitely able to kill demon in his mind who doubt his own game ... Then this was win over in form player, who won Challenger last week ... Again this win against the player with whom our Indian players struggled until now with few exceptions ... Sunil also produced comeback in this match after losing first set ... And most importantly he won both tight sets in tie-breaks ... So problem of not finishing matches in third set also improving ... Simply great stuff.

With this win Sunil gathered very important 24 ranking points, which will help him to zoom inside top 435 ATP singles ranking.

----------------------------------------------
At Grade A Orange Bowl Tennis Champinships, Florida, USA,

[R2] (13) Yuki Bhambri (IND,35) bt (WC) Dennis Nevolo (USA,122) 63 76(3)

[PQF] (13) Yuki Bhambri (IND,35) vs (2) Ricardo Berankis (LTU,2)

Terrific stuff from 15-year-old Yuki Bhambri to make the PQF in the prestigious Orange Bowl ... Really good match up for Yuki against current Junior US Open Champion ... Berankis had terrific 2007, where he reached semis of Junior Australian Open and Wimbledon ... And was quarter-finalist in Junior French Open.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $15K the India International Challenge Badminton Championship, Guwahati

Mens Singles -
[F] (1) Chetan Anand (IND,51) l (3) Wei Feng Chong (MAS,94) 18-21 22-20 15-21

Womens Singles -
[F] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,27) l (2) Kanako Yonekura (JPN,36) 13-21 18-21

Womens Doubles -
[F] (1) Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Aparna Balan (IND)/P. Jyotsna (IND) 21-11 21-8

Mixed Doubles -
[F] V. Diju (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) 21-14 21-16

Indian players didn't took advantage of being top-seeds in singles at the India International Challenge badminton championship.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[R2] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) bt (6) BOPANNA Rohan (IND,267) 64 16 4-2 Retd (with lower back strain)

Doubles -
[QF] RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ THOMPSON Nathan (USA) l (1) BRIAUD Patrick (USA)/ KEDRIOUK Alexey (KAZ) 46 26
[QF] (WC) PRASHANTH Vijay Sundar (IND)/ VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND) l (3) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN)/ ZENG Shao-Xuan (CHN) 46 06
[QF] (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ SINGH Ashutosh (IND) l (4) SLANER Martin (AUT)/ VALTZER Dekel (ISR) 67(5) 46
[QF] RAJA Purav (IND)/ SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND) l CHEKHOV Pavel (RUS)/ ELGIN Michail (RUS) 46 46
----------------------------------------------
At Grade A Orange Bowl Tennis Champinships, Florida, USA,

[R1] (13) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,35) bt VUCIC Ilija (SRB,96) 62 64

[R2] (13) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,35) vs (WC) NEVOLO Dennis (USA,122)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo Sports Club bt Churchill Brothers 2-0

Goal Scored - Roberto Mendes Silva 'Beto' (DSC) 45', Ranti Martins (DSC) 66'

MoM - Roberto Mendes Silva 'Beto' (DSC)
-----------------------------
At I-League 2007-2008, India

JCT Phagwara dw Mahindra United 0-0

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[R1] (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,674) vs (1) PLESS Kristian (DEN,128)
[R1] (Q) VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1382) l VLASOV Dmitry (RUS,421)
[R1] (WC) SINGH, Ashutosh (IND,541) l (PR) DE CHAUNAC Sebastien (FRA,420) 26 16
[R1] (6) BOPANNA Rohan (IND,267) bt (Q) LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,823)
[R1] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) bt GHAREEB Mohammed (KUW,437) 76(8) 63
[R1] (2) QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK,145) bt SLANAR Martin (AUT,340)

[R2] (2) QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK,145) bt KINDLMANN Dieter (GER,329) w/o (Viral infection)
[R2] (6) BOPANNA Rohan (IND,267) vs (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539)

Doubles -
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ THOMPSON Nathan (USA) bt KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ SUGIYAMA Norikazu (JPN) 62 63
[R1] (WC) PRASHANTH Vijay Sundar (IND)/ VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND) bt CRUCIAT Adrian (ROU)/ MENENDEZ Adrian (ESP) 64 75
[R1] RAJA Purav (IND)/ SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND) bt (2) AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND)/ MOSER Frank (GER) 76(3) 64
----------------------------------------------
At 2007 Asian 16/U Junior Mixed Team Championships, Bangkok, Thailand

Group B -
(4) India l (5) Korea

KAPOOR Gopika l MUN Ye-Ji 57 06
MANUJA Ronak l NOH Sang-Woo 16 61 36
KAPOOR Gopika/ MANUJA Ronak l MUN Ye-Ji/ NOH Sang-Woo W/O

Play for 5-8 position -
(4) India bt (7) Pakistan 2-1

KAPOOR Gopika l KHAN Sarah Mahboob 46 61 06
MANUJA Ronak bt ASHIQ Heera 60 61
KAPOOR Gopika/ MANUJA Ronak bt KHAN Sarah Mahboob/ ASHIQ Heera 62 62

Playoff for 5th posiition -
(4) India l (6) Singapore 1-2

KAPOOR Gopika l TAN LI YUN Stefanie 16 16
MANUJA Ronak bt JAMALUDIN Abdul Hakim Bin 63 64
KAPOOR Gopika/ MANUJA Ronak l TAN LI YUN Stefanie/ JAMALUDIN Abdul Hakim Bin 57 46

So 4th seed Indian U-16 team finished disappointing 6th in this Mixed U-16 Asian Team Championships.
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Chess News -
At World Chess Cup, Khanti Mansiysk - Fourth Round (After 1st game)

Sasikiran Krishnan (IND,2661) vs Ponomariov Ruslan (UKR,2705) ½-1½

Ponomariov scored victory in classic game playing with White and in second game he managed to hold Sasi to win match.
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

East Bengal bt Salgaocar 3-2

Goal Scored - Edmilson (EB) 19' & 68', Ashim Biswas (EB) 59', Biju Kumar (Sa) 50', Shylo Malswantluanga (Sa) 75

MoM - Tulunga Felix (Sa)
-----------------------------
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air-India dw Viva Kerala 1-1

Goal Scored - Tabia Othalo (VK) 16', Bashiru Abbas (AI) 18'

MoM - Tutu George (VK)

Monday, December 03, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[R1] (WC) MANKAD Harsh (IND,1475) l VALTZER Dekel (ISR,414) 36 67(3)
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,349) l CAKL Tomas (CZE,325) 06 16

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) LIBERHAN Tushar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l (1) BRIAUD Patrick (USA)/ KEDRIOUK Alexey (KAZ) 36 57
[R1] (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ SINGH Ashutosh (IND) bt SHARAN Divij (IND)/ SINGH Navdeep (IND) 63 64
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Chess News -
At World Chess Cup, Khanti Mansiysk - Fourth Round

Sasikiran Krishnan (IND,2661) vs Ponomariov Ruslan (UKR,2705)

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Chess News -
At World Chess Cup, Khanti Mansiysk - Third round

Sasikiran Krishnan (IND,2661) bt Macieja Bartlomiej (POL,2606) 4 - 2

After drawing both Rapid games Sasi again showed mastery in Blitz ... Today he won both Blitz games to move into 4th round.
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Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

[R1] (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,674) vs (1) PLESS Kristian (DEN,128)
[R1] (Q) VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1382) vs VLASOV Dmitry (RUS,421)
[R1] (WC) SINGH, Ashutosh (IND,541) vs (PR) DE CHAUNAC Sebastien (FRA,420)
[R1] (WC) MANKAD Harsh (IND,1475) vs VALTZER Dekel (ISR,414)
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,349) vs CAKL Tomas (CZE,325)
[R1] (6) BOPANNA Rohan (IND,267) vs (Q) LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,823)
[R1] (WC) SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND,539) vs GHAREEB Mohammed (KUW,437)
[R1] (2) QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK,145) vs SLANAR Martin (AUT,340)

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) LIBERHAN Tushar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs (1) BRIAUD Patrick (USA)/ KEDRIOUK Alexey (KAZ)
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ THOMPSON Nathan (USA) vs KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ SUGIYAMA Norikazu (JPN)
[R1] (WC) PRASHANTH Vijay Sundar (IND)/ VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND) vs CRUCIAT Adrian (ROU)/ MENENDEZ Adrian (ESP)
[R1] SHARAN Divij (IND)/ SINGH Navdeep (IND) vs (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ SINGH Ashutosh (IND)
[R1] (2) AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND)/ MOSER Frank (GER) vs RAJA Purav (IND)/ SIPAEYA Sunil Kumar (IND)
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mohun Bagan dw Sporting Clube-de-Goa 1-1

Goal Scored - Jose Ramirez Baretto (MB) 47', Elijah (SCG) 57'
Badminton News -
At $5k Yonex Welsh International, Cardiff

[R1] Gayatri Vartak (IND,174) bt (Q) Munn Tzin Bong (ENG,UNR) 21-16 21-10
[R2] Gayatri Vartak (IND,174) bt (4) Chloe Magee (IRL,83) 23-21 21-12
[QF] Gayatri Vartak (IND,174) bt Atu Rosalina Sagita (INA,124) 21-18 15-21 21-15

[SF] Gayatri Vartak (IND,174) l (1) Jill Pittard (ENG,53) 16-21 9-21

Good performance by Gayatri against higer ranked Europeans in this Welsh Internationals.
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Chess News -
At World Chess Cup, Khanti Mansiysk - Third round (After 2nd game)

Sasikiran Krishnan (IND,2661) vs Macieja Bartlomiej (POL,2606) 1 - 1
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Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger II, India

Qualifying First Round -
(1) MARCHENKO Ilia (UKR,515) bt PRASHANTH Vijay Sundar (IND,UNR) 63 36 64
VARDHAN Vishnu (IND,911) bt SELVARAJ Ajai (IND,1382) 62 61
GIDE Rohan (IND,1475) bt (WC) SATYAJIT Vivek (IND,UNR) 61 0-1 Retd
KANNAN Kamala (IND,1475) bt (7) KONDO Hiroki (JPN,627) 62 64

(2) SHARAN Divij (IND,556) bt NELORD Yannick (IND,1475) 64 62
RAJA Purav (IND,857) bt SINGH Gursharan (IND,1475) 61 64
LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,823) bt (WC) SINGH Gurmehar (IND,UNR) 60 61
MISHRA Shivang (IND,1382) bt (8) KANNAN Vijay (IND,700) 62 62

(3) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN,561) bt MALIK Vijayant (IND,1288) 61 61
GAJJAR Rohan (IND,1088) bt (WC) MISHRA Nishank (IND,UNR) 62 62
SINGH Navdeep (IND,734) bt TIWARI Palash (IND,UNR) 63 64
(6) THOMPSON Nathan (USA,624) bt (WC) WALLA Varun (IND,UNR) 61 60

VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1382) bt (4) SUGIYAMA Norikazu (JPN,584) 76(5) 64
SRIDHAR Vinod (IND,1088) bt (WC) RATHI Shrikant (IND,UNR) 60 60
RODRIGUEZ-REDONDO Daniel-Andrea (ESP,UNR) bt (WC) PARTHASARATHY Bhareth Srinivasan (IND,UNR) 60 62
(5) ZENG Shao Xuan (CHN,601) bt ROY Rupesh (IND,1126) 61 62

Qualifying Second Round -
(1) MARCHENKO Ilia (UKR,515) bt VARDHAN Vishnu (IND,911) 75 64
GIDE Rohan (IND,1475) bt KANNAN Kamala (IND,1475) 64 76(2)

RAJA Purav (IND,857) bt (2) SHARAN Divij (IND,556) 75 76(4)
LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,823) bt MISHRA Shivang (IND,1382) 63 64

(3) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN,561) bt GAJJAR Rohan (IND,1088) 62 63
(6) THOMPSON Nathan (USA,624) bt SINGH Navdeep (IND,734) 63 64

VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1382) bt SRIDHAR Vinod (IND,1088) 62 60
RODRIGUEZ-REDONDO Daniel-Andrea (ESP,UNR) bt (5) ZENG Shao Xuan (CHN,601) 64 64

Qualifying Final Round -
(1) MARCHENKO Ilia (UKR,515) bt GIDE Rohan (IND,1475) 63 60
LIBERHAN Tushar (IND,823) bt RAJA Purav (IND,857) 62 63
(6) THOMPSON Nathan (USA,624) bt (3) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN,561) 63 75
VIRALI MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1382) bt RODRIGUEZ-REDONDO Daniel-Andrea (ESP,UNR) 76(0) 75
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Golf News -
At Michael Hill New Zealand Open - Final Standing (European Tour)

T51 CHOPRA Daniel 70 71 70 78 + 1 € 1851.44
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At Golf Nippon Series JT Cup 2007 - Final Standing (Japan PGA Tour)

T3 Jeev Milkha Singh 69 68 66 68 - 9 ¥5,120,000

This is best performance by Jeev in year 2007 where he was defending champion.
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At Cambodian Open - Final Standing (Asian Tour)

T10 Harmeet KAHLON 69 69 73 70 - 7
T18 Arjun SINGH 67 70 74 73 - 4
T29 Gaganjeet BHULLAR 75 71 73 67 - 2
T38 Rahil GANGJEE 71 75 73 69 Even
T55 Gurbaaz MANN 72 72 75 75 + 6
T55 Vikrant CHOPRA 72 74 73 75 + 6
T67 Amandeep JOHL 71 75 74 82 +14
T67 Rahul GANAPATHY 72 73 81 76 +14

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

[F] (6) QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK,148) bt AN Jae-Sung (KOR,440) 75 64

This is Aisam's first Challenger title ... With this win Aisam will move inside ATP top-130 Singles ranking.
----------------------------------------------
At $100K Asia Masters Cup, Bangkok, Thailand

Yellow Group
(1) UDOMCHOKE Danai (THA,110) bt (7) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,674) 63 64
(3) ISTOMIN Denis (UZB,226) bt (5) GHAREEB Mohammed (KUW,437) 76(1) 63

(5) GHAREEB Mohammed (KUW,437) bt (7) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,674) 57 76(3) 61
(1) UDOMCHOKE Danai (THA,110) bt (3) ISTOMIN Denis (UZB,226) 64 36 62

Red Group
(2) IM Kyu-Tae (KOR,224) bt (8) DOAKMAIKLEE Weerapat (THA,767) 61 64
(4) MOTOMURA Gouichi (JPN,291) bt (6) SINGH Ashutosh (IND,541) 61 62

(6) SINGH Ashutosh (IND,541) bt (8) DOAKMAIKLEE Weerapat (THA,767) 63 62
(4) MOTOMURA Gouichi (JPN,291) bt (2) IM Kyu-Tae (KOR,224) 26 76(6) 75

So from Indians only Ashutosh managed to win single match ... But still good experiance for him and Vivek against higher rank Asians.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Michael Hill New Zealand Open - Third Round (European Tour)

T11 CHOPRA Daniel 70 71 70 - 5
----------------------------------------------
At Golf Nippon Series JT Cup 2007 - Third Round (Japan PGA Tour)

T1 Jeev Milkha Singh 69 68 66 - 7
----------------------------------------------
At Cambodian Open - Third Round (Asian Tour)

T10 Arjun SINGH 67 70 74 - 5
T10 Harmeet KAHLON 69 69 73 - 5
T48 Gurbaaz MANN 72 72 75 + 3
T48 Rahil GANGJEE 71 75 73 + 3
T48 Vikrant CHOPRA 72 74 73 + 3
T48 Gaganjeet BHULLAR 75 71 73 + 3
T56 Amandeep JOHL 71 75 74 + 4
70 Rahul GANAPATHY 72 73 81 +10
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Squash News -
At $4K NSC Satellite #6 2007, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[SF] (1) Joshna Chinappa (IND,45) l (3) Donna Urquhart (AUS,56) 7-9 5-9 9-5 9-6 6-9
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Chess News -
At World Chess Cup, Khanti Mansiysk - Third round

Sasikiran Krishnan (IND,2661) vs Macieja Bartlomiej (POL,2606) ½ - ½
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

JCT Phagwara bt East Bengal 3-1

Goal Scored - Eduardo DeSilva (JCT) 43', 67' & 82', Edmilson (EB) 50'

MoM - Eduardo DeSilva (JCT)

Table Tennis News

At $70K ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open 2020 , Muscat, Oman [R32] Harmeet Desai (IND,87) bt Jeremy Hazin (CAN,164) 4-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-4,...