Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

Boys Singles
[R2] Sudanwa Sitaram (IND,93) l (3) (WC) Bernard Tomic (AUS,157) 26 26

Very dominating win by Bernard Tomic in 42 minutes ... This type performance from Tomic was expected as his experience of playing regularly on mens curcuit and as I already mentioned that here also he reached final qualifying round in mens section at age of 17 yrs.
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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, USA

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scoville Jenkins (USA) vs (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA)

Harsh is back on tour after 3 weeks break and having tough first round match against 3rd seed pair with another new partner.
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At $50K Boston ITF Womens Tournament, MA, USA

[Q1] Shikha Uberoi (IND,487) bt Maureen Diaz (USA,677) 75 64
[Q2] Shikha Uberoi (IND,487) l (4) Katie Ruckert (USA,382) 16 16

Doubles
[R1] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Audra Cohen (USA) vs Brittany Augustine (USA)/ Jennifer Elie (USA)
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At $15K India F5 Futures, New Delhi

First Singles Round
(1) TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN) bt PRASHANTH Vijay Sunder (IND) 36 64 61
(WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) bt MALIK Vijayant (IND) 36 64 75
REDDY B Vikram (IND) bt UZAKOV Vaja (UZB) 63 76(7)
(6) GAJJAR Rohan (IND) bt (Q) SELVARAJ Ajai (IND) 61 61
(3) NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR) bt (Q) DESAI Bhishma (IND) 61 61
SINGH Ashutosh (IND) bt SINGH Navdeep (IND) 75 63
PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR Vignesh (IND) bt (WC) NARAYANASWAMY Srirambalaji (IND) 46 63 61
(7) VIRALI-MURUGESAN Ranjit (IND) bt (PR) MADKEKAR Aditya (IND) 62 63
(5) SHARAN Divij (IND) bt (Q) EROS Tal (ISR) 63 75
RAJA Purav (IND) bt (Q) KANNA, Kamala (IND) 62 62
(Q) VIJAYRAGAVAN Ashwin (IND) bt (Q) MURALI Mithun (IND) 64 63
(4) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND) bt KUMAR Ashwin (USA) 62 60
(8) ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (Q) KHAN Shahbaaz (IND) 62 63
(WC) MANUJA Ronak (IND) bt (WC) TIWARI Abhijeet (IND) 75 76(3)
(Q) KANNAN Vijay (IND) bt GIDE Rohan (IND) 63 63
(2) VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) bt BAINS Maniel (GBR) 63 62

Doubles First Round
(1) GAJJAR (IND)/ RAJA (IND) bt KUMAR (USA)/ ROY (IND) 63 36 10(8)
KIRRTANE (IND)/ MANUJA (IND) bt RAJU (IND)/ SELVARAJ (IND) 36 63 10(4)
(3) SHOKEEN (IND)/ SINGH (IND) bt GIDE (IND)/ MADKEKAR (IND) 36 63 10(7)
BAXENDINE (GBR)/ KANNAN (IND) bt EROS (ISR) /REDDY (IND) 64 75
MALIK (IND)/ SINGH (IND) bt KHAN (IND)/ PATWARDHAN (IND) 36 61 10(7)
(4) MURALI (IND)/ PRASHANTH (IND) bt JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ KAPOOR (IND) 61 62
NARAYANASWAMY (IND)/ PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) bt MARQUIS (IND)/ TIWARI (IND) 67(5) 62 10(8)
(2) SHARAN (IND)/ VARDHAN (IND) bt SOOD (IND)/ SOOD (IND) 76(5) 62

Its more like Indian open than international futures as 26 players from 32 draw were Indians.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R3] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 64 57 76(3) 60

MXD
[R3] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (13) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Sania Mirza (IND) 62 67(2) 63

Boys Singles
[R1] Sudanwa Sitaram (IND,93) bt Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY,50) 63 46 62
[R2] Sudanwa Sitaram (IND,93) vs (3) (WC) Bernard Tomic (AUS,157)

Excellent match between Mahesh/ Mark and Prakash/ Aisam ... Both pair gave their all to played excellent tennis ... Mahesh and Mark won first set with single break ... In second set Prakash and Aisam take crucial break in 12th game on Mark's serve to won it ... Third set went till wire but Mahesh and Mark used their experience to won tie-break easily ... During this time Aisam got injured, he take medical timeout for his injured back after third set ... But after that he wasn't same player on the court and Mahesh/ Mark take full advantage of it to won set and match without dropping single game in 4th set ... We will definetly going to see more of Prakash and Aisam partnership in future.

But Mahesh wasn't lucky with Sania in mixed doubles ... They had 3rd round match against top-seed Lee and Cara ... Lee and Cara won first set easily with two breaks ... In second set Mahesh and Sania managed to turn table on them in tie-break but again in third set Lee and Cara won this match with a single break.

Sudanwa broke his Egyptian opponent's serve in 7th and 9th games to won first set easily but Karim-Mohamed broke Sudanwa's serve in 9th game to won second set but Sudanwa also had couple of break points in 10th game ... But Sudanwa won match in 1 hour and 24 minutes breaking his opponent's serve twice in the third set ... Next he is meeting Australian Bernard Tomic, who is hot favorite for the Junior Wimbledon singles title.

Hockey News
At Women’s Champions Challenge II, Kazan, Russia

India became the first winner of the Women’s Champions Challenge II in hockey history ... The Indian team defeated Belgium (6-3) in Saturday’s exciting final in Kazan, Russia ... Indian team played excellent match in this entire Champions Challenge II, including their tough match against Ukrainean team ... The Indian women’s team were attacking and they never stop attacking which the Indian men’s team sometimes forget when leading ... Rani Rampal scored 4 goals in the final, she also won 2 awards in this tournament, top goal scorer and youngest player.

Final
India bt Belgium 6-3

Goal Scored - Rani RAMPAL (IND) 17', 38' PC, 44' & 54', Saba ANJUM (IND) 20', Chancahn THOKCHOM (IND) 49' and Valerie VERMEERSCH (BEL) 40' PC & 52' PC, Jil BOON (BEL) 55'

Individual Awards
Player of Tournament - Surinfer KAUR (IND)
Youngest Player - Rani RAMPAL (IND)
Top Goal Scorer - Rani RAMPAL (IND)

Semi-final
India bt Ukraine 2-1

Goal Scored - Rani RAMPAL (IND) 6', Saba ANJUM (IND) 23' and Nataliya VASYUKOVA (UKR) 44'

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R2] (15) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) l Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 26 36

MXD
[R2] (13) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Colin Fleming (GBR)/ Sarah Borwell(GBR) 76(4) 64
[R2] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Michal Mertinak (SVK)/ Mara Santangelo (ITA) walkover

[R3] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (13) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Sania Mirza (IND)

Boys Singles
[R1] Sudanwa Sitaram(IND) vs Karim-Mohamed Maamoun(EGY)

Boys Doubles
[R1] Mitchell Frank (USA)/ Sudanwa Sitaram (IND) vs (2) Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)

Sania's miserable run contined in Wimbledon as she lost with Chia-Jung in doubles second round ... They lost easily and that was surprising with their recent form on tour as a pair.

But Sania managed to win with Mahesh in mixed doubles against local pair ... Other hand top-seed pair of Lee and Cara recieved walkover in second round ... In third round they will face Sania and Mahesh for place in quarter-final.

Sudanwa Sitaram is our lone entry in junior section ... But he doesn't have a favorable draw, as in second round he can face hot favorite for junior title Australian Bernard Tomic ... In doubles also he is facing 2nd seed Taiwani pair with his American partner.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R2] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Philipp Marx (GER) 75 64 67(3) 67(3) 8-6

[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Philipp Petzschner (GER)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 63 75 67(5) 63

[R3] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Kash and Aisam take only break of the set in 12th game to won first set ... Kash and Aisam again won second set with a single break ... Kash and Aisam didn't face a single break point on their serve in first 2 sets ... First 2 sets they won in 1 hour and 16 minutes but from here on real fun begins as next 3 sets were going on for more than 3 hours ... Junaid and Marx staged superb fight back in the match after losing first 2 sets ... Junaid and Marx won next 2 sets in tie-break, in both sets this pair gave very solid performance to won tie-breaks dominantly ... 5th set played without tie-break, Prakash and Aisam lost their serve first-time in the match in 11th game of 5th set when Prakash lost his serve ... But then next game was crucial as they needed to win it to stay in Wimbledon and they delivered breaking opponent's serve ... In 14th game our pair was up 0-40 but Junaid and Marx saved 2 match points ... But our pair won 3rd match point to scripted another huge victory in 4 hours and 18 minutes ... Frankly pair of Prakash and Aisam r performaing well as per my expectation as both having game suited to the grass.

Mahesh and Mark take early break and kept that to win it ... In second set Mahesh and Mark r down 1-3 as Petzschner and Peya broke their serve in 4th game ... They had couple of break point chances in 7th game but couldn't convert it, then again they created break point chances in 9th game when they were down 3-5 and this time they broke Petzschner and Peya's serve to bring it back on serve .. Mahehs and Mark broke opponent's serve in 11th game to won second set ... Third set went to tie-break, which Petzschner and Peya won but Mahesh and Mark played solid tennis, with help of a single break they won 4th set and match in 2 hours & 41 minutes.

So these both pairs will face eachother in third round, this will be mouth watering clash for us.

Badminton News
At $120K Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold 2009, Johor Bharu

[QF] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l (Q) Xin Wang (CHN,UNR) 14-21 10-21

[QF] (1) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Hendra Aprida Gunawan (INA)/ Vita Marissa (INA) 21-8 14-21 16-21

Saina was struggled in previous 2 rounds to scored win against lowly ranked Thai players so somewhat this loss was expected one ... I think it mostly due to fatigue after winning Super Series tournament ... But still 27 minutes loss without much fight is surprising by Saina's current standard.

Our MXD top-seed pair also lost against unseeded Indonasian pair, their awful form continued ... So with that our challenge is over from Malaysia Open Grand Prix.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) l James Blake (USA)/ Mardy Fish (USA) 46 46 36
[R1] (15) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) bt Jill Craybas (USA)/ Carly Gullickson (USA) 64 62

MXD
[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bye
[R1] (13) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bye

[R2] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Michal Mertinak (SVK)/ Mara Santangelo (ITA)

Easy winning start for Sania and Chia-Jung against Americans ... They needed 1 hour in 18 minutes to finish this match.

But French Open champions Lee and Lukas lost in straight sets against American pair ... American pair was tricky as Mardy Fish is good doubles player and luv to play on grass, stillthis was very shocking result as last year Lee and Lukas reached semis at Wimbledon.

Mixed doubles draw is announced ... Both pair recieved first round bye as seeded pairs but both can face eachother in third round.

Badminton News
At $120K Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold 2009, Johor Bharu

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (6) Zhiben Chen (CHN)/ Ye Shen (CHN) 14-21 21-15 21-16
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Yin Loo Lim (MAS)/ Marylen Poau Leng Ng (MAS) 21-14 17-21 21-15

[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Ratchanok Inthanon (THA,135) 18-21 21-12 21-18

[R3] Ajay Jayaram (IND,75) l Yun Hu (HKG,67) 15-21 14-21
[R3] (9) Arvind Bhat (IND,27) l Long Chen (CHN,58) 5-21 11-21

[R2] (1) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Wee Tat Tan (MAS)/ Hui Ern Ng (MAS) 21-12 21-12
[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (1) Eei Hui Chin (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS) 25-23 16-21 12-21
[R2] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Teik Chai Gan (MAS)/ Bin Shen Tan (MAS) 13-21 23-21 19-21

[QF] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs (Q) Xin Wang (CHN,UNR)

[QF] (1) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Hendra Aprida Gunawan (INA)/ Vita Marissa (INA)

Saina had slow start and needed to use her experience against this below 125 ranked Thai player ... Other players in singles literally blown off by their respective opponents ... Very surprising win by Rupesh and Sanave against 6th seed Chainese pair in first round but they again failed to kept that momentum in next round ... Happy to see Jwala and Diju scored easy victory in mixed doubles as they r struggling with their form in last few tournaments ... Good performance here will lift their confidence before World Championship.

Tennis News
At $10K Malaysia F2 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) l (1) Luigi D'Agord (ITA,386) 16 57

Doubles
[SF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Ti Chen (TPE)/ Phillip King (USA) 63 57 (9)11

Vishnu couldn't produce previous round performance against top-seed in singles ... Also he lost in doubles with Divij in super tie-break.
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At $10K Thailand Futures, Bangkok

[QF] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,586) l (4) Ai YAMAMOTO (JPN,546) 57 46

Doubles
[SF] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND)/ Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) l Tomoko DOKEI (JPN)/ Mi YOO (KOR) 26 36

Indian challenge got over with Sanaa's loss in singles and Bhambris loss in doubles.

Hockey News
At Women’s Champions Challenge II, Kazan, Russia

Pool A
Belgium dw Canada 2:2
India bt Belarus 5-1

Goal Scored - Surinfer KAUR (IND) 3' & 62' PC, Mamta KHARB (IND) 16' PC, Saba ANJUM (IND) 18' & 24' and Nastassia SHCHARBOKOVA (BLR) 25'

As expected Indian women defeated Belarusian women to top the group ... Now on Friday they will face Ukrainean side in semis.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,78) l (28) Sorana Cirstea (ROU,27) 46 46

Doubles
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) 67(4) 64 75 75
[R1] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (16) Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR) 64 67(12) 64 36 63
[R1] Rajeev Ram(USA)/ Lovro Zovko(CRO) l (11) Marcelo Melo(BRA)/ Andre Sa(BRA) 46 67(4) 36

Yesterday Prakash and Aisam lost chance of finished first round match ... But today they came out with determination ... They were holding their service games authoratively and managed to put pressure on Huss and Hutchins's service game ... Most important and only break of 5th set came in 8th game and then Prakash and Aisam hold their service game easily to pulled off terrific win over seeded pair ... This was Prakash's first win in grandslam, although its in doubles.

Mark and Mahesh were up with early break Som and Kevin broke opponent's serve in 7th game to bring back match on serve ... In tie break again Mark and Mahesh was up with early mini-break but Som and Kevin won consecutive 4 points to won tie-break 7-4 .. Great stuff by them against such experienced pair.

In second set Mahesh and Mark broke Som and Kevin'e serve in 5th game, also saved break point chances on their serve to won second set with that single break.

In third set Mahesh and Mark broken Som and Kevin's serve in 11th game to won it.

In fourth set Som and Kevin were up with early break, in 7th game Mahesh and Mark created opportunities to break Som and Kevin' serve and managed to break ... In 10th game Mahesh and Mark saved 1 set point on their serve and then Mahesh and Mark take crucial break in 11th game and served to win this match in almost 3 and half hours.

Fighting performance by qualifiers, Mahesh and Mark won this match on their experience of winning crucial points, total points won difference was only 11 points in favor of Mahesh and Mark, 159-148.

In first set Sania played terrible 5th game on his serve and Sorana take advantage to break Sania's serve ... With this single break Sorana won first set in 40 minutes.

Second set started with Sorana breaking Sania's serve in first game but Sania immediately broke Sorana's serve in next game ... Then again broke Sorana's serve in 4th game to lead 3-1 but again lost serve due to erratic play to back on serve ... Sorana take crucial break in 9th game and hold her serve to win match in 1 hour and 22 minutes.

Sania had chances in this match but she lost due to her erratic game and committed numerous unforced errors ... Poor game by Sania.
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At $10K Malaysia F2 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) bt (7) Jae-Sung An (KOR,510) 57 64 64
[R2] (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) l (PR) Phillip King (USA,UNR) 46 36

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) vs (1) Luigi D'Agord (ITA,386)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) l Arnau Brugues-Davi (ESP)/ Luigi D'Agord (ITA) W/O
[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) 76(1) 36 10(5)

[SF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Phillip King (USA)

Vishnu scored very fighting comeback win against top-500 type Korean player ... Good win but next he is facing top-seed Italian ... Go vishnu.
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At $10K Thailand Futures, Bangkok

[R2] (8) Parija MALOO (IND,626) l Sarah-Rebecca SEKULIC (GER,718) 26 06
[R2] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,586) bt Yumi MIYAZAKI (JPN,762) 64 62
[R2] (2) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND,573) l Tomoko DOKEI (JPN,713) 26 46

[QF] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,586) vs (4) Ai YAMAMOTO (JPN,546)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND)/ Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Chun-Yan HE (CHN) 57 64 10(8)
[QF] Parija MALOO (IND)/ Tomoko TAIRA (JPN) l (3) Nungnadda WANNASUK (THA)/ Ai YAMAMOTO (JPN) 57 16

[SF] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND)/ Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) vs Tomoko DOKEI (JPN)/ Mi YOO (KOR)

Only Sanaa managed to win against her Japanese opponent otherwise usual disappointing stuff from our womens players.
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At $15K Ireland F2 Futures, Dublin

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) l Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA) 67(5) 26

Badminton News
At $120K Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold 2009, Johor Bharu

[R1] (3) Chetan Anand (IND,15) l Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainudin (MAS,276) 16-21 21-18 17-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,75) bt Chong Chieh Lok (MAS,170) 21-16 21-8
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,44) l Wei Feng Chong (MAS,48) 14-21 21-11 15-21
[R1] (16) Anup Sridhar (IND,36) l Koichi Saeki (JPN,56) 21-17 11-21 17-21
[R1] (12) Kashyap Parupalli (IND,32) bt Kazuteru Kozai (JPN,68) 21-13 14-21 21-11
[R1] (9) Arvind Bhat (IND,27) bt Sune Gavnholt (DEN,91) 21-16 16-21 21-16

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,36) l Mingtian Fu (SIN,52) 11-21 4-11 Retd
[R1] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,39) 21-18 22-20

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (6) Zhiben Chen (CHN)/ Ye Shen (CHN)
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Yin Loo Lim (MAS)/ Marylen Poau Leng Ng (MAS)
[R1] (1) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS) 12-21 21-19 21-13

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,75) bt Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainudin (MAS,276) 21-13 24-22
[R2] (12) Kashyap Parupalli (IND,32) l Chun Seang Tan (MAS,79) 20-22 11-21
[R2] (9) Arvind Bhat (IND,27) bt Yong Zhao Ashton Chen (SIN,249) 21-18 17-21 21-15

[R2] (1) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Wee Tat Tan (MAS)/ Hui Ern Ng (MAS)

[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Ratchanok Inthanon (THA,135)

Mixed day for Indian shuttlers ... Shocking result for Chetan, who lost against lowly ranked Malaysian ... Anand Pawar comeback strongly after losing first game but in decider Chong take early lead and kept that pressure until the end ... After his excellent performance in Singapore Open Anup didn't able to repeat same in next 2 weeks.

Ajay Jayaram scored easy victory against Malaysian, otherhand Kashyap and Arvind needed 3 games to beat their opponents.

Top-seed pair of Diju and Jwala needed to dig deep to produce comeback wina gainst local pair ... In next round also they r facing another local pair.

Chetan's loss was more shocking as in second round Ajay Jayaram defeated Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainudin in straight games ... But Kashyap lost against local player in straight games ... Arvind also needed 53 minutes and tight 3 games to beat top-250 player ... Don't know if our players r playing very casually in this tournament.

Saina was also down in both games and needed damage control to score striaght games victory over her Thai opponent ... She is facing another Thai opponent in second round.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,160) l Philipp Petzschner (GER,55) 62 16 67(3) 16

Doubles
[R1] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (16) Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR) 64 67(12) 64 36

Prakash and Aisam playing their match of life at Wimbledon ... They were in position to win this match in straight sets but lost crucial points to lose second set in tie-break ... Then after winning third set they lost fourth one ... So now match is in the fifth set which will be played today after suspended due to bad light in yesterday evening.
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At $15K Ireland F2 Futures, Dublin

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,914) l (WC) James Cluskey (IRL,1743) 16 06

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) bt Timothy Bradshaw (GBR)/ Henri Landes (USA) 63 63

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) vs Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA)

Very hurting loss for Purav in singles ... After winning doubles first round, Purav facing French pair, last week he lost against them in semis playing with Australian partner.
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At $10K Malaysia F2 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) bt (Q) Di Wu (CHN,879) 76(5) 63
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,699) l (7) Jae-Sung An (KOR,510) 57 26
[R1] Rohan Gajjar (IND,725) l (3) Daniel King-Turner (NZL,433) 26 64 06
[R1] (PR) Vivek Shokeen (IND,1114) l (PR) Phillip King (USA,UNR) 46 36
[R1] (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) bt (5) Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,468) 64 46 63
[R1] (Q) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1514) l (6) Cecil Mamiit (PHI,470) 76(5) 16 26
[R1] (LL) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1526) l Young-Jun Kim (KOR,553) 16 16

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) vs (7) Jae-Sung An (KOR,510)
[R2] (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) vs (PR) Phillip King (USA,UNR)

Ranjeet scored upset win over top-500 player but only Vishnu moved to second round with him.
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At $10K Thailand Futures, Bangkok

[R1] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,393) l (Q) Mi YOO (KOR,908) 06 26
[R1] (8) Parija MALOO (IND,626) bt Chun-Yan HE (CHN,644) 75 26 60
[R1] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,586) bt Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,766) 20 retd.
[R1] Parul GOSWAMI (IND,788) l (Q) Katherine WESTBURY (NZL,1070) 16 36
[R1] (2) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND,573) bt Daniela SCIVETTI (AUS,769) 75 46 64
[R1] (LL) Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND,1054) l Sung-Hee HAN (KOR,690) 26 57

[R2] (8) Parija MALOO (IND,626) vs Sarah-Rebecca SEKULIC (GER,718)
[R2] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,586) vs Yumi MIYAZAKI (JPN,762)
[R2] (2) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND,573) vs Tomoko DOKEI (JPN,713)

Another shocking defeat for Ankita ... Our women side performance is getting more and more disappointing.

Hockey News
At Women’s Champions Challenge II 2009, Kazan, Russia

The first ever FIH Women’s Champions Challenge II tournament is playing in Russia ... 8 teams r participating; India (14th), Ireland (15th), Ukraine (18th), Canada (19th), Belgium (20th), Russia (23rd) Malaysia (24th) and Belarus (26th). Indian team is in Pool A with Belarus, Belgium and Canada ... The winner of this year’s event securing a place in the 2011 Champions Challenge I.

In first match Indian women were under pressure as Belgium team was leading 3-1 after half-time ... But our women managed to score 4 goals to make it winning start ... In second match also they started slowly, they were up 2-1 at half time but scored 6 goals in last 16 minutes to secured place in semis ... On Wednesday they will play their last Pool match against Belarus.

Pool A
India bt Belgium 5-3

Goal Scored - Rani RAMPAL (IND) 26', Saba ANJUM (IND) 41', Surinder KAUR (IND) 43' PS & 61' PS, Deepika THAKUR (IND) 56' and Charlotte de VOS (BEL) 4', Sophie GIERST (BEL) 7' PC, Valerie VERMEERSCH (BEL) 33' PC

Belarus bt Canada 3-1
Belgium bt Belarus 8-1

India bt Canada 8-1

Goal Scored - Deepika THAKUR (IND) 6' Surinder KAUR (IND) 29' PC, Ritu RANI (IND) 54' PC, 63' & 70' PC, Rani RAMPAL (IND) 57' & 61' PS, Mamta KHARB (IND) 67' and Jessalyn WALKEY (CAN) 10'

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,78) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER,51) 62 26 62

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,78) vs (28) Sorana Cirstea (ROU,27)

Sania started strongly breaking Anna-Lena's serve in first and third games to take 3-0 lead ... She won first set 6-2 with 2 breaks ... In second set Anna-Lena saved a break point in first game and then broke Sania's serve in second game ... Sania again had chance of breaking Anna-Lena's serve in third game but against she couldn't managed to convert it ... Anna-Lena again broke Sania's serve into 8th game to won second set 6-2 ... In third set, Sania made much needed strong start breaking Anna-Lena's serve in first game and then hold her serve easily to take 2-0 lead ... With another break Sania take control of the set and take 4-1 lead ... In 8th game Anna-Lena had break point but Sania saved that and converted second match point to score winning start in Wimbledon 2009 ... Sania had 27 UFEs, 1 less than her opponent ... And this 1 hour 51 minutes match Sania had 36 winners including her service winners and Anna-Lena managed only 23.

Next Sania is facing 19 yrs old Romanian #27 Sorana Cirstea, who last year also reached 2nd round of Wimbledon ... She had exceptional results at French open, where she had couple of top-10 wins ... She defeated players like #21 Alize Cornet, #10 Caroline Wozniacki, #5 Jelena Jankovic before losing to Samantha Stosur in quarters.

But until now nothing great on grass for her so Sania having good chance against Cirstea.

Motorsport News
At 2009 GP2 Series, Silverstone, Great Britain
In 2009 GP2 Series, Karun Chandhok is participating with new team Ocean Racing Technology ... Karun failed to complete in both races at Spain in first race ... But in second race at Monaco, Karun opened his team's account with 7th position in first race ... At Turkey he managed to finish both races but couldn't able to score point.

But Karun had different plan for 4th race at Silverstone ... In qualifying he finished on 12th position ... In first race with excellent driving he finished on 6th position ... But in second race he drove exceptional to grab podium finish (Ocean Racing's first podium) ... Which pushed Karun to 11th position in driver's standing with 9 points.

Here is interview after podium finish with GP2 Series journalist at Silverstone
GP2 Series: Karun, congratulations on your first podium for the year, and obviously Ocean Racing's first podium of the year...

Karun Chandhok: Their first podium ever! [laughs] It was a reasonable race: in the first part we had the same pace as the first two guys, and then I started to struggle for traction from the middle of the race. I was doing similar lap times to Zuber, even in the middle part, but then we saw it drop away towards the end, just struggling in the second and third sector: the first sector was still quicker all through the race, but we were just struggling in the traction zones. But we got the points in the end, and it wasn't the most exciting race: I think the most exciting part was me running around, trying to find the toilet at the start! I found toilet number four eventually was open! [laughs] That's been the most exciting part of the day! The main thing is this is a great result for the team: they've worked so hard this year and been bloody unlucky, as everybody knows, so it's nice that they've got a nice shiny pot to take back to Portugal with them this weekend.

GP2 Series: It was one of those races where everyone has the pace but the grid just stretches across the race...

Karun: Yeah, it's one of those nothing races! [laughs] I think Silverstone is a bit like that: the first half of the lap means that the guys following destroy their tyres while following, and therefore they can't overtake. That's just the way it is around here: I had the same problem here yesterday with Grosjean, I just destroyed the front tyres and that was it.

GP2 Series: As you say, a nice shiny pot for the team, and their first one: how much of a lift will this give them?

Karun: Yeah, it's great for them: I think they're all really motivated, especially after Monaco because they felt, and rightly so, that they all deserved something from there, so I'm glad that they finally got something. We're pushing like hell, and the main thing is we've earnt respect and credibility now as a new team: I think everybody up and down this pitlane thinks we're a genuine, front running team now. We're quick in practice, we should have been P3 and P4 in qualifying if not for the traffic, we're a genuine, front-running team, and hopefully now our fortunes have changed in terms of luck and we can keep pushing from here.

Tennis News
At $15K Ireland F2 Futures, Dublin

[Q1] (1) Purav Raja (IND,914) bye
[Q2] (1) Purav Raja (IND,914) bt Henri Landes (USA,UNR) 61 61

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,914) vs (WC) James Cluskey (IRL,1743)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) vs Timothy Bradshaw (GBR)/ Henri Landes (USA)

Purav easily qualified for maindraw singles and having good partner in South African Raven Klaasen in doubles.
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At $10K Malaysia F2 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[Q1] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) bt Logan Mackenzie (NZL,UNR) 67(4) 76(3) 61
[Q1] (10) Vijayant Malik (IND,1040) l Chris Letcher (AUS,1422) 16 67(4)
[Q1] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1514) bt Ji Shi (CHN,1494) 75 63
[Q1] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1526) bt Nikunj Siwach (IND,1535) 61 62
[Q1] Lakshit Sood (IND,UNR) bt (WC) Mohamed Nazim Khan (MAS,UNR) 62 63
[Q1] Palash Tiwari (IND,UNR) l (11) Sun-Yong Kim (KOR,1045) 16 36
[Q1] (15) Navdeep Singh (IND,1257) bt Joshua Jordan (MAS,UNR) 60 63
[Q1] Pulkit Mishra (IND,UNR) bt Christian Prendiville (AUS,UNR) 64 26 63
[Q1] Chandril Sood (IND,UNR) bt Wan Gao (CHN,UNR) 75 75

[Q2] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) bt Chun-Ming Yam (HKG,UNR) 61 60
[Q2] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1514) bt Chris Letcher (AUS,1426) 36 76(5) 63
[Q2] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1526) bt Chang-Hoon Lee (KOR,1605) 61 61
[Q2] Lakshit Sood (IND,UNR) l (5) Jamie Baker (GBR,847) 16 26
[Q2] (15) Navdeep Singh (IND,1257) bt Jonathan Wong (USA,UNR) 63 61
[Q2] Pulkit Mishra (IND,UNR) l (WC) Kevin Kung (HKG,UNR) 36 16
[Q2] Chandril Sood (IND,UNR) l Ruben Gonzales (USA,1494) 26 26

[Q3] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) bt (13) Matheson Klein (AUS,1213) 75 63
[Q3] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1514) bt Finn Tearmey (NZL,1508) 62 26 75
[Q3] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1526) l (4) Dane Propoggia (AUS,845) 67(3) 46
[Q3] (15) Navdeep Singh (IND,1254) l (6) David Rice (GBR,877) 36 36

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,598) vs (Q) Soong-Jae Cho (KOR,997)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,699) vs (Q) Di Wu (CHN,879)
[R1] Rohan Gajjar (IND,725) vs (3) Daniel King-Turner (NZL,433)
[R1] (PR) Vivek Shokeen (IND,1114) vs (PR) Phillip King (USA,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,772) vs (5) Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,468)
[R1] (Q) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1514) vs (6) Cecil Mamiit (PHI,470)
[R1] (LL) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1526) vs Young-Jun Kim (KOR,553)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) bt (WC) Adam Jaya (MAS)/ Yew-Ming Si (MAS) 63 26 12(10)
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ David Rice (GBR) l (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN) 46 46
Ti Chen (TPE)/ Phillip King (USA)
[R1] Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt (WC) Prasad Selvarajoo (MAS)/ Ashaari Zainal (MAS) 61 60
[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Soong-Jae Cho (KOR)/ Sun-Yong Kim (KOR) 61 63

[QF] (1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) vs Arnau Brugues-Davi (ESP)/ Luigi D'Agord (ITA)
[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND)

Srirambalaji and Ranjeet managed to qualify for maindraw and Abhijeet recieved lucky loser entry.
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At $10K Thailand Futures, Bangkok

[Q1] (WC) Varunya WONGTEANCHAI (THA) bt (1) Shivika BURMAN (IND) 61 62
[Q1] Tanaporn THONGSING (THA) bt Deepna VAZIRANI (IND) 61 63
[Q1] (WC) Jaruwadee KAEWMA (THA) bt Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) 61 62
[Q1] (5) Sophie LETCHER (AUS) bt Harshini REDDY (IND) 64 60
[Q1] (7) Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) bt Gornganok TIRAGANOK (THA) 63 62

[Q2] Kobkanok UPAPONG (THA) bt (7) Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) 62 46 75

[R1] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) vs (Q) Mi YOO (KOR)
[R1] (8) Parija MALOO (IND) vs Chun-Yan HE (CHN)
[R1] (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) vs Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND)
[R1] Parul GOSWAMI (IND) vs (Q) Katherine WESTBURY (NZL)
[R1] (2) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) vs Daniela SCIVETTI (AUS)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND)/ Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND)/ Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 62 60
[R1] Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Chun-Yan HE (CHN) bt Chloe JONES (USA)/ Sophie LETCHER (AUS) 62 62
[R1] Parija MALOO (IND)/ Tomoko TAIRA (JPN) bt Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND)/ Shivika BURMAN (IND) 64 64

[QF] (1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND)/ Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) vs Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Chun-Yan HE (CHN)
[QF] Parija MALOO (IND)/ Tomoko TAIRA (JPN) vs (3) Nungnadda WANNASUK (THA)/ Ai YAMAMOTO (JPN)

This week also our all players failed to reach maindraw who entered into qualifying ... This week in maindraw Rushmi joined Bhambris, Parija, Parul and Kumari-Sweta.

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[F] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt (3) Lin Wang (CHN,3) 12-21 21-19 21-9

Congratulation to Saina for becoming first Indian to won Super Series tournament!!!

Saina won first point of the final but after that Lin Wang dominated proceeding and didn't give much chance to Saina in the first game ... Lin Wang won first game under 12 minutes ... In second game Wang take early couple of points lead but Saina equaled at 5-all and take 9-7 lead, which increased to 11-8 ... Wang won next 3 points to make it 11-all ... Again Saina take 15-12 lead but again Wang made it to 16-all ... Saina taken lead 20-17 and converted second game point to won game in 19 minutes ... Third game also started same way like previous 2 games as Wang taking early lead ... Wang take 4-1 lead but Saina made it 5-all again Wang take 7-5 lead ... But from here Saina shifted gear and taken control of the game ... She won next 7 points to take 12-7 lead ... Then lost only 2 points to scored greatest win for Indian badminton in 49 minutes ... Indonasian coach coach Atik Jauhari helped Saina in making strategy before these matches.

What a huge victory for Saina ... With this Super Series title win she will definietly enter into top-5 world ranking when next ranking will get update.

Saina Nehwal - "I just can’t believe it, I know it’s always a top fight to play against a top 10 player but I was really confident before the match. I have to thank the audience for their incredible support. The last four of five points were played in so much noise. This win is great for me not only because it’s my first Super Series title – and this, just a few weeks away for the World Championships in my hometown – but also because I had a very tough draw, having to beat such good players as Petya Nedeltcheva, Juliane Schenk, Hwang Hye Youn, Lu Lan and today Wang Lin. To be honest, I was scared before the game to play in front of such a big crowd so I started a bit nervously, not being able to concentrate properly."

"Now, my victory is one more proof that non-Chinese players – like Tine Rasmussen and I - can win big titles and I think it’s good for the game. I also think India could become a great badminton nation but conditions are difficult in my country due to parent’s emphasizing the importance of studies over sports."

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[SF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt (7) Lan Lu (CHN,9) 25-23 21-19

[F] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs (3) Lin Wang (CHN,3)

Saina scored straight games victory over Lan Lu in 39 minutes to moved into her first final of Super Series ... Saina take early lead but Lan Lu caught with her at 11-all then again after 17-all Saina take 2 points lead ... She had 2 game points at 20-18 but Lan Lu take game into extra points ... Saina saved 1 game point but converted 5th game point to won first game ... In second game Lan Lu started well and taking 6-0 lead, Saina fought back and made it 7-8 but again Lan Lu increased lead to 13-9 ... Then Saina won next 6 points to lead first-time in second game ... She was leading 18-15 then 19-17 but Lan Lu again made it 19-all ... This time Saina won next two points to finished match before extra points.

In the final Saina facing WR # 3 Lin Wang ... Interesting to note that this match is between World Junior champions, Saina is 2008 World Junior Champion and Lin Wang was 2007 World Junior Champion ... This also give chance to Saina to take revenge of last week's Singapore Super Series loss against same opponent.

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Hye Youn Hwang (KOR,15) 21-7 13-21 21-15

[SF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs (7) Lan Lu (CHN,9)

Very strong start by Saina ... After 3-all in first game she dominated her Korean opponent to won first game in mere 10 minutes ... But in second game Korean take control of the game from 7-all and won it in 15 minutes to make it 1 game all ... In decider Korean player take early, she was up 8-5 ... But Saina produced good fight back winning next 5 points to lead first-time in this game ... And kept 2/3 points crucial advantage ... ... She finished match in 45 minutes and move into another Super Series semi-final.

This win will definitely help Saina to push her ranking further up, this week's ranking she is 1 place down to #8.

Next Saina is facing Chinese opponent WR #9 Lan Lu, who upset fellow countrywoman WR #4 Yihan Wang in very close third game.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,78) vs Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER,51)
[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,160) vs Philipp Petzschner (GER,55)

Doubles
[R1] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (16) Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR)
[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs James Blake (USA)/ Mardy Fish (USA)
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA)
[R1] Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Lovro Zovko (CRO) vs (11) Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Andre Sa (BRA)
[R1] (15) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) vs Jill Craybas (USA)/ Carly Gullickson (USA)

Qualifier Som and Kevin r facing 4th seed pair of Mahesh and Mark, who r in top draw with top-seed Bryans ... Another qualifier Prkash and Aisam also having tough first round against 16th seed Huss and Hutchins ... Lee and Lukas r in bottom draw with 2nd seeds Zimo and Nestor ... In first round they r facing American pair of Fish and Blake.

Sania is facing German Anna-Lena Groenefeld in womens singles first round ... Before this these 2 met 2 times and both time Sania won in their previous meetings on clay as well as on hard court, but that was way back in 2004 and 2005 ... Still I would say here Sania having upperhand after her good performance in Wimbledon tuneup tournament.

Sania and Chia-Jung r in bottom draw ... Can face 2nd seed Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in third round.

Rohan is not playing at Wimbledon so his injury looks serious ... Crucial grass season wasted for him due to injury, hard luck.

Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship, Pune, India - July 31 to August 9, 2009

The Drawing of Lots for the 2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship was held today in India ... Indian team found relatively easier draw but Pool D is toughest where defending champion Brazil and runner-up Russia in same group with dangerous Polish team.

Pool A: #7 United States, #8 Tunisia, #10 India, #39 Belarus
Pool B: #1 Iran, #6 China, #9 Egypt, #21 Belgium
Pool C: #2 Argentina, #5 France, #13 Cuba, #65 Greece
Pool D: #3 Brazil, #4 Russia, #12 Poland, #27 Canada

Match schedule for the preliminary round -
July 31, 2009
Pool A: Tunisia vs. India, USA vs. Belarus
Pool B: Iran vs. Belgium, China vs. Egypt
Pool C: Greece vs. France, Cuba vs. Argentina
Pool D: Russia vs. Brazil, Poland vs. Canada

August 1, 2009
Pool A: India vs. Belarus, Tunisia vs. USA
Pool B: Belgium vs. Egypt, Iran vs. China
Pool C: France vs. Argentina, Greece vs. Cuba
Pool D: Brazil vs. Canada, Russia vs. Poland

August 2, 2009
Pool A: USA vs. India, Belarus vs. Tunisia
Pool B: China vs. Belgium, Egypt vs. Iran
Pool C: Cuba vs. France, Argentina vs. Greece
Pool D: Poland vs. Brazil, Canada vs. Russia

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[Q3] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) l Michael Yani (USA,253) 63 57 36 46
[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) bt Andrea Stoppini (ITA,177) 64 62 64

Doubles
[Q2] (7) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (4) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 76(5) 64

Prakash started well winning first set easily but from second set Yani started playing (may be) well or Prkash game was down ... Prakash had his chances but he didn't take it ... Yani broke his serve in 12th game to won second set ... Third set also he won with one break of serve ... In 4th set Yani broke Prakash's serve in the first game then Prkash had opportunities of breaking Yani's serve but he couldn't take it ... Prakash got important break in 8th game to make it 4-all ... But Yani wasn't in mood of losing this biggest opportunity of his career ... He broke back in 9th game and hold his serve to scored huge victory over Prakash.

For me this was big opportunity lost for Prakash as he had very favorable draw ... And he was playing on his most likable surface ... Yani was a challenger level player so Prakash should win this match ... Again for me this was disappointing performance from Kash.

But in doubles he qualified for maindraw with Aisam beating Ratiwatana brothers ... This win was expected as these both players loved to play on grass so Ratiwatanas had difficult match.

Rajeev kept his composure and scored easy victory to moved into singles maindraw.
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At $15K Ireland F1 Futures, Dublin

[SF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) l Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA) 46 46

French pair beat top-seed pair.

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) l Maria Febe Kusumastuti (INA,48) 8-21 5-21
[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Juliane Schenk (GER,17) 18-21 21-7 21-19

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (1) Eei Hui Chin (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS) 9-21 21-19 15-21

Schenk surprisingly gave much tougher fight to Saina than expected ... In first game Saina was up 15-12 but Schenk equaled at 18-all and won next 3 points to won this game ... Saina came back strongly winning second game easily but again they had see-saw battle in third game ... Schenk take early and was leading 14-10 but Saina equaled it at 14-all ... Then she take 20-17 lead, Schenk saved 2 match points but Saina converted 3rd match point to win this match in 46 minutes .. In quarters she is facing Korean #15 Hye Youn Hwang, who scored upset win over WR #5 Chen Wang.

Aditi couldn't produce any fight against Indonesian player and lost in just 23 minutes.

In doubles Jwala and Ashwini produced creditable performance against #1 team.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt Alessandro Motti (ITA )/ Joseph Sirianni (AUS) 76(0) 67(1) 8-6

[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) bt Sam Warburg (USA,218) 63 62

[Q3] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) vs Michael Yani (USA,253)
[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) vs Andrea Stoppini (ITA,177)

[Q1] (7) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Frank Moser (GER) 75 57 61

[Q2] (7) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (4) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Som and Kevin did unthinkable, they qualified for Big W doubles maindraw !!!

They scored very hard fought win in final qualifying round to qualify for Wimbledon ... Match was very close as first 2 sets went to tie-breaks and as decider didn't have tie-break, Som and Kevin broke opponent's serve on 14th game to captured their place in doubles maindraw ... This is Som's first grand slam maindraw, hopefully from henceforth we will see him in singles maindraw also.

Prakash and Aisam completed their first qualifying round win winning 3 games ... They will face Thai Ratiwatana brothers in final qualifying round ... They r also having good chance of qualify for doubles maindraw.

Rajeev also joined Prakash in singles final qualifying match ... So today Prakash and Rajeev will try to qualify for Singles maindraw in best-of-5 sets match.
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At $600K Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[QF] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l Travis Parrott (USA)/ Filip Polasek (SVK) 67(5) 46

Mahesh and Mark also faced early exit from this Wimbledon tuneup tournament ... So our both pairs doesn't have best preparation for Wimbledon as Lee played only 1 match on grass and Mahesh played 2 matches.
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At $15K Ireland F1 Futures, Dublin

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt Oliver Evans (GBR)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) 64 64

[SF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA)

Another straight sets victory for Purav and his partner.
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At $10K Malaysia F1 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[R2] Rohan Gajjar (IND,727) l Hsin-Han Lee (TPE,575) 64 57 36

Doubles
[QF] (ALT) Navdeep Singh (IND)/ Xin-Yuan Yu (CHN) l (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN) 46 75 (7)10
[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ David Rice (GBR) l Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA)/ Di Wu (CHN) 16 46

Rohan lost after winning first set ... Navdeep also gave good fighting performance against seeded Chinese pair with his Chinese partner.

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) l Yu Hsing Hsieh (TPE,14) 20-22 12-21
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,46) l (4) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,4) 15-21 21-13 18-21
[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,12) l (7) Joachim Persson (DEN,7) 19-21 16-21
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,32) l (2) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,2) 18-21 12-21
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) bt Nicole Grether (GER,52) 21-19 19-21 21-7
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Petya Nedelcheva (BUL,12) 21-18 21-12

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Mona Santoso (USA)/ Cynthia Tuwankotta (USA) 21-19 21-23 21-16
[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (Q) Howard Bach (MAS)/ Tony Gunawan (MAS) 15-21 19-21
[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Kien Keat Koo (MAS)/ Hui Lin Ng (MAS) 21-13 16-21 19-21

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) vs Maria Febe Kusumastuti (INA,48)
[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs Juliane Schenk (GER,17)
[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (1) Eei Hui Chin (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS)

Good to see that Aditi take advantage of weak opponent to score her first victory in Super Series tournament ... Saina also gave strong performance against top-15 player to won in 2 games.

Ananad Pawar gave excellent fighting performance against Indonasian WR #4 Sony Dwi Kuncoro ... After losing first game he cameback strongly to won second game .. In third game also he was in control until 17-13 but then Sony used his experience to won match in 53 minutes ... Arvind Bhat had a chance against Hsieh ... In first game he was in control from the start but Hsieh produced comeback in the match from down 19-12 to won this game ... Then Hsieh didn't give much chance in second game to win match in 30 minutes ... Again same old story as Chetan take early lead in first game and maintained lead until 17-14 but after that Persson pocketed first game winning crucial points and take second game controlling from the start ... He defeated Chetan in 28 minutes.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[Q1] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) bt (18) Lamine Ouahab (ALG,138) 64 76(0)

[Q2] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) bt (WC) Daniel Cox (GBR,627) 63 63
[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) vs Sam Warburg (USA,218)

[Q3] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) vs Michael Yani (USA,253)

Doubles
[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt (8) Sergei Bubka (UKR)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 62 26 64
[Q1] (7) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Frank Moser (GER) 75 57 3-1

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Alessandro Motti (ITA )/ Joseph Sirianni (AUS)

Prakash is one win away to complete his dream of playing in Wimbledon maindraw ... Yesterday he scored another easy victory over British wildcarder ... Now in final qualifying he is facing 250 ranked American, Kash having big opportunity of qualifying for maindraw.

Rajeev also started well scoring win over seeded opponent ... In next round he is facing fellow American.

In qualifying doubles Som and Kevin started with small upset over 8th seed Ukranian pair, now in final qualifying round they will face Australian Guccione and Italian Motti ... 2nd seed Kash and Aisam having tough time in their first round qualifying match, they were break up in decider when match was stopped due to bad light.
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At $600K Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) l Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 16 67(3)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) l (4) Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Rennae Stubbs (AUS) 57 46

Very surprising first round loss for Lee and Lukas against Polish pair ... In first set they lost service twice to lose set easily ... In second set they fought but Polish pair dominantly won tie-break.

Sania and Chia-Jung had tough match against Australian pair ... They played close match but couldn't converted into win.
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At $15K Ireland F1 Futures, Dublin

[R1] Purav Raja (IND,916) l (7) Milan Pokrajac (CAN,689) 46 46

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt Niall Angus (GBR)/ Ben Pritchard (GBR) 62 63
[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs Oliver Evans (GBR)/ Sean Thornley (GBR)
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At $10K Thailand Futures, Pattaya

[Q1] (2) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) bt Harshini REDDY (IND) 64 62
[Q1] Ting-Fei JUAN (TPE) bt (3) Shivika BURMAN (IND) 61 62
[Q1] (10) Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) bt Sindhu Nila PARTHEEPAN (IND) 63 60

[Q2] Prang PANTUSART (THA) bt (2) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 63 75
[Q2] (6) Sophie LETCHER (AUS) bt (10) Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) 16 61 64

[R1] Beatrice GUMULYA (INA) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND) 64 76(7)
[R1] (7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sung-Hee HAN (KOR) 75 61
[R1] (3) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Kanyapat NARATTANA (THA) 64 26 63
[R1] (6) Ai YAMAMOTO (JPN) bt Parija MALOO (IND) 64 64

[R2] (3) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,398) l Ellen BARRY (NZL,UNR) 26 67(3)
[R2] (7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,548) l Nicha LERTPITAKSINCHAI (THA,982) 26 06

So this week at least Ankita and Sanaa won their matches against foreign players ... Both lost in second round and Sanaa's score was more shocking.

Tennis News
At $10K Malaysia F1 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,601) l (4) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,468) 57 36
[R1] (PR) Vivek Shokeen (IND,1121) l (Q) Yu Wang Jr. (CHN,1207) 62 46 26
[R1] Rohan Gajjar (IND,727) bt (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774) 26 62 64
[R1] (Q) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) l (8) Young-Jun Kim (KOR,553) 36 46

[R2] Rohan Gajjar (IND,727) vs Hsin-Han Lee (TPE,575)

Today not a single upset by our players, so only Rohan remains in second round that also scoring win over Ranjeet.

Badminton News
At $250K Indonesia Super Series 2009, Jakarta

[Q1] (4) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) bt Stephan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,59) 21-7 21-10
[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,38) 17-4 Retd
[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,77) bt Christian Lind Thomsen (DEN,65) 21-11 21-19

[Q2] (4) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) l Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,51) 21-23 21-12 11-21
[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Ajay Jayaram (IND,77) 21-18 21-18

[Q1] Tim Dettmann (GER)/ Diju Valiyaveetil (IND) bt Gideon Markus Fernaldi (INA)/ Adrian Liu (CAN) 21-15 21-18

[Q2] Tim Dettmann (GER)/ Diju Valiyaveetil (IND) l (4) Ki Jung Kim (KOR)/ Yi Goo Kwon (KOR) 14-21 21-15 24-26

[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) vs Yu Hsing Hsieh (TPE,14)
[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,12) vs (7) Joachim Persson (DEN,7)
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,32) vs (2) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,2)
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,46) vs (4) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,4)

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) vs Nicole Grether (GER,52)
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs Petya Nedelcheva (BUL,12)

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (Q) Howard Bach (MAS)/ Tony Gunawan (MAS)
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Mona Santoso (USA)/ Cynthia Tuwankotta (USA)
[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Kien Keat Koo (MAS)/ Hui Lin Ng (MAS)

In this week's Indonasian Super Series our players having tough draw ... Anand Pawar managed to qualify for maindraw but Anup lost to Thai player in final qualifying.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[Q1] (14) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) l Jean-Rene Lisnard (MON,237) 36 26
[Q1] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) bt Antonio Veic (CRO,236) 63 64

[Q2] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) vs (WC) Daniel Cox (GBR,627)

Expected winning start for Prakash against Croatian ... Very clinical display by Prakash in this match ... Prakash having tricky second round against 19 yrs old wildcard local player, who also like to play on grass.

Very disappointing performance by Som ... More than defeat in this match, one-sided scoreline was more hurting ... Now I m more and more convinced that something is wrong with Som's game and he need to rectify it as soon as possible as from this month-end Som will start losing ranking points from his last year's fabulous summer.
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At $600K Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[R1] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR) 46 76(4) 10(3)

[QF] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Travis Parrott (USA)/ Filip Polasek (SVK)

Very close match for Mahesh and Mark against tricky pair on grass ... They had 9 break point chances but couldn't converted a single, Huss and Hutchins had 5 chances to convert 1 to won first set ... Hesh and Mark won this match in 1 hour 35 minutes and next they will meet pair of Parrott and Polasek.
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At $10K Malaysia F1 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[Q3] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774) bt (12) Christopher Rungkat (INA,1299) 64 61
[Q3] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1518) l Ruben Gonzales (USA,1499) 16 75 26
[Q3] (6) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) bt Abd-Hazli Bin Zainuddin (MAS,UNR) 1-0 Retd

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,702) l Xin-Yuan Yu (CHN,823) 75 26 36
[R1] (PR) Vivek Shokeen (IND,1121) vs (Q) Yu Wang Jr. (CHN,1207)
[R1] Rohan Gajjar (IND,727) vs (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774)
[R1] (Q) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) vs (8) Young-Jun Kim (KOR,553)

Doubles
[R1] Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) l (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN) 36 16
[R1] (ALT) Navdeep Singh (IND)/ Xin-Yuan Yu (CHN) bt (ALT) Matheson Klein (AUS)/ Chris Letcher (AUS) 57 63 10(8)
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ David Rice (GBR) bt Ti Chen (TPE)/ Phillip King (USA) 36 63 12(10)
[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA)/ Di Wu (CHN) 61 16 (5)10

[QF] (ALT) Navdeep Singh (IND)/ Xin-Yuan Yu (CHN) vs (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN)
[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ David Rice (GBR) vs Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA)/ Di Wu (CHN)

Another early exit for Divij and in doubles also he lost with Vishnu against Thai-Chinese combination ... Rohan and Ranjeet r facing in the first round.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[Q1] (14) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) vs Jean-Rene Lisnard (MON,237)
[Q1] (28) Prakash Amritraj (IND,154) vs Antonio Veic (CRO,236)
[Q1] Rajeev Ram (USA,160) vs (18) Lamine Ouahab (ALG,138)

Doubles
[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs (8) Sergei Bubka (UKR)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
[Q1] (7) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Frank Moser (GER)

From today the Wimbledon qualifying r starting and first-time our 2 players r seeded in qualifying draw ... Both players having decent draw but our both players struggle with different problems ... Som is struggling with his game and failing to show consistency and other hand until now Kash is failed to took advantage on his favourite court at the Wimbledon ... Also in doubles qualifying Kash and Aisam r formed strong pairing on grass ... Som and Anderson r trying to used their NCAA experience in this qualifying.

Tennis News
At $600K Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[Q1] Sania Mirza (IND,98) l Tatiana Poutchek (BLR,173) 46 2-3 Retd (due to Right Hip Strain)

Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) vs (4) Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Rennae Stubbs (AUS)

Sania retired from the match due to hip injury ... Hoping nothing serious she is still listed in doubles draw.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Ireland F1 Futures, Dublin

[R1] Purav Raja (IND,916) vs (7) Milan Pokrajac (CAN,689)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs Niall Angus (GBR)/ Ben Pritchard (GBR)
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Malaysia F1 Futures, Kuala Lumpur

[Q1] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774) bye
[Q1] Palash Tiwari (IND,UNR) bt Chun-ing Yam (HKG,UNR) 63 62
[Q1] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1518) bt Adam Branks (NZL,UNR) 60 64
[Q1] Chandril Sood (IND,UNR) bt Ashaari Zainal (MAS,UNR) 36 61 64
[Q1] (11) Navdeep Singh (IND,1257) l Yao-Lun Chang (TPE,UNR) 26 63 36
[Q1] Pulkit Mishra (IND,UNR) l (4) Di Wu (CHN,881) 36 06
[Q1] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1531) l William Ward (NZL,UNR) 61 36 57
[Q1] (6) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,1513) 76(4) 75
[Q1] Nikunj Siwach (IND,1538) bt Jacky Khai Hong Tham (MAS,UNR) 63 60
[Q1] Nihal Kapoor (IND,UNR) l (13) Chris Letcher (AUS,1426) 06 06
[Q1] Lakshit Sood (IND,UNR) l (7) Sun-Yong Kim (KOR,1047) 26 06
[Q1] Vijay Siwach (IND,UNR) l Zhuo-Qing Zhou (CHN,1878) 06 16

[Q2] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774) bt Chuhan Wang (CHN,UNR) 75 64
[Q2] Palash Tiwari (IND,UNR) l (12) Christopher Rungkat (INA,1299) 26 46
[Q2] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1518) bt (2) Dane Propoggia (AUS,849) 63 64
[Q2] Chandril Sood (IND,UNR) l (3) David Rice (GBR,880) 26 16
[Q2] (6) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) bt Nikunj Siwach (IND,1538) 61 61

[Q3] (1) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,774) vs (12) Christopher Rungkat (INA,1299)
[Q3] Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1518) vs Ruben Gonzales (USA,1499)
[Q3] (6) Vijayant Malik (IND,1043) vs Abd-Hazli Bin Zainuddin (MAS,UNR)

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,702) vs Xin-Yuan Yu (CHN,823)
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,601) vs (4) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,468)
[R1] (PR) Vivek Shokeen (IND,1121) vs Qualifier
[R1] Rohan Gajjar (IND,727) vs Qualifier

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Daniel King-Turner (NZL) vs Arnau Brugues-Davi (ESP)/ Luigi D'Agord (ITA)
[R1] Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN)
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ David Rice (GBR) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Phillip King (USA)
[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Kittiphong Wachiramanowong (THA)/ Di Wu (CHN)

Big Indian contigent playing in 2 weeks of Malaysian futures ... Srirambalaji scored good win against 2nd seed Australian in qualifier.

Tennis News
At $220K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

[SF] Sania Mirza (IND,98) l (13) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK,58) 36 60 63

Doubles
[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) bt Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Zi Yan (CHN) 76(5) 61

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) l (1) Black (ZIM)/ Huber (USA) 57 36

Sania's semi-final against Rybarikova wasn't easy as Rybarikova is good player on grass ... Last year at Wimbledon Rybarikova reached in third round ... But this time also Sania had positive start winning first set ... But Sania struggled with her serve in 2nd set and Rybarikova take full advantage to win it without losing a single game ... In third set Rybarikova had an advantage after winning second set solidly and she didn't give much chance to Sania and won this match in 1 hour 35 minutes.

In same tournament Sania reached in doubles semis also ... Overall very satisfying tournament for Sania, she got good preparation for Wimbledon.
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At $600K Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[Q1] Sania Mirza (IND,98) vs Tatiana Poutchek (BLR,173)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL)
[R1] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR)

Sania is schedule to play her singles qualifying at Eastbourne.
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At $25K El Paso ITF Tournament, Texas, USA

[R1] Shikha UBEROI (IND,532) bt LITVAK Lena (USA,379) 63 62
[R2] Shikha UBEROI (IND,532) l Johanna KONTA (AUS,520) 67(6) 26

Doubles
[R1] (2) Christina FUSANO (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Katie RUCKERT (USA)/ Valerie TETREAULT (CAN) 75 63
[QF] (2) Christina FUSANO (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Kim-Alice GRAJDEK (GER)/ Johanna KONTA (AUS) 64 57 10(6)
[SF] (2) Christina FUSANO (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Brittany AUGUSTINE (USA)/ Jennifer ELIE (USA) 63 62

[F] (2) Christina FUSANO (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt (3) Maria-Fernanda ALVES (BRA)/ Tetiana LUZHANSKA (UKR) 63 75

Good performance by Shikha to won doubles title with Christina Fusano and reaching singles second round.

Tennis News
At $220K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND,98) bt (16) Melinda Czink (HUN,57) 61 76(4)

Heartily congratulation to Sania for reaching her first semi-final on grass court event on WTA tour ... Excellent performance by her to win 4 matches on row on this grass court event, which gives good preparation for Sania before Wimbledon.

Next Sania will play against winner between Rybarikova and Radwanska ... Until now Sania earned 130 points which push her singles ranking inside top-80.

First Set
SM saved a break point before holding her serve, she served 2 aces in this game
1-0 MC hold @ 30
1-1 SM hold comfortably, another ace in this game
2-1 SM draw first blood break MC's serve on luv, MC helped with couple of double faults
3-1 SM is holding her serve easily, another ace in this game to hold @ 15
4-1 in this game also MC committed 4 of double faults and after couple of duece SM extended her lead with another break
5-1 SM committed her first DF but hold @ 30 to won first set in 28 minutes
6-1

Second Set
MC started with holding her serve @ 15
0-1 SM also hold @ 15
1-1 Again MC hold her serve comfortably @ 15
1-2 MC broke SM's serve @ 15, in this game Sania committed 3 DFs
1-3 SM immediately broke back @ 30, MC saved 1 break point ... Next game is important for SM
2-3 SM hold @ 30
3-3 Now MC hold @ 30, still on serve
3-4 SM hold @ 15
4-4 MC again committed couple of DFs and Sania take full advantage to get crucial break @ 15 .. Now serving for the match
5-4 MC saved 1 match point and broke SM's serve
5-5 MC hold easily
5-6 SM hold @ 30 hitting an ace ... Now tie-break, Sania need early mini-break

Tie-break
SM take mini-break
1-0 MC broke back
1-1 SM hold
2-1 mini-break for SM
3-1 MC hold
3-2 SM hold to lead before change-over
4-2 SM hold
5-2 MC hold
5-3 MC hold, can Sania serve out to win this match?
5-4 SM hold, 2 match point
6-4 SM hold to won match in 1 hour and 18 minutes
7-4

Badminton News
At US$200K AVIVA Open Singapore Super Series 2009,

[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) l (3) Lin Wang (CHN,4) 21-19 19-21 14-21
[QF] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) l Boonsak Ponsana (THA,19) 11-21 8-21

In this quarter-final match Saina started positively and taking 4-1 early lead but then Lin Wang got even at 5-all ... But from 11-all Saina take couple of points lead to won first game ... Second game also started in close affair, but Lin Wang won consecutive 5 points from 6-all to take early lead 5-11 but Saina fought back and make it 12-all ... But again Lin Wang take 3 points cushion from 15-all and kept that lead to won second game ... In third game Lin Wang take early lead at 8-11, Saina cameback to make it 10-11 but again Lin Wang won next 3 points to take important lead ... And then Lin Wang take control of the match to won it in 58 minutes.

Boonsak Ponsana take control of the game from 5-all and won first game in mere 13 minutes ... Second game wasn't different and Anup struggled in this game also ... This game was going on 14 minutes but Anup didn't even score double digits points and lost poorly ... Anup wasn't looking any sort of rhythm in this match, it was shocking scoreline for player who defeated WR #2 a day before.
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Hockey News
At FIH Men's Junior World Cup 2009, Singapore & Malaysia

Pool D
12 June
Netherlands dw New Zealand 2-2

India bt Poland 4-2

Goal scored - Mohd Amir Khan (IND) 26', Pramod Kumar (IND) 30' PC, Diwakar RAM (IND) 50' PC, Victo Singh (IND) 70' and Wiwczorek (POL) 41', Koztowski (POL) 44' PC

Netherlands and New Zealand match ended in draw so with that India's chances of reaching into medal round was finished ... But still we performed poorly against this lowly ranking Polish side ... Again we wasted heap of penalty corners and easy chances infront of goal ... This was dismal performance by our Junior team.

Tennis News
At $220K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

[R3] Sania Mirza (IND,98) bt (5) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS,31) 76(3) 36 62

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND,98) vs (16) Melinda Czink (HUN,57)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) bt Vania King (USA)/ Ipek Senoglu (TUR) 61 75

[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) vs Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Zi Yan (CHN)

After longtime Sania won back to back 3 matches ... Yesterday she upset top-30 Russian player to moved into her first quarter-final on grass on WTA tour ... This 2 hours match was close, after Sania winning first set in tie-break Pavlyuchenkova cameback strongly winning second set ... But in decider Sania played solid game, she broke Pavlyuchenkova's serve twice in 2 chances and saved a break point on her serve to scored huge win ... In quarters she is facing Hungarian Melinda Czink.

In doubles also Sania and Chia-Jung had winning start.

Badminton News
At US$200K AVIVA Open Singapore Super Series 2009,

[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Adrianti Firdasari (INA,19) 21-18 17-21 21-17
[R2] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) bt (2) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,2) 21-19 16-21 21-13

[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs (3) Lin Wang (CHN,4)
[QF] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) vs Boonsak Ponsana (THA,19)

Huge win for Anup against WR #2 Peter Gade, who was WR # 1 in 1999 to 2001 and also All England Champion in 2001 ... In my memory this was biggest win by Indian shuttler against current top-2 player in singles.

Anup started match positively and was up 6-0, but Gade equalled it at 10-all ... Then Anup take crucial lead winning 4 points on a row from 16-17 to won first game .. In second game Gade take control of the game from 9-all and kept lead to won this second game ... Third game was close until 13-all but from their Anup didn't gave any chance to Gade and won next 8 points to finished this match in 59 minutes ... In quarter he is facing Thai #1 Boonsak Ponsana.

Saina managed victory in closely fought 3 games ... Saina needed 49 minutes to overcome challenge of her Indonasian opponentclose match ... In quarters she will face WR #4 Chinese opponent Lin Wang.
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Hockey News
At FIH Men's Junior World Cup 2009, Singapore & Malaysia
Group D
10 June
Poland bt Singapore 2-1

11 June
India l Netherlands 2-3

Goal scored - Mandeep Antil (IND) 5', Innocent Kullu (IND) 54' PC and Weerden (NED) 10' PC, 14' PC & 52' PC

Indian boys r in position to miss semi-final birth in this on going Junior World Cup ... Today we played poor hockey, we had ample chances and numerous penalty corners ... We had 9 penalty corners and converted 1, other hand Dutch side had 5 and converted 3 ... We were making silly mistakes inside 25-yard line ... Tomorrow New Zeland boys need only draw to making semis with Dutch boys.

Tennis News
At $220K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,98) bt (11) Anne Keothavong (GBR,49) 61 76(5)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) vs Vania King (USA)/ Ipek Senoglu (TUR)

Sania got very dominant start in this second round match ... As she won first set in 26 minutes ... She broke Keothavong's serve thrice in six chances ... Keothavong saved 2 set points in game 7 but Sania converte 3rd set point ... In this set Sania didn't face a single break point.

Bizzare start for second set as Sania committed 2 double faults and faced 4 break points but managed to hold her serve ... In 3rd game Sania saved 3 break point chances but Keothavong converted 4th break point to take lead ... Keothavong again broke Sania's serve in 5th game ... After 1-5 down Sania made comeback in the set breaking Keothavong's serve in 8th game ... Sania saved 2 set points in 9th game and again broke Keothavong's serve in 10th game to make it 5-all ... They both hold their serve to make it 6-all ... In tie-break Keothavong started with mini break, but on next point Sania traded back mini-break to make it 1-all ... At 3-2 Sania take mini-break but Keothavong came back trading another mini-break to make it 5-4 but in next point on Keothavong's serve Sania again take mini-break to gave herself 2 match points ... Keothavong saved 1st on her serve but Sania served for the match and won this second set in 1 hour 2 minutes ... The second set was very long considering match played on grass court.

Good that Sania managed to finish this match in 2 sets as both players were facing problems on their own serve in the second set ... In third round Sania will mostly face Russian 5th seed and WR #31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Badminton News
At US$200K AVIVA Open Singapore Super Series 2009,

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,12) l Choong Hann Wong (MAS,23) 18-21 11-21
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) l (3) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,4) 12-21 21-15 9-21
[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) bt (Q) Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,51) 22-20 21-19
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) l Judith Meulendijks (NED,23) 14-21 19-21
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt (Q) Maja Tvrdy (SLO,51) 18-21 21-11 21-16

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Imogen Bankier (SCO)/ Donna Kellogg (ENG) 22-20 10-21 12-21
[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (6) Zhongbo Xie (CHN)/ Yawen Zhang (CHN) 13-21 14-21

[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs Adrianti Firdasari (INA,19)

Very disappointing performance by our players ... Only Saina and Anup scored victoy but both had slow start ... Anup will mostly face WR #2 Peter Gade in next round ... Saina also ahving tricky match against Indonasian Firdasari.

Tennis News
At $220K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,98) bt Tatiana Poutchek (BLR,173) 61 62

Doubles
[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) vs Vania King (USA)/ Ipek Senoglu (TUR)
Match was close than score suggested ... Sania won first set in 43 minutes but in that Sania saved 4 break point chances and converted 2 from 3 she got ... The second set had bizzare start as both players were breaking eachother's serve in first 5 games ... From 3-2 Sania controlled the match and won match winning 4 games in the row ... In this set Sania's serve got broken 2 times from 7 opportunities and she broke Poutchek's serve 4 times from 6 chances ... Sania finished match in 1 hour 23 minutes.

Badminton News
At US$200K AVIVA Open Singapore Super Series 2009,

[Q1] (2) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) bt Stefan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,59) 21-10 21-11
[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Andrew Dabeka (CAN,95) 21-16 21-15

[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,46) l Kazushi Yamada (JPN,53) 14-21 16-21
[Q2] (2) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) bt Yanbo Qiu (CHN,62) 15-21 21-19 21-17

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,12) vs Choong Hann Wong (MAS,23)
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) vs (3) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,4)
[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,39) vs (Q) Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,51)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,42) vs Judith Meulendijks (NED,23)
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs (Q) Maja Tvrdy (SLO,51)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Imogen Bankier (SCO)/ Donna Kellogg (ENG)
[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (6) Zhongbo Xie (CHN)/ Yawen Zhang (CHN)

Decent draw for our many players but how many utilise this opportunity will be seen tomorrow ... Anup qualified for maindraw with comeback victory against Chinese opponent.
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Hockey News
At FIH Men's Junior World Cup 2009, Singapore & Malaysia

20 teams r divided in 4 groups and top 2 teams will be moved to next level ...India is in Pool D.

Pool D - India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore

07 June
Netherlands bt Singapore 8-0
New Zealand bt Poland 8-1

08 June
Netherlands bt Poland 7-2
India bt Singapore 10-0

Goal scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) 15' PC, 18' PC, 29' PC, 55' PC & 66' PC, Danish Mujtaba (IND) 5' & 51', Dharamvir Singh (IND) 26', Mandip Antil (IND) 30', Vivek (IND) 47'

9th June
India dw New Zealand 2-2

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) 13' PC, Pramod Kumar (IND) 34' and Simon Child (NZL) 11', Marcus Child (NZL) 31'

In first match Indians outplayed Singapore boys but in second match New Zeland boys surprisingly drawn match against our boys.

Archery News
At World Cup Stage 3, Antalya, Turkey 2-7 June 2009

Recurve Men's Individual Eliminations
For Bronze Medal
Jayanta Talukdar (IND) bt Amedeo Tonelli (ITA) 106-101

[SF] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) l Simon Terry (GBR) 107-112

[QF] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) bt Bair Badenov (RUS) 109-105
[QF] Kapil (IND) l Amedeo Tonelli (ITA) 102-108

Recurve Women's Individual Eliminations
[QF] Rimil Buriuly (IND) l Ruyu Ouyang (CHN) 100-104

Kapil and Rimil couldn't continued their good run and lost into the quarters .. But Jayanta won his quarter-final and almost secure his place for final stage of World cup in Denmark ... Though he lost in the semis but he won bronze medal defeating Italian archer.
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Golf News
At The Celtic Manor Wales Open, Newport, Wales - Final Standing

T6 Jeev Milkha Singh 69 68 73 69 -5 € 57844.30
T49 Jyoti Randhawa 72 72 74 71 +5 € 9057.47
T59 Shiv Kapur 73 67 74 77 +7 € 5249.22

Another top-10 finish for Jeev ... Jeev is showing his consistency and showing he is near to grab another title on tour ... Otherhand Jyoti and Shiv Kapur making cut but their performance was so-so to found them in bottom half of the standing ... They needs to lift their game for strong finishes.

Tennis News
At French Open 2009,

[F] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Wesley Moodie (RSA)/ Dick Norman (BEL) 36 63 62

Leander lifted his 3rd French Open title (before this he won in 1999 and 2001 with Mahesh) and 5th Grandslam men's doubles title ... This was Lee and Lukas Dlouhy's first Grandslam title playing together ... Very proud moment in life of 35 yrs old Lee.

After losing first set they dominated match and never gave feeling that they were ging to lose ... They were up 5-0 breaking Moodie and Norman's serve after that Lee lost his serve but extra break's cushion was enough to win second set ... In third set they broke Moodie's serve in 3rd game, they saved break point on Lukas's serve in 6th game ... But again they broke Moodie's serve in 7th game and while serving for championship Lee powerfully served ... He served an ace on championship point to lift another French Open title after 8 years.
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At AEGON Championships 2009, Queens Club, London

[Q1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND) l Scoville Jenkins (USA) 16 76 36
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND) bt (7) Chris Guccione (AUS) 76 75

[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND) lo Kerol Beck (SVK) 26 46

Prakash again defeated Guccione, Guccione served 23 aces and Kash 9 ... But Prkash lost surprisingly cheaply against Beck, this was winnable match ... Som's lost wasn't suprising but what hurted most that he didn't take chances ... In match Jenkins converted 4 of 5 BPs while Som managed to convert only 1 of 12.
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At $10K New Dehli II, India

Singles Final
(1) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Chun-Yan HE (CHN) 63 62

Atlast Ankita managed to end her title drought with easy victory against Chinese opponent, before this she won ITF title in November 2007 beating Sanaa at Aurangabad ... With that Ankita completed her double crown in this ITF event.