Tennis News
At €2.75M ATP World Tour Rome Masters 1000, Italy

[R2] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt (ALT) Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Dusan Vemic (SRB) 61 61
[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (ALT) Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) 76(5) 26 10(3)

Lee and Lukas made solid strong start in this Rome Masters scoring very one-sided win to move into quarters.

Mahesh and Mark scored fighting win in super tie-break to moved into quarters.
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At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA,170) l Simon Stadler (GER,173) (5)67 (5)67
[R2] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,326) bt Alex Bogdanovic (GBR,180) 26 76(2) 75

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND,178) vs (1) Dudi Sela (ISR,56)
[QF] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,326) vs Simon Stadler (GER,173)

Doubles
[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Harel Levy (ISR) l Karol Beck (SVK)/ Jaroslav Levinsky (CZE) 62 36 (12)14

Rohan scripted remarkable comeback victory after losing first set easily where he struggled to retun Bogdanovic's big serve ... But from second set Rohan matches Bogdanovic and won set in tie-break ... In decider he take important break in 11 games to scored win in 2 hours ... Next he is facing German, who defeated Rajeev.

But Rohan lost into doubles semi-final with Harel Levy ... After 1 set-all, in super tie-break Rohan and Levy were up with 2 mini-breaks but experienced Beck and Levinsky came back to 5-all from 2-5 down ... After that Beck and Levinsky take mini-break to lead 7-6 but this time Rohan and Levy broke back to make it 7-8 ... And then holding their serve they grabbed their first match point at 9-8 but Beck and Levinsky make it 9-all with winning next point on their serve they created their 1st match point ... But this time Rohan and Levy's turned to save it and holding serve to lead 11-10 ... Again Beck and Levinsky saved match point on their own serve and gave them 2 second chance to win match ... Rohan and Levy saved that to make in 12-all but Beck and Levinsky take crucial mini-break to lead 12-13 ... They hold their serve to win this close contested super tie-break.
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At $15k India F4, New Delhi

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt (PR) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 62 62
(6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 76(3) 60

(Q) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 62 1-0 Retd
(SE) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 63 62

Doubles Semi Finals
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) 63 64

Tushar Liberhan (IND)/ Vishal Punna (IND) bt (2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Navdeep Singh (IND) 76(6) 76(4)

So like last week our same 2 players reached in semis and this time also Vishnu having tough challenge of top-seed in semis ... Yuki scored another easy win and facing another Thai qualifier in semis.

In doubles all Indians final is on card.
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At $25K Namangan ITF Tournament, Uzbekistan

[QF] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,534) l (6) Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR,361) 26 61 36

Fighting performance by Poojashree in her loss against this top-350 type player.

Table Tennis News
At 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, Yokohama, Japan

Sharath Kamal scored upset victory in round 2 of World Table Tennis Championships against WR top-40 German player to moved into third round ... He is also in doubles second round with Subhajit Saha ... But otherwise our disappointing performance at World Table Tennis Championships is continue.

[R3] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND,85) vs GIONIS Panagiotis (GRE,50)

[R2] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND)/ SAHA Subhajit (IND) vs MONTEIRO Thiago (BRA)/ TSUBOI Gustavo (BRA)

[R2] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND,85) bt STEGER Bastian (GER,39) 11-8 11-9 11-3 6-11 11-8

[R1] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND)/ SAHA Subhajit (IND) bt GRUJIC Slobodan (SRB)/ KARAKASEVIC Aleksandar (SRB) 11-7 11-9 13-11 13-11
[R1] DAS Mouma (IND)/ GHATAK Poulomi (IND) l CAO Zhen (CHN)/ LIU Shiwen (CHN) 8-11 3-11 9-11 4-11
[R1] SAHA Subhajit (IND)/ GHATAK Poulomi (IND) l HENZELL William (AUS)/ MIAO Miao (AUS) 7-11 9-11 5-11 9-11
[R1] (Q) ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND)/ PATKAR Madhurika (IND) l ZENG Cem (TUR)/ HU Melek (TUR) 2-11 15-13 10-12 6-11 6-11
[R1] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND)/ KUMARESAN Shamini (IND) l STEGER Bastian (GER)/ BARTHEL Zhenqi (GER) 9-11 10-12 12-14 11-3 11-9 14-16
[R1] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND)/ DAS Mouma (IND) l MACHADO Carlos (ESP)/ RAMIREZ Sara (ESP) 13-11 9-11 8-11 4-11 11-9 4-11
[R1] (Q) MEHTA Pathik (IND)/ CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) l DRINKHALL Paul (ENG)/ PARKER Joanna (ENG) 7-11 8-11 4-11 4-11

[R1] (Q) GHATAK Poulomi (IND,207) l GUO Yue (CHN,2) 8-11 3-11 3-11 7-11
[R1] (Q) CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND,381) l FENG Tianwei (SIN,6) 3-11 7-11 7-11 7-11
[R1] (Q) DAS Mouma (IND,213) l KIM Kyung Ah (KOR,8) 10-12 7-11 10-12 5-11
[R1] (Q) KUMARESAN Shamini (IND,331) l ISHIGAKI Yuka (JPN,53) 11-13 11-7 11-13 5-11 8-11
[R1] ACHANTA Sharath Kamal (IND,85) bt WANG Jianfeng (NOR,95) 11-2 11-6 8-11 8-11 11-5 12-10

[Q1] CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) bt PETROVA Zhana (BUL) 11-7 11-9 11-6 11-2

[Q2] SAHA Subhajit (IND) l FEGERL Stefan (AUT) 11-8 5-11 11-9 11-4 3-11 3-11 9-11
[Q2] ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND) l ABRAMOV Isaak (ISR) 8-11 7-11 11-3 11-8 8-11 9-11
[Q2] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND) l ZHMUDENKO Yaroslav (UKR) 11-8 10-12 9-11 11-5 9-11 9-11
[Q2] MEHTA Pathik (IND) l PAPAGEORGIOU Konstantinos (GRE) 9-11 11-13 11-8 11-8 8-11 11-6 10-12

[Q1] SAHA Subhajit (IND) bye
[Q1] ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND) bye
[Q1] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND) bye
[Q1] MEHTA Pathik (IND) bt MENGE Gencay (TUR) 8-11 11-9 9-11 11-8 6-11 11-9 11-8

[Q2] ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND)/ PATKAR Madhurika (IND) bt WU Kevin (NZL)/ SINGH Armindeep (NZL) 11-2 11-2 11-6
[Q2] MEHTA Pathik (IND)/ CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) bt KARTUZOVS Olegs (LAT)/ KURMELOVA Anzela (LAT) 11-2 6-11 9-11 11-6 11-5

[Q1] MEHTA Pathik (IND)/ CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) bye
[Q1] ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND)/ PATKAR Madhurika (IND) bye

[Q3] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND)/ MEHTA Pathik (IND) l JEVTOVIC Marko (SRB)/ PETE Zolt (SRB) 10-12 5-11 11-7 11-2 6-11

[Q2] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND)/ MEHTA Pathik (IND) bt BEN ARI Omry (ISR)/ TAUBER Michael (ISR) 11-6 7-11 11-8 11-4

[Q1] CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND)/ KUMARESAN Shamini (IND) l KASABOVA Asya (BUL)/ PETROVA Zhana (BUL) 12-10 9-11 11-9 6-11 7-11
[Q1] CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND)/ MEHTA Pathik (IND) bye

Womens
Qualifying Group 3
GHATAK Poulomi (IND) bt NYBERG Hanna (FIN) 11-8 11-3 11-5 11-8
GHATAK Poulomi (IND) bt MADRID Mercedes (MEX) 9-11 9-11 11-7 11-6 9-11 11-5 11-4

Qualifying Group 5
DAS Mouma (IND) bt HOPPERT Andrea (HON) 11-2 11-7 11-7 11-2
DAS Mouma (IND) bt MAAL Sameera (RSA) 11-8 11-3 11-7 11-6

Qualifying Group 22
KUMARESAN Shamini (IND) bt GARRETT Debbie (NZL) 11-2 11-4 11-9 11-6
KUMARESAN Shamini (IND) bt HASSAN Sara (EGY) 7-11 8-11 11-9 11-6 11-7 11-6

Qualifying Group 26
PATKAR Madhurika (IND) bt VASTAVUO Milla-Mari (FIN) 11-5 11-4 11-5 11-6
PATKAR Madhurika (IND) l AGERHOLM Pernille (DEN) 10-12 9-11 12-14 11-8 11-3 12-14

Qualifying Group 30
CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) bt SOUTHAMMAVONG Thiphakone (LAO) 11-7 11-9 11-6 11-7 CHAKRABORTY Kasturi (IND) bt LINDMAE Karin (EST) 11-8 11-5 11-7 11-6

Mens
Qualifying group 36
SAHA Subhajit (IND) bt MOHED Osama Ahmed (SUD) 11-2 11-2 11-4 11-2
SAHA Subhajit (IND) bt BEN ARI Omry (ISR) 9-11 13-15 11-4 9-11 11-5 18-16 11-6

Qualifying group 41
ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND) bt JIMENEZ Daniel (CRC) 11-4 11-4 11-5 11-2
ARPUTHARAJ ANTHONY Amalraj (IND) bt AL-MOHANNADI Ahmad Khalil (QAT) 11-4 11-3 9-11 12-10 11-3

Qualifying Group 48
CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND) bt MAHARJAN Rakesh (NEP) 11-5 11-3 11-2 11-5
CHAKRABORTY Sourav (IND) bt COELLO Geovanny (ECU) 8-11 11-5 12-10 12-10 11-2

Qualifying Group 63
MEHTA Pathik (IND) bt BAJADA Daniel (MLT) W/O
MEHTA Pathik (IND) bt SHAO Yu (USA) 11-9 11-13 11-9 11-9 11-4

Tennis News
At $25K Namangan ITF Tournament, Uzbekistan

[R2] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,534) bt (WC) Alisa Ogorodova (UZB,937) 62 62

[QF] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,534) vs (6) Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR,361)

Poojashree keeping her dominance against lowe ranked player but in quarters she is facing tough test against top-375 player.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,178) bt Michail Elgin (RUS,138) 46 62 63

Terrific comeback quality win by Kash ... In third set Kash serve was broken in the first game but then he broke Elgin's serve twice to take 3-1 lead and then maintained that to scored top-150 win.

Prakash is strongly moving towards top-150 singles ranking ... Mostly he will face top-seed Dudi Sela in quarters.
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At $15k India F4, New Delhi

Singles Second Round
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt (Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) 64 64
(PR) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (7) Divij SHARAN (IND) 76(8) 46 63
(Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 64 75
(6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Alexandre FOLIE (BEL) 46 62 63
(Q) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt Jiri KRKOSKA (CZE) 63 61
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (4) Goran TOSIC (MNE) 63 64
(Q) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt (5) Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) 63 62
(SE) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Vishal PUNNA (IND) 62 62

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Karunuday Singh (IND) 62 62
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) 62 64

Tushar Liberhan (IND)/ Vishal Punna (IND) bt Adam El Mihdawy (USA)/ Rohan Gide (IND) 62 62
(2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Navdeep Singh (IND) bt Huai-En Chang (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 63 76(2)

Yuki made me eat my words with his performance ... Very happy for Vivek's win though over Divij ... Ranjeet produced solid upset win beating 4th seed Tosic.

This week 5 Indians r in quarters and we r in chance of all Indian semi-finals ... Is this due to training stint these players recieved at Nick Bollettieri academy? ... If answer is yes then AITA should organise more these quality training stint for our upcoming players.
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At $25K Namangan ITF Tournament, Uzbekistan

[R1] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,534) bt (Q) Svetlana Smirnova (RUS,947) 63 61

[R2] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,534) vs (WC) Alisa Ogorodova (UZB,937)

Good to see Poojashree taking complete advantage of weak draw to continue with her good run in Uzbekistan for last few weeks.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,178) bt (Q) Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN,309) 64 60
[R1] Rajeev Ram (USA,170) bt (5) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,114) 64 64
[R1] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,326) bt (WC) Theodoros Angelinos (GRE,UNR) 61 62
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,147) l Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA,161) 36 26

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,178) vs Michail Elgin (RUS,138)
[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA,170) vs Simon Stadler (GER,173)
[R2] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,326) vs Alex Bogdanovic (GBR,180)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Harel Levy (ISR) bt (1) Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Ashley Fisher (AUS) 76(3) 61

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Harel Levy (ISR) vs Karol Beck (SVK)/ Jaroslav Levinsky (CZE)

Superb performance by Kash, who was down by break 2-4 and 0-30 on his serve but after that he won consecutive next 10 games to scored thumping win ... Also expected easy victory for Rohan, who next face Alex Bogdanovic, who upset 2nd seed Reynolds ... Rajeev also started well scoring upset win.

Another disappointing performance from Som as per fan's expectations ... Som was leading 3-1 with break in the first set but Roger-Vasselin fought back and didn't gave much chance to comeback ... In end he scored easy victory winning 11 games of last 13 games.

Rohan and Levy started with bang upsetting top-seed pair in doubles ... After winning first set in tie-break they handed one sided defeat to top-seed pair.
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At $50K Charlottesville ITF Tournament, VA, USA

[Q3] (5) Shikha Uberoi (IND,593) l Tarakaa Bertrand (USA,790) 63 57 16

Doubles
[R1] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Alexis Prousis (USA) l (2) Carmen Klaschka (GER)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 06 36

After losing 2nd set in tight contest Shikha surrendered easily in third set ... And in doubles she and her partner were no match to German pair.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[R1] (3) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Theodoros Angelinos (GRE) 64 64

Som and his local Greek partner had tough task in the first round, so as expected straight sets victory for Ram and Reynolds.
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At $50K Charlottesville ITF Tournament, VA, USA

[Q2] (5) Shikha Uberoi (IND,593) bt Christina Fusano (USA,UNR) 63 62

[Q3] (5) Shikha Uberoi (IND,593) vs Tarakaa Bertrand (USA,790)

Doubles
[R1] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Alexis Prousis (USA) vs (2) Carmen Klaschka (GER)/ Laura Siegemund (GER)

Shikha scored easy straight sets victory over Fusano, now she is facing another American Bertrand in final qualifying ... Winable match for Shikha.

But in doubles she and her partner having tough task of 2nd seed German pair.

Tennis News
At $15k India F4, New Delhi

Singles First Round
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 63 75
(Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (Q) Huai-En CHANG (TPE) 57 61 64
(PR) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (WC) Navdeep SINGH (IND) 64 62
(7) Divij SHARAN (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 63 61
(WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt (3) Pirmin HAENLE (GER) 2-0 Retd.
(Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 75 61
Alexandre FOLIE (BEL) bt (WC) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 75
(6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Frederic DE FAYS (BEL) 62 64
Jiri KRKOSKA (CZE) bt (8) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) 76(4) 63
(Q) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt Adam EL MIHDAWY (USA)75 63
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Alexei FILENKOV (RUS) 60 64)
(4) Goran TOSIC (MNE) bt (Q) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) 63 61
(5) Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) bt (WC) Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 46 62 60
(Q) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt (Q) Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) 46 76(4) 60
(SE) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 64 76(5)
(Q) Vishal PUNNA (IND) bt (2) Yuichi ITO (JPN) 36 64 61

Doubles First Round
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt (WC) Vedant Kapoor (IND)/ Fariz Mohammed (IND) 63 62
Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Karunuday Singh (IND) bt Niall Angus (GBR)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) 62 60
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Masato Hatanaka (JPN)/ Takuto Niki (JPN) 61 76(5)
(WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) 46 76(4) 10(8)

Adam El Mihdawy (USA)/ Rohan Gide (IND) bt Ronak Manuja (IND)/ Vignesh Pernamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND) 63 57 10(4)
Tushar Liberhan (IND)/ Vishal Punna (IND) bt (4) Mithun Murali (IND)/ Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) 63 36 10(5)
Huai-En Chang (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) bt Vijaykant Malik (IND)/ Abhijeet Tiwari (IND) 36 75 15(13)
(2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Navdeep Singh (IND) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN)/ Arata Onozawa (JPN) 64 63

[QF] (2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Navdeep Singh (IND) bt Huai-En Chang (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 63 76(2)

Vijaykant found himself lucky as his 3rd seed opponent retired from the match after playing only 2 games ... Vishal Punna showed old magic beating 2nd seed Japanese opponent in 3 sets ... Yuki scored tight victory over his experienced doubles partner ... Qualifier Pashanth also started wellbeating his Thai opponent.
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At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,178) vs (Q) Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN,309)
[R1] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,326) vs (WC) Theodoros Angelinos (GRE,UNR)

Rohan was lucky in the draw after qualifying and facing weakest player from the draw ... Prakash is also having winnable first round match.
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At $50K Charlottesville ITF Tournament, VA, USA

[Q1] (5) Shikha Uberoi (IND,593) bt Nicole Bartnik (USA,UNR) 61 67(0) 64

[Q2] (5) Shikha Uberoi (IND,) vs Christina Fusano (USA,UNR)

Surprisingly tough match for Shikha after winning first set easily against unranked player ... In second qualifying round she is facing doubles specialist Fusano.

Tennis News
At € 1.995M Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 2009, Spain

[F] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (2) Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 36 67(9)

Mahesh and Mark failed to lift title, Zimo and Nestor won their second title in 2 weeks.
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At €2.75M ATP World Tour Rome Masters 1000, Italy

[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bye
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bye

Hopefully this week Lee and Lukas performed as per their ranking, they r in top draw with Bryans ... Mahesh and Mark must be hoping to continue with their good form of Barcelona Open, but they r in bottom draw with Zimo and Nestor.
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At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup 2009, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[Q3] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND,324) bt Marco Trungelliti (ARG,584) 57 63 64

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) vs Qualifier
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,149) vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA,163)
[R1] Rajeev Ram (USA,170) vs (5) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,115)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Harel Levy (ISR) vs (1) Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Ashley Fisher (AUS)
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Theodoros Angelinos (GRE) vs (3) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA)

Rohan produced comeback victory over Italian Marco Trungelliti to qualify for the maindraw ... Match was tougher than expected but in end Bops pulled up victory.
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At $15k India F4, New Delhi

Qualifying First Round
Vedant KAPOOR (IND) bt Vikas CHAUHAN (IND) 46 76(5) 62
(11) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Varun WALIA (IND) 63 61
Ankit SACHDEVA (IND) bt Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) 63 67(1) 64
(12) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Dino DELL'ORTO (HKG) 62 62
(3) Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) bt Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE) 76(3) 67(3) 64
(16) Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND) 61 61
Vishal PUNNA (IND) bt (4) Rohan GIDE (IND) 63 61
Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (9) Mathieu GOVEN (FRA) 63 64
(5) Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Mithun MURALI (IND) 63 60
(10) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 60 64
(6) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt Manuel FERDIK (AUT) 63 61
(15) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) bt Kelsey STEVENSON (CAN) 63 75
(7) Takuto NIKI (JPN) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND) 62 62
(13) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) bt Pulkit MISHRA (IND) 61 62
Huai-En CHANG (TPE) bt (8) Saar STEELE (ISR) 62 57 61
(14) Vijay KANNAN (IND) bt Niall ANGUS (GBR) 63 64

Qualifying Final Round
(11) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Vedant KAPOOR (IND) 61 64
(12) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Ankit SACHDEVA (IND) 63 61
(3) Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) bt (16) Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) 63 67(1) 63
Vishal PUNNA (IND) bt Karunuday SINGH (IND) 64 64
(10) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt (5) Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 75 64
(6) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (15) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 61 63
(13) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) bt (7) Takuto NIKI (JPN) 76(5) 75
Huai-En CHANG (TPE) bt (14) Vijay KANNAN (IND) 57 76(3) 3-2 Retd

This week 3 Indians qualified for India F4 futures maindraw.

Tennis News
Davis Cup 2009,

ITF taken quick decision on Australia's decision and awarded the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I third round tie to India.

The ITF regrets and respectfully disagrees with the decision of Tennis Australia to default its upcoming Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group I third round tie against India, scheduled to be played in Chennai on 8-10 May.

By virtue of its decision not to send a team to compete against India, Australia has forfeited the tie. India is declared the winner and will advance to the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs, scheduled for 18-20 September. The draw for the Play-off Round will be held on 12 May at the ITF Offices in Roehampton.
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At € 1.995M Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 2009, Spain

[SF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 62 67(5) 10(7)

[F] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (2) Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)

After winning first set easily, Mahesh had match point on his serve at 5-4 and 40-all but he double faulted to present the game to twins ... After that Bryans won set in tie-break ... But in super tie-break Mahesh and Mark kept cool after early mini-break to grab the match.
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At $100K+H Aegean Tennis Cup, Rhodes, Greece (Hard court)

[Q1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND) bye
[Q2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Leonardo Azzaro (ITA) 64 67 62

[Q3] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND,324) vs Marco Trungelliti (ARG,584)

Good win for Rohan who is playing singles after long break, he need to qualify to garner some ranking points to keep his ranking around 300 ... Prakash, Som and Rajeev r also in maindraw of this challenger.

Tennis News
At € 1.995M Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 2009, Spain

[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Lucas Arnold Ker (ARG)/ Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 75 62

[SF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA)

In this quarter-final match Mahesh and Mark saved 16 break points from 18 they faced ... And I think that was the key to their win ... In semis they r facing their old foe Bryans.
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At $15k India F3, New Delhi

Singles Final
(WC) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,1460) bt (5) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,692) 76(1) 64

Doubles Final
(WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt (4) Yuichi Ito (JPN)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) 76(1) 76(7)

Yuki scored straight sets victory against Vishnu to lift his maiden title on Mens tour ... With this he becomes youngest ever Indian player at 16 years & 10 months to win futures tournament bettered Sanam Singh's record of 17 yrs & 11 months ... Match was close and in the beginning Yuki was playing very patchy game ... He broke Vishnu's serve in 2nd game to lead 2-0 in the first set but in next game he served 4 double faults to gifted his own service game to Vishnu ... Vishnu take crucial lead breaking Yuki's serve in 11th game and then he was serving for the match ... But in my view turning point of the match came at 30-15 in 12th game ... Yuki's forehand crosscourt shot called out by linsman but chair umpire Nitin Kannamwar overruled his decision and gave point to Yuki ... Vishnu tried to raise objection but Nitin Kannamwar sticked to his decision, so instead of facing 2 set points Yuki was 30-all ... Then he dominated game and won tie-break giving only 1 point to Vishnu ... From second set Vishnu was looking tired, mostly due to his 2 hrs 45 mins semi-final against top-seed ... Yuki broke his serve in 3rd game and then sustained the lead until end ... Yuki was cramping in the last game but he converted 3rd match point to win first futures title.

Impressed with Yuki's ability of playing important points ... He is having good solid groundstrokes and effective serve ... Definitely improvement in his game from last time I watched his match.

In doubles Indian wild-card pair Ashutosh and Srirambalaji won title beating 4th seed Japanese pair in 2 tie-breaks.
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Davis Cup 2009,

Tennis Australia says it will not allow its team to travel to India for a scheduled Davis Cup match in May due to security concerns.

Tennis Australia take this decision after ITF (The International Tennis Federation) on Friday rejected Australia's appeal against playing in India and upheld the decision to hold the match in Chennai as originally planned from May 8-10 ... The winner of the Asia-Oceania Group 1 third-round match will advance to the World Group playoffs in September.

Australians raising unnecessary controversy and I insist ITF should take strict action against them which they mentioned, ban from Davis Cup competition for a year and fined US $100,000 if it refuses to play its tie with India in Chennai.

Tennis News
At $15k India F3, New Delhi

Singles Semi Finals
(5) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,692) bt (1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA,321) 36 76 62
(WC) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,1460) bt (Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN,1177) 64 64

Huge win by Vishnu against top-325 player, who is currently in his best form and also experienced ... After losing first set Vishnu cameback in the match with big serving ... After winning second set in tie break, he won 5 games in a row from 1-2 to scored biggest victory in his small career ... Yuki contined with his excellent upset wins though with his current form these wins were expecting from him but as per ranking they r upsets ... So after longtime we will see all Indians singles final in Indian futures.
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At $10K Almaty Futures, Kazakhstan

[SF] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) l (1) Tetyana AREFYEVA (UKR,488) 26 06

Was expecting fighting performance from Poojashree.

Tennis News
At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) l John Isner (USA,123) 76(5) 36 46

Doubles
[QF] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Martin Fischer (USA) l Go Soeda (JPN)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA) 76(4) 46 (5)10

So our players lost in singles and doubles after winning first set in tie-break ... Fighting performance by Kash against Isner.
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At $15k India F3, New Delhi

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt Adam EL MIHDAWY (USA) 64 76(4)
(5) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (3) Goran TOSIC (MNE) 62 75
(WC) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (8) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 64 64
(Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (7) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) 76(6) 61

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (4) Yuichi Ito (JPN)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) 36 67(4) (WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt (2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Goran Tosic (MNE) 60 36 10(2)

Yuki continued with his fine run to move into semis with win over countryman Gajjar ... Vishnu produced upset win over 3rd seed player to face top-seed in semis ... In doubles wildcard pair of Ashutosh and Srirambalaji produced upset win over 2nd seed pair in super tie-break after our top seed pair lost their semi-final.
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At $10K Almaty Futures, Kazakhstan

[QF] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) bt Karina ISAYAN (RUS,1011) 36 63 62

[SF] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) vs (1) Tetyana AREFYEVA (UKR,488)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) l (1) Ima BOHUSH (BLR)/ Eugeniya PASHKOVA (RUS) 36 36

In semis Poojashree having true test but surprisingly 3 setter against Russian in quarters.

Shooting News
At ISSF World Cup, Beijing, China

25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men)
Gold - Keith Sanderson (USA) (584+196.5) 780.5 pts
Silver - Vijay Kumar (IND) (581+199.4) 780.4 pts
Bronze - Teruyoshi Akimata (JPN) (579+198.5) 777.5 pts

Another young Indian shooter, 23 yrs old Vijay Kumar, won silver medal in on going ISSF World Cup at Beiing ... He qualified for the final on 4th place and in the final round he scored highest points to missed Gold medal by 0.1 point ... Still creditable performance by this young shooter.

Before this another Indian young shooter, 19 yrs old Heena Sidhu, won Silver medal in 10M Air Pistol event ... She qualified for the final on 5th place but scored highest points in final round to finished 2nd behind China's Jun Hu.

10M Air Pistol (Women)
Gold - Jun Hu (CHN) (390+100.5) 490.5 pts
Silver - Heena Sidhu (IND) (385+101.8) 486.8 pts
Bronze - Lenka Maruskova (CZE) (385+100.9) 485.9 pts

Heena Sidhu - “I feel numb at the moment! This is my second participation in a world cup. I have been competing in Changwon last week, but I did not shot a great competition there. I was happy to be into the final match, today, but actually I did not expect a medal…”

“It’s amazing to be standing where the games took place. Now I am planning to come to the world cup stage held in Munich, next May…”

Gagan Narang finished on 6th position with 696.6 pts (595+101.6) in 50M Rifle Prone event.

Tennis News
At € 1.995M Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 2009, Spain

[R2] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Simon Aspelin (SWE)/ Wesley Moodie (RSA) 67(5) 67(3)
[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Robin Soderling (SWE) 46 61 10(8)

[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Lucas Arnold Ker (ARG)/ Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)

Mahesh and Mark scored comeback victory against Swedish pair in super tie-break ... But lee and Lukas lost both sets in tie-breaks for early exit.
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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) bt (4) Vincent Spadea (USA,108) 64 61

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) vs John Isner (USA,123)

Doubles
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Joshua Goodall (GBR) l (1) Eric Butorac (USA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 36 16

Very good easy victory by Prakash against very experienced Spadea ... Before this they faced eachother in 2008 at Calabasas Challenger and that time Spadea won final set in tie-break ... But this time Prakash handled him cooly to scored big victory against top-100 caliber player, who was former top-20 player ... In quarters Kash is facing towering Isner.
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At $15k India F3, New Delhi

Singles Second Round
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt Jiri KRKOSKA (CZE) 57 76(5) Ret.
Purav RAJA (IND) l Adam EL MIHDAWY (USA) 26 46
(3) Goran TOSIC (MNE) bt Alexandre FOLIE (BEL) 63 75
(5) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (PR) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 63 64
(8) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 46 63 62
(WC) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (4) Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) 62 62
(7) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) bt (Q) Vijay KANNAN (IND) 63 36 64
(Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (Q) Takuto NIKI (JPN) 76(6) 36 75

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Ronak Manuja (IND)/ Vignesh Perna (IND) 62 76(4)
(4) Yuichi Ito (JPN)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) bt Rohan Gide (IND)/ Saar Steele (ISR) 75 63

(WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 67(4) 76(4) 10(7)
(2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Goran Tosic (MNE) bt (WC) Mithun Murali (IND)/ Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) 62 46 10(5)

Very impressive performance by Yuki, who defeated 4th seed Japanese opponent with ease losing only 4 games.

Tennis News
At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Martin Fischer (USA) bt (Q) Frederic Niemeyer (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 64 46 10(8)

[QF] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Martin Fischer (USA) vs Go Soeda (JPN)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA)

Good fighting start for Harsh with Fischer, who defeated Canadian pair in super tie-break.
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At $10K Almaty Futures, Kazakhstan

[R2] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) bt Lara RAFFUL (BRA,760) 62 60

[QF] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) vs Karina ISAYAN (RUS,1011)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Vladislava KUZMENKOVA (BLR) 67(11) 64 10(4)

[SF] (3) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) vs (1) Ima BOHUSH (BLR)/ Eugeniya PASHKOVA (RUS)

Poojashree continued with her impressive outing in Kazak in singles and doubles.

Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009,

Group E
Dempo SC l Al Muharraq, Bahrain 0-1

Goal Scored - Isa Ahmed Ghaleb Muthanna (AlM) 90'

And again Dempo conceded last minute goal against Al Muharraq, but this time they lost the match.
------------------------------------------
Group D
Kuwait SC, Kuwait bt Mohun Bagan 6-0

Goal Scored - Jehad Alhussien Fadel (KSC) 10' P, 22' & 72', Farag Laheeb Saad Saeed (KSC) 34', 39' and Nanjangud Shivananju Manju (MB) 78' OG

Miserable day for goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee ... Atleast in 4 goals he was out of place or wasn't handling the ball cleanly ... Sad day for Mohun Bagan team.

Tennis News
At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) bt (WC) Michael McClune (USA,447) 67(3) 75 76(3)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,149) l Marinko Matosevic (AUS,220) 36 36

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,185) vs (4) Vincent Spadea (USA,108)

Doubles
[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) l (WC) Frederic Niemeyer (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 26 46

Kash scored very unexpected hard fought win but sadly very disappointing stuff from Som, who lost tamely in singles and also lost final doubles qualifying.
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At 2009 Asia Oceania Junior Davis Cup, Shepparton, Australia (Grass)

For 3rd Place
(2) India bt (4) Australia 2-1

Singh Saurabh bt Volmari Todd 60 46 63
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur bt Swaysland Joey 64 76(3)
Singh Saurabh/ Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur l Volmari Todd / Swaysland Joey 36 26

Overall very satisfying performance by our boys to qualify for Finals in Mexico ... But our girls performance remain worrying as they finished on 13th place out of 16 in Asian teams.
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At $10K Almaty Futures, Kazakhstan

[R1] Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,745) l Khristina KAZIMOVA (UKR,989) 16 0-1 Retd
[R1] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) bt Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS,989) 60 60

[R2] (3) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,574) vs Lara RAFFUL (BRA,760)

Doubles
[R1] Ester MASURI (ISR)/ Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) l (1) Ima BOHUSH (BLR)/ Eugeniya PASHKOVA (RUS) 06 16
[R1] (3) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Diana ISAEVA (RUS)/ Marina LUSHCHINA (RUS) 60 60

[QF] (3) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) vs Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Vladislava KUZMENKOVA (BLR)

Very dominating start for Poojashree but hoping not a serious injury to Kumari-Sweta.

Tennis News
At $15k India F3, New Delhi

Singles Maindraw First Round
(1) Raven KLAASEN (RSA) bt Navdeep SINGH (IND) 67(5) 76(2) 75
Jiri KRKOSKA (CZE) bt Frederic DE FAYS (BEL) 64 76(4)
Purav RAJA (IND) bt (Q) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) 75 76(5)
Adam EL MIHDAWY (USA) bt (6) Divij SHARAN (IND) 76(5) 61
(3) Goran TOSIC (MNE) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 75 61
Alexandre FOLIE (BEL) bt Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 64 62
(PR) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 75 76(5)
(5) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (Q) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 57 64 76(5)
(8) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (LL) Mathieu GOVEN (FRA) 64 62
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 46 61 64
(WC) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Saar STEELE (ISR) 62 63
(4) Hiroki MORIYA (JPN) bt (Q) Karunuday SINGH (IND) 63 62
(7) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) bt Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) 75 75
(Q) Vijay KANNAN (IND) bt (WC) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 62 64
(Q) Takuto NIKI (JPN) bt (WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 62 57 64
(Q) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (2) Yuichi ITO (JPN) 5-4 Retd

Doubles Maindraw First Round
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Weerapat Doakmaiklee (THA)/ Peraklit Siriluethaiwataana (THA) 64 63
Ronak Manuja (IND)/ Vignesh Perna (IND) bt (WC) Vijay Kannan (IND)/ Vivek Shokeen (IND) 64 64
(4) Yuichi Ito (JPN)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) bt Sean Thornley (GBR)/ Abhijeet Tiwari (IND) 75 61
Rohan Gide (IND)/ Saar Steele (ISR) bt Adam El Mihdawy (USA)/ Mathieu Goven (FRA) 62 76(4)

(WC) Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt Akito Higa (JPN)/ Arata Onozawa (JPN) 63 76(3)
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Navdeep Singh (IND)/ Ranjeet Viralimurugesan (IND) 63 67(7) 10(6)
(WC) Mithun Murali (IND)/ Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Frederic de Fays (BEL)/ Alexandre Folie (BEL) 76(6) 64
(2) Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Goran Tosic (MNE) bt Masato Hatanaka (JPN)/ Takuto Niki (JPN) 76(5) 61

Qualifying Final Round
(14) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) bt Mithun MURALI (IND) 63 62
(10) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Niall ANGUS (GBR) 63 62
(15) Vijay KANNAN (IND) bt (3) Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 57 75 64
(4) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt (9) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) 76(9) 76(0)
(5) Takuto NIKI (JPN) bt (13) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 62 62
(16) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Huai-En CHANG (TPE) 75 76(5)
(7) Saar STEELE (ISR) bt Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) 61 06 76(1)
(12) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (8) Mathieu GOVEN (FRA) 64 61

Qualifying First Round
Mithun MURALI (IND) bt Shivang MISHRA (IND) 63 64
(14) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) bt Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 46 76(2) 63
Niall ANGUS (GBR) bt (2) Rohan GIDE (IND) 60 64
(10) Peerakit SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 63 64
(3) Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Varun WALIA (IND) 63 62
(15) Vijay KANNAN (IND) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND) 62 62
(4) Masato HATANAKA (JPN) bt Akash WAGH (IND) 63 64
(9) Weerapat DOAKMAIKLEE (THA) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND) 61 62
(5) Takuto NIKI (JPN) bt Saurav SUKUL (IND) 75 61
(13) Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) 63 64
Huai-En CHANG (TPE) bt (6) Akito HIGA (JPN) 75 64
(16) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Kelsey STEVENSON (CAN) 63 61
(7) Saar STEELE (ISR) bt Venkat IYER (IND) 62 60
Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) bt (11) Vikram REDDY B (IND) 76(2) 64
(8) Mathieu GOVEN (FRA) bt Manuel FERDIK (AUT) 62 60
(12) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Shiva SANGWAN (IND) 64 64

Navdeep was unlucky to lose this match against top-seed ... But Divij kept struggling in singles .. Other hand Yki started with easy voctory.

Tennis News
At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

Doubles
[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt (1) Catalin Gard (ROU)/ Andis Juska (LAT) 64 61
[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (WC) Frederic Niemeyer (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN)

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Joshua Goodall (GBR) vs (1) Eric Butorac (USA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)
[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Martin Fischer (USA) vs Qualifier

This week also Somdev playing doubles qualifying with his ex-college partner Huey ... If they qualify for maindraw then they will be facing 4th seed pair of Harsh and Fisher ... Kash with Goodall having tough first round match against top-seed pair.
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At $25K Osprey Tournament, Florida, USA

[R1] Sunitha RAO (IND,260) l Laura SIEGEMUND (GER,294) 36 36

Sunitha still need to win maindraw match this year, she is 0-8 for the season.
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Golf News
At Verizon Heritage, (PGA Tour)

T37 Jeev Milkha Singh 71 69 71 72 -1 $ 22,230.00

Jeev needed minimum 2 under round to finished inside top 21 and securing the PGA Tour's Special Temporary Membership (STM) .. But he had bad day to score his worst round of this week ... Missed chance for Jeev.

Golf News

Jeev Milkha Singh is just a few thousand dollars short of qualifying for the PGA Tour's Special Temporary Membership (STM)... The membership becomes available to non-PGA Tour members once they have earned more in a year than the 150th-placed player on the money list the previous year ... Last year Todd Hamilton earned $537,958

Jeev has earned $477,120 on the Tour so far and needs $60,838 more, he will accept STM if he qualifies.

Jeev is currently playing in the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, he is currently T26 with 2 under and if he manages a two-way tied-22 at least then he will receive the membership.

Tennis News
At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco (Red clay)

[SF] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (1) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA) 76(3) 36 (12)14

[QF] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (7) Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 76(3) 63
[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l Novak Djokovic (SRB)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 46 64 (10)12

[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 64 64

In quarters Lee and Lukas created 15 break point chances and converted of them to win match in 2 sets ... But they again lost against Bryans in semis but this time dog fight of 93 minutes ... Lee and Lukas were unlucky to lose this match.

Mahesh and Mark needed to play 2 matches in day on Friday due to rain interruption on Thrusday, they won first match easily but lost in quarters against Serbian Davis Cup doubles team in super tie-break.
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At 2009 Asia Oceania Junior Davis Cup, Shepparton, Australia (Grass)

Quarter-Final
(2) India bt New Zealand 2-1

Singh Saurabh bt Yates Jamie 62 61
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur l Grinter Jaden 64 36 26
Singh Saurabh/ Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur bt Yates Jamie/ Grinter Jaden 64 67(4) 64

Semi-Final
(2) India l (3) Uzbekistan 0-3

Singh Saurabh l Saitmukhamedov Abduvoris 46 26
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur l Shipilov Sergey 46 26
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur/ Bisht Ronit l Shipilov Sergey/ Jalolov Jakhongir 26 16

Indian boys qualified for Junior Davis Cup Finals in Mexico scoring very hard fought win against New Zealand but lost easily against Uzbekistan in semis mostly tiredness after their epic win over New Zealand.

Here is match report of quarter-final -
The tie of the day in the boys quaterfinals was that between second seeds India and unseeded New Zealand. India won the opening singles but then Jaden Grinter levelled the tie with a gutsy three set win over the Indian number one. The doubles looked to be all India when they led by a set and a break but New Zealand came storming back to take the second set in a tiebreaker and stretch out to a 4-2 lead in the third. The momentum turned and India then won four straight games, each peppered with a series of deuces, to claim victory and a place at the finals.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[QF] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) l (Q) Dick Norman (BEL,301) 46 36

Kash failed to overcome experienced Norman challenge.
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At $10K Shymkent Futures, Kazakhstan

[F] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) l Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB,705) 76(5) 36 16
[SF] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) bt (3) Eugeniya PASHKOVA (RUS,611) 26 64 61

Poojashree produced excellent comeback victory over Russian Pashkova but in the final she lost after winning first set in tie-break against her doubles parter.
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At € 1.995M Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 2009, Spain

[R1] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) Bye
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) Bye

This time Mahesh and Mark r in top draw with top-seed Bryans ... Lee and Lukas r in bottom draw with 2nd seed Zimo and Nestor.
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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs (WC) Michael McClune (USA,456)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,149) vs Marinko Matosevic (AUS,224)

Football News
At I-League - Division II 2008/09 - Final Standing

1. Salgaocar Sports Club - Goa 5 3 1 1 06-03 + 3 10
2. Viva Kerala - Kochi, Kerala 5 3 0 2 11-07 + 4 09
3. Lajong Sports Club - Shillong, Meghalaya 5 3 0 2 07-04 + 3 09
4. Pune FC - Pune, Maharashtra 5 3 0 2 07-06 + 1 09
5. ONGC - Mumbai 5 2 1 2 04-05 - 1 07
6. Sesa Football Academy - Goa 5 0 0 5 02-12 -10 00

So top 4 teams from I-League - Division II for next season, ie season 3 of I-League ... In this 2 new teams moved to I-League, those r Lajong Sports Club from Shillong and Pune FC from Maharashtra ... These both teams r formed in 1 and 1/2 yr back.

Tennis News
At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R2] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) bt Santiago Gonzalez (MEX,211) 62 63

[QF] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs (Q) Dick Norman (BEL,301)

Very pleasently surprising easy straight sets victory for Kash against local tricky player ... So with this victory Kash is in quarters where he face former top-100 giant player, Dick Norman.
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At 2009 Asia Oceania Junior Davis Cup & Junior Fed Cup, Shepparton, Australia (Grass)

Indian boys entered into knockout stage winning all group ties ... But girls failed to move to knockout stage on unfamilier grass courts.

Boys - Group D
Saurabh Singh, Mohit Mayur, Ronit Bisht
Coach - Vishal Uppal

Day 1 - (2) India bt Kazakhstan 3-0

Singh Saurabh bt Nesterov Alexey 63 61
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur bt Yevseyev Denis 64 75
Singh Saurabh/ Bisht Ronit bt Nesterov Alexey/ Yessenkulov Dinmukhammed 63 63

Day 2 - (2) India bt Hong Kong 2-1

Singh Saurabh bt Kong Kwun Ho 46 62 retd.
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur bt To Chak Ting-Justin 61 63
Singh Saurabh/ Bisht Ronit l To Chak Ting-Justin/ Yau Long Fung 63 67(7) 57

Day 3 - (2) India bt (7) Philippines 2-1

Singh Saurabh bt Lazaro Leander 76(7) 64
Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur l Patrombon Jeson 26 16
Singh Saurabh/ Jayaprakash Mohit Mayur bt Patrombon Jeson / Villamor Alberto 63 63

Girls - Group B
Ratnika Batra, Rishika Sunkara, Shweta Chandra Rana
Coach - Nitten Kirrtane

Day 1 - (5) India l Philippines 1-2

Batra Ratnika l Santiago Ma. Regina 16 26
Rana Shweta l Patrimonio Anna Clarice 36 36
Rana Shweta/ Sunkara Rishika bt Patrimonio Anna Clarice/ Santiago Ma. Regina 26 62 64

Day 2 - (5) India bt Sri Lanka 3-0

Sunkara Rishika bt Herath Kemalie 61 61
Rana Shweta bt Fernando Nilushi 60 60
Batra Ratnika/ Sunkara Rishika bt Herath Kemalie/ Wijesingha Sherine 62 61

Day 3 - (5) India l (3) Indonesia 1-2

Sunkara Rishika l Melita Cynthia 63 36 16
Rana Shweta l Ysidora Grace Sari 16 26
Rana Shweta /Batra Ratnika bt Woro Rekyan/ Melita Cynthia 64 46 63
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At $10K Shymkent Futures, Kazakhstan

[R1] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) bt Khristina KAZIMOVA (UKR,993) 60 60
[R1] (6) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,745) bt Yuliana UMANETS (UKR,1091) 26 61 76(3)

[R2] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) bt Alexandra ARTAMONOVA (RUS,1025) 62 64
[R2] (6) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,745) bt Dariya BEREZHNAYA (KAZ,NR) 64 63

[QF] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) bt (Q) Katerina POPOVA (RUS,1124) 61 57 10(8)
[QF] (6) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,745) l Renata BAKIEVA (RUS,805) 46 06

[SF] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,573) vs (3) Eugeniya PASHKOVA (RUS,611) 26 64

Doubles
[R1] (4) Ester MASURI (ISR)/ Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) bt (WC) Kamila ABDUKADIROVA (UZB)/ Sabina KAIRANBAYEVA (KAZ) 60 61
[R1] (2) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (WC) Aselya ARGINBAYEVA (KAZ)/ Kamila RAFKAT (KAZ) 64 62

[QF] (4) Ester MASURI (ISR)/ Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) l Bermet DUVANAEVA (KGZ)/ Inna VOLKOVICH (KGZ) 46 67(4)
[QF] (2) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) vs Katerina POPOVA (RUS)/ Elzyata SOVAEVA (RUS)

Good to see Poojashree's performance outtside India ... Poojashree won her quarter-final match but Kumari-Shweta lost ... In semis 1 set-all for Poojashree and her Russian opponent.

I m totally surprised to see that they r playing super tie-breaks in singles.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 16th April

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHURCHILL BROTHERS AS A WINNER OF I-LEAGUE 2008-09!!!
Churchill Brothers were deserving winner the way they played in this season and last season I-Leagues ... Last time they missed the title on goals difference against Dempo ... But this time they made sure that wan't be the case ... In final round they defeated Mohammedan in tennis like score ... And other hand Mahindra defeated Mohun Bagan so Churchill win I-League 2008-09 with clear 3 pts.

As expected Vasco and Mohammedan will be relegated and new 4 teams will be added for next season for I-League Division II, Shillong's Lajong Sports Club already secured their place in I-League and other 3 teams will join them after last round on 18th April.

Churchill Brothers bt Mohammedan Sporting Club 6-2

Goal Scored - Wasim Feroze (MSC) OG 5', Odafe O Okolie (CB) 8' & 84', Felix Chimaokwu (CB) 61', Khemtang Paite (CB) 63', Thokchom Naoba Singh (CB) 89' and Mike Okoro (MSC) 52', Jyothi Kumar (MSC) 90+'
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Mahindra United bt Mohun Bagan AC 2-1

Goal Scored - Chidi Edeh (MU) 42' & 60' and Branco Vincent Cardozo (MB) 90'
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Air-India l Sporting Clube de Goa 1-3

Goal Scored - Michael Segum Tayo (AI) 47' and Elijah Omagbimero Junior (SCG) 29', Bibiano Fernandes (SCG) 77', Lairenjam Bisheswhor Singh (SCG) 90+'
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East Bengal Club dw Dempo SC 2-2

Goal Scored - Yakubu Yusif (EB) 12', Ismael Addo (EB) 60' and Cressan Antao (DSC) 21', Roberto Mendes Silva (DSC) 22'
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JCT bt Mumbai FC 1-0

Goal Scored - Jagpreet Singh (JCT) 7'
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Vasco SC l Chirag United SC 1-4

Goal Scored - Donald Rocha (VSC) 74' and Subair Muritala Ali (CU) 26' & 50', Shankar Oraon (CU) 47', Denson Devadas (CU) 70'


Final Standing of I-LEAGUE 2008/09

01. Churchill Brothers SC - Goa 22 13 07 02 53-23 +30 46
02. Mohun Bagan AC - Calcutta, Bengal 22 13 04 05 30-20 +10 43
03. Sporting Clube de Goa - Goa 22 13 04 05 28-20 + 8 43
04. Dempo Sports Club - Goa 22 08 07 07 35-26 + 9 31
05. Mahindra United - Mumbai, Maharashtra 22 08 07 07 28-22 + 6 31
06. East Bengal Club - Calcutta, Bengal 22 07 07 08 31-26 + 5 28
07. Mumbai Football Club - Mumbai 22 07 07 08 22-27 - 5 28
08. Chirag United Sports Club - Calcutta 22 06 08 08 20-26 - 6 26
09. JCT - Phagwara, Punjab 22 06 07 09 19-22 - 3 25
10. Air-India - Mumbai 22 05 09 08 21-26 - 5 24
11. Mohammedan Sporting Club - Calcutta 22 05 07 10 17-31 -14 22 (relegated to Division II)
12. Vasco Sports Club - Goa 22 02 04 16 14-49 -35 10 (relegated to Division II)

Shooting News
At ISSF World Cup 2009, Chongwon, Korea
Gagan Narang won gold in the men's 50 metre rifle 3 position (Prone, Standing, Kneeling)and with that he became first Indian to win 2 medals in same ISSF World Cup ... Gagan earlier won the bronze medal in 10 mtrs air rifle event ... He also became first Indian to reached finals of 3 events in single ISSF World Cup, before this he narrowly missed medal in the free rifle prone event where he finished 4th.

Gagan shot 1166 in the qualification round and 98 in the final to aggregate 1264 points to captured gold, he was 5th after qualification round.

50 metre rifle 3 position
Gold - Gagan Narang (IND) (1166+98) 1264 pts
Silver - Jinseop Han (KOR) (1165+96.9) 1261.9 pts
Bronze - Alexei Kamenski (RUS) (1167+94.7) 1261.7 pts

6th - Sanjeev Rajput (IND) (1160+98.7) 1258.7 pts
11th Sushil Ghalay (IND) 1155 pts
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Tennis News
At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco (Red clay)

[R2] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Albert Montanes (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP) 26 76(5) 10(8)

[QF] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (7) Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Andy Ram (ISR)

Lee and Lukas produced very good comeback victory ... After losing first set easily they managed to win next set in tie-break and then pulled victory winning tight super tie-break.
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At $1M Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,100) l (2) Venus Williams (USA,5) 16 63 26

This 2 hrs 28 mins match was close affair though score looks one sided in 2 sets which Sania lost ... In this match Sania lost her serve 7 times but she also broke Venus serve 4 times ... After losing firse set easily Sania came back into match winning next but Venus showed her experience in decider to clinch match ... Sania can take lot of positive from this match from the way she cameback in this match against very experienced and top 5 player, Venus Williams.

Tennis News
At $1M Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA (Green clay)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,100) bt Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ,133) 64 64

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,100) vs (2) Venus Williams (USA,5)

Wow, superb straight sets victory ... Sania need to win these matches and she is winning ... Now 2nd seed Venus in the second round.

In the first set Sania was down 0-2 but then she won next 4 games to lead 4-2 ... Sesil came back strongly winning next 2 games to make it 4-all ... But Sania kept her cool to won next 2 games to pocket first set ... In second set also Sania fought back from break down, from 1-3 down she broke Sesil's serve twice to lead 5-3 and then she hold her serve to won match.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R2] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs Santiago Gonzalez (MEX,211)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l Bruno Echagaray (MEX)/ Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 63 76(5) (10)12

After winning first set top seed pair of Kash and Martin lost match in very closely contested game ... In singles Kash is facing local favorite in second round.

Tennis News
At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco (Red clay)

[R2] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Albert Montanes (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP)
[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

So Lee and Mahesh having very tricky matches on clay against Spanish opponents in second round with their respective partners.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R1] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) bt Riccardo Ghedin (ITA,241) 06 61 63

After surrendering first set easily Kash produced strong comeback in the match winning next 2 sets easily.
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At $15K Korea F2, Seogwipo

[Q3] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1715) l (4) Byung-Kook KANG (KOR,677) 46 36

Karunuday couldn't manage to cross final hurdle but still overall very good experience for him.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)
Final
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (1) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Lisa Raymond (USA) 63 46 10(7)

And this week Sania and Chia-Jung managed to turn table on pair of Peschke and Raymond in super tie-break ... This is huge title win for Sania after her comeback, hopefully these good performance in doubles help her to motivate do more on singles ... This win helped Sania to bring her doubles ranking inside top 60, #59.
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At $1M Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA (Green clay)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,100) vs Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ,133)

This week Sania playing only in singles at Family Circle Cup ... Her opponent is also consider as under-achiever than her potential like Sania ... So interesting match-up, winner of this match will next play second seed Venus Williams.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R1] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs Riccardo Ghedin (ITA,241)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Bruno Echagaray (MEX)/ Giovanni Lapentti (ECU)

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

Final - 12th April
India bt Malaysia 3-1

Goal Scored - Arjun Halappa (IND) 8', Prabhjot Singh (IND) 20', Shivender Singh (IND) 41' and Azlan Misron (MAS) 11'

For 3rd position
New Zealand bt Pakistan 2-1

Indian team won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009 beating host Malaysia, this was their 4th title but now after 13 years ... Before this their last title was in 1995 and Indians were runner-up last year against Argentina and also they were ended on 3rd position 3 times in 2000, 2006 and 2007.

In this match Indian forwardline worked as well oiled machine and Indian defence under, world record holder of playing maximum matches now 406, Dilip Tirkey stood firm without giving any chance to Malaysian team to comeback in the match after taking lead.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 12th April

Mohun Bagan bt Dempo SC 2-1

Goal Scored - Jose Ramirez Barreto (MB) 28', N.S. Manju (MB) 90+' and Ranty Martins (DSC) 55'

Crucial match for Mohun Bagan as they needed to win this match to keep their title hope alive ... But their chances of winning I-League title was almost over as match moving towards draw but N.S. Manju scored winning goal in 4th minute of injury time and keep their title chase alive until 16th April.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

Final
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (1) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Lisa Raymond (USA)

[SF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Liga Dekmeijere (LAT)/ Angela Haynes (USA) 64 63
[QF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (4) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Nadia Petrova (RUS) 64 75

Sania and Chia-Jung moved into semis with good straight sets victory in quartersa and semis ... In the final they r facing top-seed pair against whom they lost last week.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

Doubles Final -
Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) l (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) 36 76(6) (3)10

[SF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) l (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) 36 62 (6)10
[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt Benedikt Dorsch (GER)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 63 76(10)

Singles Final -
(WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) l (4) Benjamin Becker (GER,127) 62 36 6y4

[SF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Samuel Groth (AUS,289) 64 64

So top-seed pair of Ram and Reynolds ended Indian players good run in Lousiana Challenger ... In semis they ended qualifier Som and Huey's dream run in super tie-break ... And in the final again they won in super tie-break against Harsh and Oudsema ... Overall satisfying performance by Harsh and Som with their respective partners.
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At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[R1] (3) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) Bye
[R1] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) Bye
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At $15K Korea F2, Seogwipo

[Q1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt (15) Seung-Hoon LEE (KOR,1195) 63 62
[Q2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt Daniel YOON (KOR) 61 64

[Q3] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) vs (4) Byung-Kook KANG (KOR,680)

At $15K Korea F1, Daegu

[Q1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt Sun Hong YOON (KOR,NR) 60 62
[Q2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) l (2) Hyun-Joon KIM (KOR,743) 16 26

Good to see last 2 weeks Karunuday playing in Korean futures qualifying ... This is good experience for him on tour.

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

12th April
India bt Pakistan 2-1

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (IND) 28' PS & 60' PC and Mohamed Saqlain (PAK) 50'

Malaysia dw New Zealand 1-1

India entered into the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final with hard fought well deserved victory against Pakistan ... Sandeep Singh was hero again, who scored both goals ... India defeated them in their game plan as per our coach Harendra Singh.

In the final they r facing Malaysia, who drew with New Zealand.
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Golf News
At the Augusta Masters, Augusta, Georgia

Jeev Milkha Singh 71 75 +2

First-time ever Jeev missed cut at the Augusta Masters ... In second round he scored 3 over and missed cut by 1 stroke ... In second round Jeev struggled with putting, he had only 2 birdies and 5 bogeys.

Hockey News

And atlast some good news for Indian hockey, India will have a foreign coach for almost two years (until 2010 Commonwealth Games), extendable up to 2012 ... Former Spain coach Jose Brasa has been sent appointment letter from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, government of India ... He will be paid Euro 8500 per month.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) l (4) Bao Chunlai (CHN,12) 21-15 9-21 16-21

Kashyap lost match in 47 minutes ... Overall good performance by Kashyap in this Asia Championships ... But again our player lost after winning first game.

Tennis News
At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[QF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335) 63 61
[SF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs Samuel Groth (AUS,289)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt Matthias Bachinger (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER) 64 62
[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ Shane La Porte (USA) 26 62 10(8)
[QF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA) 63 64

[SF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA)
[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) vs Benedikt Dorsch (GER)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS)

Good to see our pairs reached in semis ... Qualifiers Som and Huey having terrific run upto semis, their they r facing big challenge of top-seeds ... Harsh and Oudsema scripted superb comeback victory in very close super tie-break to move into semis.

Golf News
At the Augusta Masters, Augusta, Georgia - First Round

1 Chad Campbell 65 -7
T14 Padraig Harrington 69 -3
T21 Tiger Woods 70 -2
T28 Jeev Milkha Singh 71 -1
T28 Vijay Singh 71 -1
T51 Sergio Garcia 73 +1
T75 Retief Goosen 75 +3
T75 Ernie Els 75 +3

Jeev ended first round on 1 under 6 strokes behind leader ... Sedate start considering his eagle on 13th but he scored bogey on the last hole.
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Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

9th April
India dw New Zealand 2-2

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (IND) 27' PC & 48' PC and Richard Petherick (NZL) 8', Joseph Barth Holomew (NZL) 63'

Pakistan bt Egypt 4-0

And again India failed to take advantage of lead ... This time also they tried to defend after taking lead and another late goal from opposition managed only draw ... Now both India and New Zealand need win with their respective opponents to move into the final.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R2] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS) 17-21 21-11 18-21

[R3] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21) 21-19 17-21 21-11

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (4) Bao Chunlai (CHN,12)

P. Kashyap scored upset win over 7th seed Nguyen to moved into Asia Championship quarters ... After losing second game Kashyap cameback strongly to won final game ... In quarters he is having big challenge of Chinese opponnet.

Diju and Jwala's loss against unseeded Malaysian pair is shocking result considering their good form in recent days.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

[R1] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Melinda Czink (HUN)/ Lilia Osterloh (USA) 60 36 10(5)

[QF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (4) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Nadia Petrova (RUS)

So Chia-Jung and Sania managed to pull match in super tie-break ... They started well but in second set they lost concentration ... good to see they came back strongly in super tie-break to fix their quarters against 4th seed pair.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[R2] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) l (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335) 67(5) 57
[R2] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Jose De Armas (VEN,269) 60 64

[QF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt Brian Battistone (USA)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt Alex Bogdanovic (GBR)/ Conor Niland (IRL) 61 62

[QF] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) vs Matthias Bachinger (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER)
[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ Shane La Porte (USA)
[QF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA)

Another close but unnecessary loss for Som ... As of now it looks that he is struggling with his game and need more matches to bring back his confidence back.

In doubles qualifiers Som and Huey scored very easy victory ... Now in next round they r meeting 3rd seed pair.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (15) Ji Hoon Hong (KOR,43) 21-14 7-21 21-19
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,51) l (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21) 21-16 15-21 16-21

[R3] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21)

Kashyap pulled upset win over local seeded player in tight third game ... His next opponent 7th seed, who managed comeback win against Anand Pawar.

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

8th April
India bt Malaysia 3-0

Goal Scored - Arjun Halappa (IND) 19' PC, Sandeep Singh (IND) 31' PC, Gurvinder Chandi (IND) 62'

New Zealand dw Egypt 1-1

6th April
New Zealand bt Pakistan 3-2
Malaysia bt Egypt 4-1

After tame draw in first match against Egypt, India needed to produce solid performance and they scored fluent victory against host Malaysia ... India utilised chances they recieved other hand Malaysia couldn't converted it ... Still after loss Malaysia is leading group standing with 6 pts, India and New Zealand r 2nd with 4 pts but India having better goal difference.
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Golf News
At the Augusta Masters,

At the Augusta Masters, Jeev is pairing with Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink ... They r second last group to start on first day ... This is really dream draw for Jeev, before this who was paired with Woods in the 2006 HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.

Jeev also got opportunity to had 9 holes practice round with legend Greg Norman ... He also chatted with another great Arnold Palmer about the game.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) l Kazuteru Kozai (JPN,84) 13-21 19-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt Kishor Rana (NEP,UNR) 21-7 21-7
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) bt (Q) Chanthan Mao (CAM,UNR) 21-5 21-3

[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,14) 21-14 14-21 12-21
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,39) l Pei Hsin Chiang (TPE,111) 13-21 11-21

[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (Q) Mikhail Zakharov (KAZ)/ Karina Suleyeva (KAZ) 21-6 21-6

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Chen Xu (CHN)/ Zhendong Guo (CHN) 18-21 19-21

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (15) Ji Hoon Hong (KOR,43)
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,51) vs (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21)

[R2] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS)

Another disastrous and inconsistent performance by Chetan to lose in the first round against lowly ranked Japanese.

Saina also failed to overcome defending champion Yanjiao Jiang's challenge in 40 mins match ... Saian started well winning first game but after that Jiang didn't give her any chance ... Aditi lost (mostly due to lack of match practice) but scoreline was shocking.

Diju and Jwala started with very easy victory against Kazak qualifiers.

Tennis News
At €450K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco (Red Clay)

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Lovro Zovko (CRO) l Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 67(4) 36

Was hoping better performance by this Indo-German pair.

Next week Rohan is playing with Aisam at $100K+H Johannesburg Challenger in South Africa ... Hopefully they will continue with their good run at challengers level.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[R1] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) bt Kyu Tae Im (KOR,255) 67(4) 62 62
[R1] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Nick Lindahl (AUS,297) 63 64

[R2] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335)
[R2] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs Jose De Armas (VEN,269)

Good comeback win by Som against similar style tricky Korean opponent ... In second round he is facing American wild card player Lester Cook, against him Som lost in their previous meeting at qualifier of Champaign Challenger in 2008.

Rajeev also started well with straight sets victory.
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Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009, (7th April 2009)

Group D

Mohun Bagan l Kuwait SC, Kuwait 0-1

Goal Scored - Samer J.A.S. Almartah (KSC) 61'

Mohun Bagan's disastrous performance in AFC Cup 2009 continued ... Yesterday they lost against Kuwaiti clup by single goal and after 3 matches they r still bottom of the group D.
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Group E
Al Muharraq, Bahrain dw Dempo SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Abdulla Adnan Saleh Salman Aldakeel (AlM) 90+' and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 77'

Dempo were unlucky to draw their match ... They were leading by a Ranty Martins's strike until last minute of the match ... But last few minutes rough game costed victory .. Still creditable performance to draw away match.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[Q1] Sayali Gokhale (IND,219) bt Munkhchimeg Mendjargal (MGL,UNR) 21-8 21-4
[Q1] P. C. Thulasi (IND,UNR) l Min Jie Pai (TPE,UNR) 9-21 22-20 7-21

[Q2] Sayali Gokhale (IND,219) l (1) Jingjing Zhu (CHN,57) 17-21 13-21

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Kazuteru Kozai (JPN,84)
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs Kishor Rana (NEP,UNR)
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) vs (Q) Chanthan Mao (CAM,UNR)

[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,14)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,39) vs Pei Hsin Chiang (TPE,111)

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Chen Xu (CHN)/ Zhendong Guo (CHN)

[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (Q) Mikhail Zakharov (KAZ)/ Karina Suleyeva (KAZ)

Again tough draw for Saina ... :-) This time she is facing WR #14 chinese opponent Yanjiao Jiang, who is defending champion of this tournament which she won last year ... Jiang is in good nick as she reached semis in All England Open and then she was finalist at Swiss Open Super Series ... Saina need to be careful in this match.

Aditi having easy first round match but she is playing just second tournament after long injury break so not sure about her match fitness ... Our men's having good draw, hopefully they will take advantage of it ... After top-seed's withdrawal from this tournament Chetan is highest seeded player in top-draw, good opportunity for him to improve his ranking.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

[R1] (7) Alona Bondarenko (UKR,37) l Sania Mirza (IND,100) 46 36

No firework from Sania and lost in straight sets against top-40 player ... Though match was on green clay still it gave indication that Sania still way long from her best performance.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[Q2] Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU)/ Karlis Lejnieks (LAT) 63 61

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 64 63
[R1] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Alex Bogdanovic (GBR)/ Conor Niland (IRL)

And as per my expectation Harsh and Oudsema scored straight sets victory against 2nd seed Ratiwatanas to move into quarters ... Som in company of his college mate Huey moved into maindraw with another easy victory in doubles final qualifying.

Archery News
At Archery World Cup (Stage 1), Santo Domingo (31st March to 5th April 2009)

Indian Recurve Men's team of Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar won gold medal in World Cup (Stage 1) at Santo Domingo ... Its creditable performance by archers though not any other Asian country participated in this event.

Indian Compound Women's team of Bheigyabati Chanu, Jhano Hansdah, Manjudha Soy won bronze medal.

In Recurve Women individual enent Dola Banerjee won bronze medal beating her compatriot Reena Kumari.

Recurve Men Team

For Gold medal -
India bt Great Britain 221 - 215

[SF] India bt USA 219 - 215
[QF] India bt Turkey 222 - 203
[R1] India bye

Compound Women Team

For Bronze medal -
India bt Venezuela 219 - 208

[SF] India l USA 220 - 225
[QF] India bt Colombia 207 - 200

Recurve Women Individual

For Bronze medal -
Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Reena Kumari (IND) 102 (T9) - 102 (T7)

[SF] Dola Banerjee (IND) l Alison Williamson (GBR) 95 - 101
[SF]Reena Kumari (IND) l Natalia Valeeva (ITA) 104 - 111

[QF] Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Laishram Bombayla Devi (IND) 106 (T9;9) - 106 (T9;10)
[QF] Reena Kumari (IND) bt Mariana Avitia (MEX) 103 - 100