Tennis News -
At Federation Cup (Asia/Oceania Zone Group I 2008), Bangkok, Thailand

Singles 1
Isha Lakhani (IND,349) bt Sacha Jones (NZL,313) 67(7) 61 64

Singles 2
Sunitha Rao (IND,195) l Marina Erakovic (NZL,149) 06 67(7)

Doubles -
Isha Lakhani (IND)/ Shikha Uberoi (IND) l Leanne Baker (NZL)/ Marina Erakovic (NZL) 26 26

Sania's unavailability and Sunitha's lack of form r hurting us badly ... Now we r in struggle of holding our position in Asia/Oceania Zone Group I.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F3, Tipton

[R1] (Q) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) l (5) Olivier CHARROIN (FRA,611) 3-4 (40-40) Retired

Doubles -
[QF] (2) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt EATON Chris (GBR)/ SKUPSKI Ken (GBR) 76(3) 62

[QF] (2) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt (4) KLIER David (GER)/ SCHOECK Thomas (GER) 61 76(4)

[F] (2) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs BREWER David (GBR)/ FLANAGAN Ian (GBR)

Harsh retired due to hamstring strain injury ... He was playing his 6th match in 5 days so it was already stressful to his taped knee ... Lets hope nothing serious.

Purav reached consecutive second final in doubles, hopefully he and his Czech partner repeats last week's title winning performance.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo SC bt JCT 2-1

Goal Scored - Climax Lawrence (DSC) 43' & 89' and Sunil Chhetri (JCT) 18'
-------------------------------------

Mohun Bagan bt Churchill Brothers 2-1

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 4', Habib ur Rehman Mondal (MB) 31' and Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 38'

MoM - Habib ur Rehman Mondal (MB)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Dubai Desert Classic, UAE

T2 RANDHAWA Jyoti 67 -5
T2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 67 -5
T13 KAPUR Shiv 68 -4

Tennis News -
At Federation Cup (Asia/Oceania Zone Group I 2008), Bangkok, Thailand

GROUP A - India l Indonesia 1-2

Single 1
Shikha Uberoi (IND,796) bt Ayu Fani Damayanti (INA,600) 64 61

Single 2
Sunitha Rao (IND,195) l Sandy Gumulya (INA,239) 16 63 36

Doubles -
Sunitha Rao (IND)/ Shikha Uberoi (IND) l Sandy Gumulya (INA)/ Ayu Fani Damayanti (INA) 76(7) 16 36

Indonesia upset India with 2-1 victory ... Shikha and Sunitha couldn't continued with their game after winning first set ... Now we r in dire strait as we need to win all our ties without losing any other match to move into the final ... Australia won their doubles match to won the tie 2-1 against New Zealand.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F3, Tipton

[R2] (Q) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt (Q) THORNLEY Sean (GBR,1276) 75 62

So this is 5th win in a 4 days ... Good to see his knee is holding after continous play ... So in last 2 weeks Harsh gathered 3 ranking points, he needs to go deep to improve his ranking inside top 1000 players.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mahindra United dw Salgaocar Sports Club 2-2

Goal Scored - Mohd Rafi (MU) 25', K Thoi (MU) 63' and Malsawmtlunga Syhlo (Sal)

MoM - Malsawmtlunga Syhlo (Sal)
--------------------------------------
East Bengal dw Air India 0-0

MoM - Arnab Das Sharma (AI)

Tennis News -
At Federation Cup (Asia/Oceania Zone Group I 2008), Bangkok, Thailand

Groups r declared ... India is seeded 3rd and r in with top-seed Australia.

Group A
1. Australia (1)
2. India (3)
3. New Zealand
4. Indonesia

Group B
1. Chinese Taipei (2)
2. Thailand (4)
3. Uzbekistan
4. Hong Kong


Teams -
AUSTRALIA
Alicia Molik, Nicole Pratt, Casey Dellacqua, Rennae Stubbs
Captain - David Taylor

CHINESE TAIPEI
Yung Jan Chan, Su-Wei Hsieh, Chin-Wei Chan, Chia-Jung Chuang
Captain - Shi-Ting Wang

INDONESIA
Sandy Gumulya, Lavinia Tananta, Ayu Fani Damayanti, Vivien Silfany
Captain - Suzanna Anggarkusuma

THAILAND
Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nudnida Luangnam, Suchanun Viratprasert, Napaporn Tongsalee
Captain - Pracharapol Khamsaman

UZBEKISTAN
Akgul Amanmuradova, Iroda Tulyaganova, Vlada Ekshibarova, Albina Khabibulina
Captain - Samuk Abidov

NEW ZEALAND
Marina Erakovic, Sacha Jones, Ellen Barry, Leanne Baker
Captain - David Lewis

HONG KONG, CHINA
Ling Zhang, Zi Jun Yang, Po Kuen Lam, Ka Po Tong
Captain - Yat Wai Venant Shum

INDIA
Sania Mirza, Sunitha Rao, Isha Lakhani, Shikha Uberoi
Captain - Enrico Piperno
------------------------------------------------
At $50K Dallas Challenger, TX USA

[R1] AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND)/ FLEISHMAN Zack (USA) l ROJER Jean-Julien (AHO)/ TORRES Marcio (BRA) 36 57

Tennis News -
At $50K China TCL Challenger, Guangzhou

[R1] BOPANNA Rohan (IND,292) l (5) UDOMCHOKE Danai (THA,153) 26 46

From score it looks that Danai toyed Rohan for straight sets victory ... So now only Kash is keeping our interest in this Chinese Challenger.

As per report Prakash withdraw from this Chinese challenger due to left wrist injury ... Crossing my fingers for not serious injury so he can play important Davis Cup tie against Uzbek
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F3, Tipton

[R1] (Q) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt (3) KRETSCHMER Gero (GER,594)63 75

Very good result for Harsh, as he lost against same German opponent in previous week ... So very hard fought victory for Harsh which will increase his confidence to perform better.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube De Goa bt Viva Kerala 3-0

Goal Scored - Harmanjot Khabra (SCG) 20', O.E.O. Junior (SCG) 33' & 60'

MoM - Luis Barreto (SCG)

This defeat taking Viva towards relegation zone as East Bengal showing improvement its warning sign for them ... Other hand East Bengal's improvement will be tested in their next home match against Air India ... Tomorrow with EB and Air-men match another Mumbai team is in action ... MU vs Salgaocar.

Tennis News -

So newly updated ranking after Australian Open 2008, Somdev Dev Varman jumped 253 places in singles ranking after US F1 title win to #784 ... With his reaching doubles third round performance Rohan first-time breaks into top-60 doubles ranking and his partner, Rajeev Ram, first-time jumped inside top-50 in doubles ranking, he is on #49 ... Aisam is in #78 in doubles and #129 in singles.

Sania climbed to #29 to become Asia's No. 1 ... Lee dropped 3 positions and Mahesh climbed 2 positions in doubles ranking.

ATP Singles Ranking as on 28th January 2008 (Ranking, Name, Points)
267 Amritraj Prakash 145
288 Bopanna Rohan 131
416 Sipaeya Sunil Kumar 75
466 Rastogi Karan 59
564 Singh Ashutosh 39

ATP Doubles Ranking as on 28th January 2008
15 Paes Leander 2695
19 Bhupathi Mahesh 2390
56 Bopanna Rohan 943
216 Ghouse Mustafa 269
259 Amritraj Stephen 216

WTA Singles Ranking as on 28th January 2008
29 MIRZA SANIA 931.00
195 RAO SUNITHA 147.00
332 UBEROI NEHA 65.00
349 LAKHANI ISHA 62.00
375 IYER TARA 55.00

WTA Doubles Ranking as on 28th January 2008
23 MIRZA SANIA 1680.00
122 RAO SUNITHA 316.00
181 UBEROI NEHA 200.00
311 IYER TARA 90.00
391 BHAMBRI SANAA 59.00
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F3, Tipton

[Q3] Harsh Mankad (IND,UNR) bt (1) Chris Eaton (GBR,657) 76(2) 61
[Q3] (3) Navdeep Singh (IND,743) l Sean Thornley (GBR,1273) 16 16
[Q3] (5) Purav Raja (IND,864) l Wojciech Starakiewicz (POL,UNR) 16 46

[R1] (Q) MANKAD Harsh (IND,NR) vs (3) KRETSCHMER Gero (GER,594)

Doubles -
[R1] (2) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) Bye

Very good quality win against tougher opponent ... But worrying part was, Harsh need to taped his knee after first set .... In first round Harsh playing against German player, who defeated him in the Great Britain F1.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K China TCL Challenger, Guangzhou

[Q2] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR,539) 67(7) 64 63
[Q3] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) l (3) PETRAZZUOLO Giancarlo (ITA,389) 67(4) 16

Doubles -
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ GHOUSE Mustafa (IND) l FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT) 75 36 (7)10

Vivek lost in the final qualifying round after producing couple of good wins ... Kash and Moose lost against Austrian pair ... Rohan's match is schedule for tomorrow against Danai.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Panama Championship - Final Standing (Nationwide Tour)

T2 Arjun Atwal 70 66 68 74 -2 $ 52,800.00

Considering his recent form in middle of controversy, we should saygood start for 2008 Nationwide season for Arjun to finished T2 ... He was only needed PAR round to capture the title, but I feel he tried to attack the course which produced 4 bogeys on front 9.

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 13 - Sunday the 27th (grandmaster group A)
V. Ivanchuk - L. van Wely ½-½
J. Polgar - L. Aronian ½-½
V. Topalov - M. Adams ½-½
B. Gelfand - P. Eljanov 1-0
P. Leko - S. Mamedyarov 1-0
M. Carlsen - T. Radjabov ½-½
V. Anand - V. Kramnik ½-½


Round 13 - Sunday the 27th (grandmaster group B)
E. Bacrot - P. Harikrishna ½-½
H. Koneru - S. Movsesian ½-½

Anand had a very entertaining match with Kramnik, which ended in a draw after an exhilarating game of 61 moves ... Anand finished tournament on T3 with GM Radjabov on 7½ pts ... Armenian GM Levon Aronian and Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen won Corus Open 2008 with 8 pts.

Hari and Humpy managed draw respectively ... Hari ended tournament on 4th position with 7½ pts ... Humpy ended on 11th position with 5½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi lost his match against top seed Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, who also wins Group C event by 2 pts ... Negi ended tied on 2nd place with GM Dimitri Reinderman on 8 pts.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

MXD Final -
Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) l (5) Tiantian Sun (CHN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 67(4) 46

In the final Mahesh was struggling with his serve and that was major difference between these 2 teams ... But successful Australian Open for Mahesh, who reached semis in men’s doubles & final in MXD ... Sania must be happy with her performance, as she reached 3rd round of singles & women’s doubles and also final of MXD ... Rohan also had satisfied tournament, who reached singles qualifying final round and also reached third round of men’s doubles, this was his first-ever chance of playing maindraw of any grand slam tournament.
---------------------------------------------------
At $50K China TCL Challenger, Guangzhou

[Q1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) l ELESKOVIC Ervin (SWE,560) 36 26
[Q1] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt THOMPSON Nathan (USA,638) 36 64 62

[Q2] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) vs NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR,539)

Maindraw -
[R1] BOPANNA Rohan (IND,292) vs (5) UDOMCHOKE Danai (THA,153)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) vs (2) LU Yen-Hsun (TPE,112)

Doubles -
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ GHOUSE Mustafa (IND) vs FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT)
---------------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F3, Tipton

[Q1] Harsh Mankad (IND,UNR) bt Ben Dunbar (GBR,UNR) 61 63
[Q1] (3) Navdeep Singh (IND,743) Bye
[Q1] (5) Purav Raja (IND,864) Bye

[Q2] Harsh Mankad (IND,UNR) bt (14) Edward Allinson (GBR,1058) 62 64
[Q2] (3) Navdeep Singh (IND,743) bt Rogan Egerton (GBR, UNR) 62 62
[Q2] (5) Purav Raja (IND,864) bt Frederik Sletting-Johnsen (NOR, 1303) 75 57 62

Excellent work by Harsh wining 2 matches in a day ... So now in the final qualifying round he will mostly play against top seed British Chris Eaton (#657) ... Good start for Navdeep and Purav also.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar - Final Standing (EPGA Tour)

T7 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 70 72 66 -10 € 37915.11
T47 KAPUR Shiv 73 68 74 69 - 4 € 8210.19
T56 SINGH Jeev Milkha 74 71 73 68 - 2 € 5259.65
---------------------------------------------------
At Panama Championship - Third Round (Nationwide Tour)

1 Arjun Atwal 70 66 68 -6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations U21 Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Final -
India l Australia 2-3

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 16', Mandeep Antil (IND) 62' and Aaron Kleinschmidt (AUS) 44' & 52', Mathew Buttunni (AUS) 66'

For 3rd position -
Germany bt Holland 3-1

For 5th position -
Pakistan bt New Zealand 8-3

For 7th position -
Malaysia bt South Korea 2-1

The Australians upped their game yesterday and attacked from the word go ... And three goals in the second half did the trick against an Indian side who lacked the aggression to match the Australians ... The Indians were kept pegged in defence and goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh was the player to beat ... He saved no fewer than four clear attempts at goal and also warded off two penalty corner attempts by the Australians in the first half.

Diwakar Ram scored 12 goals in the tournament.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India dw Mohun Bagan 0-0

MoM - Alvito D’Cunah (MB)
---------------------------------------------------

East Bengal bt Dempo Sports Club 1-0

Goal Scored - Mahesh Gawli (DSC) 68' (own goal)

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 12 - Saturday the 26th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - V. Anand ½-½
V. Kramnik - M. Carlsen 0-1
T. Radjabov - P. Leko ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - B. Gelfand ½-½
P. Eljanov - V. Topalov 1-0
M. Adams - J. Polgar 0-1
L. Aronian - V. Ivanchuk ½-½


Round 12 - Saturday the 26th (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - M. Krasenkow ½-½
W. Spoelman - H. Koneru 1-0

Anand only managed draw with van Wely ... But Carlsen scored surprising win over Kramnik, so now Anand is on T3 with 7 pts.

Hari is on sole 4th position with 7 pts, but Humpy dropped to 11th position.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi scored exciting win against Greece GM Efstratios Grivas ... Negi is still on 2nd with 8 pts and he is still 1 pts behind leader Caruana ... In last round Negi facing Caruana so if he wins this battle then Negi having chance to win the title.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations U21 Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India dw Holland 3-3

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 12', 40' & 58' and Mirk van der Weerden (NED) (PC) 8' & 51', Bob de Voogd (NED) 56'

Other Matches -
Australia bt New Zealand 6-1
Germany bt Malaysia 3-1

India-Holland match was an exciting game, with lead changing hands three times ... As Netherlands knew that they had to beat Indians to reach in the final.

But Australia go through to the final as the tournament rules stipulate that should any of the teams be level on points, then the team who have won more matches will count more in the final standings.

Tennis News -
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[F] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt (4) EATON Chris (GBR)/ SKUPSKI Ken (GBR) 76(7) 76(4)

Top seed pair of Raja and Czech Krkoska wins doubles title at Great Britain F2 in exciting battle against 4th seed local pair.
--------------------------------------------------
At Australian Open 2008,

Sania is playing with injury an inflamed upper hamstring on the left leg, today (Saturday) morning she was planning to do an MRI, but the result of the test will not stop her from playing the final.

Sania's father Imran Mirza - "Sania has an inflamed upper hamstring on the left leg. She got injured during her singles match against Venus Williams. She needs rest, but this is a Grand Slam final. She is willing to play on one leg if the situation demands. She is very determined and I'm hoping that the 48 hours rest before the final will help."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar - Third Round (EPGA Tour)

T32 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 70 72 -4
T51 KAPUR Shiv 73 68 74 -1
T66 SINGH Jeev Milkha 74 71 73 +2
---------------------------------------------------
At Panama Championship - Second Round (Nationwide Tour)

2 Arjun Atwal 70 66 -4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Churchill Brothers bt JCT 1-0

Goal Scored - Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 10'

MoM - Robert Lal (CB)

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 11 - Friday the 25th (grandmaster group A)
L. Aronian - L. van Wely 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - M. Adams ½-½
J. Polgar - P. Eljanov 0-1
V. Topalov - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
B. Gelfand - T. Radjabov 0-1
P. Leko - V. Kramnik ½-½
M. Carlsen - V. Anand 0-1


Round 11 - Friday the 25th (grandmaster group B)
I. Cheparinov - P. Harikrishna 0-1
H. Koneru - D. Stellwagen ½-½

Anand scored exciting win against previous round's leader GM Magnus Carlsen to move T2 nd psition with 6½ pts.

Humpy managed draw to move on T8 with 5 pts and Hari scored victory to move to T4 with 6½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi managed draw against GM Dimitri Reinderman of Netherlands ... Now Negi moved to T2 with 7 pts, but he is still 1 pts behind leader Caruana.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar - Second Round (EPGA Tour)

T11 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 70 -4
T17 KAPUR Shiv 73 68 -3
T57 SINGH Jeev Milkha 74 71 +1

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

Mixed Doubles -
[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (8) Nathalie Dechy (FRA)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 64 62

[F] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs (5) Tiantian Sun (CHN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Junior Boys -
[SF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) l (5) Bernard Tomic (AUS,5) 06 75 16

Superb easy victory for Sania and Mahesh against 8th seed pair ... This is Sania's first-ever grand slam final ... Now she is in chance of becoming first Indian woman grand slam winner and also youngest Indian grand slam winner, currently youngest grand slam winner from India is Mahesh Bhupathi (who won title at age of 23 yrs, French Open MXD in 1997).

Though scoreline showing one-sided score in the sets which Yuki lost, match was evenly played and both players had their chances ... Creditable performance from Yuki to reach semis in his first Junior AO.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) l (7) KLOESEL Sandra (GER,162) 16 16

Doubles -
[QF] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) l CHAN Chin-Wei (TPE)/ FUJIWARA Rika (JPN) 16 26
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[SF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt BURQUIER Gregoire (FRA)/ REIX Clement (FRA) 36 63 10(7)

[F] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs (4) EATON Chris (GBR)/ SKUPSKI Ken (GBR)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l (WC) JENDELUND Robert (SWE)/ SILJESTROM Andreas (SWE) 67(2) 61 (7)10
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations U21 Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Malaysia 4-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 12', Pramod Kumar (IND) 42', Sarvanjeet Singh (IND) 46', Gurvinder Singh Chandi (IND) 51' and Mohamed Nor Hafiq Abdul Ghaffar (MAS) (PS) 65'

Other matches-
Holland bt South Korea 5-1
Australia bt Germany 6-3
Pakistan bt New Zealand 6-1

India secured place in the final ... The final will be with either Holland or Australia ... In tomorrow's last match Holland need atleast draw against India to make it to final, otherwise Australia having chance to move final with huge win against New Zealand.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $11K WISPA Hangzhou Open, China

[R1] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt Sitih Munirah Jusoh (MAS,63) 9-7 9-4 9-0 (28 mins)
[QF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (7) Chinatsu Matsui (JPN,53) 5-9 9-2 9-5 9-0 (40 mins)

[SF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Rebecca Chiu (HKG,14) 1-9 8-10 6-9 (27 mins)
--------------------------------------------
At $50K Dayton Open, Ohio, USA

[Q1] Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) l Yasser El Halaby (EGY,45) 9-11 2-11 7-11 (31 mins)
--------------------------------------------
At $15K Talisman Energy Bankers Hall Club Pro Am 2008, Calgary, Canada

[R1] (4) Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) l Chris Gordon (USA,74) 7-11 16-14 11-3 8-11 1-11 (85 mins)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (8) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 46 46

Mixed Doubles -
[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (8) Nathalie Dechy (FRA)/ Andy Ram (ISR)
Junior Boys -
[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt (3) Daniel Evans (GBR,10) 76(5) 46 63

[SF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs (5) Bernard Tomic (AUS,5)

After their yesterday's match I was thinking about tough schedule for Bhupathi & Knowles ... They didn't get a time to fully recover from their 2' 24" match against Bryans, inside 14 hrs they were back on the court ... Still creditable performance of reaching AO semis, we can safely hope better results from Bhupathi & Knowles in season 2008.

What one can say about Yuki!!! Amazing result from this 15 yrs old kid ... As PKB mentioned, Yuki is already achieved what nobody in Indian tennis ever achieve at 15 yrs age (being Asia/Oceania junior champion and the SF of a junior Slam) ... Karan was the last Indian tennis player to make the SF of the AO or any other Slam juniors in 2004 ... But Karan did it in his final year as a junior, Yuki is eligible to play junior Slams for TWO more years, so he has at least 11 more Slam junior events to go.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt (PR) SCHAUL Claudine (LUX,480) 64 64

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs (7) KLOESEL Sandra (GER,162)

Another exciting win over Luxembourg player, who was inside top-50 in 2004.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[QF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt BERGMAN Carl (SWE)/ KUMLIN Daniel (SWE) 64 76(1)

[SF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs BURQUIER Gregoire (FRA)/ REIX Clement (FRA)
--------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

[R2] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) l Woong-Sun JUN (KOR,341) 46 63 36

Doubles -
[SF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) l LORENZI Paolo (ITA)/ PETRAZZUOLO Giancarlo (ITA) 46 46
[SF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l (2) NIELSEN Frederik (DEN)/ NORBY Rasmus (DEN) 26 16
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Germany 5-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 9' & 50', Pramod Kumar (IND) 12', Dharamveer Singh (IND) 61', Lalit Upadhyar (IND) 70' and Robert Marx (GER) 57'

Other matches -
Holland bt Malaysia 4-0
New Zealand bt South Korea 5-4
Australia bt Pakistan 6-4

With this win Indian juniors r almost secure place in the final ... Currently they r leading the standing by 2 pts.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 10 - Wednesday the 23rd (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - M. Carlsen 0-1
V. Anand - P. Leko ½-½
V. Kramnik - B. Gelfand ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Topalov ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - J. Polgar ½-½
P. Eljanov - V. Ivanchuk 0-1
M. Adams - L. Aronian ½-½

Round 10 - Wednesday the 23rd (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - G. Sargissian ½-½
Y. Hou - H. Koneru ½-½

Anand managed draw against GM Peter Leko playing with whites ... But Carlsen scored victory so he again jumped into lead by ½ pts over Aronian and by 1 pts over Anand .. So now friday's match against Carlsen is very important for Anand, where he will play with blacks.

Humpy and Hari only managed to draw their respective games ... So after 10 rounds Hari is T5 with 5½ pts and Humpy is on T9 with 4½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi win against lowest rank player Dennis Ruijgrok of Netherlands ... But the leader lost in group C, so Negi is T2 nd position with 6½ pts ... Only ½ pts behind leader.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube De Goa dw Salgaocar Sports Club 1-1

Goal Scored - Felix Chimaokwu (Sal) 26' and Denzil Franco (SCG) 65'

MoM - Felix Chimaokwu (Sal)
--------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l Mahindra United 0-2

Goal Scored - Andrews P. Mensah (MU) 47', Mohammed Rafi (MU) 72'

MoM - Andrews P. Mensah (MU)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T10 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 -2
T59 KAPUR Shiv 73 +1
T78 SINGH Jeev Milkha 74 +2

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 63 57 76(5)

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (8) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/
Andy Ram (ISR)

Mixed Doubles -
[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (7) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Martin Damm (CZE) Walkover

Junior Boys -
[R3] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Tadayuki Longhi (JPN,45) 61 63

[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs (3) Daniel Evans (GBR,10)

Terrific performance by 15 yrs Yuki to reach his first junior grandslam quarter-finals scoring straight sets victory over Japanese opponent ... Sania and Mahesh also got lucky break to move semis in MXD without playing match due to injury to their opponent.

Watched full match, 2 hrs 24 mins battle ... Everyone was sweating out ... And this was definitely best match of AO doubles tournament (even commentators were agree with me.) ... All players were playing with high intensity and showing quality tennis ... Not for a single minute I changed channel ...

This was Bryans first loss at AO from 2005 final against Zimbabweans
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett ... In last 4 years they won 2 titles (2006, 2007) and 2 runner ups (2004, 2005) here ... Match was so close, it was hardly 1 pts different, Bhupathi & Knowles won 111 pts and Bryans won 110 pts.

These was some bad blood between Bryans and Bhupathi & Knowles ... Its started at 4-3 when Bryans did chest bump after breaking Knowles ... And suddenly all players started showing emotions ... And at 5-5 Bhupathi & Knowles had break point at that time Mike hit big serve on Mahesh's body, Mahesh returned awkwardly and Bob killed point with volley ... At same time Bhupathi & Knowles objected (they thought service was long) to umpire asking to use their 'challenge' about calls ... But umpire said "No' stating they were late in raising challenge, as per rule challenge should be raise before opponent finished next shot ... So as per rule challenge wasn't allowed ... Then Knowles tried to talk with Bryans but after Knowles calling they didn't come near to the net ... Then Mike hit 2 aces to win the game ... On 5-6 Knowles won love game and that was the first time in the match Knowles managed that, in that game Bhupathi was charged up showing his fists ... Then after winning tie-break Bhupathi & Knowles did huge 'chest bump' ... It was fun to watch this match.

-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[R1] RAJA Purav (IND,864) bt KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE,901) 57 76(2) 64
[R1] (PR) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt (Q) COUPLAND George (GBR,UNR) 63 67(4) 63

[R2] RAJA Purav (IND,864) l (3) NIEMINEN Timo (FIN,392) 26 26
[R2] (PR) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) l (6) KRETSCHMER Gero (GER,594) 57 46

Doubles -
[R1] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt KANEV Yordan (BUL)/ PAZICKY Michal (SVK) 64 61

[QF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs BERGMAN Carl (SWE)/ KUMLIN Daniel (SWE)

So this was the first victory for Harsh after playing 5 tournaments after coming out from around 9 months injury break.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

Doubles -
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) bt CZINK Melinda (HUN)/ DITTY Julie (USA) 63 67(1) 10(7)

[QF] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) vs CHAN Chin-Wei (TPE)/ FUJIWARA Rika (JPN)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

[R1] (Q) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) l (Q) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1079) 46 75 46
[R1] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) bt WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR,331) 64 63

[R2] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) vs Woong-Sun JUN (KOR,341)

Doubles -
(QF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) bt (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR) 61 64
[QF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) bt AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) Walkover

[SF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs LORENZI Paolo (ITA)/ PETRAZZUOLO Giancarlo (ITA)
[SF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs (2) NIELSEN Frederik (DEN)/ NORBY Rasmus (DEN)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt KENT Ryan (USA)/ PEREPELOV Yevgeny (USA) 62 61

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs JENDELUND Robert (SWE)/ SILJESTROM Andreas (SWE)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 9 - Tuesday the 22nd (grandmaster group A)
M. Adams - L. van Wely 1-0
L. Aronian - P. Eljanov ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
J. Polgar - T. Radjabov ½-½
V. Topalov - V. Kramnik 1-0
B. Gelfand - V. Anand ½-½
P. Leko - M. Carlsen 1-0

Round 9 - Tuesday the 22nd (grandmaster group B)
H. Koneru - P. Harikrishna ½-½

Anand managed draw against GM Boris Gelfand playing with blacks ... That helped him to move into standing for T3 with 5 pts and only ½ pts behind leaders GM Levon Aronian and GM Magnus Carlsen.

Humpy managed to hold Hari playing with whites ... So currently Hari is T4 with 5 pts and Humpy is on T10 with 4 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi had disappointing draw against lowly rank GM John van der Wiel playing with blacks ... So Negi is T3 with 5½ and 1½ pts behind leader.

Tennis News -
Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I 2008,

Our team is declared for the tie against Uzbekistan at Delhi from 8th February 2008 ... Leander is playing as a non-playing captain due to foot injury which occurred during second round of Australian Open doubles match.

Indian Team - Leander Paes (Non-playing captain)
Rohan Bopanna, Prakash Amritraj, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Dev Varman
Coach - Nandan Bal
Reserve Players - Ashotosh Singh & Vishnu Vardhan (who will with team during Delhi tie.)
-------------------------------------------
At Australian Open 2008,

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (2) Lisa Raymond (USA)/ Simon Aspelin (SWE) 63 26 10(7)

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs (7) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Martin Damm (CZE)

Juniors -
[R2] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) l (10) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,19) 67(4) 46
[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Zalan Klempa (SVK,74) 36 64 62

[R3] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Tadayuki Longhi (JPN,45)

After initial problems Yuki responded well to Slovakian's game to move in to third round of Australian Open ... In R3 Yuki is facing Japanese unranked opponent, who defeated 9th seeded Australian Matt Reid in the first round ... Good opportunity for Yuki to move into his first junior grandslam quarter-final.

Karunuday lost, but considering the #106 was playing the #18 managed to give the close match was a positive ... Last few months he is giving very consistent results and showing improvement in his game through results ... A very nice run making the main draw as a qualifier and reaching the second round.

So scoring win in super tiebreak Mahesh and Sania enters into quarter-finals of MXD ... Now they will face 7th seed Czech pair of Peschke and Damm.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[Q3] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt (1) SCHIECHTL Tina (AUT,247) 75 63

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs SCHAUL Claudine (LUX,480)

Doubles -
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) vs CZINK Melinda (HUN)/ DITTY Julie (USA)

Neha continues with her newly found form beating top-seed Austrian player Tina Schiechtl in straight sets showing her last round's win against past Wimbledon quarter-finalist Stevenson wasn't fluke.

In maindraw she is facing Claudine Schaul, who is playing with injury protected ranking.
--------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

Doubles -
[R1] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) bt BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ LISNARD Jean-Rene (MON) 64 75
[R1] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) bt BRIZZI Alberto (ITA)/ MARCHENKO Ilya (UKR) 64 36 13(11)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) bt (3) FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT) 63 75

[QF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR)
[QF] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) vs KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Australia 2-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 32', Gurwinder Singh Chandi (IND) 61' and Joshua Pollard (AUS) 58'

Other matches -
Pakistan dw Holland 1-1
Malaysia dw South Korea 1-1
Germany bt New Zealand 7-0
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

East Bengal l Mohun Bagan 0-2

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 29' & 62'

MoM - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R3] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (11) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 63 62
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/ Wesley Moodie (RSA) 63 46 36
[R3] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) l (12) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/ Shahar Peer (ISR) 57 36

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (6) Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Jonathan Erlich (ISR) Walkover

Juniors -
[R1] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,81) l (3) Nikola Hofmanova (AUT,8) 16 57

Doubles -
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Karunuday Singh (IND) l Jarryd Chaplin (AUS)/ Jake Eames (AUS) 36 67(0)
[R1] Janaki Gunuganti (IND)/ Poojashree Venkatesha (IND) l (3) Tyra Calderwood (AUS)/ Nikola Hofmanova (AUT) 26 26

Sania had poor match ... She missed lot too many opportunities at the net and Alicia also struggling with her serve ... This pair had off day.

This was 7th loss for Rohan against Wesley Moodie, 4 in singles and 3 in doubles ... Somehow Rohan still can not finding answer to overcome Moodie but hopefully sooner he will overcome this problem ... But still very satisfactory 'first' maindraw doubles outing for Rohan ... This will boost his ranking and provide him more opportunities on ATP level.

So today we had only 1 win in doubles for Mahesh with Mark Knowles ... Now in quarters they r having match against top-seed Bryans.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[Q1] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) Bye
[Q2] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt STEVENSON Alexandra (USA,399) 46 75 76(6)

[Q3] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs (1) SCHIECHTL Tina (AUT,247)
-------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q3] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) 60 67(4) 76(4)

[R1] (Q) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (Q) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1079)
[R1] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) vs WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR,331)

Doubles -
[R1] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ LISNARD Jean-Rene (MON)
[R1] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs BRIZZI Alberto (ITA)/ MARCHENKO Ilya (UKR)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) vs (3) FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[Q1] (13) ROY Rupesh (IND,1084) l BRITTON Devin (USA,UNR) 46 62 26

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 8 - Sunday the 20th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - P. Leko ½-½
M. Carlsen - B. Gelfand ½-½
V. Anand - V. Topalov 1-0
V. Kramnik - J. Polgar ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - L. Aronian ½-½
P. Eljanov - M. Adams ½-½

Round 8 - Sunday the 20th (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - E. L’Ami ½-½
E. Bacrot - H. Koneru ½-½

Until end of 6 rounds Anand was struggling to score his first win ... But after win in 7th round it seems Anand is on roll ... Today only one match produced result and in that Anand scored big win against GM Veselin Topalov playing with whites ... So after 8 rounds, Anand having 4½ pts and he is currently T4 th position.

Disappointing draw for Hari against more than 80 elo points lower rank Netherlands GM Erwin L’Ami playing with whites ... Humpy managed to draw her game playing with blacks against highly rank (2700 elo pts) French GM Etienne Bacrot.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi scored another victory against Netherland's GM Zhaoqin Peng ... With this win Negi moved to 5 pts and T3 in the standing.

Tennis News -
At 2008 Australian Open,

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL) 64 61
[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) 63 36 76(6)
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 63 57 64

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL)64 64

Juniors -
[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Giorgio Portaluri (ITA,92) 63 26 61
[R1] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) bt (Q) Daniele Piludu (ITA,135) 46 60 63

[R1] (Q) Janaki Gunuganti (IND,183) l (5) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB,10) 16 36

[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Zalan Klempa (SVK,74)
[R2] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) vs (10) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,19)

Very impressive win by 2R or Banglore Bombers ... May be they played uglier (making silly errors) tennis but considering their lack of experiance of playing higher level we should expect that ... Still they produced win over seasoned 'new' pair is very commandable ... Hats off to them ... Lee's loss was hurting but then one should blame for his doubles partner selection ... So today I m very happy for Rohan and Rajeev, for me this is 'the' break which Rohan was waiting for ... Kudos to him ... With this 2 wins here Roahn will definetly move near to top-50 of doubles ranking.

Also happy for Yuki and Karuuday's first win in the Junior grandslam ... I m sure many more wins will follow.

Good start for Sania and Mahesh in MXD, but now they r having tough match against 2nd seed pair of Lisa Raymond (USA)/ Simon Aspelin (SWE).

In mens doubles Mahesh and Mark Knowles facing Polish pair 11th seed Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL).
--------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q2] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt CROWE Joshua (AUS,1022) 76(10) 63
[Q2] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484) 64 64

[Q3] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India bt Sporting Clube De Goa 1-0

Goal Scored - Bashiru Abass (AI) 90+'

MoM - Bashiru Abass (AI)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

18th January 2008
India bt New Zealand 6-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 40' & 64', Sarvanjeet Singh (IND)8' & 16', Dharamveer Singh (IND) 19', Gurwinder Singh Chandi (IND) 36' and Stephen Jennes (NZL) 35'

Other matches-
Pakistan bt Malaysia 4-1
Australia bt South Korea 2-1
Holland dw Germany 1-1

19th January 2008
India dw Pakistan 1-1

Other matches -
Germany bt South Korea 4-3
New Zealand bt Malaysia 2-1
Holland bt Australia 4-2

Chess News -
At Corus 2008,

Round 7 - Saturday 19th (grandmaster group A)
P. Eljanov - L. van Wely ½-½
M. Adams - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
L. Aronian - T. Radjabov 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - V. Kramnik ½-½
J. Polgar - V. Anand 0-1
V. Topalov - M. Carlsen ½-½
B. Gelfand - P. Leko ½-½

Round 7 - Saturday the 19th (grandmaster group B)
I. Nepomniachtchi - P. Harikrishna ½-½
H. Koneru - M. Krasenkow 1-0

So atlast Anand managed to win his first match in ongoing Corus tournament ... It was a long wait until 7th round ... Anand defeated Polgar playing with blacks ... Now Anand is on T5 th position with 3½ pts ... In 8th round he is playing important match with whites against Topalov.

In grandmaster group B, Hari managed to draw his match against Russian GM Nepomniachtchi playing with blacks but other hand Humpy scored exciting win against highly ranked Polsh GM Krasenkow playing with whites ... Now after 7 rounds Hari T3 rd position with 4 pts and Humpy is T10 th position with 3 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi shooked off his 6th round defeat to beat USA's WGM Irina Krush ... Negi is on 4 pts and T6 th position.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R3] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,32) l (8) Venus Williams (USA,8) 67(0) 46

Junior Boys -
[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Giorgio Portaluri (ITA,92)
[R1] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) vs (Q) Daniele Piludu (ITA,135)

Junior Girls -
[Q2] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) bt (11) CUTHBERTSON Janelle (AUS,212) 64 75

[R1] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,81) vs (3) Nikola Hofmanova (AUT,8)
[R1] (Q) Janaki Gunuganti (IND,183) vs (5) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB,10)

Janaki qualified for maindraw of Junior girls defeating local girl ... Tomorrow if weather permit we have 7 matches.
--------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q1] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt (WC) LU Yang (CHN,NR) 64 75
[Q1] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt (WC) FENG Nian (CHN,NR) 61 61

[Q2] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs CROWE Joshua (AUS,1022)
[Q2] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) vs ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[F] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l LAM Chris (USA)/ WETTENGEL Chris (USA) 46 76(6) (9)11

Good result for Rupesh in doubles though he lost in the final of US F2 doubles.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 6 - Friday the 18th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - B. Gelfand ½-½
P. Leko - V. Topalov 0-1
M. Carlsen - J. Polgar 1-0
V. Anand - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
V. Kramnik - L. Aronian 1-0
T. Radjabov - M. Adams ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - P. Eljanov ½-½

Round 6 - Friday the 18th (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - J. Smeets 0-1
I. Cheparinov - H. Koneru ½-½

Anand still struggling to find his first win another draw in 6th round against Ivanchuk ... Anand is remained to T11 position with 2½.

Hari suffered his first loss of the tournament ... He slide down to T5th position with 3½ pts and Humpy is T11 with 2 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi lost against GM Nijboer and currently he is T8 with 3 pts.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mahindra United bt Dempo Sports Club 3-1

Goal Scored - Sukhvinder Singh (MU) 18', Andrews Pomeye Mensah (MU) 32', Douhou SD Pierre (MU) 56' and Ranti Martin (DSC) 90+'

MoM - Douhou SD Pierre (MU)
--------------------------------------

JCT Phagwara bt Viva Kerala 2-0

Goal Scored - Edu Ardo Dasilva (JCT) 58', Sunil Chhetri (JCT) 62'

MoM - Sunil Chhetri (JCT)
--------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers bt Salgaocar Sports Club 2-1

Goal Scored - Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 75', Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB) 90+' and Rocus Lamare (Sal) 41'

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

MXD -
[R1] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Renata Voracova (CZE)/ David Skoch (CZE) 26 62 10(6)

Womens Doubles -
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 63 57 1-1

Junior Boys -
[Q1] TIWARI Abhijeet (IND,180) l (3) GARFORTH-BLES Sam (CAN,89) 36 46
[Q1] (6) SINGH Karunuday (IND,103) bt (WC) BROOKMAN Blake (AUS,582) 62 60

[Q2] (6) SINGH Karunuday (IND,103) bt EAMES Jake (AUS,367) 26 62 75

Junior Girls -
[Q1] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) bt STUCKEY Vicky (AUS,533) 63 76(2)
[Q1] (8) DAYAL Sonya (IND,191) l PATTERSON, Tammi (AUS,390) 16 26

[Q2] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) vs (11) CUTHBERTSON Janelle (AUS,212)

Karunuday qualified for maindraw of Junior Boys section at AO ... So after longtime we r seeing our two boys r in the maindraw.

Sania's doubles match suspended due to poor light, now remaining match will be finished tomorrow as Sania and Alicia having 2 break points in 3rd game on Russians service, 15-40.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[SF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (3) KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS)/ YOO Daniel (KOR) 76(0) 3-2 Retd.

[F] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs LAM Chris (USA)/ WETTENGEL Chris (USA)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt South Korea 6-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 9', 55' & 63', Sanwar Ali (IND) 33', Gurwinder Singh (IND) 51', Pramod Kumar (IND) 64' and Lim Woo-geun (KOR) 69'

Other matches-
Australia bt Malaysia 5-2
Holland bt New Zealand 9-1
Germany bt Pakistan 5-1
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus 2008, 11-27 January 2008

Round 5 - Thursday the 17th (grandmaster group B event)
S. Movsesian - P. Harikrishna ½-½
H. Koneru - G. Sargissian ½-½

In grandmaster group B event, Hari playing with black and Humpy playing with white managed to draw their respective matches against higher rating opponents ... Hari is currently 2nd position with 3½ pts, mere ½ pts behind leader French GM Etienne Bacrot .. And Humpy on 13th position with 1½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi won his 5th round match against Ukranian WGM Anna Ushenina ... So this was consecutive 3rd win for Negi after losing first 2 games ... Now he is tied for 4th position with 3 pts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, UAE - Second Round (EPGA Tour)

------------ Cut @ + 1 -------------------
T77 SINGH Jeev Milkha 76 71 + 3
T100 RANDHAWA Jyoti 75 75 + 6
T106 KAPUR Shiv 74 77 + 7

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R2] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) bt (Q) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI,119) 61 46 75

[R3] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs (8) Venus Williams (USA,)

Doubles -
[R1] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Luis Horna (PER)/ Stefan Koubek (AUT) 76(2) 76(5)
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)/ Mischa Zverev (GER) 76(10) 64

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
[R2] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)

Surprisingly tough match ... In the first set after losing her serve she was controlling the tempo of match ... Bacsinszky was looking ordinary and making heap of UFEs ... But from the second set Sania's game was totally disarray ... Her shots selection was wrong and then suddenly UFEs started flow in from all directions ... At that time Bacsinszky was looking like more controlled player ... But in third set 3rd game was crucial when she hold her serve and then Sania returned in the match and winning final set 75 ... In the final set major difference was Sania's experience of playing on this level that Bacsinszky's experience.

Such lapse of concentration against Venus will be very costly for Sania.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) l (Q) KARATANTCHEVA Sesil (BUL,UNR) 62 36 26
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1083) l (Q) KIM Hyung-Kwon (KOR,1391) 16 36

Doubles -
[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (2) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ BATTISTONE Dann (USA) 46 75 10(8)

[SF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs (3) KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS)/ YOO Daniel (KOR)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Proton Malaysia Open Super Series

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) l Hyun Ii LEE (KOR,28) 24-22 14-21 13-21
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 5 - Thursday the 17th (grandmaster group A)
S. Mamedyarov - L. van Wely 1-0
P. Eljanov - T. Radjabov 0-1
M. Adams - V. Kramnik ½-½
L. Aronian - V. Anand ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - M. Carlsen ½-½
J. Polgar - P. Leko ½-½
V. Topalov - B. Gelfand 1-0

Another uninspiring draw in 20 moves for Anand ... Anand is still searching for his first win in this year's tournament ... Currently Anand tied for 11th position in this 14 players field.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, UAE - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T74 KAPUR Shiv 74 + 2
T88 RANDHAWA Jyoti 75 + 3
T101 SINGH Jeev Milkha 76 + 4

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt James Auckland (GBR)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 61 76(4)

[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)/ Jasmin Woehr (GER) 63 46 64

[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Mixed Doubles -
[R1] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Renata Voracova (CZE)/ David Skoch (CZE)
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Alicia Molik (AUS)/ Nathan Healey (AUS)

So this is first victory for Rohan at grandslam level ... We friends calling pair of Rohan and Rajeev as "Bangalore Bombers" as their huge services and connection to Banglore (Rohan Bopanna is from Bangalore and Rajeev Ram's father is from Bangalore and his mother is from UP) ... It was a hard fought win for Bangalore Bombers in the second set considering they wasted 4 match points when they were leading 5-4 ... But a victory should give them the required confidence to do well in the second round.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) vs (Q) KARATANTCHEVA Sesil (BUL,UNR)

Doubles -
[R1] (1) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT)/ RAO Sunitha (IND) l NAGLE Courtney (USA)/ STEPHENSON Robin (USA) 36 36
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) l (WC) GULLICKSON Carly (USA)/ PERRY Shenay (USA) 06 57

Remember Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva?
ITF banned Sesil Karatantcheva for 2 yrs from 1st Jan, 2006 to 31st Dec, 2007 for the use of banned steroid nandrolone ... Karatantcheva tested positive twice in 2005 - at the French Open and in Tokyo where she was playing a Fed Cup tie ... In 2005 at age of 16 yrs she was #35 in WTA ranking and already scored win against players like Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams ... She was Junior WR #1 in 2004 after winning Junior French Open.

For qualifying for this ongoing Surprise challanger, Sesil needed to play pre-qualifying tournament and as the winner of that tournament recieved qualifying WC and then won 3 more matches to qualify for maindraw.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Doubles -
[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt POKRAJAC Milan (CAN)/ VODICKA Lance (USA) 63 63

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs (2) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ BATTISTONE Dann (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) l (4) OUANNA Josselin (FRA,275) 46 26
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Proton Malaysia Open Super Series

[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,50) l Tien Minh NGUYEN (VIE,42) 21-16 20-22 12-21
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) bt Roman SPITKO (GER,71) 21-15 21-12

[Q1] Shruti KURIAN (IND,123) l Li Ya Lydia CHEAH (MAS,110) 7-21 19-21
[Q1] Jwala GUTTA (IND,154) l Jeanine CICOGNINI (SUI,52) 15-21 17-21

[Q1] Saina NEHWAL (IND)/ Anna RICE (CAN) l Li Ying CHANG (TPE)/ Shih Chieh HUNG (TPE) 15-21 21-18 10-21

[Q2] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) bt Mohd Arif ABDUL LATIF (MAS,111) 21-19 21-10

[Q3] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) l Tien Minh NGUYEN (VIE,42) 10-21 20-22

Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) bt (Q) Chun Seang TAN (MAS,57) 16-21 21-18 21-14
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,27) l Juliane SCHENK (GER,17) 21-23 9-21

[R1] Shruti KURIAN (IND)/ Jwala GUTTA (IND) l Joanne NICHOLAS (ENG)/ Natalie MUNT (ENG) 12-21 21-14 17-21

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) vs Hyun Ii LEE (KOR,28)

Anup is taking advantage of favourable draw ... Now in second round facing Korean player who defeated WR #6 Indonasian player, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, in first round.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus 2008, 11-27 January, 2008

Round 4 - Tuesday the 15th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - V. Topalov 1-0
B. Gelfand - J. Polgar 0-1
P. Leko - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
M. Carlsen - L. Aronian ½-½
V. Anand - M. Adams ½-½
V. Kramnik - P. Eljanov 1-0
T. Radjabov - S. Mamedyarov ½-½

Standings after round 4 (grandmaster group A)
1. L. Aronian 3
1. M. Carlsen 3
3. V. Kramnik 2½
3. T. Radjabov 2½
3. J. Polgar 2½
3. L. van Wely 2½
7. M. Adams 2
7. V. Ivanchuk 2
7. P. Leko 2
10. S. Mamedyarov 1½
10. V. Anand 1½
12. P. Eljanov 1
12. V. Topalov 1
12. B. Gelfand 1

Round 4 - Tuesday the 15th (grandmaster group B event)
P. Harikrishna - W. Spoelman 1-0
N. Short - H. Koneru ½-½

Today is rest day ... Anand needs to regroup himself to perform better in remaining rounds ... Currently Anand is 1½ pts behind leaders.

In grandmaster group B event, Hari continued with his fine form scoring another victory over IM Wouter Spoelman and Humpy recovered to draw her match against GM Nigel Short ... So after 4 rounds Hari is leading with GM Jan Smeets and GM Etienne Bacrot with 3 pts ... Humpy is on 13th position with 1 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi scored consecutive 2nd win beating Chinese GM Shilong Li ... So after 4 round he is on T7 th position with 2 pts.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R1] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) bt (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,317) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,233) l Simone Bolelli (ITA,69) 67(5) 63 46 62 36

[R2] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs Timea Bacsinszky (SUI,119)

Very clinical display by Sania after got broken in the 4th game ... She was struggling with her service but volleys and overheads were superb ... Thats major improvement was seen in her game.

Rajeev gave valiant effort against top-70 Italian player ... Was unlucky after fighting for 5 sets.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[Q2] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) l MINELLA Mandy (LUX,404) 16 46
[Q2] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) l (6) PIEDADE Frederica (POR,300) 36 62 16

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) vs Qualifier

Doubles -
[R1] (1) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT)/ RAO Sunitha (IND) vs NAGLE Courtney (USA)/ STEPHENSON Robin (USA)
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) vs (WC) GULLICKSON Carly (USA)/ PERRY Shenay (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1083) vs (Q) KIM Hyung-Kwon (KOR,1391)

Doubles -
[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs POKRAJAC Milan (CAN)/ VODICKA Lance (USA)
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

Doubles -
[R1] LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) l (1) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN)/ ZENG Shao-Xuan (CHN) 36 36
[R1] BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR) 57 67(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -

Today 27 yrs old Viren Rasquinha announced his retirement from internationals to pursue an MBA degree at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

Rasquinha represented India at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the World Cup in 2006; he was part of the team that won the junior World Cup in 2001 and honoured with the Arjuna award for the year 2005.

Tennis News -
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[F] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (1) VEMIC Dusan (SRB,152) 46 64 64

So with this win he started 2008 in grand style ... Double crown at USA F1 ... In that he had 2 victories over world #152 and a former world #110 ... Great stuff Buji, we knows many more will come once u turn pro in May/June.

Somdev Devvarman - “Winning a tournament always feels good. There were a lot of great players in this tournament. I had just hoped to learn a lot down here and I was happy with the result. I am ready to get the college season started next week.”

Virginia head coach Brian Boland - “I was really proud of Somdev’s effort throughout the tournament. He improved with each match. Today, after losing the first set, he really raised the level of his play. It has been enjoyable to watch him continue to develop these last few months.”
--------------------------------------------
At Australian Open 2008,

Doubles -
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)/ Jasmin Woehr (GER)
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)/ Mischa Zverev (GER)
[R1] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Luis Horna (PER)/ Stefan Koubek (AUT)
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs James Auckland (GBR)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Women's doubles draw is out ... Sania get her best-ever seeding in grandslam with Alicia Molik ... They r 6th seeds and r in the bottom draw.

Interesting to see pairing of Rohan and Rajeev as Rohan/ Aisam's combined ranking didn't help them to gain direct entry into Australian Open doubles draw ... If Rohan and Rajeev wins their first round, then they r in chance of meeting 5th seed pair Lee and Paul in second round ... I would luv to see match between them.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[Q1] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt GAMBALE Mary (USA,479) 75 36 60
[Q1] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) bt (WC) SULLIVAN Lindsay (USA,NR) 61 61

[Q2] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs MINELLA Mandy (LUX,404)
[Q2] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) vs (6) PIEDADE Frederica (POR,300)
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[Q3] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) l (13) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1078) 57 64 57

Maindraw -
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (4) OUANNA Josselin (FRA,275)

Doubles -
[R1] LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) vs (1) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN)/ ZENG Shao-Xuan (CHN)
[R1] BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR)

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 1 - Saturday the 12th (grandmaster group A)
V. Kramnik - L. van Wely ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Anand 1-0
S. Mamedyarov - M. Carlsen 0-1
P. Eljanov - P. Leko ½-½
M. Adams - B. Gelfand ½-½
L. Aronian - V. Topalov 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - J. Polgar ½-½

Round 2 - Sunday the 13th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - J. Polgar ½-½
V. Topalov - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
B. Gelfand - L. Aronian 0-1
P. Leko - M. Adams ½-½
M. Carlsen - P. Eljanov 1-0
V. Anand - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
V. Kramnik - T. Radjabov ½-½

Round 3 - Monday the 14th (grandmaster group A)
T. Radjabov - L. van Wely ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - V. Kramnik ½-½
P. Eljanov - V. Anand ½-½
M. Adams - M. Carlsen ½-½
L. Aronian - P. Leko ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - B. Gelfand ½-½
J. Polgar - V. Topalov ½-½

Very disappointing perfromance by Anand with couple of draw against lowly ranked player Mamedyarov and Eljanov.

In grandmaster group B event, Humpy lost first match against Smeets but she managed draw in second round against Nepomniachtchi ... Other hand Harikrishna draw his first match against Nigel Short and won 2nd round match against Chilian Women GM Yifan Hou ... Currently he is leading group B event with 5 other GMs.

Round 1 - Saturday the 12th
J. Smeets - H. Koneru 1-0
P. Harikrishna - N. Short ½-½

Round 2 - Sunday the 13th
H. Koneru - I. Nepomniachtchi ½-½
P. Harikrishna - Y. Hou 1-0

And in grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi still waiting to open his account ... He lost first 2 matches against Swedish GM Pontus Carlsson and German IM Arik Braun ... Carlsson offered him draw in the first round but he declined.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Final Standing

T32 Daniel Chopra 66 71 68 73 -2 $ 28,090.00
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

JCT Phagwara bt East Bengal 3-0

Goal Scored - Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT) 6', Baldeep Singh (JCT) 9', Edu Ardo Dasilva (JCT) (PK) 39'

MoM - Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT)
--------------------------------------

Air India bt Salgaocar Sports Club 2-1

Goal Scored - Paresh Shivalkar (AI) 29', Samson Singh (AI) 44' and Felix Chimaokwu (Sal) 23'

MoM - Arnab Das Sarma (AI)
--------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers bt Mahindra United 4-2

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB) 1', 62', 66' & 89' and A Pomeye Mensah (MU) 53', Steven Dias (MU) 64'

MoM - Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB)

Tennis News -
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[SF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (WC) Gregory OUELLETTE (USA,1100) 60 1-0

[F] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (1) VEMIC Dusan (SRB,152)

So with Ouellette's retirement Somi reached USA F1 final easily ... Now he is having tough opponent in top seed top-150 player ... Reaching $10K final Buji guaranteed himself 8 ranking points and with title win he will gain 4 more points.
--------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F1, Sunderland

[Q1] MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt ARLIDGE Burnham (GBR,UNR) 62 63

[Q2] MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) l (11) ILLINGWORTH Matthew (GBR,1177) 75 46 36
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[Q1] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484) 62 63
[Q2] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt YE Chen (CHN,1484) 60 64

[Q3] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) vs (13) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1078)

Vivek won easily first 2 qualifying rounds against local boys, now facing Korean in the final qualifying round.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $6K Regions Racquet Club Pro 2008, St Louis, USA

[R1] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (Q) Joe Millman (ENG,251) 11-1 11-4 11-4
[QF] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (4) Ian Power (CAN,104) 11-7 11-7 11-5 (40m)
[SF] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (1) Tony James (AUS,81) 11-7 11-8 11-9 (55m)

[F] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX,184) 11-9 11-6 11-4 (50m)

Siddarth Suchde became the first PSA champion of 2008 after winning a new Super Satellite event at the Regions Racket Club in St Louis ... Siddarth kept up his record of not dropping a game in this tournament.
--------------------------------------------
At $82K Tournament of Champions, New York, USA

[Q1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) Bye
[Q2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) bt Gilly Lane (USA,117) 5-11 11-3 11-7 8-11 11-5 (59m)

[R1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) l (6) John White (SCO,9) 4-11 3-11 8-11 (24m)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Third Round

T26 Daniel Chopra 66 71 68 -5
T41 Vijay Singh 70 68 69 -3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo SC bt Sporting Clube de Goa 4-1

Goal Scored - Ranti Martin (DSC) 16' 42' & 90'+, Chidi Edeh (DSC) 23' and Fredy Mascernahas (SCG) 64'

MoM - Ranti Martin (DSC)
----------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l Mohun Bagan 0-2

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 36', Ishfaq Ahmed (MB) 88'

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt (28) Danai Udomchoke (THA,153) 67(1) 75 62
[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) l (7) Denis Gremelmayr (GER,118) 26 46

Maindraw -
[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA,69)

Kash couldn't produced any magic against German player ... But other hand Rajeev produced superb comeback against Udomchoke when he was down 0-3 in second set after losing first.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[QF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (Q) Todd PAUL (USA,1484) 76(5) 61

[SF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (WC) Gregory OUELLETTE (USA,1100)

Doubles -
[F] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE) 62 62

So Somis's juggernaut continues … That also comeback win in the first set … Buji is class apart … I m now eagerly waiting for May 2008 when he will turns pro.

Very solid performance to win doubles title beating top 2 pairs … I think pair of Buji and Huey having decent chance of performing well regularly on tour also.

Some part of the match report - (from Zoo Tennis)
I was told that Paul's forehand was hitting every line in the first five games, and he had a 4-1 lead when I arrived. With Devvarman serving at 2-5, it was 0-30, but he held, broke Paul for 4-5, saved a set point with a forehand winner in that game, then both players held easily to reach the tiebreaker.

Paul took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Devvarman found another gear. A perfect lob winner at 5-5 gave him his first set point, which he won as a result of an outstanding return, and he went on to take the next 13 points. It was the second point of the second set's fourth game before Paul won another point, and by then Devvarman had assured himself a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Second Round

T32 Daniel Chopra 66 71 -3

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

Third Final (Best of 3) -

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chandigarh Dynamos 2-1

Goal Scored - Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PC) 32', You Hyo Sik (BHF) 60' and Sandeep Singh (CD) (PC) 70'

MoM - Bharat Chhettri (BHF)

This is the second time that the Hi-Fliers have won the title ... Before this they won in 2006 beating the same opponents ... Superb comeback victory for Hi-Fliers after losing first final against local favourite to win 2-1 in best of 3 finals.

The Hi-Fliers recieved huge bonus the trophy and the cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs ... Dynamos won Rs 20 lakhs and the two semi-finalist teams, Hyderabad Sultans and Orissa Steelers, recieved Rs 5 lakhs each.

Dynamos' Sandeep Singh became the top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals and Hi-Fliers' captain Arjun Halappa was declared 'man of the tournament' ... The Bangalore Hi-Fliers were also won the trophy for the fair play.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt (WC) Carsten Ball (AUS,378) 64 75

[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs (28) Danai Udomchoke (THA,153)

Maindraw -
[R1] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,317)

Sania is having favourable draw, in second round also she will face another wild card or qualifier ... And then would be the mouth watering match with Venus Williams in third round.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[R2] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (8) (Q) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398) 63 61

[QF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (Q) Todd PAUL (USA,1484)

Doubles -
[SF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (1) DE HEART Ryler (USA)/ SMYCZEK Tim (USA) 62 64

[SF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) l (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE) 26 16

[F] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE)

What a score line against these top 300 players! ... To beat someone ranked 110 two years ago in such easy straight sets is truly eye-catching ... These days whenever he gets chance he is taming them with his performance.

And his this performance also continue in doubles with company of Treat Huey ... They defeated top seeds quite easily and now facing 2nd seeds pair, who defeated Sanam and John in other semi-final, in the final.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R2] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) l (LL) COUTS Kimberly (USA,438) 67(4) 61 36
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour)

T5 Daniel Chopra 66 -4
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Viva Kerala bt Air India 3-2

Goal Scored - Wisdom Abbey (VK) 52', Khelemba Singh (VK) 63', B Baba Tunde (VK) 83' and Bashiru M Abbas (AI) 58', Suleh Musah (AI) 67'

MoM - Khelemba Singh (VK)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q1] Rohan Bopanna (IND,292) bt Goiuchi Motomura (JPN,300) 63 64
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) bt Hugo Armando (USA,226) 64 75
[Q1] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,199) 63 63
[Q1] (16) Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK,130) l Stephane Bohli (SUI,182) 75 36 36

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,292) l Sam Warburg (USA,172) 36 67(9)
[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) bt (WC) Bernard Tomic (AUS,UNR) 63 62
[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs (WC) Carsten Ball (AUS,378)

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) vs (7) Denis Gremelmayr (GER,118)

Prakash move into final qualifying round with easy victory against 16 yrs old Tomic ... Rohan saved 2 match points against Warburg but couldn't manage to save third.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] (1) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) l (Q) RAMPRE Petra (SLO,753) 16 64 36

[R2] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) vs (LL) COUTS Kimberly (USA,438)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[R1] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) bt (Q) Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE,UNR) 26 63 62

[R2] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) vs (8) (Q) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398)

Doubles -
[QF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (4) Andrey KUMANTSOV (RUS)/ Daniel YOO (KOR) 75 46 10(6)

[QF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) bt (3) Brian BATTISTONE (USA)/ Dann BATTISTONE (USA) 64 16 10(5)

[SF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (1) DE HEART Ryler (USA)/ SMYCZEK Tim (USA)
[SF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) vs (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

Second Final (Best of 3) -

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chandigarh Dynamos 4-2

Goal Scored - Sandeep Michael (BHF) (PC) 23', You Hyo Sik (BHF) 32' & 42', Hariprasad (BHF) 61' and Deepak Thakur (CD) 10', Rajpal Singh (CD) 22'

MoM - You Hyo Sik (BHF)

Dynamos were up 2-0 after 22nd minutes but Hi-Fliers produced superb comeback to scored sounding victory and make 3rd match as a Grand Finale.
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube De Goa bt Mohun Bagan 1-0

Goal Scored - O.E.O. Junior (SCG) 85'

MoM - Joseph Pereira (SCG)
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Dempo Sports Club bt Churchill Brothers 4-1

Goal Scored - Chidi Edeh (DSC), Ranti Martins (DSC) (PC), Periera Anthony (DSC), Abranches Joaquim (DSC) and Mboyo Iyomi (CB)

MoM - Periera Anthony (DSC)
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Mahindra United bt J.C.T Phagwara 3-1

Goal Scored - Andrew Mensh Pomeyie (MU) 10' & 65', Douhou S.D. Pierre (MU) 87' and Edu Ardo Da Silva (JCT) 7'

MoM - Andrew Mensh Pomeyie (MU)

Tennis News -
At $170K Moorilla Hobart International, Australia

[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND,31) l Flavia Pennetta (ITA,39) 57 61 36

So this was Sania's 2nd loss against Pennetta whom she lost at Japan Open in 2007 ... Sania's only win against Pennetta came in 2006 at Paris Open.
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At $465K Medibank International, Sydney, Australia

[R1] BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) l BERDYCH Tomas (CZE)/ STEPANEK Radek (CZE) 46 46
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At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) bt KAPROS Aniko (HUN,545) 16 63 76(3)

Doubles -
[R1] (3) UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) l DENTONI Corinna (ITA)/ PIVOVAROVA Anastasia (RUS) 76(5) 26 (9)11

[R1] RAO Sunitha (IND)/ DABROWSKI Gabriela (CAN) l ESPERON Soledad (ARG)/ PIEDADE Frederica (POR) 36 16
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At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

Doubles -
[R1] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt Antoine BODWIN (USA)/ Amit INBAR (ISR) 60 62

[R1] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) bt Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE)/ Marcus FUGATE (USA) 61 26 10(4)

[QF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (4) Andrey KUMANTSOV (RUS)/ Daniel YOO (KOR)
[QF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) vs (3) Brian BATTISTONE (USA)/ Dann BATTISTONE (USA)
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Salgaocar Sports Club dw East Bengal 0-0
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ONGC I-League Team Standings (after completed approx. half matches)

Pos Team P W D L GF GA PTS GD
1 Dempo Sports Club 9 6 3 0 19 4 21 +15
2 JCT Phagwara 9 5 4 0 17 7 19 +10
3 Churchill Brothers 9 5 2 2 23 11 17 +12
4 McDowell Mohun Bagan 9 4 2 3 14 14 14 0
5 Mahindra United 9 2 5 2 8 9 11 -1
6 Viva Kerala 9 2 3 4 7 16 9 -9
7 Sporting Clube De goa 9 2 3 4 6 13 9 -7
8 Air India 9 1 5 3 5 10 8 -5
9 Kingfisher East Bengal 10 2 2 6 11 15 8 -4
10 Salgaocar Sports Club 10 0 5 5 13 24 5 -11