Monday, August 31, 2009

Badminton News
At $170K the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold 2009,

Final
V. Diju (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Hendra Arpida Gunawan (INA)/ Vita Marissa (INA) 24-22, 21-18

[SF] V. Diju (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS) 21-11 17-21 24-22
before that,
V. Diju (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Hong-Ling Chen (TPE)/ Pie Chen Hsien (TPE) 25-23 21-15

Diju and Jwala won Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold tournament ... This was the first time any Indian pair winning such high status tournament ... The GP Gold is just one level below the Super Series tournament and the title victory at the Chinese Taipei GP Gold is certainly the best-ever result in Indian doubles badminton.

Diju and Jwala lost against same Indonesian WR #4 pair, Hendra Arpida Gunawan and Vita Marissa, at Hyderabad in World Championship quarter-final ... So this win was big revenge for them ... Diju and Jwala take early lead in first game 15-7 but Indonesian pair fought back to 14-17 ... Then Indonesian pair also grabbed game point at 21-22 but Diju and Jwala play coolly to won next 3 points to win first game ... In second game Indonesian pair started well and take early lead of 5-11 but this time Diju and Jwala played excellent game ... They lost only 7 more points to Indonesian pair in this game to won match and their first major title ... In this match they avoided their regular attacking game and played long rallies ... Other hand Indonesian pair made numerous unforced errors when they tried to finish points.


Jwala Gutta - “We are delighted at the way things are going on now. I believe that at least now people will take note of what we have achieved and have faith in what we can achieve. Our immediate target is to break into the top five at the earliest. When we beat the reigning world champions Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir in the Asian circuit recently, there were many who thought it was a flash in the pan. But, we decided to just focus on the game and let our performances speak for us.”
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Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Boys Youth Volleyball World Championship, Jesolo - Bassano del Grappa, Italy

Group D
Brazil bt Poland 25-21 25-23 24-26 25-19
India l Russia 20-25 18-25 13-25

Very one sided loss, our team couldn't produce any fight to Russian side ... So now here are the quarterfinal pools, We r in Pool E with host Italy, Argentina and Serbia and in Pool F Russia, Spain, Iran and Tunisia.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Motorsport News
At 2009 Formula 1 Spa Race, Belgium - Race Result
From FormulaF1.com
Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella secured podium position finishing second behind Kimi Raikkonen ... Amazing day for Force India as this was not only their first podium finish but also first incident when they r grabbed championship points!!!

At 2009 Formula 1 Spa Race, Belgium - Top 8

1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 44 1:23:50.995
2 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 44 +0.9 secs
3 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 44 +3.8 secs
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 44 +9.9 secs
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 44 +11.2 secs
6 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 44 +32.7 secs
7 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 44 +35.4 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 44 +36.2 secs

Kimi Raikkonen took his fourth Belgian Grand Prix win on Sunday, but the Ferrari driver was pushed all the way by Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella, who finished less than a second behind him.

Hamilton and Button went out of the race in first lap mishap ... Kimi take early lead and kept that through out the race but most importantly Fisi matched him and Force India matches Ferrari's strategy ... Special mentioned of Pit crew who were lightening fast in pit lane for pit stops and they relly helped Fisi to match Kimi on race track.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[Q3] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) bt Jerzy Janowicz (POL,229) 63 52

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devverman (IND,161) vs Frederico Gil (POR,110)
[R1] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,117) vs (Q) Josselin Ouanna (FRA,103)

As expected Somi take little time to win against teenage Polish opponent ... This will be Somi's first maindraw appearence in grandslam ... Before this Somi failed to qualify for all 3 grandslams ... He also becomes the first Indian to qualify for the US Open mens' singles main draw since 2002.

Buji playing Portugese Frederico Gil ... Who is similar player like Somi, who is also counter puncher so not a easy match for Somi ... This year Gil having victories over players like Lubicic, Almagro, Karlovic etc.
Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Boys Youth Volleyball World Championship, Jesolo - Bassano del Grappa, Italy

Group D
Russia bt Poland 25-20 25-23 21-25 25-11
India bt Brazil 19-25 25-23 20-25 26-24 15-12

This was huge win which I wasn't expected from our team ... After losing first set they fought well winning next ... But Brazil won third set easily and had match point at 24-23 but Indian boys kept cool to won next 3 points to take it in 5th set ... In 5th set after early hiccup Indian boys kept upper hand to scored impressive win ... This was their second win in 2 matches so they also secure place in 2nd round of top teams ... Today they r facing Russia to decide who will top the group.
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Football News
Nehru Cup Football Tournament 2009, New Delhi, India

India l Syria 0-1

Goal Scored - Ali Dyab (SYR) 19'

Bob Hougton rested our 5 players from starting line-up but they failed to lift their game in absence of senior and we lost by a single goal ... Syria had chance to scored more but they couldn't finish ... More important goal scored in 19th minute when on free-kick Syrian defender Ali Dyab headed this goal.

Final will be repeat match between these two teams.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Motorsport News
At 2009 Formula 1 Spa Race, Belgium

In qualifying at Spa history is made as Vijay Mallya's Force India take their first pole position ... Before this race Force India didn't even qualify for Q3 in qualifying ... This is huge achievement from 2 yrs old Force India, this pole position will be huge boost to their plan for future progress.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished on top position ahead Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld ... Force India's Adrian Sutil finished on 11th place ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, Renault’s Fernando Alonso and Brawn GP’s Jenson Button, as they qualified on 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.

Hopefully Force India earn their first point tomorrow and I m hoping for podium finish ... Go Force India.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[Q3] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) vs Jerzy Janowicz (POL,229) 63 5-2 (15-all)

Match was suspended due to heavy rain when Somi was only 3 points away from making history ... They predicted rains for 2 days, hopefully Somi's match get finished on Saturday otherwise we need to wait until Sunday for final result.

In this final qulifying match Somi started well breaking Janowicz serve into second game ... Somi saved one break point on his serve in 5th game but otherwise both players hold their serve easily ... So with single break Smi won first set ... In second set Somi was on hurry and Take double break to lead 4-1 and at 5-2 match was stopped due to heavy rain when he was serving for the match.

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At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy (clay)

[SF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Frank Moser (GER) l Alessio Di Mauro (ITA)/ Simone Vagnozzi (ITA) 46 46

So Rohan and Frank lost against same pair who defeated Harsh and his Italian partner in first round ... Rohan and Franks were only seeded pair in the semis.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, New Delhi

Final
(2) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 64 63

In end very clinical performance by Yuki to lift another futures tite beating Vishnu ... Well done Yuki.
Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Boys Youth Volleyball World Championship, Jesolo - Bassano del Grappa, Italy

India is in tough Group D with Russia, Brazil and Poland ... Reaching top 8 big task for our boys.

Group D
Russia bt Brazil 25-22 25-23 25-23
India bt Poland 18-25 26-24 25-18 18-25 15-13

We started with close win against Poland but if u check stat Poland was better team on the court ... I think we were plain lucky to win this match ... Today we r facing tough challenge of Brazil.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[Q2] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) bt Igor Sijsling (NED,305) 63 67(6) 63

[Q3] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) vs Jerzy Janowicz (POL,229)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,71) vs Olga Govortsova (BEL,64)

Somdev started well breaking Sijsling's serve in 4th game and that single break was enough to win first set ... It looks Sijsling was matching Somi's game with duel from baseline ... He broke Somi's serve in 4th game and Somi was down 1-4 ... But Somi fought back and broke Sijsling's serve in 7th game .. Set was back on serve ... In tie-break Somi take minibreak in first point but afterwards Sijsling won 5 points on a row to gave himself 4 set points at 6-2 ... Somi saved all 4 set points to 6-all but again Sijsling won next point and grabbed 5th set point to take second set ... Sijsling was looking on roll as he broke Som's serve in first game but Somi roared back breaking Sijsling's serve in next game ... In 5th game Somi saved a break point on his serve and that turned to be turning point ... As in next game Somi broke Sijsling's serve to lead 4-2 and then hold serve easily to moved into final qualifying round ... In end match turned out to be very competitive than we expected ... Why I commented that Sijsling seems to having similar game as somdev's as in this match each players had hardly 3 or 4 unforced errors which is quite remarkable.

Next Somi is playing 18 yrs old Polish Jerzy Janowicz also known as 'next Ivo Karlovic' on tour, who looks talented with his steady rise in ranking and more importantly if we checks his losses which are 57 or 67 in third set ... So Somi need to play his A game against this talented youngster.

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At $50K Almaty Challenger, Kazakhstan

[QF] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt Rylan Rizza (USA)/ Jose (rubin) Statham (NZL) 64 62

[SF] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) l (2) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) 16 46

Purav and Sadik won their quarter-final match easily but they also lost their semis very easily against 2nd seed pair... But still good showing by Purav and Sadik in $50K challenger.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, New Delhi


Semi Finals
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (3) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) 4-2 Retd
(2) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) 62 64

Vishnu overcome over Young-Jun Kim, who was on hot-streak winning 8 matches on a row in last 2 weeks, as he retired from the match ... Other hand Yuki scored easy straight sets victory over Australian Balakrishnan.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Tennis News
At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy


[QF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Frank Moser (GER) bt Jamie Delgado (GBR)/ James Murray (GBR) 63 63

Good solid win by Bops and Frank ... Last week they lost against same British pair easily, 16 46, so sweet revenge for them.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, New Delhi


Quarter Finals
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (7) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) 62 64
(3) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (8) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 62 64
Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) bt (Q) Jae-Won CHOI (KOR) 64 61
(2) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (5) Chris EATON (GBR) 76(5) 63

Vishnu kept his winning momentum to won quarters easily against Dutch player ... Yuki scored impressive straight sets win over experienced Brithisher Chris Eaton, who last year qualified for Wimbledon maindraw.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Football News
Nehru Cup Football Tournament 2009, New Delhi, India

India bt Sri Lanka 3-1

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (IND) 25', Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (IND) 69', Steven Benedic Dias (IND) 85' and Well Don Rohana Dinesh Ruwanthilake (SRI) 62'

And Indians did!!! Job well done by our boys ... Again Bhaichung played excellent match today also he opened Indian account ... But Lankan boys fought back and they equalled after an hour mark ... Then Indian floodgate open and Indian scored 2 goals to complete easy victory ... They almost secure their place in the final against Syria.
Tennis News
At $50K Almaty Challenger, Kazakhstan

[R1] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt (WC) Dmitriy Borodkin (KAZ)/ Stanislav Bykov (KAZ) 61 61

[QF] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs Rylan Rizza (USA)/ Jose (rubin) Statham (NZL)

So as expected easy victory against local wildcard pair for Purav and Sadik ... In quarters they r facing American- All Black pair.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, New Delhi

Second Round
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND) 64 62
(7) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) bt Johnny ARCILLA (PHI) 60 62
(3) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt Rupesh ROY (IND) 60 61
(8) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Seung-Jae LEE (KOR) 63 46 76(8)
(Q) Jae-Won CHOI (KOR) bt (6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 63 26 64
Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 63 63
(5) Chris EATON (GBR) bt Kyle BRASSINGTON (GBR) 62 62
(2) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Shane LA PORTE (USA) 62 1-0 Retd

Only 3 Indians remaining into nthe quarters ... I was expecting win from Rohan and Vivek ... Karan and Rohan lost in doubles quarter-final against British pair.
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At $10K ITF Tournament, Nothanburi, Thailand

[R2] (5) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,416) l Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB,631) 36 46

Though Albina Khabibulina is very talented 17 yrs old still Poojashree needed to win these matches to improve her game and move up her ranking.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,253) l (31) Alejandro Falla (COL,159) 67(5) 64 36
[Q1] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) bt (16) Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA,133) 63 63

[Q2] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) vs Igor Sijsling (NED,305)

In first set until 3-all both players hold their serves ... Somi broken Bogy's serve in 7th game then hold his serve and again broke Bogy's serve to won first set ... In second set Somi started well breaking Bogy's serve in 2nd and 4th games to lead 4-0 ... Bogy broke Somi's serve in 5th game to make score 4-1 and tried fight back but after that Somi didn't give any chance to Bogy and hold his next service games easily to won match in straight sets.

From 3-all in first set Buji won 7 games on a row to take control of the match ... Clinical performance by Somi in which he broke his opponent 4/4, twice in each set to win matchin 75 minutes

I think Sijsling is an alternate payer who must taken Canas' spot, who most probably had 'no show' status at US Open qualifying.

Kash was early break down, he fought back breaking Falla's serve and taking set to tie-break ... But their he lost crucial points to lose set ... In second set Kash was break down to 1-4 but then he won next 5 games to won second set and I thought Kash's comeback ... But my excitement was for short period as again Kash found break down at 1-3 and that break was enough for Fella and he won set and match with 6-3 final set score.

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At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy


[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Alessandro Motti (ITA) l Alessio Di Mauro (ITA)/ Simone Vagnozzi (ITA) 46 46
[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Frank Moser (GER) bt Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 63 64

Bad start for Harsh's 3 weeks Europe tour ... Next 2 weeks Harsh will be playing with Somi's college partner, Treat Huey ... Rohan and Frank started with comfortable first round win.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[Q1] Somdev Devverman (IND,161) vs (16) Alex Bogomolov Jr (USA,133)
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,253) vs (31) Alejandro Falla (COL,159)

Our both players aren't seeded in US Open qualifying draw becoz they failed to defend ranking points which they accumulated last year ... But still decent draw for them ... If Somi wins his first qualifying round match then he can meet former top-10 Argentine Guillermo Canas in second qualifying round ... Tough match-up but if player want to move up on ladder then he need to beat these type of players.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, New Delhi

First Round
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 75 63
Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt (Q) Yannick NELORD (IND) 63 63
Johnny ARCILLA (PHI) bt (Q) Yew-Ming SI (MAS) 46 75 61
(7) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 75 63
(3) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt Sean THORNLEY (GBR) 61 63
Rupesh ROY (IND) bt (WC) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 06 76(5) 6-6 Retd
Seung-Jae LEE (KOR) bt (Q) Seong-Yoon CHUNG (KOR) 62 62
(8) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (Q) Hyun-Soo LIM (KOR) 61 60
(6) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (Q) Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) 64 62
(Q) Jae-Won CHOI (KOR) bt (Q) Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 75 64
Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) bt Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE) 62 2-0 Retd
Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (4) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 63 64
(5) Chris EATON (GBR) bt (WC) Vidhan VYAS (IND) 63 60
Kyle BRASSINGTON (GBR) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 60 64
Shane LA PORTE (USA) bt (Q) Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) 57 61 63
(2) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Tim BRADSHAW (GBR) 75 64

Though expected start for Indian players in singles ... Interestingly Karan Rastogi is playing first tournament after long injury break due to shoulder surgery ... He is playing doubles with Rohan Gajjar ... They had easy winning start defeating 4th seed Dutch pair ... Vivek scored huge upset win over 4th seed Japanese opponent ... After winning first set easily Jeevan lost second set in tiebreak but in third at 6-all he retired ... He is struggling with his fitness and that's worrying considering his college stint ... I was expecting his fitness level high as he is playing at college.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Tennis News
At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy (clay)

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,509) l Carlos Berlocq (ARG,717) 46 67(6)

Doubles
[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Alessandro Motti (ITA) vs Alessio Di Mauro (ITA)/ Simone Vagnozzi (ITA)
[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Frank Moser (GER) vs Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT)

Rohan had a chance in this match ... In first set his service was broken in first game and that was a only break in first set ... In second set Rohan broke Berlocq's serve 4th game and was leading 4-1 but Berlocq broke back to 4-all ... In tie-break also Rohan was up 3-0 but again lose advantage and lost match ... Still creditable performance by Rohan, we need him with good match practice for our Davis cup tie against South Africa.
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At $50K Almaty Challenger, Kazakhstan

[R1] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs (WC) Dmitriy Borodkin (KAZ)/ Stanislav Bykov (KAZ)

Purav climbed to 225 in updated ranking but he is still well below his personal best rank #204 which he achieved in May 2009.

This week Purav is seeded at Kazak challenger with Sadik and they r facing local wildcard pair.
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At $10K ITF Tournament, Nothanburi, Thailand

[R1] (5) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,416) bt Natchanok SAENYAUKHOT (THA,980) 61 61
[R1] Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,796) l Nungnadda WANNASUK (THA,538) 26 06

Again expected winning start for Poojashree.
Football News
Nehru Cup Football Tournament 2009, New Delhi, India

India bt Kyrgyzstan 2-1

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (IND) 43', Sunil Chhetri (IND) 57' P and Murzaev Mirlan (KYR)

India scored victory against Kyrgyzstan and bounced back in contention for the final ... This was Bhaichung Bhutia's 100th match and he showed his class scoring one goal and setting up another goal ... After Bhutia scored in first-half, then Sunil scored on penalty when Bhaichung brought down in by Kyrgyz goal-keeper inside the box ... Indians dominated this match and our forwards were making tough time to Kyrgyz defence ... Overall inspiring performance by Indian side.
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Golf News
At Wyndham Championship, USA (PGA Tour)

T17 Jeev M. Singh 69 64 68 69 -10 $ 68,045.71
T54 Daniel Chopra 67 69 68 70 - 6 $ 11,960.00
----------Missed Cut ------------
Arjun Atwal 73 67

This was Jeev's best performance on PGA tour to finished inside top-20 ... His 6 under second round was his best round in US ... He failed to finish in top-10 but overall satisfying performance from him after coming out of injury.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Tennis News
At Cincinnati Masters, USA (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[SF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 46 36

Mahesh and Mark failed to repeat last week's performance against Nestor and Zimo ... They lost in straight sets without giving much fight.
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At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy (clay)

[Q1] Rohan Bopanna (IND,509) bt (4) Jaroslav Pospisil (CZE,349) 16 64 76(11)

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,509) vs Carlos Berlocq (ARG,717)

This is a big win for Rohan ... Truly terrific victory considering he is playing just 2nd tournament after his very long injury break ... Importantly this win was on clay against European player, Berlocq was top-75 player but he is also making comeback after long (more than a year) injury break.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Tennis News
At Cincinnati Masters, USA (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 76(6) 63

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

Mahesh and Mark saved 4 break point of 5 chances they faced and scored victory after winning close first set ... Second week straight they r facing Nestor and Zimo in Masters semis.
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At $35K+H Karshi Challanger, Uzbekistan

[F] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) bt Andis JUSKA (LAT)/ Deniss PAVLOVS (LAT) 63 76(4)

And at last Purav won his first challenger level doubles title partnering Sadik Kadir ... Congratulation to Purav and really wish this title win will give much needed push to his career to achieve more on tour.
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At $75+H Manerbio Challenger, Italy

[Q1] (4) Jaroslav Pospisil (CZE,349) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND,509)
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At $10K India F7 Futures, New Delhi

[F] (1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) l (2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) 36 67(3)

Vishnu wasn't in the match from start ... He was making too many unforced errors hitting balls out and his service wasn't working ... In second set he tried fightback and his game was matching to Kim but in tie-break he was up with mini-break at 2-1 and from there his game fall apart as he again made unforced errors on this crucial juncture of the match ... 29 yrs old experienced Kim take full advantage of lifting another futures title on Indian soil.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Badminton News
At Macau Grand Prix Gold 2009,

[QF] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) l (1) Chong Wei LEE (MAS,1) 10-21 14-21
[QF] (10) Arvind BHAT (IND,24) l (4) Choong Hann WONG (MAS,12) 19-21 21-18 6-21

Arvind's valiant effort in first 2 games blown away by Wong in third game ... After losing first game Arvind fought back winning second but in third he couldn't match Wong ... Chetan couldn't produce much fight against WR #1 Lee and lost in just 26 minutes.
Tennis News
At Cincinnati Masters, USA (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[R2] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlohy (CZE) l David Ferrer (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP) 26 46

Disappointing stuff from Lee and Lukas in this one-sided loss.
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At $35K+H Karshi Challanger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) bt (1) Pierre-Ludovic DUCLOS (CAN)/ Denys MOLCHANOV (UKR) 62 63
[SF] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) bt (4) Kaden HENSEL (AUS)/ Adam HUBBLE (AUS) 76(4) 64

[F] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) vs Andis JUSKA (LAT)/ Deniss PAVLOVS (LAT)

Really terrific run for Purav with impressive win over top-seed and 4th seed pairs ... This is his second doubles challenger final ... So this time Purav should lift title with Kadir beating Latvian pair.
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At $50K+H Trani Challanger, Italy (clay)

[QF] (1) Rohan BOPANNA (IND)/ Frank MOSER (GER) l Jamie Delgado (GBR)/ Jamie Murray 16 46

May be lack of match practice and still not 100% fit troubling Rohan ... He should keep playing more challengers in Europe to test his fitness and getting much needed match practice before important Davis Cup tie.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Semi Finals
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (5) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) 64 62
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (3) Chris EATON (GBR) 63 63

Good to see Vishnu keep dominating Indian circuit with his current form ... I feel he should graduate to next level (playing more challengers and $15K futures abroad) after finishing 3 weeks Indian futures to improve further and achieve more success in the future.
Boxing News
AIBA 1st World Ranking on 20th August 2009

Weight Categories

48 KG – Light Fly
5 Nanao Singh Thokchom 1400 pts

51 KG – Fly
14 Suranjoy Singh 800 pts

54 KG – Bantam
13 Jitender Kumar 837.5 pts

57 KG – Feather
9 Akhil Kumar 1050 pts
52 Anthresh Lalit Lakra 350 pts

60 KG – Light
25 Jai Bhagwan 700 pts

64 KG – Light Welter
52 Manoj Kumar 400 pts

69 KG – Welter
28 Dilbag Singh 550 pts

75 KG – Middle
2 Vijender Singh 2000 pts

81 KG – Light Heavy
7 Dinesh Kumar 1050 pts

91 KG – Heavy
35 Manpreet Singh 450 pts

+91 KG – Super Heavy
38 Parveen Kumar 450 pts

AIBA has declared an official international men's world ranking for the first time in its history and as expected many Olympic medalists from Beijing featuring prominently in the 11 weight categories.

India's 4 boxers r in top 10 ... Vijender leading with #2 ranked in 75 kg category ... Young Nanao Singh is ranked #5 ranked in 48 kg category ... In 81 kg Dinesh Kumar is ranked #7 and in 57 kg Akhil Kumar ranked #9.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Badminton News
At Macau Grand Prix Gold 2009,

[R3] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) bt Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,40) 21-15 21-15
[R3] (10) Arvind BHAT (IND,24) bt (8) Jan O JORGENSEN (DEN,20) 21-13 22-20

Very good straight games win by Arvind against 20th ranked Danish player in 32 minutes ... Chetan also joined him in quarters with easy victory against another Danish player ... In quarters Chetan can face Malaysian WR #1 Chong Wei Lee and Arvind can face another Malaysian WR #12 Choong Hann Wong.
Tennis News
At Cincinnati Masters, USA (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 57 64 12(10)

Tight comeback victory for last week's Rogers Cup winning pair ... Spanish pair gave them tough time in super tie-break also.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (7) Rupesh ROY (IND) 63 62
(5) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) bt N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 76(3) 2-0 Retd
(3) Chris EATON (GBR) bt (8) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) 61 61
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (6) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 60 62

So only top-seed Vishnu Vardhan kept Indian interest alive ... Peter Lucassen again found lucky as his opponent retired ... With his recent form surprisingly easy loss for Ranjeet.
Football News
Nehru Cup Football Tournament 2009, New Delhi, India

India l Lebanon 0-1

Goal Scored - Ali Al Saadi (LEB) 4'

Lebanonan Ali Al Saadi scored early goal through free-kick still defending champion Indians gave inspiring performance but that wasn't enough to scored goals ... In this match also Indians faced old problem of finishing ... Indians had ample chances of scoring goals but they couldn't manage.
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Tennis News
At $10K India F7 Futures, New Delhi

Singles Second Round
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Max JONES (GBR) 61 36 63
(7) Rupesh ROY (IND) bt (WC) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 76(3) 2-0 Retd
N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 63 64
(5) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) bt (WC) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 67(6) 64 4-1 Retd
(8) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) bt Tim BRADSHAW (GBR) 63 76(6)
(3) Chris EATON (GBR) bt Seong-Yoon CHUNG (KOR) 62 75
(6) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (Q) Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) 61 63
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt Shane LA PORTE (USA) 67(5) 75 62

Vijay Sundar Prashanth continued with his upset wins beating very experienced Ashutosh Singh ... Otherwise expected results though few players retired from their matches.
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At $10K ITF Thailand Futures, Nothanburi

[R2] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,459) l Nicha LERTPITAKSINCHAI (THA,921) 46 26

So last week good performance didn't help Poojashree to overcome local lass ... Hopefully she will perform as per her ranking in next 2 weeks.
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At $10K Thailand F1, Nothanburi

[R2] (Q) SINGH, Karunuday (IND,1430) l (4) Laurent ROCHETTE (FRA,469) 36 46

Managed to produce decent performance against top-500 player.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Badminton News
At Macau Grand Prix Gold 2009,

[R1] Sayali GOKHALE (IND,107) l Kristina LUDIKOVA (CZE,51) 17-21 19-21
[R1] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,32) l (2) Lin WANG (CHN,2) 11-21 14-21

[R2] (14) Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,33) l Huan GAO (CHN,161) 21-17 17-21 11-21
[R2] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) bt Jen Hao HSU (TPE,129) 21-10 21-14
[R2] (10) Arvind BHAT (IND,24) bt Gurusaidatt RMV (IND,78) 21-16 18-21 21-15

[R3] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) vs Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,)

Kashyap lost against lowly ranked Chinese opponent after winning first game ... Other hand Chetan scored easy victory against Taiwanian ... Guru gave tough fight to more experienced Arvind.
Tennis News
At Cincinnati Masters, USA (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bye
[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlohy (CZE) bye
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At $35K+H Karshi Challanger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) bt (WC) Djakhongir DJALALOV (UZB)/ Sergey SHIPILOV (UZB) 62 60

Expected very easy victory for Purav and Sadik.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, New Delhi

Singles First Round
(1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 62 76(2)
Max JONES (GBR) bt (Q) Ankit SACHDEVA (IND) 61 64
(WC) Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt (Q) Yew-Ming SI (MAS) 63 64
(7) Rupesh ROY (IND) bt (WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 76(5) 63
N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 76(5) 64
Ashutosh SINGH (IND) bt Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 75 57 62
(WC) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (Q) Yannick NELORD (IND) 63 63
(5) Peter LUCASSEN (NED) bt (Q) Hyun-Soo LIM (KOR) 63 36 61
(8) Sean THORNLEY (GBR) bt (WC) Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 64 64
Tim BRADSHAW (GBR) bt (Q) Chandril SOOD (IND) 61 62
Seong-Yoon CHUNG (KOR) bt Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) 75 36 60
(3) Chris EATON (GBR) bt (Q) Mithun MURALI (IND) 62 62
(6) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Kyle BRASSINGTON (GBR) 46 63 61
(Q) Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) bt Seung-Jae LEE (KOR) 26 64 60
Shane LA PORTE (USA) bt Vikram REDDY B (IND) 60 62
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (Q) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) 61 1-0 Retd

Nice to see Sudanwa won his first maindraw match ... Ronak Manuja started with win against Malaysian ... Jeevan is also showing his college stint improving him as a player ... But Vijay Sundar Prashanth scored upset win over 4th seed Rohan Gajjar.
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At $10K Thailand F1, Nothanburi

[R1] (Q) SINGH Karunuday (IND,1430) vs (Q) KIM Woo-Ram (KOR,1061) 64 63

[R2] (Q) SINGH, Karunuday (IND,1430) vs (4) Laurent ROCHETTE (FRA,469)

Good start with win by Karunuday against higher ranked Korean ... But next facing tough challenge from top-500 Frenchman.
Badminton News
At Macau Grand Prix Gold 2009,

[R1] (14) Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,33) bt Chun Seang TAN (MAS,63) 21-16 22-20
[R1] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) bt Kay Bin YEOH (MAS,134) 21-16 21-16
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,38) l (11) Long CHEN (CHN,26) 12-21 15-21
[R1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,68) l Suppanyu AVIHINGSANON (THA,132) 13-21 17-21
[R1] Gurusaidatt RMV (IND,78) bt Wing Ki WONG (HKG,50) 22-20 14-21 21-17
[R1] (10) Arvind BHAT (IND,24) bt Daren LIEW (MAS,92) 17-21 21-11 21-9

[R1] Sayali GOKHALE (IND,107) vs Kristina LUDIKOVA (CZE,51)
[R1] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,32) vs (2) Lin WANG (CHN,2)

[R1] Rupesh K. T. KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) l Howard BACH (USA)/ Tony GUNAWAN (USA) 15-21 18-21

[R2] (14) Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,33) vs Huan GAO (CHN,161)
[R2] (7) Chetan ANAND (IND,15) vs Jen Hao HSU (TPE,129)
[R2] (10) Arvind BHAT (IND,24) vs Gurusaidatt RMV (IND,78)

Guru scored upset win over top-50 Hong Kong player.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tennis News
At $50K+H Trani Challanger, Italy (clay)

[R1] (1) Rohan BOPANNA (IND)/ Frank MOSER (GER) bt (WC) Carlos BERLOCQ (ARG)/ Nicolas TODERO (ARG) 63 64

Good start in doubles after coming out of injury ... I think Rohan selected clay tournament for comeback to test his knee on less demanding clay court than hard court.
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At $10K ITF Thailand Futures, Nothanburi

[R1] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,459) bt (WC) Satjaporn MAHAJAROENKUL (THA,1065) 62 61
[R1] Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,791) l Beatrice GUMULYA (INA,895) 16 26

[R2] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,459) vs Nicha LERTPITAKSINCHAI (THA,921)

Good easy winning start for Poojashree in Thailand.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Tennis News
At the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[F] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (7) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 64 63

Considering their tough fighting victory in semis this win in the final looks cackwalk ... :-) ... So with this victory Mahesh lifted his record breaking 5th Rogers Cup doubles title with 4 different partners.

So pair of Mahesh and Mark r peaking right time for US Open.

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At $2M the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[Q2] Sania Mirza (IND,74) l Heidi El-Tabakh (CAN,195) 16 63 36

This was great opportunity for Sania to qualified for big WTA event but she couldn't take this opportunity ... Very rarely player faced 200 ranked player in final qualifying on big WTA event ... This was definitely winnable match but again Sania played old record of bad service games ... In final game of the match Sania had 3 break points, 0-40, but she couldn't managed to convert will tell us whole story of the match.
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At $35K+H Karshi Challanger, Uzbekistan

[Q1] (4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,502) bt Syrym ABDUKHALIKOV (KAZ,625) 63 60
[Q1] Purav RAJA (IND,1013) bt (7) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN,516) 63 64

[Q2] Purav RAJA (IND,1013) l Murad INOYATOV (UZB,607)
[Q2] (4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,502) l Andrei CIUMAC (MDA,1289) 67(0) 46

Doubles
[R1] Purav RAJA (IND)/ Sadik KADIR (AUS) vs (WC) Djakhongir DJALALOV (UZB)/ Sergey SHIPILOV (UZB)

Very surprising and shocking loss below 1250 ranked player for Yuki ... Hoping one of bad day in the office without any injury issue ... Purav also scoring good upset win in first round lost to local player in second round.
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At $10K ITF Thailand Futures, Nothanburi

[R1] (2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,459) vs (WC) Satjaporn MAHAJAROENKUL (THA,1065)

[R1] Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND,791) vs Beatrice GUMULYA (INA,895)
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At $10K Thailand F1, Nothanburi

[Q1] (6) SINGH Karunuday (IND,1430) bt HOLLAND-SMITH Samuel (AUS,UNR) 60 61
[Q2] (6)SINGH Karunuday (IND,1430) bt SUWANASANG Tas (THA,UNR) 62 62

[R1] (Q) SINGH Karunuday (IND,1430) vs (Q) KIM Woo-Ram (KOR,1061)

Good to see Karunuday qualified for maindraw but why he is playing in Thailand when 3 weeks Indian futures started this week.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Volleyball News
At the Asian Qualifying Final round for 2010 world Championships, Chengdu, China

Asia Pool G

India bt Thailand 25-22 25-20 25-19

At last Indian team performed as per their potential (though I m still considering their performance below their true potential) scoring straight sets victory over Thailand, both matches they lose but I was thinking our team had potential to play lot more close match.
Tennis News
At the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[SF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 57 62 10(4)

[F] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (7) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Andy Ram (ISR)

Superb comeback victory by Mahesh and Mark against WR #2 Nestor and Zimo ... With their current form this was huge win, these days they were struggling with their game ... But they r peaking at right time for US hard court season, hoping record 5th title for Mahesh.
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At $2M the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[Q1] Sania Mirza (IND,74) bt (WC) Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN,308) 26 64 62

[Q2] Sania Mirza (IND,74) vs Heidi El-Tabakh (CAN,195)

Sania scored another win over Canadian girl in last 2 weeks, this time also she needed 3 sets ... In second qualifying round she is facing another Canadian Heidi ... Sania having some score to settle with Heidi, she lost against her 6 yrs back at 2003 Junior French Open when Heidi was representing Egypt.
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At $35K+H Karshi Challanger, Uzbekistan

[Q1] (4) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,502) vs Syrym ABDUKHALIKOV (KAZ,625)
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At $50K+H Trani Challanger, Italy (Clay)

[Q1] (6) BOPANNA Rohan (IND,506) l PASKVAN Federico (ARG,1244) 76(1) 26 26

Happy to see Rohan back on court but surprised to see that he choose clay court event as comeback tournament ... After winning first set in tie-break Rohan looks tired from scoreline.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Volleyball News
At the Asian Qualifying Final round for 2010 world Championships, Chengdu, China

Asia Pool G

China bt India 25-16 25-26 25-16

Host China gave our team lesson of how to play ... Very comfortable win for them ... Sad part was our coach conceded this match before our team was on court saying we couldn't win aginst Chinese team.
Tennis News
At the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (6) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 63 64

[SF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Good easy straight sets victory against Polish pair ... But in semis they r facing tougher challenge of Nestor and Zimo.
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At $2M the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[Q1] Sania Mirza (IND) vs (WC) Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN)

Sania is playing qualifying at Rogers cup.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, USA

[SF] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (1) Rik de Voest (RSA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 67(4) 36

No upset in doubles semis for Kash and Aisam.
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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

Singles Final
(2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,459) bt (1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,324) 76(8) 62

Superb, superb win by Poojashree over top-seed British player ... This was Poojashree's second ITF futures title, first she won in April at Islamabad ... I really wish and hope this title turn up as a perfect medicine for her to push herself to achieve more success on tour.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Badminton News
At Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships - 09, Hyderabad, India

[QF] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (2) Nova Widianto (INA)/ Liliyana Natsir (INA) 16-21 14-21
[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) l (2) Lin Wang (CHN,2) 16-21 19-21

After her recent win over Lin Wang at Indonesian Super series expections were high from Saina ... But she couldn't repeat same performance in front of home crowd ... She gave more fighting performance in second game that wasn't enough to stop Lin Wang from victory ... Also decent performance by our pair against WR #2 Indonesian pair.
Volleyball News
At the Asian Qualifying Final round for 2010 world Championships, Chengdu, China

Four teams r in the pool #8 China, #14 Australia, #32 Thailand and #44 India ... Top 2 teams will qualify for next stage.

Asia Pool G

Australia bt India 25-15 25-22 25-19

Australian side hammered Indian side in first match .. Frankly with this loss we r not in position to qualify for next round ... So after good performances by our youth and junior sides, our seniors give us reality check with their poor performance.
Tennis News
At $50K Binghamton Challenger, USA

[R2] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,261) l Sergei Bubka (UKR,186) 36 2-4 Retd

Doubles
[QF] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Sergei Bubka (UKR)/ Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS) 63 76
[QF] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Ryler DeHeart (USA) 36 57

[SF] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (1) Rik de Voest (RSA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)

This was second time Kash retired from the match after coming near to losing his match ... Reason is he played doubles match afterwards and won it ... In doubles he and Aisam defeated Bubka and Kudryavtsev ... But Harsh and Martin lost their doubles match ... In semis Kash and Aisam facing topseed pair Lipsky and de Voest.
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At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[F] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) l (5) Haithem Abid (TUN,665)

So with that Ranjeet failed to lift his first futures title but very promising performance by him in these 2 weeks at Iranian futures ... Last week also Abid defeated him in semis and thie time he repeated that in the final.
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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

Singles Semi Finals
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt (8) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) 76(4) 46 62
(2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) 57 62 64

Very impressive win by Poojashree over more experienced Isha Lakhani, I liked the way she fought back in the match after losing first set ... Poojashree already lifted doubles title with Sanaa, so tomorrow she is lined up for double crown.
Badminton News
At Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships - 09, Hyderabad, India

[R3] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (12) Robert Mateusiak (POL)/ Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (POL) 21-11 22-20
[R3] (15) Chetan Anand (IND,15) l (6) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,6) 16-21 16-21
[R3] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) bt (10) Petya Nedelcheva (BUL,13) 18-21 21-18 21-10

[QF] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (2) Nova Widianto (INA)/ Liliyana Natsir (INA)
[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) vs (2) Lin Wang (CHN,2)

Our first match on court was MXD, Diju and Jwala started well and easily won first game against Polish pair ... In second game also they started positively and moving towards easy victory ... But suddenly Polish pair improved their game and our pair started to make few errors ... Both were equalled ar 18-all, Diju and Jwala won next 2 points but Polish pair saved both match points ... Indian pair managed to convert 3rd match point to scored straight games victory to moved into semis.

Against Chetan Indonasian Sony Dwi Kuncoro gave very clinical performance ... In both games Chetan and Sony were neck to neck but in end Sony excellently played crucial points to scored victory.

Saina was dominating from the start ans she was dictating the game ... But due to lapse in concentration she started to make unforced errors and that gave Petya chance to fightback in the game ... Saina was leading 18-16 but lost next 5 points to lose firsr game ... Second game also started same like first one, Saina was dominating her Bulgarian opponents and moving towards comfortably capturing second game but from 18-11 again due to loss of concentration she started to make unforced errors and misjudgement of line calls ... Petya won next 7 points to came near of 3 points of upset victory but Saina hold her nerves and won next 3 points to captured second game ... Third game also wasn't different from first 2 ... Saina take control of the match and lead 11-3 at side change ... But again due to lapse in concentration after side change she lost next 5 points but this time Saina didn't take long to back in match to comfortably won third game ... This match was going on for 57 minutes and Saina didn't look tired in third game.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Tennis News
At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[SF] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) bt (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609) 63 64

[F] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) vs (5) Haithem Abid (TUN,665)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt (WC) Alborz Akhavan Roufigar (IRI)/ Mohsen Hossein Zade (IRI) 63 64
[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Yannick Nelord (IND) l Murad Inoyatov (UZB)/ Stepan Khotulev (RUS) 36 36

[SF] (3) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) l (1) Paris Gemouchidis (GRE)/ Bogdan-Victor Leonte (ROU) 46 36

Good exciting straight sets victory by Ranjeet against Uzbek Davis cup player Murad Inoyatov ... I m still wondering what went wrong for Vignesh against Murad Inoyatov in quarters to face double bagled.

I m rooting for Ranjeet to grab his first future title, that's also away and on clay ... He also reached in doubles semis.

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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) 63 62
(8) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt (3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) 64 61
(4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt (6) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB) 75 63
(2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) 62 26 64

Isha's win over Alexandra confirmed Indian in the final ... But also happy for Poojashree's win over experienced Sanaa ... Interesting semi-final matches.
Tennis News
At the Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada (ATP Masters 1000 tournament)

[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bye
[R2] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 76(2) 64

[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (6) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL)

Mahesh and Mark won very tight match as in this match they saved all 10 break point chances on their serve ... In quarters they r facing 6th seed Polish pair ... Interestingly Mahesh won 4 doubles titles at the Rogers Cup, highest than anyone else.
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At $2M Cincinnati WTA Tournament, USA

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) l (1) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Liezel Huber (RSA) 46 36

Somewhat expected loss against WR #1 pair.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, USA

[R1] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ John Paul Fruttero (USA) 63 62
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) l Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Ryler DeHeart (USA) 36 26

[QF] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Ryler DeHeart (USA)

So early exit from singles and doubles for Somi ... Other hand Kash having good start in doubles with Aisam.
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At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[QF] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) l (4) Matteo Volante (ITA,612) 36 26
[QF] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) l (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609) 06 06
[QF] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) bt (Q) Marc Abdulnour (SYR,UNR) 60 62

[SF] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) vs (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609)

So Ranjeet in second semi-final on clay in 2 weeks at Iranian futures ... Surprised by Vignesh's one-sided loss against Inoyatov.
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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

Singles Second Round
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Ankita RAINA (IND) 63 62
Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) bt (7) Parija MALOO (IND) 76(4) 36 63
(3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) bt (Q) Shweta RANA (IND) 75 61
(8) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 63 63
(6) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB) bt Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) 62 61
(4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND) 63 63
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) 63 61
(2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (Q) Nupur KAUL (IND) 61 61

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Badminton News
At Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships - 09, Hyderabad, India

[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) bt Anastasia Prokopenko (RUS,62) 21-10 21-17
[R2] (15) Chetan Anand (IND,15) bt Stilian Makarski (BUL,127) 21-9 21-17
[R2] Kashyap P (IND,33) l (2) Jin Chen (CHN,2) 21-14 10-21 7-21

[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) l (16) Vitalij Durkin (RUS)/ Alexandr Nikolaenko (RUS) 21-17 13-21 18-21
[R2] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) l (2) Shu Cheng (CHN)/ Yunlei Zhao (CHN) 16-21 16-21

[R3] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) vs (10) Petya Nedelcheva (BUL,13)
[R3] (15) Chetan Anand (IND,15) vs (6) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,6)

So expected winning start for Saina against Russian, hopefully she is fully recover and match-fit (three games) after her bout against chicken-pox ... Also our young doubles pair Akshay Dewalkar and Jishnu Sanyal produced good fight against seeded pair.

As expected easy victory for Chetan, next he is facing Indonasian WR #6 Sony Kuncoro ... Kashyap started well against WR #2 Jin Chen winning first game but after that Jin Chen adjusted his game to Kashyap and toyed with him to score comfortable victory in next 2 games.
Tennis News
At $2M Cincinnati Masters, USA

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)/ Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) 16 64 10(6)

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) vs (1) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Liezel Huber (RSA)

This week Sania is playing in doubles at CinCinnati Masters with Italian partner Francesca Schiavone ... They won first round match in super tie-break after losing first set easily but in second round they r facing WR #1 pair.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, USA

[R1] (8) Somdev Devvarman (IND,140) l Sergei Bubka (UKR,186) 67(3) 57
[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,261) bt Ryler DeHeart (USA,201) 67(2) 63 63

[R2] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,261) vs Sergei Bubka (UKR,186)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) bt (WC) Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Andrea Stoppini (ITA) 36 63 10(6)

Somdev's poor run in challenger continue, he lost in close 2 sets against Bubka ... Other hand Prakash is showing consistency in his game and scored comeback victory over DeHeart ... In next round he is facing Bubka.

Harsh and Martin also needed comeback in the match after losing first set to win their first round doubles match.

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At $ 35K+H Brasilia Challenger

[R1] Nikolay Nesterov (RUS)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (2) Ricardo Hocevar (BRA)/ Andre Miele (BRA) 26 67(1)
[R1] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) l Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Rodrigo Guidolim (BRA) 46 63 (5)10

In doubles our both pairs lost in first round against Brazilian pairs.
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At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[R2] (Q) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1460) l (5) Haythem Abid (TUN,673) 67(5) 46
[R2] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) bt Marco Sattanino (ITA,1298) 63 62
[R2] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) bt (Q) Khachatur Khachataryan (ARM,1765) 76(6) 61
[R2] Vijayant Malik (IND,995) l (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609) 26 76(8) 36
[R2] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) bt (WC) Amir-Soheil Mohseni (IRI,1465) 76(4) 62

[QF] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) vs (4) Matteo Volante (ITA,612)
[QF] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) vs (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609)
[QF] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) vs (Q) Marc Abdulnour (SYR,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND)/ Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND) l (WC) Alborz Akhavan Roufigar (IRI)/ Mohsen Hossein Zade (IRI) 16 75 (6)10
[R1] Vikram Reddy B (IND)/ Abhijeet Tiwari (IND) l (WC) Anoosha Shahgholi (IRI)/ Ashkan Shokppfi (IRI) 64 26 (9)11

[QF] (3) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs (WC) Alborz Akhavan Roufigar (IRI)/ Mohsen Hossein Zade (IRI)
[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Yannick Nelord (IND) vs Murad Inoyatov (UZB)/ Stepan Khotulev (RUS)

Impressive win by Yannick Nelord against Italian opponent ... Also Ranjeet and Vignesh continued with their recent good perfromance ... After long time seeing 3 Indians in quarters on clay.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Badminton News
At Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships - 09, Hyderabad, India

[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) l (9) Yu Hsing Hsieh (TPE,19) 14-21 21-19 22-24
[R1] Kashyap P (IND,33) bt Ali Shahhosseini (IRI,137) 21-9 21-13
[R1] Sayale Gokhale (IND,107) l Jie Yao (NED,26) 15-21 14-21

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) bt Patipat Chalardchaleam (THA)/ Nuttaphon Narkthong (THA) W/O
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l (13) Hung Ling Chen (TPE)/ Yu Lang Lin (TPE) 12-21 14-21

[R2] Kashyap P (IND,33) vs (2) Jin Chen (CHN,2)

[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) vs (16) Vitalij Durkin (RUS)/ Alexandr Nikolaenko (RUS)

[R3] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (12) Robert Mateusiak (POL)/ Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (POL)

Very heartbreaking loss for Arvind, after losing first game he fought back bravely and was very close to win this match ... Other hand expected one-sided victory for Kashyap against Iranian but in second round he is facing WR #2 Chinese player.
Tennis News
At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[R1] Vikram Reddy B (IND,1243) l (1) Adam Vejmelka (CZE,411) 46 06
[R1] (Q) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1460) bt Shahin Khaledan (IRI,1238) 63 60
[R1] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) bt (WC) Christopher Rungkat (INA,1249) 64 16 76(0)
[R1] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) bt (Q) Sunu-Wahyu Trijati (INA,UNR) 62 63
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND,995) bt Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1457) 61 62
[R1] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) bt Rouzbeh Kamran (IRI,1333) 62 64
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1209) l (2) Bogdan-Victor Leonte (ROU,526) 26 36

[R2] (Q) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1460) vs (5) Haythem Abid (TUN,673)
[R2] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) vs Marco Sattanino (ITA,1298)
[R2] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) vs (Q) Khachatur Khachataryan(ARM,1765)
[R2] Vijayant Malik (IND,995) vs (3) Murad Inoyatov (UZB,609)
[R2] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) vs (WC) Amir-Soheil Mohseni (IRI,1465)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Issam Al Taweel (SYR)/ Hayan Maarouf (SYR) 63 61
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Yannick Nelord (IND) bt (2) Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Christoph Lessiak (AUT) 76(3) 36 10(6)

Very good start by Indian players on clay ... After long time I m seeing our 5 players r winning their first round matches with few upsets on foreign soil ... Also in doubles Malik and Nelord started with big upset.
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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

First Round
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt (Q) Adnya NAIK (IND) 63 61
Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (Q) Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) 60 60
Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (Q) Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) 60 60
Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) bt Subbadharmi SUNDARAM (USA) 63 60
(7) Parija MALOO (IND) bt Trang HUYNH PHUONG DAI (VIE) 64 64
(3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) bt Ani AMIRAGHYAN (ARM) 62 63
(Q) Shweta RANA (IND) bt (Q) Garima VATWANI (IND) 67(5) 63 60
Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) bt Shivika BURMAN (IND) 62 63
(8) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Rashmi TELTUMBDE (IND) 16 62 60
(6) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB) bt Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 61 57 61
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (Q) Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) 62 63
Parul GOSWAMI (IND) bt (Q) Sindhu Nila PARTHEEPAN (IND) 63 61
(4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt Chutharat RUNGTEIN (THA) 62 61
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA (IND) 64 62
Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) 46 64 63
(Q) Nupur KAUL (IND) bt Alina TSEPLUKHOVA (RUS) 63 64
(2) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 36 62 64

Final Qualifying Round
Nupur KAUL (IND) bt Ikttesh CHAHAL (IND) 60 61
Shweta RANA (IND) bt Nova PATEL (IND) 64 46 76(4)
Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA (IND) bt Sagarika PHADKE (IND) 36 61 61
Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) bt Nithya Raj BABU RAJ (IND) 64 64
Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) bt Anushree THAMMANNA (IND) 60 63
Sindhu Nila PARTHEEPAN (IND) bt Asha NANDA KUMAR (IND) 63 61
Adnya NAIK (IND) bt Sayali BHILARE (IND) 61 63
Garima VATWANI (IND) bt Ankita BHATIA (IND) 64 75

First Qualifying Round
Nupur KAUL (IND) bt Renuka KESWANI (IND) 61 62
Ikttesh CHAHAL (IND) bt Tanvi GUPTA (IND) 60 62
Shweta RANA (IND) bt Deepna VAZIRANI (IND) 57 60 75
Nova PATEL (IND) bt Chika TERASAWA (JPN) 63 62
Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA (IND) bt Prerana PRATHAP (IND) 63 60
Sagarika PHADKE (IND) bt Rani Smita JAIN (IND) 26 75 3-0 Retd
Nithya Raj BABU RAJ (IND) bt Dipti SRIVASTAVA (IND) 64 60
Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) bt Prathana PRATHAP (IND) 63 61
Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) bt Shivani MYSORE SREEKANTIAH (IND) 60 60
Anushree THAMMANNA (IND) bt Smriti JOON (IND) 63 62
Sindhu Nila PARTHEEPAN (IND) bt Seema KUMARI (IND) 60 60
Asha NANDA KUMAR (IND) bt Jeni PATEL (IND) 62 63
Sayali BHILARE (IND) bt Likitha SHETTY (IND) 61 61
Adnya NAIK (IND) bt Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) 62 60
Ankita BHATIA (IND) bt Lavanya NATH (IND) 62 61
Garima VATWANI (IND) bt Zainab ALI SAJJAD (IND) 61 26 63

Monday, August 10, 2009

Badminton News
At Yonex Sunrise BWF World Championships - 09, Hyderabad, India

[R1] (15) Chetan Anand (IND,15) bt Ji Hoon Hong (KOR,43) 21-8 21-16
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,24) vs (9) Yu Hsing Hsieh (TPE,19)
[R1] Kashyap P (IND,33) vs Ali Shahhosseini (IRI,137)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,32) l (11) Juliane Schenk (GER,14) 8-21 12-21
[R1] Sayale Gokhale (IND,107) vs Jie Yao (NED,26)
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) bye

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (14) Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN)/ Kenta Kazuno (JPN) 13-21 21-23
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jishnu Sanyal (IND) vs Patipat Chalardchaleam (THA)/ Nuttaphon Narkthong (THA)
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) vs (13) Hung Ling Chen (TPE)/ Yu Lang Lin (TPE)
[R1] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) bye
[R1] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l Noriyasu Hirata (JPN)/ Shizuka Matsuo (JPN) 14-21 20-22
[R1] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bye

[R2] (15) Chetan Anand (IND,15) vs Stilian Makarski (BUL,127)
[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,6) vs Anastasia Prokopenko (RUS,62)

[R2] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs (2) Shu Cheng (CHN)/ Yunlei Zhao (CHN)
[R2] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Nathan Robertson (ENG)/ Jenny Wallwork (ENG) WDN

Pair of Jwala and Diju r in pre-quarterfinal as after first round bye they received walkover due to withdrawal of English pair.

In singles only Saina having bye as seeded, I m hoping tough time for others except Kashyap in first round.

Chetan proved me wrong scoring easy victory against Korean player.
Tennis News
At $75K ITF Vancouver Women's Tournament, Canada

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) l (2) Stephanie Dubois (CAN, 106) 61 46 46

After winning first set easily both players exchanged early breaks and Sania was down 2-3 ... With another break Stephanie lead 2-5 then Sania tried fight back but at 4-5 Stephanie hold her serve to won second set ... In third set Stephanie broke Sania's serve in first game to lead 0-2 but Sania broke her serve in 4th game to brought set on serve 2-all ... Then only crucial service break Stephanie take in 9th game to lead 4-5 and then hold her serve to won this final.

So at last Sania's luck end against third local player she was facing in 3 days ... This was Stephanie's second win against Sania, before this 6 yrs back she defeated Sania in Toronto ... Reaching final will helped Sania to bring her ranking inside top-75.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[R1] (8) Somdev Devvarman (IND,140) vs Sergei Bubka (UKR,186)
[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,261) vs Ryler DeHeart (USA,201)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Aisam-UL-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ John Paul Fruttero (USA)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Ryler DeHeart (USA)
[R1] (4) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs (WC) Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Andrea Stoppini (ITA)

This week Somi back to play challenger and facing young talented Bubka in first round ... Prakash received wilcard for this tournament and facing American DeHeart in first round ... Also our 3 pairs r playing in doubles and two r seeded.
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At $ 35K (+ H) Brasilia challanger

[Q3] (5) J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND,458) l (1) Daniel King-Turner (NZL,356) 36 62 67(5)

Doubles
[R1] Nikolay Nesterov (RUS)/ J. Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (2) Ricardo Hocevar (BRA)/ Andre Miele (BRA)
[R1] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) vs Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Rodrigo Guidolim (BRA)

After winning first 2 qualifying round easily against local players Vishnu faces top-seed King-Turner ... Very close loss for Vishnu in the third set tie-break against experienced player ... Playing more abroad will definitely going to help Vishnu to improve his game.

In doubles Vishnu having tough match with his Russian partner against 2nd seed local pair ... Ashutosh is also facing local pair with his South African partner.

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At $15K Iran F6 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[R1] Vikram Reddy B (IND,1243) vs (1) Adam Vejmelka (CZE,411)
[R1] (Q) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1460) vs Shahin Khaledan (IRI,1238)
[R1] Yannick Nelord (IND,1347) vs (WC) Christopher Rungkat (INA,1249)
[R1] (8) Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND,904) vs (Q) Sunu-Wahyu Trijati (INA,UNR)
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND,995) vs Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND,1457)
[R1] (6) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,706) vs Rouzbeh Kamran (IRI,1333)
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1209) vs (2) Bogdan-Victor Leonte (ROU,526)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Srirambalaji Narayanswamy (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs Issam Al Taweel (SYR)/ Hayan Maarouf (SYR)
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND)/ Vignesh Peranamallur-Chandrasekhar (IND) vs Alborz Akhavan Roufigar (IRI)/ Mohsen Hossein Zade (IRI) (WC)
[R1] Vikram Reddy B (IND)/ Abhijeet Tiwari (IND) vs (WC) Anoosha Shahgholi (IRI)/ Ashkan Shokppfi (IRI)
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Yannick Nelord (IND) vs (2) Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Christoph Lessiak (AUT)

Big Indian contingent playing in Iranian futures ... Hopefully some of them will take advantage with going deep.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Men's Junior Volleyball World Championship, Pune, India

Bronze Medal match
India l Argentina 19-25 16-25 22-25

Gold Medal Match
Brazil bt Cuba 30-28 21-25 25-22 23-25 15-8

Final Standing
1 Brazil
2 Cuba
3 Argentina
4 India
5 Russia
6 Belgium
7 Iran
8 USA
9 Poland
10 France
11 China
12 Canada
13 Egypt
14 Tunisia
15 Belarus
16 Greece

After yesterday's high energy match today our boys played tentatively and somewhat dejectedly ... Frankly it was very difficult for them to come out from yesterday's match, they were looking drained out ... They take their loss against Brazil very seriously, few players were crying and nobody was in mood of talking to media after their match against Brazil.

So after seeing their body language I was expecting this result but this bad match doesn't lessen their achievement and performance in this u-21 World Championship.

In the final Brazil defeated fellow South American Cuba in tightly contested match but this time again Brazilian side dominated 5th set showing their mastery in close matches ... So Brazilian successfully defended title which they won in last edition.
Tennis News
At $75K ITF Vancouver Women's Tournament, Canada

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Sharon Fichman (CAN,195) 67(6)

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs (2) Stephanie Dubois (CAN, 106)

In first set Sania had opportunities but she couldn't convert ... She was leading 4-1 and in tie-break she had 2 set points at 6-4 ... In second set Sania was down early 0-2 but from here Sania turned match around ... She won next 6 games of 7 to won second set ... And in third set from 2-all Sania won next 4 games to finished match ... In the final she is facing another Canadian girl.
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Hockey News
At Women's Junior World Cup Hockey 2009, Boston, USA

Pool E

India l England 0-1

Goal Scored -

This loss against England will cost us dearly, this dented our semi-final chances.
Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Men's Junior Volleyball World Championship, Pune, India

Semi Finals

India l Brazil 19-25 25-17 19-25 25-23 9-15
Cuba bt Argentina 25-19 25-18 24-2625-20

Indiaan boys produced valiant effort against defending u-21 World Champion Brazil ... Though they lost this match but received praising from Brazilian team, Brazilian team coach Percy Oncken called 'Indians r champion in making.' and Brazilian team captain Murilo Radke called Indian team as killers on the court in semi-final match ... Brazilian showed their experience of playing semi-finals and finals, this difference was more visible in fifth set ... But Indian boys won heart of more than 4500 people who attended this semi-final match

Indian boys fought back twice in the match after a set down to take match into decider ... But they failed to won crucial points in fifth set and in end that proved costly ... Still very heartening performance by our boys, who never looked bogged down against their fancied opponent ... Brazilian used tactics smartly, in 4th set they substituted Isac Santos and Renan Buiatti for longer time and used them in 5th set ... Their game in 5th set turned crucial for Brazil.

Impressed with Brazilian side who handled pressure of more than 4500 Indian supporters quite well ... Today we r facing Argentina for 3rd place.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Tennis News
At $75K ITF Vancouver Women's Tournament, Canada

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt Rebecca Marino (CAN,207) 76(2) 67(3) 64

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs Sharon Fichman (CAN,195)

Another see-saw match for Sania, very close than expected ... First 2 sets went to tie-break and both players shared a set each ... In decider Sania had bad start, her serve broke in 2nd game and was down 0-3 but Sania broke back in 5th game to bring back on serve at 2-3 ... Again Marino broke her serve in 6th game to lead 2-4 but again Sania also broke back breaking Marino's serve in 7th game and hold her serve to 4-all ... Sania again broke her serve in 9th game and hold her serve to scored win ... In final set she won final 4 games on a row that must be pleasing thing for Sania in this match.

In semis Sania is facing another unseeded 19 yrs old Canadian.

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At $15K Iran F5 futures, Tehran (Clay)

[SF] (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,713) l (6) Haithem ABID (TUN,677) 26 36

Ranjeet lost in semis but good performance on clay for him.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Tennis News
At $1.4M Legg Mason Classic ATP Tournament, Washington, USA

[R3] (Q)Somdev Devvarman (IND,153) l (11) Ivo Karlovic (CRO,33) 57 16

Somi saved break point in 2n game but got broken in 12th game at 15 to lose first set ... In second set Ivo steamrolled over Somi breaking his serve in 4th and 6th games to won second set and match easily.

Still satisfying tournament for Somi, who qualified for this tournament ... He is showing improvement and also maturing on tour.

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At $75K ITF Vancouver Women's Tournament, Canada

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) bt (WC) Laura Granville (USA,401) 64 75

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND,83) vs Rebecca Marino (CAN,207)

Another close match for Sania but importantly she is winning those and gaining good winning momentum for US hardcourt season.
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At $10K New Delhi 2009, India

Singles Final
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt (7) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB) 61 61

Singles Semi Final
(1) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt (3) Isha LAKHANI (IND) 63 64
(7) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB) bt (5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) 63 62

Doubles Final
(2) Alexandra KOLESNICHENKO (UZB)/ Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND)/ Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) 62 64

Singles winner will be win double crown.
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Hockey News
At Women's Junior World Cup Hockey 2009, Boston, USA

Pool D
Australia bt Belarus 7-0
India l USA 2-4

Goal Scored - Rani Devi (IND)' 44'PC, Ritu Rani (IND) 70' PC and Laura Gebhart (USA) 24', Melissa Gonzalez (USA) 31', Michelle Vittese (USA) 38' & 46' PC

Host USA brought Indian girls down to earth with easy victory ... USW team was leading 2-0 at half time and then scored another goal in first 3 minutes to take match beyond Indians ... But on better goal average Indian girls r in medal round.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Men's Junior Volleyball World Championship, Pune, India

Pool E
India bt Belgium 18-25 25-19 25-16 22-25 15-11
Argentina bt Russia 25-19 25-23 25-18

India made MORE history reaching semi-final of ongoing Junior Volleyball World Championship at Pune ... Before this first-time they reached second level first time and today they shocked everyone reaching semifinal beating Belgium boys 3-2.

Indian boys started slowly and Belgium boys take full advantage of winning first set easily but that turned to be wake up call for our boys ... They won next 2 sets with solid all court game with excellent blocking and exceptional smashes ... But in 4th set they lost focus, may be they were thinking too early about victory celebration, and managed to lose this set which they should win ... In crucial 5th set both teams started evenly but at 4-all Indian boys cut loose, I think turning point of the set was 2 service winners from Naveen Jacob Raja and before that also from Gurinder Singh.

Gurinder Singh scored highest 26 points and in combination with Naveen Raja who scored 20 points ... Very interesting stats where Belgium won nearly every statistical category with slim margins of 60-59 in spikes, 14-11 in blocks and even at 3-all in aces ... But India take advantage of 32 Belgium errors and made only 19 of its own to make up the difference.

Argentina won Pool E with another easy victory ... They r facing Cuba who finished 2nd in Pool F ... Indian side will be facing tough Brazilian side who topped Pool F.

Table Tennis News

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