Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Badminton News
At Bitburger Saarlorlux Open 2009, Sar-Lox-Lux, Luxembourg

[R1] (1) Chetan Anand (IND,13) bt Lukas Schmidt (GER,219) 4-2 Retd
[R1] (11) Anand Pawar (IND,47) bt Emil Vind (DEN,103) 21-10 18-21 21-12
[R1] Aditya Prakash (IND,164) l (7) Carl Baxter (ENG,36) 7-21 17-21
[R1] (4) Arvind Bhat (IND,22) bt Gregory Schneider (GER,493) 21-12 21-13
[R1] (8) Sayali Gokhale (IND,71) vs Chloe Magee (IRL,84)
[R1] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) vs (4) Elisabeth Cann (ENG,36)
[R1] Neha Pandit (IND,85) vs Karin Schnaase (GER,93)

[R1] (1) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND,) vs (Q) Andreas Heinz (GER)/ Felix Schoppmann (GER)
[R1] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) bye

[R2] (1) Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Yuhan Tan (BEL,78)
[R2] (11) Anand Pawar (IND,47) vs (Q) Eli Mambwe (ZAM,UNR)
[R2] (4) Arvind Bhat (IND,22) vs Jan Frohlich (CZE,212)

[R2] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) vs (1) Helle Nielsen (DEN)/ Marie Roepke (DEN)

This week our big Indian contingent participating in Bitburger Open at Luxembourg ... Chetan Anand is defending champion in singles.

Expected start for our shuttlers in first round though surprised that Anand Pawar lost a game against below 100 Danish player.
Tennis News
At $947,750 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

Doubles
[QF] (WC) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)/ Jaroslav Levinsky (CZE) 62 67(4) (11)13

Bops and Aisam won first set easily with 3 breaks and losing their service once ... But in second set both pairs served quite well as both didn't face single break point ... But in tie-break Kunitsyn and Levinsky dominated to won second set ... In super tie-break Bops and Aisam had early lead with couple of mini-breaks but Kunitsyn and Levinsky fought back from 7-4 and bring back on serve at 7-6 ... Our pair had couple of match points at 9-7 but Kunitsyn and Levinsky won next 3 points to make it 9-10 ... This time our pair saved 1st match point but again Kunitsyn and Levinsky take mini-break to created 2nd match point, 10-11 ... Again our pair take mini-break to make it 11-all but again Kunitsyn and Levinsky hold to gave themselves 3rd match point ... And they won this breaking our pair's serve on match point.
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At U-16 Junior Davis Cup Finals, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

We r in Group D with 2nd seed Czech Republic, 7th seed USA and Chile .. We started with loss against 2nd seed.

India l (2) Czech Republic 0-3

JAYA PRAKASH Mohit Mayur l VESELY Jiri 26 36
SINGH Saurabh l RUMLER Robert 26 36
SINGH Saurabh /NAKKIREDDI Sai Katik l VRNAK Lukas/VESELY Jiri 36 46
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At $15K India F10 Futures, Kolkata

Second Round
(1) Daniel KING-TURNER (NZL) bt N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 60 26 63
(7) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt Mithun MURALI (IND) 62 67(4) 64
(3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND) 63 64
(8) Rupesh ROY (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 46 63 62
(5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Chin-Yu HUANG (TPE) 64 61
(4) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt Karunuday SINGH (IND) 61 63
Yannick NELORD (IND) bt Christopher MARQUIS (IND) 63 64
(2) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 62 62

Expected results though our some players produced good fight against their higher ranked opponents ... But now in quarters real test for our players ... Yuki is facing Kim who won 2 out of 3 futures in India last month.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tennis News
At $947,750 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,447) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG,50) 46 63 64

[R2] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,447) vs (4) Fernando Gonzalez (CHI,12)

In first set Jose Acasuso broke Rohan's service twice and Rohan managed to break Acasuso's serve once ... After losing first set in second set Rohan played almost perect service games without giving single break point ... Other hand he had 4 break point chances and converted break point in 4th game to take crucial break, which helped him to won second set to make it 1 set all ... In third set Rohan saved break point in 4th game ... And take very crucial break in 9th game after Jose Acasuso committed double fault on break point ... While serving for the match Rohan won game @ 15 to scored win in 1 hour 55minutes ... In this match Rohan had 14 aces and 4 double faults, other hand Jose Acasuso had 5 aces and 5 double faults.

This is huge win considering Jose Acasuso's current good form on hard courts ... In 2009 US hard court season Acasuso had consistent results like he reached semi-final at New Heaven and also reached third round at US Open.

Next Bops is facing 4th seed and WR #12 Fernando Gonzalez ... We don't know Bops is capable of doing anything with his form on that day ... ;-)

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At $608.5K PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok

[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,133) l Ernests Gulbis (LAT,101) 67(7) 26

Somdev started positively breaking big server Ernests Gulbis's serve in 2nd game converting 4th break point ... After that Gulbis didn't give any break point opportunity to Somi in this set but he broke Somi in 7th game to bring back set on serve ... In tie-break both traded mini breaks and Somi had set point but Gulbis take crucial mini-break to won tight first set ... After winning first set it was one-way traffic to Gulbis, who broke Somi's serve twice to registered win in 1 hour 36 minutes.

I would say lost opportunities for Somi, who had chances but couldn't delivered it to convert it ... Somtime I feel in these condition playing qualifying can give some advantage as player get used to court condition and importantly having chance of grabbing 12 ranking points for qualifying in main draw.

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At $15K India F10 Futures, Kolkata

First Round
(1) Daniel KING-TURNER (NZL) bt Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 62 60
N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Vikas CHAUHAN (IND) 62 62
Mithun MURALI (IND) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 60 62
(7) Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt Sudanwa SITARAM (IND) 61 62
(3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 36 63 60
Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 61 62
Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) bt I-Ta CHEN (TPE) 76(2) 61
(8) Rupesh ROY (IND) bt Purav RAJA (IND) 61 76(2)
(5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Rohan GIDE (IND) 61 63
Chin-Yu HUANG (TPE) bt Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 75
Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND) 62 62
(4) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt Elwin ANTONY (IND) 62 61
Yannick NELORD (IND) bt (6) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 57 61 62
Christopher MARQUIS (IND) bt Saurav SUKUL (IND) 63 62
Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) bt Krishananth BALAKRISHNAN (AUS) 26 2-2 Retd
(2) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Vikram REDDY B (IND) 63 62

Monday, September 28, 2009

Tennis News
At $2M Toray Pan Pacific open, Tokyo, Japan

[R1] (Q) Sania Mirza (IND,65) l Jie Zheng (CHN,28) 75 26 36

Sania started with breaking Zheng's serve but Zheng immediately broken Sania's serve in next game to make it 1-all ... Sania again broke Zheng's serve in 7th game and hold her serve in 8th game to lead 5-3 ... But Zheng again broke Sania's serve in 10th game after holding her serve to make it 5-all ... Sania take important break in 11th game and hold her serve after saving break point to won first set in 44 minutes.

In second set also Sania started breking Zheng's serve but again Zheng broke Sania's serve to make it 1-all ... From here Zheng take control of the match, she again broke Sania's serve in 4th and 6th game to take 1-5 lead ... Sania broke her in next game but Zheng broke her back to won second set 2-6 ... In third set first break came into 5th game when Sania broke Zheng's serve to lead 3-2 but from here Zheng won next 4 game to won match in 2 hours 5 minutes ... In 7th game Sania had couple of break point chances which she didn't manage to convert it.

Sania had chances in this match but from second set Zheng take returning game to next level where Sania managed winning only 25% point on her first serve, which had high percentage of 62%.

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At $947,750 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,452) vs Jose Acasuso (ARG,50)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (4) Simon Aspelin (SWE)/ Paul Hanley (AUS) 63 64

Terrific start for pairing of Aisam and Rohan who scored upset win over 4th seed pair ... I always feel they have ability to become great pair, reason is whenever they play together they always show their high potential as a pair.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Badminton News
Yonex $5K Czech International 2009, Brno

Final
Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) bt (6) Jeanine Cicognini (SUI,82) 21-17 21-12

[SF] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) bt Carola Bott (GER,111) 21-13 21-15

Trupti lifted title in this International series tournament ... She won her final and semi-final very easily.

After winning her semi-final in 28 mins she was against seeded Swiss opponent in the final ... In first game both players were going nect to neck ... Cicognini had small opening when she opened lead on Trupti 10-13 but Trupti fought back to winning next 3 points to 13-all ... From 17-all Trupti won next 4 points to won first game ... But second game was different story from 2-all Trupti take control of the game ... Cicognini tried to fight back from 11-5 down but Trupti didn't lose control and won final in 33 minutes.

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Archery News
At World Cup Final 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark

Bronze medal match
Jayanta Talukdar (IND) l Romain Girouille (FRA) 110-113

[SF] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) l Marco Galiazzo (ITA) 103-111

Jayanta lost both matches in Archery World cup final at Copenhagen ... With that he failed to win any medal.
Tennis News
At $947,750 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[Q2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND,452) bt Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL,UNR) 75 61

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (4) Simon Aspelin (SWE)/ Paul Hanley (AUS)

Rohan qualified for maindraw with straight sets win over Fyrstenberg ... Rohan saved both break points he faced but converted 3 of 9 chances on Fyrstenberg's serve in this 1 hour 9 minutes match.

Rohan is also recieved doubles wild card with Aisam and they r facing fourth seed.

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At $2M Toray Pan Pacific open, Tokyo, Japan

[R1] (Q) Sania Mirza (IND,65) vs Jie Zheng (CHN,28)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Badminton News
At $50K Russian Open Grand Prix 2009, Vladivostok

[SF] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) l Valeria Sorokina (RUS)/ Nina Vislova (RUS) 15-21 9-21

Aparna and Shruti lost easily against Russian pair in semis.
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Yonex $5K Czech International 2009, Brno

[QF] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) bt Camilla Overgaard (DEN,92) 21-10 21-15
[QF] (2) Sayali Gokhale (IND,71) l (6) Jeanine Cicognini (SUI,82) 13-21 18-21

[SF] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) vs Carola Bott (GER,111)

Very dominating win by Trupti against Danish opponent but surprisingly Sayali lost against Swiss player in straight games.

Trupti will face German Bott, who upset top-seed local player.
Tennis News
At $2M Toray Pan Pacific open, Tokyo, Japan

[Q2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND,65) bt (12) Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR,87) 46 63 62

Excellent comeback victory by Sania to qualify for this big WTA premier Japan Open ... After slow start Sania picked up her game when required most and that helped her to produce this fighting win.
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At $608.5K PTT Thailand Open, Bangkok

[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT,101)

Somi recieved maindraw wild card for Thailand Open ... He is facing Latvian opponent ... In he wins first round then he will face top-seed Tsonga.
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At $947,750 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[Q1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND,452) bt (WC) Kanagaraj Balakrishnan (MAS,UNR) 62 60

[Q2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND,452) vs Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL,UNR)

Easy expected victory for Rohan ... Next round he is facing doubles specialist Polish player.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Dehardun, India

Final
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) 63 75

Poojashree won her 2nd futures title in 3 weeks ... Today she played excellent game, very solid and powerful services and matching goundstroke to Rushmi ... In final set she was up with break and Rushmi broke back to make it 4-all ... But again in 11th game Poojashree broke herself and she won final game with couple of aces.
Badminton News
Yonex $5K Czech International 2009, Brno

[R2] Aditya Prakash (IND,164) l (5) Jan Vondra (CZE,76) 7-21 9-21
[R2] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) bt Karina Jorgensen (DEN,125) 21-14 21-19
[R2] (Q) Gayatri Vartak (IND,273) l Camilla Overgaard (DEN,92) 20-22 19-21
[R2] (2) Sayali Gokhale (IND,71) bt (Q) Fontaine Chapman (ENG,317) 21-13 21-13

[QF] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) vs Camilla Overgaard (DEN,92)
[QF] (2) Sayali Gokhale (IND,71) vs (6) Jeanine Cicognini (SUI,82)

Aditya and Gayatri couldn't repeat their first round performance ... But Trupti and Sayali scored comfortable win to moved into quarters.
Tennis News
At $10K Uganda F1 Futures, Kampala

[SF] (3) Rupesh Roy (IND,677) l (1) Phillip de Bonnevie (FRA, 489) 46 06

Rupesh lost in singles but won doubles title in this Uganda futures.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Badminton News
At $50K Russian Open Grand Prix 2009, Vladivostok

[R1] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) bt Anastasia Vendina (RUS)/ Polina Makkoveeva (RUS) 21-8 21-7
[QF] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) bt Anastasia Chervyakova (RUS)/ Natalia Perminova (RUS) 22-20 21-10

[SF] Aparna Balan (IND)/ Shruti Kurien (IND) vs Valeria Sorokina (RUS)/ Nina Vislova (RUS)

Impressed with Aparna and Shruti, who r decided to participate in this Russian Grand Prix (our only entry in this GP) ... As expected very less challenging entry so this tournament can help them to push their ranking inside top-40 ... And they r taking advantage of weak draw and r in semis.
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Yonex $5K Czech International 2009, Brno

[Q1] Gayatri Vartak (IND,273) bt Martina Vacková (CZE,434) 21-10 21-9 [Q2] Gayatri Vartak (IND,273) bt (7) Orsolya Varga (HUN,213) 21-18 21-16

[R1] (2) Sayali Gokhale (IND,71) bt Andrea Zvorc (CRO,131) 21-15 21-12
[R1] (Q) Gayatri Vartak (IND,273) bt (8) Neha Pandit (IND,85) 21-18 14-21 21-13
[R1] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) bt Elisa Chanteur (FRA,90) 21-15 21-12
[R1] Aditya Prakash (IND,164) bt (Q) Maciej Kowalik (POL,405) 21-8 21-9

[R2] Aditya Prakash (IND,164) vs (5) Jan Vondra (CZE,76)
[R2] Trupti Murgunde (IND,105) vs Elisa Chanteur (FRA,90)

Good that BAI giving our second string players chance to play in European events which help them to improve their ranking.

And good start for Aditya and Trupti in this International series tournament ... Gayatri also scored suprise win over her senior seeded partner in 3 games ... Sayali started with comfortable win.
Tennis News
At $2M Toray Pan Pacific open, Tokyo, Japan

[Q1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND,65) bt Rika Fujiwara (JPN,209) 64 60

[Q2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND,65) vs (12) Viktoriya Kutuzova (UKR,87)

Sania was down 2-4 in the first set but then she produced commendable comeback wining next 10 games .. In end solid performance by Sania to moved in to second qualifying round.
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At $10K Uganda F1 Futures, Kampala

[QF] (3) Rupesh Roy (IND,677) bt (7) James Feaver (GBR,794) 61 63

[SF] (3) Rupesh Roy (IND,677) vs (1) Phillip de Bonnevie (FRA, 489)

Now its time for Rupesh to cause some upsets which help him to move on to next step on ATP tour ladder.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Dehardun, India

Semi Finals
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (4) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) 61 76(1)
(6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) 64 67(4) 62

Quarter Finals
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (8) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 64 60
(4) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) bt (5) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) 61 76(5)
(6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) 60 2-1 Retd
Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) bt (2) Kyung-Yee CHAE (KOR) 63 61

So Again Poojashree facing Rushmi but this week in the final ... Interesting to see how she perform this time against her senior pro.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wrestling News
At the 2009 World Wrestling Championships, Herning, Denmark

Freestyle 74 KG
For Bornze Medal
Ramesh Kumar (IND) bt Alexandr Burca (MDA) 2-1 (0-3, 2-0, 5-4)

[SF] Ramesh Kumar (IND) l Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev (AZE) 0-2 (0-3 , 0-5)

[QF] Ramesh Kumar (IND) bt Kiril Terziev (BUL) 2-1 (1-0, 2-3, 4-1)
[R2] Ramesh Kumar (IND) bt Michael Grundy (GBR) 2-0 (1-0, 3-2)
[R1] Ramesh Kumar (IND) bt Dustin Schlatter (USA) 2-1 ( 0-1, 2-0, 1-1)

In freestyle 66kg category Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar failed to won bronze medal after losing bronze medal match to Japanese wrestler 0-3.

But Ramesh Kumar won bronze medal in freestyle 74kg category defeating Moldovan wrestler Alexandr Burca 2-1 ... This is our only 3rd medal at World champiuonship before this we won 1 bronze medal in 1960 and 1 silver in 1967.
Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Open Japan Super Series 2009, Tokyo

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,34) l (3) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,3) 10-21 10-21

Disappointing performance by Kashyap, very one-sided loss.
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Tennis News
At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Dehardun, India

Second Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Deepna VAZIRANI (IND) 60 60
(8) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) bt Nilaya TARIMELA (IND) 26 63 61 (4) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) bt Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 63 60
(5) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Shivika BURMAN (IND) 60 75
(6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) 36 62 60
(3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) bt Hyun-Hui HONG (KOR) 64 46 64
Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) bt Soon-Mi SEO (KOR) 67(7) 61 63
(2) Kyung-Yee CHAE (KOR) bt Jung-Yoon SHIN (KOR) 61 61
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At $10K Uganda F1 Futures , Kampala

[R1] (3) Rupesh ROY (IND,677) bt (Q) Richard BROOKS (GBR,1666) 75 64
[R2] (3) Rupesh ROY (IND,677) bt (Q) Beka KOMAKHIDZE (RUS) 61 36 62

[QF] (3) Rupesh ROY (IND,677) vs (7) James FEAVER (GBR,794)

So Rupesh's African safari is continue with results as per his ranking.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tennis News
2010 World Group Draw

We r having tough possible away World Group draw ... We r playing tie against Russia on 5th to 7th March 2010 ... Mostly their court choice will be indoor clay court.

Other interesting ties in draw r Spain vs Switzerland and Serbia vs USA ... And usual rivalry between Germany and France.


Russia (s)(c) vs India
Spain (s)(c) vs Switzerland
Germany (s) vs France (c)
Argentina (s) vs Sweden (c)
Ecuador vs Croatia (s)(*)
Serbia (*) vs USA (s)
Chile (c) vs Israel (s)
Belgium (c) vs Czech Republic (s)
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Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Open Japan Super Series 2009, Tokyo

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,34) bt (Q) Takuma Ueda (JPN,177) 21-17 12-21 21-11
[R1] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,10) 15-21 23-21 14-21

[R1] Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Sung Hyun Ko (KOR)/ Yi Goo Kwon (KOR) 12-21 16-21
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (7) Miyuki Maeda (JPN)/ Satoko Suetsuna (JPN) 15-21 21-19 18-21
[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Sudket Prapakamol (THA)/ Saralee Thungthongkam (THA) 18-21 12-21

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,34) vs (3) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,3)

Other than Kashyap all others lost in first round ... :damn: Had hopes from MXD pairing of Jwala and Diju but they lost match against their Thai opponents without giving much fight ... As I mentioned Saina had worst possible draw for seeded player ... She tried fight back after loosing first game but her Chinese opponent scored dominating win in third game.

In second round Kashyap facing WR #3 Peter Gade.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tennis News
At $35K+H Palermo Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (3) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) l Inigo Cervantes-Huegun (ESP)/ Guillermo Olaso (ESP)63 46 (7)10

This week pairing of Harsh and Kevin lost in first round against Spanish pair ... So after his successful European clay tour Harsh will be back on US hard court challengers from next week.
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At $75K+H Trnava Challenger, Slovakia (Clay)

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Dawid Olejniczak (POL) l Kamil Capkovic (SVK)/ Pavol Cervenak (SVK) 46 63 (10)12

Purav and his Polish partner also lost in closely fought super tie-break against local pair.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Dehardun, India

First Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) 62 61
Deepna VAZIRANI (IND) bt Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) 63 63
Nilaya TARIMELA (IND) bt Gopika KAPOOR (IND) 61 75
(8) Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) bt Tegan EDWARDS (RSA) 60 57 62
(4) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) bt Jade HOPPER (AUS) 46 63 63
Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) bt Nova PATEL (IND) 63 62
Shivika BURMAN (IND) bt Anushree THAMMANNA (IND) 61 26 62
(5) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Ester MASURI (ISR) 62 61
(6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA (IND) 62 63
Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) bt Dipti SRIVASTAVA (IND) 64 63
Hyun-Hui HONG (KOR) bt Rashmi TELTUMBDE (IND) 62 61
(3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) bt Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 63 Retd
Soon-Mi SEO (KOR) bt (7) Chun-Yan HE (CHN) 64 75
Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) bt Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 61 60
Jung-Yoon SHIN (KOR) bt Amreen CHAUDHARY (IND) 60 63
(2) Kyung-Yee CHAE (KOR) bt Sagarika PHADKE (IND) 62 60
Archery News

Jayanta Talukdar qualified for World Cup final to be held in Copenhagen on September 26 with his consistent performance in world cup stage events ... But he had poor outing in last 2 events in South Korea and at Asian GP ... But he is hoping to be find his rhythm at Copenhagen.
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Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Open Japan Super Series 2009, Tokyo

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,34) vs (Q) Takuma Ueda (JPN,177)
[R1] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,10)

[R1] Rupesh K. T. Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Sung Hyun Ko (KOR)/ Yi Goo Kwon (KOR)
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (7) Miyuki Maeda (JPN)/ Satoko Suetsuna (JPN)
[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Sudket Prapakamol (THA)/ Saralee Thungthongkam (THA)

Saina dropped to #8 after missing Chinese Super Series due to goof-up by BAI ... This week she is participating in Japanese Super Series with other Indian players ... Saina having worst possible draw as seeded in first round, she is facing WR #10 Chinese Yanjiao Jiang.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Tennis News
At Davis Cup World Group play-off 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

INDIA IN WORLD GROUP AFTER 11 YEARS!!!
India bt South Africa 4-1

Day 3
[R4] Somdev Devvarman (IND,133) bt Rik De Voest (RSA,189) 36 67(3) 76(5) 62 64
[R5] Yuki Bhambri (IND,422) bt Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,289) 36 63 64

From start of the match Rick De Voest was controlling points ... He was serving well, mixing volleying smartly and matching Somdev's shot making from backside of the court ... In 5th game Voest broke Somi's serve ... Somi had numerous break point chances but he failed to convert any ... In 9th game Somi was up 40-0 on his serve but Voest won next 5 points to broke Somi's serve second time and won first set in 50 mins.

Voest started second set with bang breaking Somi's serve in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... But Somi broke Voest's serve in 5th game to bring back set on serve ... In 11th game Somi take crucial break and then he needed to hold his serve but he failed to hold his serve and also had couple of set points ... In tie-break Somi committed uncharacterstic couple of unforced errors to gift set to Voest in 1 hr and 16 mins.

Again in third set Rik De Voest started with breaking Somi's serve in 1st game but Somi fought back in to the match converting 4th break point in 4th game ... This turned to be turning point of the match ... Then both players hold their serve to take set into tie-break ... In tie-break both players winning points on their serve until Somi take crucial mini-break on 11 point and then won point on his serve to won 3rd set in 57 minutes.

After winning 3rd set Somi started playing his shots more confidently and Voest was looking under pressure ... Somi take full advantage of it breaking Voest's serve in 3rd and 5th games ... So after controlling this set he won 4th set in just 29 minutes without giving single break point in this set ... In this set Somi hit some amazing passing shots and controlling long rallies.

Both players take toilet break before decider ... Somi saved break point in 4th game and broke Voest's serve in 5th game ... In thiws game Voest saved couple of break point but on last break point Italian chair umpire over-ruled and gave point to India ... In 7th game also Somi had 3 break point chances but Voest manage to hang ... Then both hold their service game ... While serving for the at 40-0 Somi committed double fault but won next point as service winner to won set in 55 mins ... This match was going for almost 4 and half hours where Somi completed amazing 2 sets down comeback victory ... With this win we won tie and r back in World Group for 2010, last time in 1998 we played in World Group.

Impressive winning debut by Yuki ... In first set he was tentative, mostly due to playing first match in Davis Cup, but afterwards it looked his confidence was back and he played excellent tennis ... Good service, solid forehands and effective backhands ... Need to improve on net game but definetly super talent to watch.

Yuki lost his serve in second game of the match and with this only break he lost first set ... Second set also started badly where Yuki lost his serve in first game, at that time he was very upset with him, he banged his raquet on the court ... But from here Yuki played excellent to fought back in the match ... He broke Merwe's serve in 4th game to make it 2-all ... Then ahgain Yuki broke Merwe's serve in 8th game and then hold his serve to win his first set of Davis cup ... Third set both players were servinfg well ... In 4th game Yuki saved 2 break points and broke Merwe's serve in 7th game and then kept this lead with holding his serve ... Yuki scripted victory in more than and hour and half ... But he created history with joining very few players who made winning debut at Davis Cup.
Squash News
At $147K Sky Open 2009,Cairo, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,32) l (11) Laurens Jan Anjema (NED,13) 6-11 11-5 3-11 4-11 (54m)

Good fighting performance by Saurav against WR # 13.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Squash News
At $147K Sky Open 2009,Cairo, Egypt

[Q1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,32) bt Sayed Mahmoud Aly (EGY,312) 9-11 11-9 7-11 11-5 11-1 (66m)
[Q2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,32) bt Julien Balbo (FRA,50) 11-3 11-0, 6-11, 11-9 (43m)

[R1] (11) Laurens Jan Anjema (NED,13) vs (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,32)

Saurav Ghosal came back in the match against local boy after scary momements in first 3 games of first qualifying match ... But scored somewhat easy victory against Frenchman to qualify for this big tournament.
Tennis News
At Davis Cup World Group play-off 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

India leading South Africa 2-1

Day 2
[R3] Mahesh Bhupathi / Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Jeff Coetzee / Wesley Moodie (RSA) 36 63 0-4 (India conceded match due after injury to Mahesh)

Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie broke Mahesh's serve in 8th game to won first set ... Mahesh and Rohan broke Jeff Coetzee's serve in 8th (?) game to won second set ... But in third set Mahesh retired due to nagging thigh injury ... Indians r still leading 2-1 but now tomorrow's reverse singles r crucial.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, New Delhie, India

Final
(8) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) 63 61

Younger players r no match to veteran Rushmi on Indian soil and again that proved right ... Today she toyed with Sanaa winning title.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Tennis News
At Davis Cup World Group play-off 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

India leads South Africa 2-0

Day 1
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,133) bt Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,289) 76(5) 63 64
[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,488) bt Rik De Voest (RSA,189) 26 64 62 64

1st match -
Until first and half sets both players played to stick their plan ... Izak Van Der Merwe was controlling the net and Somi was dictating base line duels ... Both were solid on their serves ... First break point chance came in on 8th game when Merwe had it on Somi's serve ... Then on 9th game Somi had break point but both times servers hold with good services ... Merwe looks weak on backhand but playing excellent serve and volley games ... In tie-break Somi started with mini-break but Merwe immediately broke back ... Again Somi take min-break on 5th point and then had couple of set points on 6-4 but Merwe take next point on Somi's serve to make it 6-5 but on his serve Merwe double faulted to gift Somi first set.

In second set Somi broke Merwe's serve in 6th game after long battle where Somi saved 3/4 game points and Merwe saved 2 break points ... In 8th game also Somi had 2 break points but Merwe saved both with big serves and he managed to hold his serve ... Until Somi breaking Merwe'serve both players didn't giving any chance to opponent on their own serve ... Somi hold his serve on luv to won second set 6-3 and lead 2-0 sets lead.

In first set Somi was looking tentative while executing his shots ... But as match progress he is showing variety of shots and executing his plan perfectly ... He is passing Merwe whenever he get chance (that's hardly few times) ... Ususally good on baseline duel ... His returning at feet of Merwe is awesome that really open those points for Somi ... Very few times Somi approched to the net but he won all those points, he look comfortable on net and knowing what he is doing.

Somi had couple of break points but Merwe hold and then Somi hold easily with big service game to make it 1-all in third set ... In this set Somi his some amazing passing shots, he hit down the line, forhand and backhand cross-court shots but for me best shot was running cross-court passing shot in 5th game and after that Merwe came under pressure to serve double fault ... Merwe lose this game on luv to gave crucial break to Somi ... After that both players hold their serves ... In 10th game Somi played excellent forehand passing shot to gave himself match point which he converted to won match in 2 hours 10 minutes.

Match stat looks disappointing but knowing Somi's waiting game this was expected

Merwe - Winners 30 and UFEs 81, First serve % 51
Buji - Winners 17 and UFEs 52, First serve % 61


I was watching Buji first time after Chennai Open ... Huge improvement in his game, now his shots are more deeper and it looks he is making efforts to finish point ... His first serve is good solid and second serve is effective ... Now his net game is plus for him, which he uses very smartly ... I m impressed with his improvements ... Need more work on groud strokes to generate more power but progress in heartening.

2nd match -
Rik De Voest started well and other hand Rohan was struggling with his game ... In 10 minutes Rik De Voest up 5-0 with 2 service games ... Then Rohan hold his serve and broke Voest's serve to make it 5-2 ... But in 8th game again Rohan troubled with his serve and lost set with double fault in 25 mins.

In second set Rohan started to hit first serve and suddenly game started to change ... Rohan was holding his serve more easily and started making pressure on Voest's serve ... He broke Voest's serve in 7th game and then hold his serves easily to won second set.

From second set Rohan didn't show any sign of lack of match practice ... He was very dominating on court ... His best serve calculated 127 MPH on speed gun, that's more thn 200 km/ph ... He is serving on will and hitting powerful shots one after another ... Bops broke Voest's serve in 5th and 7th games to won third set easily ... In 4h set Bops saved break point with huge serve in second game ... Bops is controlling rallies so Voest didn't know how to handle him ... Voest saved 3 break points in 3rd game ... But committed double fault on 4th point as Bops screaming backhands he couldn't handle ... After this break Bops hold his serve on luv but Voest also comfortably hold his serve ... In 8th game some drama happened, Bops was down 0-15 when chair umpire over-ruled Rohan's winner and asked to play again ... Our players were upset with the call and suddenly Rohan lost focus .. He lost game on luv with errors and a double fault ... Its back on serve 4-all ... Luved the way Bops kept composure and up 15-40 with his huge shots and broke back with big roar ... Served 3 aces to finished match in style ... We r up 2-0.


Bops served 18 aces with 7 double faults ... His first serve % was 47% but won 82% points on that.
Voest served 13 aces with 7 double faults.


I need to applogise to SP Misra when I commented his selection of Rohan for second rubber ... He was spot on ... Rohan's game was tailor-made for this high altitude condition ... Court was fast and Bops luved to keep point short ... I think Rohan's played one of the best match of his life to secure this win .. Match was treat to watch.
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At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[SF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) l Martin Fischer (AUT)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 36 63 (7)10

Harsh and Kevin lost in super tie-break against Austrian pair.
Tennis News
At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[QF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt (WC) Thomas Fabiano (ITA)/ Walter Trusendi (ITA) 46 75 10(7)

Very hard fought win over local wildcard pair ... But importantly they r in semis so Harsh's good run on European clay in continue ... He is aiming around 100 doubles ranking at the year end, go Harsh.
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At $50K Tulsa Challenger, USA

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,243) l Artem Sitak (RUS,371) 46 67

Another inconsistent performance by Prakash ... He lost against player whom he had no business to lose.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, New Delhie, India

Semi Finals
(8) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) 64 62
(7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sirui HE (CHN) 64 36 76(5)

Quarter Finals
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (6) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) 75 75
(8) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Shivika BURMAN (IND) 61 61
(7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) 62 63
Sirui HE (CHN) bt Jung-Yoon SHIN (KOR) 46 63 61

Good lesson by veteran and experienced Rushmi Chakravarthi to young Poojashree ... Sanaa defeated spritied Chinese girl to make it all Indians final.
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At $10K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

[R2] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,681) bt Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,UNR) 06 76(1) 75

[QF] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,681) l (7) Motaz ABOU EL KHAIR (EGY) 36 46

Rupesh saved from big scare in second round against unranked South African opponent but lost against Egyptian in quarters.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Tennis News
At Davis Cup World Group play-off 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

Day 1
[R1] Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,289) vs Somdev Devvarman (IND,133)
[R2] Rik De Voest (RSA,189) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND,488)

Day 2
[R3] Jeff Coetzee / Wesley Moodie (RSA) vs Mahesh Bhupathi / Rohan Bopanna (IND)

Day 3
[R4] Rik De Voest (RSA,189) vs Somdev Devvarman (IND,133)
[R5] Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,289) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND,488)

Draw is out and as expected our non-playing captain SP Misra (with Mahesh) didn't dare to choose riskier path of choosing Yuki Bhambri for second single ... Somdev playing firt match is good for us.
Tennis News
At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt Brian Battistone (USA)/ Dann Battistone (USA) 63 62
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Jiri Krkoska (CZE) l Pablo Santos (ESP)/ Gabriel Trujillo-Soler (ESP) 46 36

[QF] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs (WC) Thomas Fabiano (ITA)/ Walter Trusendi (ITA)

Good easy victory for Harsh against tricky pair of Battistone twins.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, New Delhie, India

Second Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) 76(1) 60
(6) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) 63 61
Shivika BURMAN (IND) bt Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 64 75
(8) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) 61 62
(7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 64 63
Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) bt (4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) 46 64 62
Sirui HE (CHN) bt (5) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) 36 62 63
Jung-Yoon SHIN (KOR) bt Chun-Yan HE (CHN) 16 64 76(6)

First Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Ester MASURI (ISR) 63 62
Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND) 1-0 Retd
Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Rashmi TELTUMBDE (IND) 63 36 62
(6) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 62 61
Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (3) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) 61 2-0 Retd
Shivika BURMAN (IND) bt Soon-Mi SEO (KOR) 61 3-0 Retd
Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) bt Jade HOPPER (AUS) 61 64
(8) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Renee BINNIE (AUS) 61 60
(7) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) 64 62
Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) bt Ofir MORAG (ISR) 63 61
Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) bt Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) 4-0 Retd
(4) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt Nan-Nan ZHANG (CHN) 62 64
(5) Miki MIYAMURA (JPN) bt Anushree THAMMANNA (IND) 64 63
Sirui HE (CHN) bt Nimisha MOHAN (IND) 75 62
Chun-Yan HE (CHN) bt Stephanie THEILER (SUI) 60 60
Jung-Yoon SHIN (KOR) bt (2) Kyung-Yee CHAE (KOR) 61 1-0 Retd

Very good win by Sheetal Goutham over Isha in second round.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Tennis News
At $50K Tulsa Challenger, USA

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,243) bt (3) Brendan Evans (USA,119) 46 62 76(8)

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,243) vs Artem Sitak (RUS,371)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Rylan Rizza (USA) l Bruno Rodriguez (MEX)/ Victor Romero (MEX) 67(10) 64 (7)10

Very good comeback win by Prakash over top-125 player ... After losing first set he fought back in the match and in decider he won very close tie-break ... ... But he and Rylan Rizza lost tight match in doubles against Mexican pair.

Seeing this result and his recent form its really sad that we r searching for 2nd singles player for our Davis Cup team, when our best available option is not allowed due to some stupid rule for representing country by our Sports Ministry.

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At $10K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (Clay)

[R1] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) bt Richard BROOKS (GBR,UNR) 62 76(5)
[R1] (6) Duncan MUGABE (UGA,793) bt Himananshu MALI (IND,UNR) 75 63

[R2] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,681) vs Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,UNR)

Rupesh is playing in cheap African futures to improve his ranking ... good planning by him ... He need to bring his ranking around 500 to try tougher futures in Europe or USA.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tennis News
At Davis Cup World Group play-off 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

As per report from Johannesburg, Leander Paes is pulling out of this weekend's Davis Cup World Group play-off tie versus South Africa due to treatment on an injured shoulder and elbow, he also needs treatment to his dodgy wrist. Dr Vece Paes announced this in Johannesburg.

This is big setback for India's preparation and hope of joining World Group after long time ... South African having good doubles team, so now Mahesh and Rohan having tricky match.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

Final
(4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) 36 63 62

Yesterday Leander Paes lifted his 6th doubles Grand slam title and 3rd US Open title ... Partnering Czech Lukas Dlouhy this was his second grand slam title of the year, they already won French Open 09 ... Lee and Lukas completed superb comeback victory after losing first set ... So this was also missed chance for Mahesh Bhupathi to win his 5th doubles grand slam title ... In last 7 yrs he didn't win any Mens doubles title, his last Mens doubles title was at 2002 US Open with Max Mirnyi.

Last year also Leander reached finals of Mens doubles and Mixed doubles finals and after losing Mens doubles title he won Mixed doubles title, this year he did vice-versa winning Mens doubles title after losing Mixed doubles title.

Mahesh and Knowles had a good start by breaking Paes in the 2nd game to take 2-0 lead but Lee and Lukas immediately broke Mark's serve and make it 2-all ... Mahesh and Mark again broke Lee's serve in 6th game and this time Mark hold to gave them lead of 5-2 ... Then Mahesh served for the set with easy hold.

In second set also Mahesh and Knowles had excellent start .. They broke Dlouhy serve in the first game and then Mahesh hold his serve to 2-0 lead ... But then Lee played really very inspiring game on net and from backside of the court to brought them into the match ... They won next 4 games to lead first time in the match ... Lee played amazing service returns on Mahesh's serve in 6th game and converted 5th break point for first time breaking Mahesh's serve in the match to lead 4-2 ... I feel this was turning point of the match as after that Lee and Lukas were complementing each other games ... In next service game Mahesh and Mark again broke Lee's serve to bring it on serves ... But again Lee and Lukas broke Mark's serve and then Lukas hold his serve to won second set on third set point.

In third set Lee and Lukas were playing with the momentum, errors from Mark and Mahesh gave crucial break for Lee and Lukas ... In next game Lee and Lukas saved 3 break point chances before holding their serve ... In 7th game they again broke Mark's serve and then hold their serve on luv to scored very entertaining and emotional victory.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Motorsport News
At 2009 Formula 1 Monza Race, Italy

Adrian Sutil finished on 4th position in Monza race and give true indication how much Force India car improved in last few weeks ... On consecutive weeks they were in battle for podium finish, though this time they missed but Adrian Sutil was matching Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the track ... Both were fighting for 4th place but Lewis Hamilton crashed his car on corner in last lap to gave Kimi podium finish and Sutil deserving 4th place.

So this finish opened point account of Adrian Sutil, who recieved 5 points for 4th position finish ... But Force India's other driver Vitantonio Liuzzi retired on 22nd lap.
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Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

Junior
[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) l Chase Buchanan (USA,212) 36 67(4)

Chase Buchanan scored upset win over Yuki ... In last 2 matches Yuki couldn't reproduced same game which he showed in first 2 rounds ... Disappointing loss as hoping if not title then at least appearance in the final ... But may be junior matches moved to indoor courts hampered Yuki's game as he didn't have experience of playing on indoor courts.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Motorsport News
At 2009 Formula 1 Monza Race, Italy

Team Force India showed at Monza qualifying that their last race performance at Spa wasn't fluke with excellent performance in qualifying ... Their both cars finished in top 10 on grid ... Adrian Sutil was set to grab consecutive second pole position for Force India but Lewis Hamilton completed blazing last round to push him on second ... Vitantonio Liuzzi, who replaced Giancarlo Fisichella, finished on 7th position ... Excellent day for Force India as this was first time their both cars in final qualifying ... They must be hoping these drivers repeat this qualifying performance in tomorrow's race.
Tennis News
At $50K+H Seville Challenger, Spain (Yellow clay)

Final
Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Alberto Brizzi (ITA)/ Simone Vagnozzi (ITA) 61 75

Terrific result for Harsh and Huey ... This was well-deserving title for them, Harsh and Treat really played last 2 weeks ... This title win and last week's final appearence give Harsh 125 points ... And that definetly move him his personal best double ranking around #130.
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At $50K St Remy de Provence Challenger, France

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) l Jiri Krkoska (CZE)/ Lukas Lacko (SVK) 46 60 (9)11

And seeded pair of Rohan and Olivier lost against unseeded pair in semis.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Bangalore, India

Final
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (7) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) 63 63

Poojashree lifted $10K tournament title comfortably ... Dalila was playing well in patches but she had no chance against Poojashree's consistency ... Dalila was matching Poojashrre's powerful shots that time Poojashree changed her tactics and started to use moonballs to break Dalila rhythm ... In end that worked out for Poojashree ... Poojashree also played some exceptional backhand down the line and had very good service games.

Poojashree won double crowned at this her tournament ... As she also won doubles title.

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At $ 10K Burundi F1 Futures (Clay)

[SF] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) l (2) Adam VEJMELKA (CZE,565) 63 46 57

Good fighting performance by Rupesh in semis against Adam Vejmelka but couldn't convert in victory.
Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

75 Kg
[SF] Vijender (IND) l Abbos Atoev (UZB) 3-7

Though Uzbek Abbos Atoev was 81 Kg world champion in Chicago World Championship in 2007 but now he participated in 75 Kg ... Two months back at Asian Championship Vijender defeated Abbos Atoev but here he failed to repeat that ... After first round Vijender leading by 1-0 but Abbos Atoev dominated second round scoring 5 points and didn't give chance to Vijender to score any points ... Third round Vijender tried but Abbos Atoev played excellent to keep Vijender on bay ... So after Olympics again Vijender ended winning Bronze at World Championship ... This is creeditable as this was India's first medal in boxing World championship.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

MXD Final
(3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (RSA) l (WC) Carly Gullickson (USA)/ Travis Parrott (USA) 26 46

Junior
[R3] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) bt Jack Sock (USA,1015) 64 63

[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) vs Chase Buchanan (USA,212)

Lee and Cara were struggling from start of the match ... They tried comeback in second set but Parrott was too strong near the net and Carly Gullickson matched his game with her good service games and game from back of the court ... So overall deserving victory for wild card American pair, who completed their dream like US Open with mixed doubles title win.

So this was first time where Yuki tested by his unheard opponent ... This match was going on for an hour in that Yuki broke Sock's serve 5 times from 12 chances but Sock also broke Yuki's serve twice from 4 chances ... Next Yuki is facing American Chase Buchanan, who was ranked #6 in Junior WR ranking in March 2009 ... This is his first junior tournament of the year as he stopped playing in juniors from January 2009 ... He regularly played in US futures and this year he received wild card for US Open men's main draw ... Where he lost against Tsonga ... So this can be good match for Yuki.

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At $50K+H Seville Challenger, Spain (yellow clay)

[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt (1) Santiago Ventura (ESP)/ Reuben Ramirez-Vidalgo (ESP) 62 63

[F] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Alberto Brizzi (ITA)/ Simone Vagnozzi (ITA)

Very impressive convincing win by Harsh and Huey against top-seed local pair ... So they r in their second consecutive Challenger final, that's also on clay ... Now it would be great if they finishes of with title this week.
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At $50K St Remy de Provence Challenger, France

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) bt Nicholas Mahut (FRA)/ Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA) 63 64

Good dominating win against tricky French pair for Rohan and Olivier.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Bangalore, India

Semi Final
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt (4) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) 64 62
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) l (7) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) 36 46

So another Indian futures final for Poojashree ... But Sanaa couldn't make all Indians final.
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At $ 10K Burundi F1 Futures (clay)

[R1] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) bt Sunday EMMANUEL (NGR,996) 76(2) 76(3)
[R1] (Q) Himananshu MALI (IND,UNR) bt Issa CUMA (BDI,NR) 75 76(5)

[R2] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) bt Mauricio ALVAREZ-GUZMAN (CHI,1341) 64 64
[R2] (Q) Himananshu MALI (IND,UNR) l (7) Marco DIERCKX (BEL,898) 36 46

[QF] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) bt (6) Motaz ABOU EL KHAIR (EGY,856) 60 61

[SF] (4) Rupesh ROY (IND,694) vs (2) Adam VEJMELKA (CZE,565)

Rupesh is playing on clay at Burundi and happy to see he is performing as per his seedings ... Hoping for upset win against Vejmelka.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[SF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 64 36 76(6)
[SF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (5) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 64 62

Junior
[R2] John Morrissey (IRL)/ Sudanwa Sitaram (IND) l Marton Fucsovics (HUN)/ Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) 64 36 (4)10

Very tentative start for Lee in the first set ... He was struggling with backhand slice returns on Bryans service games ... But otherhand Lukas was playing excellent game ... He single handedly broke Bryan's serve in 7th game and then they hold their serve to won first set ... In first game of second set our pair had break point on Bob Bryan's serve but they failed to convert it ... Bryans broke Lee's serve in 4th game and that single break was enough for them to grab second set ... In third set Lukas saved couple of break points in first game ... Bryans didn't lose a single point on their serve in their first 3 service games ... In 7th game Lee was down 0-40 due to some unforced errors, he really needed to dig deep to come out of this hole ... He saved 4 break points before holding his serve ... At that time Dlouhy was making too many errors ... At 5-4 on Bob's serve Lee and Lukas had first match point on 30-40 but Lukas hit weak return in the net ... Then set moved to tie-break as both pairs hold their serves ... Lee and Lukas started tie-break on bang ... They broke Bob's service twice to lead 5-0 ... On 5-2 Lukas won first point on his serve to gave 4 match points ... And from here real fun began ... Again Lukas made unforced errors in this crucial moment ... Bryans returned mini-break to make it 6-3 and then Bob won next 2 points on his own serve to make it 6-5 ... Then Bob hit superb return on Lee's serve to make it 6-all ... Then Lee hold his next serve, this was their 6th match point ... Next on Mike's serve Lukas hit 2 excellent lobs and that created chance for Lee, who won point with backhand volley on middle of the court ... With that Lee and Lukas in the final of US Open ... Lee and Lukas also take revenge of last year's final loss against Bryans.

Otherhand very easy victory for 3rd seed Mahesh and Mark against 5th seed Mirnyi and Ram ... Mahesh and Mark dominated this 1 hour 16 minutes match ... In this match they faced 2 break points and save both, but they created 4 break points chances on Mirnyi and Ram's service games and converted 3 .. So in the US Open 2009 final Mahesh and Lee r facing eachother with their respective partners.

But in Juniors doubles Sudanwa lost with Irish partner in super tie-break.

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At $50K+H Seville Challenger, Spain (yellow clay)

[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Jose Checa-Calvo (ESP)/ Gabriel Trujillo-Soler (ESP) 76(5) 75

[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs (1) Santiago Ventura (ESP)/ Reuben Ramirez-Vidalgo (ESP)

Very good win by Harsh and Huey over local pair ... So this 3 weeks European clay tour gives Harsh more success than he expected ... He will be back around #140 in next week's doubles ranking.
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At $10K ITF Womens Tournament, Bangalore, India


Quarter Final
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) 60 Retd
(4) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt (8) Chun-Yan HE (CHN) 62 64
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt (3) Isha LAKHANI (IND) 62 75
(7) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) 26 63 64

Second Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) 61 3-0 Retired
Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) bt (6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) 62 46 62
(4) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 75 64
(8) Chun-Yan HE (CHN) bt Shivika BURMAN (IND) 61 36 63
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Nimisha MOHAN (IND) 63 64
(3) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) 63 60
(7) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) 26 63 61
Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) bt Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) 75 60

First Round
(1) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND) bt Subbadharmi SUNDARAM (USA) 60 60
Aishwarya AGRAWAL (IND) bt Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 63 63
Treta BHATTACHARYYA (IND) bt Tegan EDWARDS (RSA) 63 64
(6) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt Anushree THAMMANNA (IND) 16 61 60
(4) Keren SHLOMO (ISR) bt Stephanie THEILER (SUI) 61 62
Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA (IND) 26 76(3) 64
Shivika BURMAN (IND) bt Natalia PEREPADENKO (ESP) 4-4 Retd
(8) Chun-Yan HE (CHN) bt Jade HOPPER (AUS) 76(3) 63
(5) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND) bt Adnya NAIK (IND) 62 62
Nimisha MOHAN (IND) bt Shweta KAKHANDKI GADIGEPPA (IND) 64 60
Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt Asha NANDA KUMAR (IND) 63 62
(3) Isha LAKHANI (IND) bt Kumari-Sweta SOLANKI (IND) 61 62
(7) Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) bt Carla VENTICINQUE-TORRES (ESP) 61 60
Sheethal GOUTHAM (IND) bt Prathana PRATHAP (IND) 61 60
Elodie ROGGE-DIETRICH (FRA) bt Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 61 6
Moe KAWATOKO (JPN) bt (2) Anastasia MALHOTRA (JPN) 63 63

It looks Poojashree's opponents r happy to retired in fear of getting double bagel ... ;) Good win by Sanaa over Isha ... Now interesting to see if Poojashree and Sanaa able to make it another all Indian final.
Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

75 Kg
[QF] Vijender (IND) bt Sergiy Derevyanchenko (UKR) 12-4

[SF] Vijender (IND) vs Abbos Atoev (UZB)

81 Kg
[QF] Dinesh Kumar (IND) l Artur Beterbiev (RUS) RSC R2 1:05

Vijender and Sergiy had cautious start in the first round to judging eachother style, it ends 1-all ... But from second round Vijender played attacking boxing, using his straight punches smartly to scored points ... In next 2 rounds he only lost 3 points (that's also in second round) and scored 11 points to registered comfortable win ... With this Vijender guaranteed Bronze for India ... This is our first medal in World championship ... Next Vijender is facing Uzbek boxer Abbos Atoev.

I think today Dinesh Kumar also disqualified (refree stopped contest) from the match against Russian Artur Beterbiev ... When match stopped by refree in second round Dinesh was down 3-5 ... In first round Dinesh Kumar reciecved 2 warning for blow to the head and in second round refree stopped match when again Dinesh Kumar hitted couple of blow to the head of Russia ... Sad end of the match for Dinesh Kumar.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[QF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt (7) Wesley Moodie (RSA)/ Dick Norman (BEL) 63 57 64
[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)/ Michael Llodra (FRA) 64 46 76(4)

[SF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA)
[SF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (5) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Andy Ram (ISR)

MXD
[SF] (1) Maheash Bhupathi (IND)/ Liazel Huber (USA) l Carly Gullickson (USA)/ Travis Parrott (USA) 36 46
[SF] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (RSA) bt (5) Kevin Ullyett (ZIM)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 62 36 10(5)

[F] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (RSA) vs Carly Gullickson (USA)/ Travis Parrott (USA)

Junior
[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) bt Sandro Ehrat (SUI,47) 60 61

[R3] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) vs Jack Sock (USA,1015)

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) l Evan King (USA)/ Denis Kudla (USA) 63 26 (6)10
[R1] John Morrissey (IRL)/ Sudanwa Sitaram (IND) bt Gonzales Austin (USA)/ Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 46 63 10(5)

[R2] John Morrissey (IRL)/ Sudanwa Sitaram (IND) vs Marton Fucsovics (HUN)/ Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE)

Yuki is crushing his opponents in early rounds ... Today he won in 44 minutes breaking his Swiss opponent's serve 6 times and saved only a single break point which he faced on his own serve ... With this performance Yuki is showing his improvement in last few months and his experience of playing on men's tour.

Lee and Lukas won first set little easily saving few break points on their serve and started with break in second set to up 2-0 ... But Norman and Moodie came back strongly breaking Lukas's serve ... They again saved break point on Norman's serve and broke Lukas's serve in 12th game to won second set ... In decider again Lee and Lukas started breaking Norman's serve in first game ... With another break on Norman's serve Lee and Lukas were leading 5-1 ... After Moodie comfortably holding his serve Lukas couldn't managed to hold his serve for win match ... Norman saved match point on his serve to make score 5-4 ... This time Lee served out to win match in 2 hours 10 minutes.

In semis they r facing top-seed Bryans ... To win match against them Lukas also need to serve better.

Mahesh and Mark won first set taking important break in 9th game ... In second set Mahesh and Mark were up with early break but Ljubicic and Llodra broke back to bring on serve ... Ljubicic and Llodra again broke them in 10th game to won second set ... Third set was very tight where no pair gave any chance to other but Mahesh and Mark used their experience in tie-break to moved into semis ... They will face pair of Mad Max and Ram who defeated 2nd seed Nestor and Zimo winning decider 6-0.

In MXD semis, Lee and Cara scripted another victory in super tie-break after again losing second set ... But Mahesh and Huber wasn't that lucky, they lost match in straight sets against unseeded American pair.

In Junior double top-seed pair of Yuki and Huang lost first round match in super tie-break after winning first set against local pair ... Sudanwa did reversal with his Irish partner defeating local pair after losing first set.

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At $50K+H Seville Challenger, Spain (yellow clay)


[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Andoni Vivanco-Guzman (ESP)/ James Ward (GBR) W/O

[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Jose Checa-Calvo (ESP)/ Gabriel Trujillo-Soler (ESP)

Lucky break to Harsh and Huey, who recieved walkover in first round ... Next they r facing Spanish pair who defeated 4th seed pair in first round.
Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

75 Kg
[R3] Vijender (IND) bt Steve Rolls (CAN) 4-2

[QF] Vijender (IND) vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko (UKR)

Vijender also joined Dinesh Kumar in quarter final of ongoing World championship ... But surprisingly tough match against Canadian, where both boxers must used their defensive skill ... Both boxers started cautiously but Rolls won first round with a single point ... In next round also both kept playing defensive boxing which Vijender won 2-0 and that trend remained in third round also which Vijender won 2-1 ... Next Vijender playing Ukrainian boxer Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Tennis News
Davis Cup 2009,

AITA announced Indian team for their Davis cup tie against South Africa ... Only change in team from their last match is expected, Yuki Bhambri is taking place of Sanam Singh ... Yuki's debut in Davis cup will be decided by team captain and team members in the meeting.

Team - Somdev Devvarman, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri

Non-playing captain - SP Misra
Coach - Nandan Bal

Monday, September 07, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[R3] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 75 64
[R3] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) 64 64

[QF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs (7) Wesley Moodie (RSA)/ Dick Norman (BEL)
[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)/ Michael Llodra (FRA)

MXD
[QF] (1) Liezel Huber(USA)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (8) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 64 63
[QF] (2) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (7) Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 75 63 10(6)

[SF] (1) Maheash Bhupathi (IND)/ Liazel Huber (USA) vs Carly Gullickson (USA)/ Travis Parrott (US)
[SF] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Cara Black (RSA) vs (5) Kevin Ullyett (ZIM)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)

Junior
[R1] Sudanwa Sitaram (IND,72) l Alexander Domijan (USA,17) 36 63 57

Lee and Lukas scored tight sets victory over tricky Austrian pair in 1 hr 26 mins ... In this match they converted 3 break point chances from 5 and saved 2 break point chances from 3 on their own serve ... They r facing Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman in quarters, whom they defeated to lift French Open title.

Mahesh and Mark also moved into quarter beating Lu and Sela in 71 minutes ... Though they won match in straight sets but it was close ... Mahesh and Mark converted 5 break point chances from 6 against 3 converted by Lu and Sela from 5.

Super performance by Lee and Mahesh in MXD with their respective partners to reached semis ... Mahesh and Huber scored straight sets victory over Zimo and Mattek ... But Lee and Cara stretched to super tie-break by their Aussie-Swedish opponent.

Terrific match by Sudanwa against Jr WR #17 ... I was also hoping he pulled this one after leading 4-2 in the final set ... But Domijan fought back in the match, still very creditable performance by Sudanwa, who saved first match point but lost to second ... Sudanwa should think of joining US college tennis to improve his game and fitness, may be Bhupathi help him to do that as he is training at his academy.

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At $50K+H Seville Challenger, Spain (yellow clay)

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Andoni Vivanco-Guzman (ESP)/ James Ward (GBR)

Hopefully they will continue with their good run from last week.
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At $50K St Remy de Provence Challenger, France

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) bye

So this is last practice tournament before South Africa Davis cup tie for Rohan.
Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

81 Kg
[PQF] Dinesh Kumar (IND) bt Costantin Bejenaru (ROU) 19-7

[QF] Dinesh Kumar (IND) vs Artur Beterbiev (RUS)

60 Kg
[PQF] Jai Bhagwan (IND) l Eugen Burhard (GER) 3-9

Another excellent bout from Dinesh Kumar, who likes to play attacking boxing ... In first round both boxers were judging eachother still Dinesh managed to take a point lead 3-2 ... But from second round Dinesh was dominated and Romanian boxer couldn't match his skill ... Dinesh won next 2 rounds with 8-2 and 8-3 scores to moved into quarter-final comfortably.

Jai Bhagwan couldn't repeat his last round performance and lost against German boxer ... Burhard played smart boxing to control early lead to won it easily.
Billiards News
At World Professional Billiards 2009, Leeds, England

Final
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Mike Russell (QAT) 2030-1253

24 yrs old Pankaj lifted his first World Professional Billiards title defeating 9 times World Professional Billiards champion and defending champion Mike Russell ... Before this match Pankaj never won match against Mike Russell ... So winning match on such a big stage is amazing feat for Pankaj.

Pankaj started well and take early lead in first session ... In first session he scored 5 hundred breaks, highest was 226 pts ... Mike Russell managed only 1 hundred break of 193 pts ... Pankaj's average per visit on board was 63.0 pts in first session and Mike managed only average of 23.2 pts .. Until end of first session Pankaj was leading by 650 points, 1070-418 ... In second session Mike Russell tried to fightback but Pankaj was in no mood to lose advantage and matched Mike's game ... In this session both scored 3 hundred breaks, Mike's highest was 219 and Pankaj's was 147 ... But again Pankaj was better on per visit average, Pankaj was 33.1 pts an Mike was 26.1 ... So in end Pankaj scored comfortable win by almost 800 pts.

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Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

81 Kg
[R2] Dinesh Kumar (IND) bt Vladimir Reznicek (CZE) 15-7

[R3] Dinesh Kumar (IND) vs Costantin Bejenaru (ROU)

91 Kg
Manpreet Singh (IND) l Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) 2-16

Dinesh Kumar made strong start in ongoing World Championship against Czech boxer ... In first round both boxers played attacking boxing but Dinesh managed more scoring punches to lead 8-4 ... Second round Dinesh Kumar won easily with 5-1 and as expected in final round he only defended his lead to score comfortable lead.

But in 91 Kg category match Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk crushed Indian challenge of Manpreet Singh in one-sided bout.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (Canada) l Carly Gullickson (USA)/ Travis Parrott (USA) 16 46

Junior
[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) bt Jordan Cox (USA,38)

With this one-sided loss Sania's challenge got over in US Open ... She must be disappointed with her performance in this final grand slam of the year.

What a start for Yuki to dismissed this year's Junior Wimbledon finalist in the first round ... He literally thrashed his opponent with his improved game ... He broke Cox's serve twice in the first set and thrice in second set.

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At $35K+H Como Challenger, Italy (clay)

Final
(3) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) l (4) Marco Crugnola (ITA)/ Alessandro Motti (ITA) 67(3) 26

Missed title by Harsh and Huey ... Though creditable performance by this pair but was hoping title from them after reaching the final.
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Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Boys Youth Volleyball World Championship, Jesolo - Bassano del Grappa, Italy

For 7th Position
India bt Italy 26-28 25-23 25-21 25-16

So again we defeated host Italy to grab 7th position, I would luv if we finished on higher position as we had our chances in matches against Argentina and Spain ... But still creditable finish on 7th position, this finish was our second best result in u-17 World Championship after we finished on 2nd position in 2003 championship.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Billiards News
At World Professional Billiards 2009, Leeds, England

Semi Finals
Mike Russell (QAT) bt Rupesh Shah (IND) 1366-880
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Dhruv Sitwala (IND) 1037-972

Quarter Finals
Mike Russell (QAT) bt B. Bhaskar (IND) 1271-419
Rupesh Shah (IND) bt Martin Goodwill (ENG) 545-394
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt David Causier (ENG) 896-782
Dhruv Sitwala (IND) bt Peter Gilchrist (SIN) 872-399

Group A
Rupesh Shah (IND) bt Ian Williamson (ENG) 480-249
Devendra Joshi (IND) l Mike Russell (QAT) 439-703
Rupesh Shah (IND) l Mike Russell (QAT) 945-211
Devendra Joshi (IND) bt Ian Williamson (ENG) 615-237
Rupesh Shah (IND) bt Devendra Joshi (IND) 485-309

Group B
Saurav Kothari (IND) bt Gary Rogers (ENG) 730-317
B. Bhaskar (IND) l Martin Goodwill (ENG) 400-567
Saurav Kothari (IND) l Martin Goodwill (ENG) 394-413
B. Bhaskar (IND) bt Gary Rogers (ENG) 529-295
B. Bhaskar (IND) bt Saurav Kothari (IND) 779-333

Group D
Geet Sethi (IND) bt Robert Hall (ENG) 1329-206
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Michael Kreuziger (AUT) 1169-159
Dhruv Sitwala (IND) bt Michael Kreuziger (AUT) 957-154
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Geet Sethi (IND) 818-482
Dhruv Sitwala (IND) bt Robert Hall (ENG) 1010-228
Geet Sethi (IND) bt Michael Kreuziger (AUT) 1247-185
Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Robert Hall (ENG) 787-394
Dhruv Sitwala (IND) bt Pankaj Advani (IND) 731-495
Dhruv Sitwala (IND) bt Geet Sethi (IND) 629-383

As usual big Indian contingent participated in it ... In shocking event 5 times Pro Billiards World champion Geet Sethi lost in group stage.

4 Indians reached in quarters and 3 managed to reach in semis ... In semis Pankaj won see-saw battle against Dhruv, with whom he lost in group stage ... Now in the final current IBSF World Champion Pankaj Advani facing defending Pro Billiards World champion and defending champion Mike Russell.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[R2] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 62 63
[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Rik de Voest (RSA) l Robert Kendrick (USA)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 26 63 57
[R2] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Jesse Levine (USA)/ Ryan Sweeting (USA) 75 62

[R3] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
[R3] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Dudi Sela (ISR)

MXD
[R2] (1) Liezel Huber(USA)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt Jill Craybas (USA)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 63 63
[R2] (2) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Dusan Vemic (SRB) 64 64

Junior
[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1) vs Jordan Cox (USA,38)
[R1] Sudanwa Sitaram (IND,72) vs Alexander Domijan (USA,17)

Very comfortable win by Lee and Lukas over Spanish pair to moved into third round ... This is good performance by them as they entered into this US Open playing only one tournament togethar on hard court after Wimbledon.

In second set Lee and Lukas were 3-0 up and had couple of break point chances to move 4-0 but they messed those and gave chance to Spanish team to comeback on serve at 4-3 ... Again they broke opponent in nexst game to win set and match.

Mahesh and Mark also won comfortably in second set after winning first set tightly ... In MXD our seeded pairs had easy passage to next round.

Junior draw is out ... Yuki playing his second junior grandslam of the year after missing French Open and Wimbledon due to injury ... He is facing local boy in first round ... Sudanwa is only other Indian in singles draw, he is facing top-20 local boy in first round.
Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

75 Kg
[R2] Vijender (IND) bt Azamat Belgibayev (KAZ) 14-8

48 Kg
[R2] Nanao Singh Thokchom (IND) l Kaeo Pongprayoon (THA) 4-16

Slow start for Vijender against Kazak opponent, he was down on points after first round 3-5 ... Second round he won 6-3 to lead 9-8 and in last round didn't give any chance to his opponent to win points with his smart tactics.

Again Nanao Singh lost to same Thai opponent Kaeo Pongprayoon, whom he lost at Asian Championship final ... But this time Kaeo Pongprayoon scored very dominating victory ... In second round Kaeo outclassed Nanao Singh 10-1 and that sealed the match outcome.

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Volleyball News
At 2009 FIVB Boys Youth Volleyball World Championship, Jesolo - Bassano del Grappa, Italy

5-8 Positions
India l Spain 21-25 19-25 25-21 25-16 11-15

We lost against Spain 2-3, consider our previous matches performance we should not lost this match ... Its again proven once we fail to reached for next level then our players (and coaches) play lethargic game in position matches without giving their 100%.

But in other match Tunisia also defeated Italy 3-1 ... So we r facing Italy in next match but for 7th position.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[R2] (14) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) l Gisela Dulko (ARG)/ Shahar Peer (ISR) 26 61 57

MXD
[R1] (1) Liezel Huber(USA)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt Vania King (USA)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 75 60

[R2] (1) Liezel Huber(USA)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Jill Craybas (USA)/ Eric Butorac (USA)

In somewhat upset Sania and Schiavone lost in 3 sets ... After losing first set they won second easily but couldn't maqnage to kept that winning momentum in third.

Top-seed Huber and Mahesh started with win ... After closely fought first set they blanked opponents in second set.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Boxing News
At the XV AIBA World Championships, Milan, Italy

60 Kg
[R2] Jai Bhagwan (IND) bt Eric Donovan (IRL) 11-6

[PQF] Jai Bhagwan (IND) vs Eugen Burhard (GER)

Superb performance by Jai Bhagwan against Irish boxer ... Jai was down 1-4 after first round then he was behind 3-5 after second round ... But he outclassed Eric Donovan in third round with attacking and scoring punches, he won this round 8-1 to won match 11-6.

With this win Jai Bhagwan is in pre-quarter final ... Jai will face German boxer Eugen Burhard, who won his bout against Hungarian on body count.

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Tennis News
At $35K+H Como Challenger, Italy (clay)

[SF] (3) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Adrian Garcia (CHI)/ Manuel Jorquera (ITA) 63 36 10(5)

So Harsh and Huey Are in the final win another good win against clay court specialist players ... Good run by them on clay in this Italian challenger.
Tennis News
At US Open 2009, New York

[R2] (Q) Somdev Devverman (IND,162) l (23) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER,24) 36 46 60 26

[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Lovro Zovko (CRO) 63 64
[R1] (14) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) bt Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR)/ Renata Voracova (CZE) 57 75 61

[R2] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)
[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Rik de Voest (RSA) vs Robert Kendrick (USA)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)
[R2] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Jesse Levine (USA)/ Ryan Sweeting (USA)
[R2] (14) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Francesca Schiavone (ITA) vs Gisela Dulko (ARG)/ Shahar Peer (ISR)

MXD
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (Canada) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/ Ashley Fisher (AUS) 63 61
[R1] (2) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Patty Schnyder (SUI)/ Wesley Moodie (RSA) 64 36 11(9)

[R2] (2) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Dusan Vemic (SRB)

Second set was close but Somdev blanked Kohlschreiber in third set ... We should give credit to Kohlschreiber, who dominated first and fourth sets ... Still very encouraging performance by Buji ... Who will climb around 140 in new ATP ranking.

Match was very close, check points difference Somdev lost points battle by 111-116 ... He also managed to convert only 4 of the 20 break point chances he created ... But I m very happy with his performance, he is showing he can compete with top-50 players.

After losing first set 57 Sania and Schiavone were 3-5 down but they made comeback to win next 4 games ... Third set they totally dominated to move into third.

Mahesh and Mark started with very clinical win against Cerretani and Zovko ... In MXD Sania and Nestor scored very one-sided victory over their opponent ... In other match Lee and Cara struggled against tricky pair of Schnyder and Moodie ... After winning first set Schnyder and Moodie dominated the match ... They won second set and in super tie-break Lee and Cara were leading 5-1 but again Schnyder and Moodie made comeback ... But Lee and Cara managed to win crucial last couple of points to scored win.

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At $10K India F9 Futures, New Delhi

At $10K India F9 Futures, New Delhi

Final
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (6) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 63 61

Semi Finals
(6) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) bt Ashutosh SINGH (IND) 16 64 63
(2) Young-Jun KIM (KOR) bt (4) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 62 62

Kim won 2nd title in 3 weeks easily beating his Japanese opponent.

Before that Indian challenge got over in singles semis ... Ashutosh managed to stretch it to third set bur Ranjeet lost in easy 2 sets against Kim.

Rohan Gajjar won doubles title with Britisher Chris Eaton beating top-seed pair of Vishnu Vardhan and Ashutosh Singh in 2 tie-breaks, 76(6) 76(3).

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