Swimming News
At 13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

Day5
Men's 200m Breaststroke
32 Sandeep Sejwal IND 2:13.22 mins +04.67 secs (new National record)
59 Agnishwar Jayaprakash IND 2:24.49 mins +15.94 secs

Men's 200m Backstroke
50 Rehan Poncha IND 2:06.92 mins +11.72 secs (new National record)
71 Praveen Tokas IND 2:16.90 mins +21.70 secs

Women's 200m Breaststroke
59 Murugaperumal Mercy Venpa IND 3:00.51 mins +38.83 secs

Women's 100m Freestyle
95 Chittaranjan Shubha IND 1:00.47 mins +07.27 secs
100 Talasha Prabhu IND 1:00.73 mins +07.53 secs

Women's 4x 200m Freestyle
22 India 9:21.70 mins +1:56.56 mins
Pooja Raghava Alva 2:24.10 mins
Chittaranjan Shubha 2:18.52 mins
Vandita Dhariyal 2:19.37 mins
Talasha Prabhu 2:19.71 mins

Sandeep Sejwal is on roll at Rome, today he bettered his own another national record in 200m Breaststroke ... He bettered National record by huge margin of 2.02 secs to finished in top 35.

Rehan Poncha is also matching Sandeep, he created national record in 200m Backstroke ... He also bettered his own national record by 1.23 secs.
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Badminton News
At $50K New Zealand Open Grand Prix 2009, North Shore, Auckland

[QF] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) l Kazushi Yamada (JPN,57) 17-21 21-11 12-21

[R2] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) 21-5 21-8
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bt Kerrin Harrison (NZL)/ Leck S Tham (NZL) 21-12 21-15

[R2] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Leanne Choo (AUS)/ Karyn Velez (PHI) 21-7 21-13
[R2] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) bt Amanda Brown (NZL)/ Suzannah Leydon-Davis (NZL) 21-12 21-9
[R2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) l (2) Anneke Feinya Agustine (INA)/ Anisa Wahyuni (INA) 10-21 18-21

[R2] (5) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) bt James Eunson (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL) 21-10 23-21
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) l Yogendran Krishnan (MAS)/ Anita Raj Kaur (MAS) 13-21 17-21
[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) l (3) Muhammad Rijal (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA) 8-21 15-21

[QF] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Wifqi Windarto (INA)/ Afiat Yuris Wirawan (INA) 21-16 20-22 21-17
[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) l (4) Hirokatsu Hashimoto (JPN)/ Noriyasu Hirata (JPN) 8-21 19-21

[QF] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Michelle K Y Chan (NZL)/ Rachel Hindley (NZL) 21-7 21-14
[QF] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) l Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE)/ Kristina Ludikova (CZE) 14-21 18-21

[QF] (5) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l (4) Tontowi Ahmad (INA)/ Richi Puspita Dilli (INA) 14-21 11-21

[SF] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs(3) [MAS] [MAS] Teik Chai Gan (MAS)/ Bin Shen Tan (MAS)
[SF] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs (1) Tsz Ka Chan (HKG)/ Ying Suet Tse (HKG)

So again only our doubles teams reached in semis but both facing tough pairs in semis ... Anand lost in quarters against Japanese player in singles.

Tennis News
At $50K+H Granby Challenger, Canada

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Amir Hadad (ISR)/ Harel Levy (ISR) 57 62 (7)10

Harsh and Huey tried to overcome their Israeli opponents after losing first set but lost in super tie-break.
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At $ 25K Almaty Challanger , Kazakhstan

[R1] Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,464) l Nikola FRANKOVA (CZE,416) 16 64 06
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Hockey News
Test series, Birmingham, England

India l England 1-3

Goal Scored - Dhananjay Mahadhik (IND) 8' PC and Ben Hawes (ENG) 1', Barry Middleton (ENG) 18', Richard Smith (ENG) 68' PC

In torrential rain England scored commanding victory against Indian side ... Our players were struggling slippery condition but overall disappointing start for our side in this test series.
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Football News
Barcelona Training match, Spain

India bt Associació Esportiva El Prat 2-0

Goal Scored - Abhishek Yadav (IND) 60' & 71'

Coach Bob Houghton again choose to play two sets of teams in the two halfs and both team gave excellent performance ... As per report very heartening performance by our team ... Houghton will be very happy with team's performance ... Abhishek showed class scoring 2 goals.

Badminton News
At $50K New Zealand Open Grand Prix 2009, North Shore, Auckland

[R2] Trupti Murgunde (IND,127) l (5) Eriko Hirose (JPN,50) 12-21 14-21

[R3] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) l (1) Yan Kit Chan (HKG,10) 13-21 11-21
[R3] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Andreas Adityawarman (INA,161) 21-16 18-21 21-7
[R3] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) l Wing Ki Wong (HKG,71) W/O
[R3] Aditya Prakash (IND,313) l Yoga Pratama (INA,234) 23-21 15-21 11-21

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bt Ashraf Dhoray (NZL)/ Delius Tang (NZL) 21-17 21-14
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bt Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL)/ Henry Tam (NZL) 16-21 21-16 21-15

[R1] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Deyanira Angulo (MEX)/ Poh Lin Teo (NZL) 21-3 21-9
[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) bt Anona Pak (NZL)/ Aviva Pak (NZL) 21-9 21-9
[R1] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) bt Madeleine Stapleton (NZL)/ Melissa Yin (NZL) 21-8 21-8

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) bt (8) Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL)/ Emma Chapple (NZL) 21-6 21-7
[R1] Jishnu Sanyal (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) l (6) Joe Wu (NZL)/ Danielle Barry (NZL) 16-21 19-21

[R2] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) vs Kerrin Harrison (NZL)/ Leck S Tham (NZL)

[R2] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Leanne Choo (AUS)/ Karyn Velez (PHI)
[R2] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) vs Amanda Brown (NZL)/ Suzannah Leydon-Davis (NZL)
[R2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) vs (2) Anneke Feinya Agustine (INA)/ Anisa Wahyuni (INA)

[R2] (5) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) vs James Eunson (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) vs Yogendran Krishnan (MAS)/ Anita Raj Kaur (MAS)
[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs (3) Muhammad Rijal (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA)

[QF] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) vs Kazushi Yamada (JPN,57)

In singles only Anand Pawar managed to move into quarters after stretched to third game against below 150 rank Indonasian ... Anup Sridhar gave walkover to his opponent, hoping not again heel injury scare.

In MXD Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre scored impressive victory against 8th seed local pair.

Swimming News
At 13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

Day 4
Men's 100m Freestyle
59 Virdhawal Khade IND 50.07 secs +02.48 secs
134 Ashwin Menon IND 53.41 secs +05.82 secs

Men's 200m Individual Medley
52 Rehan Poncha IND 2:06.29 mins +09.95 secs (new National record)
62 Agnishwar Jayaprakash IND 2:09.11 mins +12.77 secs

Women's 50m Backstroke
83 Fariha Zaman IND 32.06 secs +04.41 secs

Women's 200m Butterfly
51 Vandita Dhariyal IND 2:25.07 mins +20.93 secs
52 Pooja Raghava Alva IND 2:25.08 mins +20.94 secs

Again somewhat disappointing stuff from Vir ... Today also he was well below his national record of 49.47 secs.

Rehan Poncha better his own national mark by more than 1.5 secs, old mark was 2:08.13 mins in 200m Individual Medley.

Tennis News
At $$630.5K LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, USA

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) l (5) Igor Kunitsyn (RUS,37) 57 26

No revenge of last defeat, other hand Igor Kunitsyn dominated match after winning first set ... Must be clinical performance by Igor Kunitsyn.

Match was difficult for Somi as both players play similar game, i.e. baseline game and Kunitsyn is master in playing waiting game ... He generally frustrate his opponents with keep hitting ball back in court to make a mistake and I think today also same happened.
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At $35K+H Belo Horizonte Challenger, Brazil

[R1] Ashutosh Singh (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (2) Rogerio Dutra Da Silva (BRA)/ Julio Silva (BRA) 67(2) 57

Good fighting performance by our pair against 2nd seed Brazilian pair.

Badminton News
At $50K New Zealand Open Grand Prix 2009, North Shore, Auckland

[R1] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) bye
[R1] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) bye
[R1] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) bt Leck S Tham (NZL,UNR) 21-5 21-6
[R1] Aditya Prakash (IND,313) bt Kevin Dennerly-Minturn (NZL,UNR) 21-12 21-18
[R1] Aditya Elango (IND,240) bt Bjorn Seguin (NZL,165) 19-21 21-16 21-11

[R1] Trupti Murgunde (IND,127) bt Renuga Veeran (AUS,147) 21-16 16-21 21-19
[R1] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) l (7) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,60) 19-21 15-21

[R1] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bye
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) vs Ashraf Dhoray (NZL)/ Delius Tang (NZL)
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) vs Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL)/ Henry Tam (NZL)

[R1] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Deyanira Angulo (MEX)/ Poh Lin Teo (NZL)
[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) vs Anona Pak (NZL)/ Aviva Pak (NZL)
[R1] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) vs Madeleine Stapleton (NZL)/ Melissa Yin (NZL)

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Praveen Tayalan (NZL)/ Michelle Hk Chan (NZL) 21-9 21-5
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) vs (8) Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL)/ Emma Chapple (NZL)
[R1] Jishnu Sanyal (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) vs (6) Joe Wu (NZL)/ Danielle Barry (NZL)
[R1] (5) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) bt Jian Dee Chew (NZL)/ Anna Rankin (NZL) 21-10 21-14

[R2] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) bt Simon Maunoury (FRA,131) 21-4 21-10
[R2] Aditya Elango (IND,240) l (8) Mathieu Lo Ying Ping (FRA,54) 10-21 8-21
[R1] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Michael Fowke (NZL,208) 21-6 21-9
[R2] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) bt Joe Wu (NZL,126) 21-18 21-16
[R2] Aditya Prakash (IND,313) bt Yogendran Krishnan (MAS,268) 21-16 17-21 21-19

[R2] Trupti Murgunde (IND,127) vs (5) Eriko Hirose (JPN,50)

[R3] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) vs (1) Yan Kit Chan (HKG,10)
[R3] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) vs Andreas Adityawarman (INA,161)
[R3] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) vs Wing Ki Wong (HKG,71)
[R3] Aditya Prakash (IND,313) vs Yoga Pratama (INA,234)

[R2] (5) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) vs James Eunson (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL)

Expected start for our players in singles but round three will give them real test as all r facing Asian opponents.

Swimming News
At 13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

Day 3
Men's 50m Breaststroke
38 Sandeep Sejwal IND 27.92 secs +01.00 sec (new National record)
80 Agnishwar Jayaprakash IND 29.39 secs +02.47 sec

Men's 200m Butterfly
45 Rehan Poncha IND 2:02.27 mins +07.94 secs

Women's 200m Freestyle
70 Talasha Prabhu IND 2:12.57 16.59 secs

Sandeep again broke his own national record in 50m Breaststroke ... His timing was +0.49 sec outside qualification for semi-finals.

Tennis News
At $$630.5K LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, USA

[Q3] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) bt (5) Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA,143) 75 62
[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,263) l (6) Ryan Sweeting (USA,155) 57 67(0)

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs (5) Igor Kunitsyn (RUS,37)

Somdev qualified for maindraw with straight sets victory ... First set was close as both players were dominating opponent's serve ... Somi lost his service games twice but he broke Alex's serve thrice ... But after winning first set Somi controlled the match .. In second set Somi was down with break 1-2 but then he won next 5 games breaking Alex's serve thrice to scored win in 1 hr 39 mins.

Prakash fought hard against Sweeting but as I mentioned yesterday Sweeting was better player on the court ... In second set Prakash was up 5-2 but Sweeting comeback strongly and take set to tie-break where he dominated that ... Still happy to see that Prkash tried his best in this match and was unlucky to won important points.

As usual tough draw for our player in maindraw, in maindraw only one qualifier was going to meet seeded player and after draw that player is Somi ... So tough assignment for Somi against Kunitsyn ... Go Somi.

Swimming News
At 13th FINA World Championship, Rome, Italy

Day 1
Men's 100m Breaststroke
35 Sandeep Sejwal IND 1:01.20 mins +2.22 secs (new Nationalo record)
83 Agnishwar Jayaprakash IND 1:05.07 mins +6.09 secs

Men's 50m Butterfly
57 Virdhawal Khade IND 24.32 secs +1.42 secs
133 Arjun Jayaprakash IND 26.61 secs +3.71 secs

Women's 100m Butterfly
77 Pooja Raghava Alva IND 1:05.13 mins +8.37 secs
81 Vandita Dhariyal IND 1:05:80 mins +9:04 secs

Men's 400m Freestyle
60 Mandar Divase IND 4:06.18 mins +23.17 secs

Women's 4x 100m Freestyle
26 India 4:12.41 mins +37.67 secs
Chittaranjan Shubha 1:00.68 mins
Murugaperumal Mercy Venpa 1:06.93 mins
Pooja Raghava Alva 1:03.86 mins
Talasha Prabhu 1:00.94 mins

Men's 4x 100m Freestyle
26 India 3:35.24 mins +23.98 secs
Arjun Jayaprakash 55.25 secs
Rehan Poncha 55.71 secs
Virdhawal Khade 50.78 secs
Ashwin Menon 53.50 secs

Day 2
Men's 200m Freestyle
67 Virdhawal Khade IND 1:52.01 mins +06.71 secs
99 Ashwin Menon IND 1:58.62 mins +13.32 secs

Women's 100m Backstroke
83 Fariha Zaman IND 1:10.12 mins 11.34 secs

Women's 100m Breaststroke
82 Murugaperumal Mercy Venpa IND 1:24.85 +19.19 secs

Men's 100m Backstroke
81 Ashwin Menon IND 1:00.90 secs +07.97 secs
93 Praveen Tokas IND 1:03.74 secs +10.81 secs

Again very impressive performance by Sandeep Sejwal, this time he bettered his own national record by almost a second, previous record was 1:02.19 ... He also missed semi-final place by only 1.15 secs in Men's 100m Breaststroke.

Vir finished on 57th position in 204 swimmers in Men's 50m Butterfly ... But his timing was 0.07 secs more than his national record.

In Men's 200m Freestyle, Vir's timing was disappointing as he was way below his own national record, 1:49.86 mins ... Here that timing can gave him top-50 finish.

Also interesting to note performance of 14 yrs old Vandita Dhariyal in Women's 100m Butterfly.

Tennis News
At $50K ITF Lexington Women's Tournament, KY, USA

[F] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt (1) Julie Coin (FRA,63) 76(5) 64

Sania started with breaking Coin's serve to lead 2-0 but Coin broke back to make it 2-all ... Then Coin again broke Sania's serve to lead 3-5 but this time Sania fought back to make it 5-all ... In tie-break Sania was down 3-5 but won next 4 points to captured first set.

In second set Coin broke Sania's serve in 3rd game but in next game Sania broke back to make it 2-all ... Sania again broke Coin's serve in 8th game to lead 5-3 but while serving for the match she couldn't hold her serve and score was back on serve 5-4 ... But Sania wasn't in mood of losing advantage and she broke Coin's serve in 10th game to captured $50K ITF Lexington Women's tournament title.

After this title win Sania moved to #80 ... So now rest after a week Sania will be playing next week at the Vancouver Challenger ... As report getting Sania didn't get Standford tournament wildcard, as she was playing in Lexington tournament, she missed Standford qualifying.
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At $$630.5K LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, USA

[Q2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,127) bt Luka Gregorc (SLO,178) 61 76(1)
[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,264) bt Frank Moser (GER,UNR) 60 76(3)

[Q3] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs (5) Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA,143)
[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,263) vs (6) Ryan Sweeting (USA,155)

Good performance by Somi to finished match in straight sets after winning first set easily ... Kash also scored expected win against doubles specialist ... So now final qualifying round ... Hopefully both will continue their winning form to reach LA maindraw ... Kash having tough match against Ryan Sweeting, as per onlookers he looked most complete player on the court at LA qualifying.

In new updated ranking Somi dropped outside top-150 as his last year's Lexington Challenger title win points removed from his total.
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At $50K+H Granby Challenger, Canada

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Amir Hadad (ISR)/ Harel Levy (ISR)

This week at Granby Challenger, Harsh is playing with Treat Huey and they r facing Israeli pair.

Golf News
At the US$400K Indonesia President Invitational, Jakarta - Final Standing
1 Gaganjeet Bhullar 69 68 62 67 -22 $63,400.00
T25 Rahil Gangjee 70 73 69 67 - 9 $ 3,552.00
T35 Amandeep Johl 70 70 70 70 - 8 $ 2,880.00
T47 Anirban Lahiri 71 67 76 69 - 5 $ 1,920.00

21 yrs old Gaganjeet Bhullar won his maiden Asian Tour title with two-stroke victory at the Indonesia President Invitational and showed he is really star in making ... His experience of playing on big stage like British Open definetely helped him here which he acknowledged after win ... Gaganjeet take lead from third round and played flawless 5 under to scored comfortable win ... How solidly he performed this week shows from he dropped only one bogey all week.

Gaganjeet Bhullar - (from Asiatour site)
"Well to be honest I got no words to describe how happy I'm. I've been waiting for this for the past two years and I played really well today and I had a very good finish with a good score today. Playing with the big boys has definitely helped with my confidence and the experience definitely helped me. I started playing well on the Asian Tour, haven't been playing well the last two years and I'm pretty happy. I started well with three top 10s and played the British Open. I was sitting in the clubhouse and I knew what happened to me two years back and Juvic played really well two years back and Adam also played really well but it is a relief now. My goal now is totally different. My goal a few months back was to win on the tour now it is totally different. Now I'm getting to all the co-sanctions and given me a lot of confidence in my coming years and definitely after this victory, many things are going to change in my life. And yes definitely I will be gunning to be the top Indian golfer now. My experience from last week playing with the big boys where Tiger, Ernie Else and Sergio Garcia has certainly helped me a lot. Mentally I'm ready and I played the course last time where I played well, so I had good memories in my mind so that was one key factor. Throughout the week I drove the ball really well. I think I missed about three to four fairways for the four rounds, and made one bogey in four days. I missed a few putts today but that's fine."

Tennis News
At $$630.5K LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, USA

[Q1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,127) bt Andrea Stoppini (ITA,188) 61 62
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,264) bt (3) Santiago Giraldo (COL,131) 76(5) 36 64

[Q2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,127) vs Luka Gregorc (SLO,178)
[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,264) vs Frank Moser (GER,UNR)

Somdev had greatmatch to score win in 52 minutes ... Som converted 5 break point chances from 11 he got and other hand saved all 5 on his own serve ... Overall solid overall performance by Somi to won match easily against Stoppini.

Prakash won match in 3 sets against top-130 player shows his current run on grass wasn't fluke ... He is also showing improvement in his game and using his currentform to his own benefit In this 2 hours 18 minutes match Kash won less total points from Giraldo, 105-108, but managed to won important points ... Both players stat almost match as both converted 3 break point chances in this close match.

Kash is facing doubles specialist in second qualifying round and Somi is facing Slovanian Luka Gregorc ... Luka Gregorc qualified for Wimbledon and gave good fight to top-20 player ... He was also last year's New Heaven ATP finalist.
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Football News
Barcelona Training match, Spain

India dw Unió Esportiva Castelldefels (ESP) 1-1

Goals Scored - Irungbam Surkumar Singh (IND) 24' and Alberto Marcos Ramos (USC) 56' P

Indian team take early lead but they lost advantage in second half and team must be disappointed with result.

Tennis News
At $50K ITF Lexington Women's Tournament, KY, USA

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Meng Yuan (CHN,195) 61 46 64

[F] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs (1) Julie Coin (FRA,63)

I m confused as Sania is skipping Standford tournament stating injury but here she is in the final ... After winning first set easily Yuan tried fight back and won second set ... But this time Sania didn't in mood of losing against her and won third set to grab place in the final ... So frankly in the final Sania is facing her first real test against top-65 player.
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Badminton News
At $50K Australian Open Grand Prix, Victoria, Melbourne

Finals
(1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (2) Teik Chai Gan (MAS)/ Bin Shen Tan (MAS) 13-21 11-21
(3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) l Chia Chi Huang (AUS)/ He Tian Tang (AUS) 13-21 9-21

And our both pairs lost their finals tamely against Asian opponents.

Tennis News

Sania withdrew from next week's Standford WTA tournament where she recieved wildcard stating injury ... That's shocking considering yesterday she played match at ITF Lexington tournament ... Is that means end of US hard court season for her? I m speechless after listening this news.
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At $630.5K LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, USA

[Q1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,127) vs Andrea Stoppini (ITA,188)
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,264) vs (3) Santiago Giraldo (COL,131)

Both having tough first round matches but that is expected in ATP tournament ... Prakash can fancy his chances against Giraldo as Colambian like more to play on clay ... Other hand Stoppini currently playing best game of his career as recently he reached final qualifying round of Wimbledon but Somi is also coming back to form ... Interesting match.

Tennis News
At $50K ITF Lexington Women's Tournament, KY, USA

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA,193) 5-2 Retd

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs Meng Yuan (CHN,195)

Sania had easy passage to semis as Lee-Waters retired from quarter-final match in the first set ... In semis Sania is facing Chinese opponent Meng Yuan with whom she doesn't have good record ... Sania defeated her in 2003 $10K Jakarta futures, 76(9) 62 but lost next 2 meetings in WTA tournaments ... In 2005 Bangkok tournament Sania retired after losing first set 57 and last year at Los Angeles WTA tournament Sania lost 46 36 ... Hopefully this time Sania change result.
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Badminton News
At $50K Australian Open Grand Prix, Victoria, Melbourne

[SF] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (4) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) 21-14 21-13
[SF] (3) Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) l (2) Teik Chai Gan (MAS)/ Bin Shen Tan (MAS) 19-21 10-21

[SF] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt (1) Danielle Barry (NZL)/ Donna Haliday (NZL) 21-15 21-12
[SF] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) l Chia Chi Huang (AUS)/ He Tian Tang (AUS) 18-21 21-23

Rupesh and Sanave played like top-seed pair to beat fellow Indian pair easily ... In second mens semi-final Akshay and Jishnu fought well against 2nd seed Malayasian pair but in second game Malayasian pair didn't give any chance to them.

In womens doubles our 3rd seed pair Aparna and Shruti scored very easy upset victory over top-seed All Blacks pair to moved into final but our other Indian pair couldn't manage to repeat their senior pair's performance.

Badminton News
At $50K Australian Open Grand Prix, Victoria, Melbourne

[R2] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Vincent Choo (AUS)/ Andrew Harvey (AUS) 21-11 21-5
[R2] (4) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bt Oliver Leydon-Davis (NZL)/ Henry Tam (NZL) 21-14 21-18
[R2] (3) Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bt Brendan Chu (AUS)/ Nathan David (AUS) 21-10 21-15

[R2] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE)/ Kristina Ludikova (CZE) 21-14 19-21 23-21
[R2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) l Emma Chapple (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL) W/O
[R2] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) bt (4) Amanda Brown (NZL)/ Susannah Leydon-Davis (NZL) 21-14 21-7

[QF] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Joel Findlay (AUS)/ Hung Pham (AUS) 21-7 21-12
[QF] (4) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bt Steven Goh (AUS)/ Tran Hoang Pham (AUS) 21-12 21-17
[QF] (3) Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bt Ben Mccarthy (AUS)/ Raj Veeran (AUS) 21-18 22-20

[QF] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Eugenia Tanaka (AUS)/ Kate Wilson-Smith (AUS) 21-11 21-11
[QF] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) bt Emma Chapple (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL) 21-13 21-9

[QF] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) l (1) Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama (HKG)/ Hoi Wah Chau (HKG) 4-21 11-21

[QF] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) l (1) Yan Kit Chan (HKG,10) 17-21 18-21
[QF] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) l Alamsyah Yunus (INA,111) 13-21 9-21
[QF] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) l (4) Anita Raj Kaur (MAS,94) 21-18 8-21 4-21

[SF] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (4) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND)
[SF] (3) Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) vs (2) Teik Chai Gan (MAS)/ Bin Shen Tan (MAS)

[SF] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs (1) Danielle Barry (NZL)/ Donna Haliday (NZL)
[SF] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) vs Chia Chi Huang (AUS)/ He Tian Tang (AUS)

Our singles challenge got over in quarters bu in doubles our 5 pair reached in semis.

Tennis News
At $50K ITF Lexington Women's Tournament, KY, USA

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Maria-Fernanda Alvarez-Teran (BOL,254) 64 63
[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Tetiana Luzhanska (UKR,236) 64 76(3)

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA,193)

Sania started on expected note in this ITF $50K tournament to reach quarters ... She won her first 2 round matches but rustiness was shown in her game as Ukraniean managed to take last set to tie-break ... Positive from these matches that she played two matches in a day without any injury scare.
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At $600K Indianapolis Tennis Championships, USA

[R2] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,108) l (3) Sam Querrey (USA,37) 57 36

Doubles
[QF] (4) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Rik De Voest (RSA) l Benjamin Becker (GER)/ Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 46 16

Sam Querrey revenged his Newport loss .. At 5-6 in first set Rajeev take injury break for calf injury and then his game was hampered by this injury ... Rajeev also lost his doubles match.

Badminton News
At $50K Australian Open Grand Prix, Victoria, Melbourne

[R1] Trupti Murgunde (IND,126) l (3) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,60) 15-21 12-21
[R1] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) bt (Q) Louisa Ma (AUS,UNR) 20-22 21-13 21-11

[R2] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) bt Leisha Cooper (AUS,169) 21-18 21-17

[R3] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) bt Nicholas Jinadasa (USA,348) 21-7 21-17
[R3] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) bt James Eunson (NZL,182) 21-12 21-14

[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) 7-21 23-21 21-19
[R2] Jishnu Sanyal (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) l Benjamin Walklate (AUS)/ Kate Wilson-Smith (AUS) 14-21 7-21
[R2] (4) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l Yogendran Krishnan (MAS)/ Anita Raj Kaur (MAS) 21-13 18-21 19-21

[QF] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) vs (1) Yan Kit Chan (HKG,10)
[QF] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) vs Alamsyah Yunus (INA,111)
[QF] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) vs (4) Anita Raj Kaur (MAS,94)

[QF] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs (1) Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama (HKG)/ Hoi Wah Chau (HKG)

Aditya progressed to quarters with easy win, Anup also joined him ... Interesting to see how Anup perform against top 10 Hong Kong player in quarters ... Neha is also in quarters and in MXD only 1 team managed to reach quarter but facing top-seed pair.

Squash News
At World Games 2009, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

[R1] (8) Saurav Ghosal (IND,31) bye
[R1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,56) l (13) Julien Balbo (FRA,51) 2-11 21-23 6-11 (49m)
[R1] Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) bt (15) Sharon Wee (MAS,27) 13-15 15-13 11-13 11-3 11-6 (44m)

[R2] (8) Saurav Ghosal (IND,31) bt (9) Renan Lavigne (FRA,37) 11-7 11-3 11-5 (36m)
[R2] Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) l (1) Nicol David (MAS,1) 2-11 7-11 3-11 (19m)

[QF] (8) Saurav Ghosal (IND,31) l (1) Nick Matthew (ENG,5) 4-11 13-11 9-11 6-11 (61m)

These days Saurav is performing consistently and showing dominance over players below his ranking ... He lost in quarters after giving promising performance in 61 minutes match against world top-5 British player.

Joshna continued her recent dominance over Sharon Wee, though in very tight first 3 games, before losing to WR #1 Nicol David in second round.

Ritwik's struggle continued, he lost against almost similar ranked Frenchman in straight games.

Badminton News
At $50K Australian Open Grand Prix, Victoria, Melbourne

[R1] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) bt Le The Hung Pham (AUS,450) 21-14 21-14
[R1] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) bt Ashwant Gobinathan (AUS,UNR) 21-5 21-11
[R1] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Nathan David (AUS,UNR) 21-13 21-5
[R1] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) bt Jacky Wu (AUS,UNR) 21-12 21-7
[R1] Aditya Elango (IND,326) bt Vincent Choo (AUS,UNR) 21-8 21-13

[R2] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) bt Zulfadli Zulkiffli (MAS,275) 21-17 21-18
[R2] Gurusaidatt R.M.V. (IND,98) l Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (INA,74) 14-21 19-21
[R2] (7) Anand Pawar (IND,46) l Alamsyah Yunus (INA,111) 17-21 21-19 14-21
[R2] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) bt (3) Tsuen Seng Lee (MAS,21) 19-21 19-21
[R2] Aditya Elango (IND,326) l (5) Brice Leverdez (FRA,41) 14-21 20-22

[R3] (6) Anup Sridhar (IND,45) vs Nicholas Jinadasa (USA,348)
[R3] Aditya Prakash (IND,311) vs James Eunson (NZL,182)

[R1] Trupti Murgunde (IND,126) vs (3) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,60)
[R1] (5) Neha Pandit (IND,73) vs (Q) Louisa Ma (AUS,UNR)

[R1] (1) Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bye
[R1] (4) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bye
[R1] (3) Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bye

[R1] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bye
[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) bye
[R1] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) bye

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bt (8) Kevin Dennerly-Minturn (NZL)/ Louise Mckenzie (NZL) 21-13 20-22 21-9
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) bt Chad Whitehead (AUS)/ Eugenia Tanaka (AUS) 21-9 21-23 21-17
[R1] Jishnu Sanyal (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) bt Asher Richardson (NZL)/ Melissa Yin (NZL) 21-12 21-18
[R1] (4) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) bt Bjorn Seguin (NZL)/ Angulo Deyanira (MEX) 21-10 21-17

[R2] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE)/ Kristina Ludikova (CZE)
[R2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) vs Emma Chapple (NZL)/ Stephanie Cheng (NZL)
[R2] Anjali Kalita (IND)/ Jyotshna Polavarapu (IND) vs (4) Amanda Brown (NZL)/ Susannah Leydon-Davis (NZL)

[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND)
[R2] Jishnu Sanyal (IND)/ Nitya Sosale (IND) vs Benjamin Walklate (AUS)/ Kate Wilson-Smith (AUS)
[R2] (4) Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) vs Yogendran Krishnan (MAS)/ Anita Raj Kaur (MAS)

Big Indian contingent is playing at Melbourne in Australian Open Grand Prix ... Many second string Indian players r getting chance but again disappointing start in mans singles for Anand Pawar, who had usual hit and miss day ... After expectedly winning first match easily he lost second match to lowly ranked Indonasian.

Other hand Aditya Prakash showed excellent performance beating top-25 and 3rd seed Malayasian in second round, he won match in straight games to scored biggest victory of his small career ... Anup Sridhar had comfortable start wining both matches in straight games.

Tennis News
At $450K Indianapolis Tennis Championships, USA

[R1] (WC) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l (4) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Rik De Voest (RSA) 26 46

Pair of Rajeev Ram and Rik De Voest was much tougher than expected for Harsh and David Martin.
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At $50K ITF Lexington Women's Tournament, KY, USA

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs Maria-Fernanda Alvarez-Teran (BOL,254)

Sania is playing $50K ITF tournament after almost 5 years ... Last time she particiapted in $50K Palm Beach Gardens tournament in November 2004, at that time she lost to Bulgarian Sessil Karatantcheva in the final.

This $50K tournament will give her required match practice before grueling US hardcourt season.

Tennis News
At $450K Indianapolis Tennis Championships, USA

[R1] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,108) bt (WC) Devin Britton (USA,1381) 63 75

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l (4) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Rik De Voest (RSA)

Somdev missed qualifying of Indianapolis Tennis Championships due to reaching semis at Aptos challenger, so this week he is having forced break from tour.

Other hand Harsh recieved wildcard of Indianapolis Tennis Championships doubles with last year's finalist David Martin, with whom he reaches semis of Aptos challenger and they r planned to play together for few more weeks ... But they r having tough challenge of 4th seed Rajeev and Rik De Voest.

Rajeev continued with his winning form on tour, in first round he defeated current NCAA champion, first American NCAA champion from 2000, Devin Britton.

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[SF] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) l (7) Chris Guccione (AUS,137) 26 16

Doubles
[SF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l (3) Carsten Ball (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS) 36 36

Guccione turned tough cookie to break as he won his singles and doubles very easily ... In singles he didn't give Somi any chance and literally crushed him ... In doubles also Harsh and his partner couldn't produce much fight against Aussie pair.

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[QF] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) bt Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,246) 64 62

[SF] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) vs (7) Chris Guccione (AUS,137)

Somi continued with his find golden run ... He scored expected easy win against South African and niow facing Australian Guccione in semis.
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At $35+K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) l (2) Colin Fleming (GBR)/ Ken Skupski (GBR) 36 76(3) (6)10

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[QF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) bt Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) 63 62

[SF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs (3) Carsten Ball (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS)

Another easy victory for 2nd seed Harsh and David Martin in quarter-final ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Australian pair.
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Golf News
At the 138th Open Championship, Ailsa Course, Turnberry - Second Round

T127 Gaganjeet Bhullar 71 77

Today luck deserted for Gaganjeet ... Who carded a single birdie, 2 double bogeys and 4 bogeys in his +7 round .. So with that his first major participation was over as currently cut is around even and Gaganjeet is lying T127 with +8.

But Gaganjeet gave us snip of his golfing skill in this major and we r definitely going to hear more about him in future.

Tennis News
At $35+K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[R2] (5) Prakash Amritraj (IND,254) l Martin Fischer (AUT,212) 46 36

Doubles
[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Dustin Brown (JAM) l (4) Joshua Goodall (GBR)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) 36 57

This was unexpected loss for Kash considering he play well on grass ... In second set after 3rd game there was rain delay so I was expecting comeback performance from kash but that never happened and Kash lost in straight sets.

In doubles also partnering Brown he lost in straight sets against seeded British pair.
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Golf News
At the 138th Open Championship, Ailsa Course, Turnberry - First Round

T72 Gaganjeet Bhullar 71

Excellent comeback by Gaganjeet Bhullar, who was +4 after first 3 holes ... He must be nervous in the begining but Gaganjeet controlled his nerve well and played attacking golfing round which showed from 7 birdies, a triple bogey, a double bogey and 3 bogeys ... If tomorrow he manages to make cut then it would be a big achievement for 21 yrs old Bhullar ... And I think he will make the cut.

Gaganjeet having company like Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Darren Clarke, Colin Montgomerie etc at 1 over.

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R2] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) bt Alex Kuznetsov (USA,263) 61 63

[QF] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) vs Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,246)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) l (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 67(5) 46
[R1] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) bt Go Soeda (JPN)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA) 63 62

[QF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA)/ Samuel Groth (AUS)

Terrific performance against Kuznetsov who recently won Winnetka Challenger as an qualifier ... So playing at the Kennedy Funding Invitational gave him required boosting to perform well on tour.

Next he is facing South African Izak Van Der Merwe, they partnered in doubles and also he can be Davis Cup singles opponent in September ... Go Somi.

But he and Huey lost their doubles match against top-seed Ratiwatanas ... But Harsh and David Martin had solid start with win against experienced Asian pair.

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA,368) 76(7) 62

[R2] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) vs Alex Kuznetsov (USA,263)

And in third try Somi managed to overcome challenge of Lester Cook ... Good to see that after winning first set in tie-break he dominated second ... So this is good positive start for Som in US hard court season ... In second round he is facing another American, Alex Kuznetsov.

Match against Kuznetsov is tricky one for Somi as Kuznetsov is on comeback trail ... He recently won Winnetka Challenger as an qualifier beating quality players like Rajeev Ram, Todd Widom and Kristian Pless.
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At $35+K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] (5) Prakash Amritraj (IND,254) bt Chris Eaton (GBR,519) 46 63 64

[R2] (5) Prakash Amritraj (IND,254) vs Martin Fischer (AUT,212)

Doubles
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Dustin Brown (JAM) bt Brydan Klein (AUS)/ Robert Smeets (AUS) 62 57 10(4)
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) bt (Q) Jean-Noel Insausti (FRA)/ Alexandre Renard (FRA) 62 16 10(7)

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Dustin Brown (JAM) vs (4) Joshua Goodall (GBR)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR)

Good comeback victory by Kash against tricky local opponent ... This was tricky match for Kash as before this they both played in 2008 at Delhi Challenger and at that time Kash lost his match against Chris Eaton, 67(5) 16.

Prakash and Dustin made winning start in doubles against solid Australian pair ... Purav with his French partner also started with win against French pair.

Tennis News
At $75K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,135) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA,368)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[R1] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Go Soeda (JPN)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA)

At Aptos Challenger Somi is facing Lester Cook, against him he lost his all previouse matches ... In 2008 he lost at Champaign Challenger qualifying, 36 46 and this year he lost at Baton Rouge Challenger in round of 16, 67(5) 57 ... I m really hoping this week Buji will turned table on Cook.

Edited - Buji is playing doubles with his college partner Huey ... They r facing top-seed Ratiwatana brothers in first round and I think Buji and Huey will start with upset win.
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At $35+K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] (5) Prakash Amritraj (IND,254) vs Chris Eaton (GBR,519)

Doubles
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Dustin Brown (JAM) vs Brydan Klein (AUS)/ Robert Smeets (AUS) 62 5-6
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) vs (Q) Jean-Noel Insausti (FRA)/ Alexandre Renard (FRA)

This week also Kash is defending 28 ranking points ... Yesterday his doubles match didn't completed due to bad light, which he was leading with Dustin Brown.
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Swimming News

Yesterday in German Swimming Championships at Berlin, Veer won silver in the 50m butterfly with 24.28 secs but missed out the gold by a onehundredth of a second ... He also narrowly missed bettering his own national record of 24.25 secs which he set at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune.

Squash News
At $16K NSC Series #6 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
[F] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) bt (3) Low Wee Wern (MAS,38) 6-11 7-11 11-8 11-5 17-15 (51m)

[SF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) bt (2) Sharon Wee (MAS,26) 11-6 8-11 14-16 11-8 11-8 (47m)
[QF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) bt (5) Miranda Ranieri (CAN,50) 11-8 13-11 11-9 (28m)
[R1] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,41) bt Lotte Eriksen (NOR,72) w/o

Joshna produced a superb fightback from two games down to Malaysian Low Wee Wern, to win fifth game 16-14 ... This victory was Chinappa's third WISPA title, both her previous title wins coming in NSC series events last year.

Joshna Chinappa - "It was a tough match and I had to play well to fight back from two games down. I feel I am mentally fitter and stronger now. On a personal note I would like to thank my coaches at ISA -- Major Maniam and Cyrus Poncha, the Mittal Trust, the boys and girls who train with me at the academy and my parents for all their support. Now I want to maintain my winning run to break into the top 20 WISPA rankings soon."
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Swimming News

Our 3 swimmers, Virdhawal Khade, Sandeep Sejwal and J. Agnishwar, r preparing and participating European tournaments for 13th FINA World Championships, Roma, Italy, which will be starting from 18th July 2009.

Last week they participated in German Swimming Championships at Berlin ... In that Veer and Sandeep showed they r in good touch ... Sandeep again bettered 50 mtrs breaststroke national record, which he did couple of weeks back at French Championships, 28.77 secs ... Sandeep won Silver medal with 28.65 secs.

Veer won Gold medal in 50 mtrs free-style with 22.96 secs ... After long break veer was back under 23 secs though it was slower than his 22.68 secs national record.

Tennis News
At 4th The Kennedy Funding Invitational 2009, New York

[F] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) l John Isner (USA,96) 63 46 26

Somdev couldn't repeat last year's title win ... He started well against Isner winning first set but after that Isner take control of the match ... Isner methodically dominated match after first set ... In third set he dominated Som and break his serve twice.

But Som will be happy with his performance as currently he was struggling with his form ... He was low on confidence in his recent matches so there is lot of positives for Som taking from this week's performance.
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At $442.5K Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA
[F] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt (3) Sam Querrey (USA,39) 67(3) 75 63

Doubles
[F] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Michael Kohlmann (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 67(6) 76(7) 10(6)

Rajeev Ram won his first ATP World tour singles title becoming the first lucky loser to lift the trophy in the grass-court tournament’s history ... This was dream week for Rajeev as he completed double crown winning doubles title with Jordan Kerr ... Middle of week matches were cancelled due to rain, that time Rajeev played 4 matches in a day, 2 matches stretched to fullest and he won all 4 of them ... He was deserving title winner ... As per report in the final also he dominated match, he was unlucky to lose first set but still he comeback strongly to captured his first ATP singles title.

With this title win Rajeev moved to his personal best singles ranking #108.
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At $15K India F6 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Final
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 64 62

Vishnu won his first futures title defeating Rohan easily in the final ... Rohan must be tired after his singles semi-final win against Japanese top-seed and that showed in the match ... But that didn't lessen Vishnu's title win as recently Vishnu showing consistency in his game and winning his all matches against other Indian players with exception of Yuki ... So well deserving title for his and with that he won double crown in this futures.

Tennis News
At 4th The Kennedy Funding Invitational 2009, New York

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) bt Wayne Odesnik (USA,106) 36 64 75

[F] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) vs John Isner (USA,96)

Somdev produced excellent comeback win to reached 3rd final in a row at his favorite venue of the Kennedy Funding Invitational ... After Odesnik won first set Som showed his never die attitude and fought until end to scripted exciting victory ... This close win will helped Somi to increase his confidence as currently he is struggling on tour with low of confidence.

In the final he is facing his old foe on court but very good friend outside the court, John Isner ... Both r facing eachother first time after their epic NCAA final in 2007 ... This match can give us good picture of Somi's game after a year on tour.
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At $442.5K Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R2] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,159) l (3) Sam Querrey (USA,39) 76(7) 36 26
[R2] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt (Q) Samuel Groth (AUS,266) 64 62

[QF] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt Jesse Levine (USA,) 57 62 76(3)
[SF] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt Olivier Rochus (BEL,) 63 64

[F] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) vs (3) Sam Querrey (USA,39)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Arnaud Clement (FRA)/ Olivier Rochus (BEL) 26 64 11(9)
[QF] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/ Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 62 62
[SF] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Sebastian Prieto (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 76(5) 76(6)

[F] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Michael Kohlmann (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED)

Prakash couldn't repeat last year's performance where he reached final at Newport ... He started well against Sam Querrey winning tight first set in tie-break but once Prakash lost his serve in first game in second set, Sam didn't give him chance of fight back in the match.

But Rajeev Ram having excellent run at Newport ... Jesse Levine tested him in quarter-final but he scored comeback victory ... Rajeev is in his first singles final and he is also in doubles final with Australian Jordan Kerr.
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At $15K India F6 Futures, New Delhi

Semi Finals
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (1) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 64 46 76(5)
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (5) Divij SHARAN (IND) 46 63 61

Doubles Final
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (3) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)/ Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 63 64

Rohan scored another upset win, this time over Japanese top-seed in closely fought match for 2nd final in 2 weeks ... Vishnu also had tricky match against his doubles partner which he won after losing first set.

Vishnu and Divij won their second doubles title in 2 weeks ... Tomorrow in singloes final both Vishnu and Rohan will try for their first futures title.

Tennis News
At 4th The Kennedy Funding Invitational 2009, New York

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) bye
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) bt Todd Widom (USA,211) 76 75

This is 3 years in a row that Somi is participating in this the Kennedy Funding Invitational ... Last year he won this title beating players like Sam Querrey, Robert Kendrick and Dudi Sela ... This year also he started his title defense in tight striaght sets victory over Todd Widom to move into semis.
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At $442.5K Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R1] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt (Q) Alejandro Falla (COL,168) 64 75
[R2] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) vs (Q) Samuel Groth (AUS,266)

Good to see Rajeev taking advantage of weak draw.

Tennis News
At $15K India F6 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 63 63
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (3) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR) 60 63
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND) bt (4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) 61 46 62
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (8) Purav RAJA (IND) 67(8) 63 75

Doubles Semi Finals
(3) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)/ Ashutosh SINGH (IND) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) 63 64
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Maniel BAINS (GBR)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 75 61

And Divij DID it!!! At last another Indian found current hottest on form Yuki's number ... Happy to see that Divij pulled this victory as this is Divij's best performance after coming out of injury.

Purav also stretched Vishnu to fullest but couldn't convert it in victory but I like the way Rohan crushed Korean Nam ... So Rohan is on way for another final in 2 weeks but before that he need to take care top-seed in semis ... In other final doubles partner facing eachother for place in the final.

Tennis News
At $15K India F6 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Second Round
(1) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 63 64
(7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Ronak MANUJA (IND) 61 76(8)
(3) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR) bt (Q) Karunuday SINGH (IND) 61 76(2)
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (Q) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) 63 63
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND) bt (Q) Mithun MURALI (IND) 63 63
(4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Tal EROS (ISR) 62 26 63
(8) Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Vikram REDDY B (IND) 63 62
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 75 63

Doubles Quarter Finals
Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) bt (1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) 36 63 11(9)
(3) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)/ Ashutosh SINGH (IND) bt Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 75 63
Maniel BAINS (GBR)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND)/ Vikram REDDY B (IND) 76(6) 63
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 76(5) 64

These days Yuki losing a set in Indian futures is big news ... Today Israeli qualifier stretched him to 3 sets ... Otherwise all seeded player won their matches.

Tennis News
At $442.5K Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[Q3] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) l (7) Ricardo Mello (BRA,204) ?

[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,159) bt Danai Udomchoke (THA,110) 61 64
[R1] (LL) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) vs (Q) Alejandro Falla (COL,168)

Good easy winning start for Prakash at Hall Of Fame tournament ... Rajeev lost his final qualifying match but he is entering as lucky loser as top seed Marty Fish is replacing Andy Roddick for Davis Cup tie on this weekend.
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At $50K Grapevine ITF Womens Tournament, Texas, USA

[Q1] (6) Shikha UBEROI (IND,489) l Macall HARKINS (USA,UNR) 63 36 67(6)

Doubles
[R1] Shikha UBEROI (IND)/ Audra COHEN (USA) l (1) Yi CHEN (TPE)/ Mashona WASHINGTON (USA) 26 36

Disappointing performance in singles qualifying and in doubles they faced same opponents with whom they lost last week ... This week also same result repeated.

Tennis News
At $442.5K Hall Of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[Q1] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bye
[Q2] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) bt Nick Lindahl (AUS,293) 64 63

[Q3] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA,181) vs (7) Ricardo Mello (BRA,204)

[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,159) vs Danai Udomchoke (THA,110)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Arnaud Clement (FRA)/ Olivier Rochus (BEL)

Prakash recieved wildcard but having tough task to repeat last year's performance where he reached final last year ... If he manages to win first round then he can face 3rd seed American Sam Querry in second round.
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At $15K India F6 Futures, New Delhi

Singles First Round
(1) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 76(0)
Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND) 62 63
Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt (Q) Pulkit MISHRA (IND) 64 76(4)
(7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 36 63 61
(3) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR) bt (PR) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) 62 16 63
(Q) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 61 64
(Q) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) bt (Q) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) 76(0) 1-0 Retd
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (Q) Nikunj SIWACH (IND) 63 1-2 Retd
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND) bt Maniel BAINS (GBR) 64 61
(Q) Mithun MURALI (IND) bt (WC) Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) 64 62
(Q) Tal EROS (ISR) bt N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 16 67(5) 2-1 Retd
(4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (LL) Nihal KAPOOR (IND) 62 60
(8) Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 63 62
(WC) Vikram REDDY B (IND) bt (WC) Chandril SOOD (IND) 62 62
Ashutosh SINGH (IND) bt (Q) Ankit SACHDEVA (IND) 61 61
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Rohan GIDE (IND) 63 62

Doubles First Round
(1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt David BAXENDINE (GBR)/ Nikunj SIWACH (IND) 63 62
Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) bt (WC) Saurav SUKUL (IND)/ Varun WALIA (IND) 75 64
(3) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)/ Ashutosh SINGH (IND) bt Mithun MURALI (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 63 76(8)
Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt (WC) Prateek BHAMBRI (IND)/ Vedant KAPOOR (IND) 62 64
Maniel BAINS (GBR)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 62 76(5)
Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND)/ Vikram REDDY B (IND) bt (4) Tushar LIBERHAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 63 61
Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) bt (WC) Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) 75 63
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 63 75

All expected results with Karunuday's good upset win ... Also Aditya tried fight back against seeded Korean player that's good sign showing he is getting back where he left ... Again Yuki and Vishnu can face eachother in semis, tough luck as currently both looks best 2 players in this ongoing futures.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,
MXD Final
(1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (9) Mark Knowles (BAH)/ Anne-Lena Groenefeld (GER) 57 36

Lee and Cara started well from 2-all they broke opponent's serve twice to lead 5-2 and had set point on Cara's serve but from there suddenly their game nosedived ... They were making many errors, missing simple volleys and also had poor serves ... Mark and Anna proceeded to win next eight games of the match to secure final outcome of the match ... They won second set more easily to lift Wimbledo MXD title ... This was Mark's first Wimbledon title in 18 yrs career.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

MXD
[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (12) Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) 64 64

[F] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (9) Mark Knowles (BAH)/ Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)

Another clinical display by Lee and Cara, they started slowly as Lee lost his serve in 2nd game and Lee/ Cara found themselves 0-3 down but from here Lee/ Cara turned tide on their opponent and won next 5 games ... After winning first set they played solidly and won second set with single break ... In final they r facing 9th seed pair Knowles and Groenefeld.
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At $15K India F5 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Final
(4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,650) bt (6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,718) 62 76(6)

And expected win for Yuki ... He won first set easily but Rohan stretched him to tie-break ... But Yuki lifted 3rd futures title with winning tie-break.

Tennis News
At $15K India F5 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Semi Finals
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,718) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND,1297) 63 75
(4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,650) bt (2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,595) 63 46 76(4)

Doubles Final
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) 61 75

Expected results but like the way Vishnu fought after losing first set ... Last set tie-break means few points here and there ... Also after that long singles match Vishnu came back on court to lift doubles title with Divij.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

MXD
[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (11) Andre Sa (BRA)/ Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 63 63

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (12) Stephen Huss (AUS)/ Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)

Clinical display by Lee and Cara in 68 minutes match ... They broke opponents serve 3 times in 5 chances other hand saved all 6 break point chances on their own serve ... Today in semis they r facing pair of Huss and Ruano Pascual.
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At $50K Boston ITF Womens Tournament, MA, USA

[QF] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Audra Cohen (USA) l (1) Yi Chen (TPE)/ Mashona Washington (USA) 67(6) 46

Shikha and Audra tried but couldn't overcome top seed pair.
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At $15K India F5 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Quarter Finals
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,718) bt (1) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN,462) 46 76(3) 63
Ashutosh SINGH (IND,1297) bt (7) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,770) 46 64 76(3)
(4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,650) bt (5) Divij SHARAN (IND,694) 62 64
(2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,595) bt (8) Rupesh ROY (IND,798) 62 76(7)

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (3) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)/ Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 76(6) 36 10(6)
(2) Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 62

Rohan scored upset comeback victory over top-seed Japanese, so that guranteed all Indian semi-final line up.

Tennis News
At the Wimbledon 2009,

[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (9) Wesley Moodie (RSA)/ Dick Norman (BEL) 67(9) 64 67(7) 75 46

Boys Doubles
[R1] Mitchell Frank (USA)/ Sudanwa Sitaram (IND) l (2) Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 16 26

As expected Mahesh and Markdoubles quarter-final was marathon match, which lasted for 3 hours and 37 minutes ... Both pairs had big serve so very few service breaks happened in the match ... After Moodie and Norman won first set in tie-break Mahesh and Mark won second set with single break of serve ... Again Moodie and Norman won third set on tie-break, this time also Mahesh and Mark won close fourth set with single break of serve ... Mahehs and Mark only lost their serve in fifth set when Mahesh played loose first game and that was enough for Moodie and Norman to won set and match.
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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, USA

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scoville Jenkins (USA) l (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA) 57 64 (7)10

Good fighting performance by Harsh and his partner against 3rd seed pair but lost in super tie-break.
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At $50K Boston ITF Womens Tournament, MA, USA

[R1] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Audra Cohen (USA) bt Brittany Augustine (USA)/ Jennifer Elie (USA) 62 57 14(12)

[QF] Shikha Uberoi (IND)/ Audra Cohen (USA) vs (1) Yi Chen (TPE)/ Mashona Washington (USA)

Shikha and her partner won first round match in tight super tie-break, next they r facing top-seed Pair.
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At $15K India F5 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Second Round
(1) TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN) bt (WC) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) 76(5) 64
(6) GAJJAR Rohan (IND) bt REDDY B Vikram (IND) 60 62
SINGH Ashutosh (IND) bt (3) NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR) 36 63 62
(7) VIRALI-MURUGESAN Ranjit (IND) bt PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR Vignesh (IND) 63 62
(5) SHARAN Divij (IND) bt RAJA Purav (IND) 76(1) 62
(4) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND) bt (Q) VIJAYRAGAVAN Ashwin (IND) 61 62
(8) ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (WC) MANUJA Ronak (IND) 64 62
(2) VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) bt (Q) KANNAN Vijay (IND) 64 63

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) GAJJAR (IND)/ RAJA (IND) bt KIRRTANE (IND)/ MANUJA (IND) 36 64 13(11)
(3) SHOKEEN (IND)/ SINGH (IND) bt BAXENDINE (GBR)/ KANNAN (IND) 64 61
MALIK (IND)/ SINGH (IND) bt (4) MURALI (IND)/ PRASHANTH (IND) 64 46 11(9)
(2) SHARAN (IND)/ VARDHAN (IND) bt NARAYANASWAMY (IND)/ PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 61 63

Ashutosh scored upset win over 3rd seed Nam, so now only top-seed Japanese is only non-Indian in singles and doubles draw.