Tennis News
At $15K Australia Futures F2, Berri (grass)

[R1] (1) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,363) vs (Q) Daniel Ferretti (AUS,UNR)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,1027) vs (3) Erik Chvojka (CAN,394)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Allen Belobrajdic (AUS)/ Jia Li (CHN)

This week Vishnu is top-seed and I really hope he will perform as per his seedings, he is facing qualifier in the first round ... If Vishnu wins first 2 rounds then chances r he could have re-match against Britisher Burnham Arlidge in quarters against whom he lost last week ... Divij having tough first round match against 3rd seed Canadian Erik Chvojka.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15k USA F6 futures, Harlingen, Texas

[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,504) vs Rodrigo Perez (CHI,736)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Devin Britton (USA) vs (WC) Spencer Feldman (USA)/ Mitchell J. Polnet (USA)

This week Yuki is 7th seed in singles and 2nd seed in doubles with American Devin Britton.

Tennis News
At $15k USA F5 futures, Brownsville, Texas

[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,505) l (3) Roman Borvanov (MDA,347) 46 75 36

Though Yuki lost in this match still he able to produced fighting performance ... It lookslike he is getting confidence back and hopefully he will back on playing at top-350 level.

Football News
At I-League 2010-11, India - Round XVI

Salgaocar SC bt ONGC, Mumbai 5-0

Goal Scored - Yusif Yakubu (SSC) 29' and 85', Gilbert Oliveira (SSC) 40' and 50', Ryuji Sueoka (SSC) 54'
-----------------------------------------

Air India FC dw Chirag United SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Okorogor Praise (AI) 36' and Subhasish Chakraborty (CU) 7'
-----------------------------------------

HAL Bangalore bt Mumbai FC 1-0

Goal Scored - M.Meetei (HAL) 75'
------------------------------------------

Pune FC dw Viva Kerala 4-4

Goal Scored - Edmar Figueira (PFC) 5' P, Gurjinder Singh (PFC) 10', Mandjou Keita (PFC) 28', S.Venkatesh (PFC) 41' and Anil Kumar (VK) 43' and 83', Felix Chimakwu (VK) 48'P, Bello Razaq (VK) 80'
------------------------------------------

Indian Arrows dw East Bengal 1-1

Goal Scored - Milan Singh (IA) 8' and R.Vashum (EB) 18'
-----------------------------------------

Mohun Bagan dw Churchill Brothers 0-0
-----------------------------------------

JCT Mills FC l Dempo SC 1-2

Goal Scored - Gurtej pal Singh (JCT) 12' and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 32', Beto (DSC)

Dempo scored comeback win over JCT.

Viva produced awesome comeback against Pune FC in away match ... After dowm 0-4 Anil Kumar started their comenback scoring goal in late of first half and he also scored equlizer in the end ... Indian Arrows hold mighty East Bengal in one-all draw, many players from Indian Arrows played on Wednesday against Myanmar ... Mohun Bagand and Churchill ended in goalless draw.

Salgaocar extended their lead on leader-board after thrashing ONGC ... Air men hold Chirag to 1-all draw but upset of the round scored HAL side who upset Mumbai FC by solitary goal.

Tennis News
At $15k USA F5 futures, Brownsville, Texas

[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,505) bt (WC) Harrison Adams (USA,UNR) 62 62

[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,505) vs (3) Roman Borvanov (MDA,347)

Another crisp and dominating win in very windy condition (40 mph) ... Now true test for Yuki in quarters against 28 yrs old, who is around his career best ranking inside top-350.

Tennis News
At $1.62M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[QF] (1) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Dick Norman (BEL) 67(5) 46
[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Jeremy Chardy (FRA)/ Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 46 63 7-10

Today against Charady and Lopez our pair Rohan and Aisam wasted couple of break points in first set, other hand Charady and Lopez converted from one chance they got to won first set ... In second set our pair saved one on their serve and converted one which they got to make it one set all ... In super tie-break Charady and Lopez take early lead with mini-break and managed to keep pressure to won match ... In season 2011 Rohan and Aisam r still searching for their form of second part of season 2010.

Turned into disastrous day as Lee and Mahesh also lost into quarters against Granollers and Norman ... Our pair faced 12 break points on their service games and saved 9, they createwd 5 opportunities and converted 2 ... Unexpected loss.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $721K Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Doha

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) l (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 26 06

Sania and ELena crushed by Chan and Zheng in quarters.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15k USA F5 futures, Brownsville, Texas

[R1] (8) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,505) bt (WC) Oliver GOLDING (GBR,1146) 62 63

[R2] (8) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,505) vs (WC) Harrison ADAMS (USA,UNR)

Good easy win by Yuki against JR WR #4 Golding ... Match was played in windy condition but Yuki adjusted well to win this match ... In second round Yuki is facing another wild-card player, local 16 yrs old Harrison Adams.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Australia Futures F1, Mildura (grass)

[R2] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,358) l Burnham Arlidge (GBR,969) 67(4) 46

Doubles
[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Jonathon Cooper (AUS)/ Jake Eames (AUS) 63 75

[SF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (4) Matthew Barton (AUS)/ Colin Ebelthite (AUS) 61 36 9-11

Bad day at the office for Vishnu ... He lost against lowly ranked British player and in doubles also he with Divij lost against local Aussie pair.

Tennis News
At $1.62M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 75 36 10-7

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA)/ Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

Rohan and Aisam had tricky match against Nieminen and Troicki ... They lost Aisam's serve in 7th game but came back on serve after breaking opponent's serve in next game ... Again our pair broke opponents serve in 12th game to won first set ... In second set our pair against lost Aisam's serve in 7th game but Rohan also lost his serve in 9th game to lose second set.

In super tie-break both pairs traded early mini-break but from 3-all our pair take control winning next 5 points in that taking double mini-break ... At 9-5 Jarkko and Viktor take one mini-break back on Aisam's serve, 9-6 ... But our pair again broke serve on 9-7 to complete the win.

Next they r facing French-Spanish pair of Charady and Lopez, who upset Polish 2nd seeds in first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $721K Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Doha

[R2] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) l (5) Jelena Jankovic (SRB,8) 06 16

Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) bt Martinez Sanchez (ESP)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 61 63

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)

Yesterday Sania was hitting winner after winner against Bojana but today she was only managed to win points when Jelena was making errors ... After losing 9 games Sania managed to win onnly game of the match tell us whole story ... I m very disappointed with this inconsistency from Sania.

In doubles Sania and Elena had easy win ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Chinese-Taiwan pair.

Football News
At Pre-Olympic qualifier 2012, Pune, India - First Leg

India bt Myanmar 2-1

Goal Scored - Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 23', Malswamfela Fela (IND) 40' and Mai Naing (MYA) 34'

Our young in-experienced Indian side gave spirited performance ... They were controlling game from the start with impressive performance from mid-fielders mainly Shilton and Jewel ... India take lead after superb free-kick from our striker Jeje just outside of the Myanmar box ... But mis-communication between goalkeeper Gurpret Singh Sandhu and experienced defender Nirmal Chhetri cost us equalizer ... With help from mid-fielders our strikers kept attacking and Malswamfela Fela scored to gave lead before first-half ... In second half we manged to hold lead with very few attacks from both teams to scored win ... Positive signs that our strikers scoring goals.

But in an Away match we r in little disadvantage due to away goal rule ... Now Myanmar need 1-0 victory to win this tie, other hand we will be through if we only mange draw/ win

Tennis News
At $721K Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Doha

[R1] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) bt (Q) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB,55) 62 75

[R2] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) vs (5) Jelena Jankovic (SRB,8)

Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs Martinez Sanchez / Monica Niculescu

Sania take break in 4th game to take lead 3-1 but Bojana broke her next game to make it 3-2 ... Sania won next 3 games breaking Bojana twice to won first set comfortably ... In second set Bojana broke Sania in middle of second set but Sania broke her while Bojana was serving for the set to make it 5-all ... Again Sania broke her in 12th game to scored upset win.

Good straight sets win over Bojana Jovanovski but next she is facing her senior Serbian player Jelena Jankovic ... Considering her recent form Sania having best chance to upset Jankovic ... This first round win give Sania another 60 pts and will move her inside top-110.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $1.62M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,81) l (1) Roger Federer (SUI,2) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Marko Djokovic (SRB)/ Novak Djokovic (SRB) 64 61
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)

[QF] (1) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Dick Norman (BEL)

Somi tried his best despite his inconsistency against Master ... This was difficult match from him but still he was trying hard ... What I like he kept fighting for every point and his game looks improved ... Need improvement in second serve and I think much more proper shots selection will come when he play regularly on top level.

For record Federer broke once Buji in first set and twice in second ... Buji had 2 break point opportunities but he failed to convert in second set.

Mahesh and Lee scored comfortable win against Djokovic brothers.

“Obviously [it was] a tricky match playing Novak and his brother,” said Bhupathi. “But we just tried to focus on our game and try and block the rest out of it. We came out on top. First match after a few weeks, so happy to start the campaign off here with a win.”

Paes added, “Novak is a real champion, and it's nice see him support his own brother play at the professional level. I think that makes it very special.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Wolfsburg Challenger, Germany

[R1] (WC) Victor Baluda (RUS)/ Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND) l Martin Fischer (AUT)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 46 61 4-10

Good fighting performance by wild-card pair against experienced Austrian pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Australia Futures F1, Mildura (grass)

[R1] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,358) bt Bowen Ouyang (CHN,986) 63 75
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND,1029) l (Q) Marious Zelba (AUS,UNR) 62 36 67(4)

[R2] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,358) vs Burnham Arlidge (GBR,969)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Myles Blake (GBR)/ Isaac Frost (AUS) 64 62

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Jonathon Cooper (AUS)/ Jake Eames (AUS)

Disappointing start for Divij ... Who lost his match against unranked Australian qualifier after winning the first set ... Vishnu scored straight sets victory over Chinese but stretched in second set ... Next Vishnu is facing British 900+ ranked player.

Good start in doubles for top-seed Divij and Vishnu.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15k USA F5 futures, Brownsville, Texas

[R1] (8) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,505) vs (WC) Oliver GOLDING (GBR,1146)

Good first round match for Yuki against current JR WR #4 Golding.

Tennis News
At $1.62M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,81) vs (1) Roger Federer (SUI,2)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Marko Djokovic (SRB)/ Novak Djokovic (SRB)
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)

For Dubai open Buji received wild-crad for singles and having dream-come-true match against one of the all time great THE Roger Federer.

Interestingly Mahesh is immdiately on the tour after his marriage with Lara Dutta ... He and Lee r top-seeds in doubles and facing Djokovic brothers ... Rohan and Aisam r also playing against Nieminen and Troicki.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $721K Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Doha

[R1] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND) vs Qualifier

Sania is facing qualifier in the first round.

Football News
At I-League 2010-11, India - Round XV

Viva Kerala bt Air India FC 7-1

Goal Scored - Anil Kumar (VK) 8', 49' and 83', Felix (VK) 32', Karma (VK) 79' and 90', N.P. Pradip (VK) 90+' and Okorogor Praise (AI) 71'
-----------------------------------------

Chirag United SC l Salgaocar SC 1-4

Goal Scored - Junior (CU) 3' and Yusif Yakubu (SSC) 20', Francis Fernandez (SSC) 65', Ekene Ikenwa (SSC) 72' and 87'
-----------------------------------------

HAL, Bangalore dw Mohun Bagan 1-1

Goal Scored - J. Murli (HAL) 38' and Surkumar Singh (MB) 30'
------------------------------------------

ONGC, Mumbai dw Indian Arrows 1-1

Goal Scored - Kamal Thapa (ONGC) 90' and Jeje Lalpekhula (IAR) 85'
-----------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers SC bt JCT Mills FC 3-1

Goal Scored - Mohmmed Rafi (CB) 45', Zakir MP (CB) 52', Jerry Boima (CB) 67' and Omolaja Nurain Kareem (JCT) 35'

2 matches of 15th round r moved to 15th May as Dempo was playing in Qatar and Pune FC home ground organising pre-Olympic qualifier home-leg against Myanmar on 23rd February so their home match also got cancelled.

Viva scored their best win in I-League against Air men with hat-trick from Anil Kumar ... Very dominating win ... Salgaocar take full advantage when Chirag's Denson Devdas received red card in 12th minute to scored impressive win ... Churchill scored expected victory ... HAL hold formidable Mohun Bagan and Indian Arrow failed to score victory after conceding late equalizer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
At AFC Champions League 2011, Qatar

Play-Off
Al-Sadd, Qatar bt Dempo SC 2-0

Goal Scored - Keita (Al-S) 33', Leandro (Al-S) 89'

Decent scoreline for Dempo against formidable Al-Sadd side.

Tennis News
At $2.05M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

Doubles
[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) l (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/ Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 46 26

It looks Sania and Elena failed to raise their game against in-form pair ... In both sets Sania and Elena were an early break down, in first set our pair tried to comeback breaking opponent's serve after 2 breaks down but Azarenka and Kirilenko proved too strong for them.

Tennis News
At $2.05M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

Doubles
[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)/ Selima Sfar (TUN) 62 46 12-10

Very tight win after winning first set easily in doubles second round to moved into quarters.

Tennis News
At $2.05M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[R2] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND,134) l (Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN,57) 46 26

Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) bt (8) Timea Bacsinsky (SUI)/ Iveta Benesova (CZE) 57 61 10-7

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)/ Selima Sfar (TUN)

After yesterday's thumping win hope were high for her second round match against in-form Ayumi Morita ... But Sania couldn't managed to repeat her first round performance ... Morita broke hear early to take 0-2 lead but Sania broke Ayumi in 3rd game to make it 2-all ... Ayumi take crucial break in 10th game to won second set ... In second set also Ayumi broke Sania early and take control of the set ... She again broke late in the match to won second set comfortably ... Still reaching second round will give 70 ranking pts to Sania, which will help Sania to re-enter into top-120 in singles ranking.

In doubles, in first set crucial break came in 11th game and 8th seed pair won first set ... Second set dominated by Sania and Elena, who broke opponent's serve 3 times to won it comfortably ... Very tight super tie-break as no pair won point on opponent's serve until 7-all ... On 15th point Sania and Elena take important mini-break to won STB and match.

Tennis News
At $2.05M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[R1] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND,134) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB,64) 63 61

[R2] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND,134) vs (Q) Ayumi Morita (JPN,57)

Sania played near perfect match against Amanmuradova to gave her thrashing in one hour ... Amanmuradova started well breaking Sania early to take 1-3 lead ... But after that Sania only lost one game in next 12 games ... Sania was serving well and was moved well on the court ... In complete match Sania recorded only 1 double faults ... Sania faced 3 break points and created 14 break points oppurtunity which of converted 6 ... This THE best performance and her first win in main-draw of season 2011.

Next she is having tricky match against in-form Ayumi Morita, who is performaing consistently.

Tennis News
At $2.05M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE


[R1] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND,134) vs Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB,64)

Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs (8) Timea Bacsinsky (SUI)/ Iveta Benesova (CZE)

Expected wild-card in big Dubai tournament for Sania ... Having decent first round draw ... She had 3 wins on tour against Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova ... Her only loss came at last year's Asian Games semi-final.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
With Cambodia F2 futures title win points added to his ranking points tally Karan Rastogi rise to his personal best ATP singles ranking ... In updated list he is ranked #284.

Tennis News
At $220K PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand

[SF] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 36 36

Top-seed pair of Errani and Vinci easily defeatred Sania and Kai-Chen in the semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, Quimper, France

[SF] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) James Cerretani (USA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 67(4) 46

Purav and Trewat gave fighting performance but couldn't overcome challenge from top-seeds.

Football News
At I-League 2010-11, India - Round XIV

Air India FC l Mumbai FC 0-1

Goal Scored - Henry Ezeh (MFC) 15'
-----------------------------------------

Salgaocar SC bt Viva Kerala 4-0

Goal Scored - Yusif Yakubu (SSC) 34' and 67', Ryuji Sueoka (SSC) 39', Ekene Ikenwa (SSC) 90+'
-----------------------------------------

ONGC, Mumbai bt East Bengal 1-0

Goal Scored - Baba Tunde (ONGC) 58'
-----------------------------------------

Dempo SC bt Churchill Brothers SC 2-0

Goal Scored - Joaquim Abranches (DSC) 12', Ranty Martin (DSC) 83'
------------------------------------------

Mohun Bagan dw Pune FC 0-0
-----------------------------------------

HAL Bangalore dw JCT Mills FC 0-0
-----------------------------------------

Indian Arrows dw Chirag United SC 0-0

Indian Arrows hold Chirag to goalless draw.

Terrific upset win by ONGC against leader East Bengal ... Dempo scored important win in goan derby against Churchill ... In away match Pune FC managed to hold Mohun Bagan in goalless draw ... Hal and JCT also ended in goalless draw.

Salgaocar take advantage of slip up of East Bengal and caught them with points with win ... They r also new leader of I-League 2010-11 season with higher goal difference ... In Mumbai derby Mumbai FC won their match against Air men.

Tennis News
At €1.45M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) l (Alt) Andy Murray (GBR)/ Jamie Murray (GBR) 26 36

Mahesh and Granollers had interesting quarter-final against Murray brothers ... But in end Murray brothers proved too strong for this new pair of Mahesh and Marcel.

Next week big day is coming for Mahesh and Lara ... An early congrats guys.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $220K PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand

[QF] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)/ Romina Oprandi (ITA) 61 62

[SF] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

After fighting first round win Sania and Kai-Chen scored very dominating win over Date-Krum and Oprandi in quarters but they r having tough challenge of Italian top-seed in the semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, Quimper, France

[QF] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Romain Jouan (FRA)/ Mathieu Roorigues (FRA) 36 75 10-8

[SF] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) James Cerretani (USA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN)

Excellent comeback tight win for Purav and Treat against local player to moved into semis ... In semis they r facing top-seed pair of Cerretani and Shamasdin.

Tennis News
At $220K PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand

[R1] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA)/ Jessica Moore (AUS) 67(7) 75 10-0

[QF] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)/ Romina Oprandi (ITA)

In first set Sania and Kai-Chen 3-5 down when they broke back and take set in tie-break before losing close tie-break ... In second set they were in trouble and only a game away from losing match ... But from 2-5 down they did miraculous comeback ... They won next 5 games and super tie-break without losing a single point in super tie-break ... Next they r facing Kimiko Date and Romina Oprandi.

-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, Quimper, France

[R1] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA) 63 76(3)

[QF] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Romain Jouan (FRA)/ Mathieu Roorigues (FRA)

Winning start for Purav and Treat in this French challenger ... In quarter-final they r facing another local French pair.

Tennis News
At €1.45M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) bt Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 76(6) 64
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul_Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (4) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 46 67(4)

Mahesh and his new Spanish partner pulled tight win.

Still not able to handle Zimo and Llodra ... So in couple of weeks second loss against them for Rohan and Aisam.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F4 Futures, Antalya

[Q1] Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND,1423) bt Yanais LAURENT (FRA,NR) 46 63 63
[Q2] Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND,1423) bt (14) Lucas RENARD (SWE,1219) 64 62
[Q3] Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND,1423) bt (1) Aldin SETKIC (BIH,329) 76(8) 60

[R1] (Q) Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND,1423) l (Q) Adam CHADAJ (POL,850) 26 67(2)

In final qualifying Srirambalaji scored very good win over Bosnia and Herzegovina player Aldin Setkic ... Last set he won without losing a game against top-325 type player.

But again Srirambalaji failed to capture first ranking point of 4 weeks of Turkey futures ... Lost in straight sets against fellow qualifier.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, Quimper, France

[Q3] Purav Raja (IND,UNR) l (3) Mathieu Rodrigues (FRA,391) 67(1) 67(5)

Good fighting performance by Purav against top-400 French player.

Tennis News
At €1.45M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul_Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (4) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)
[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

It looks Lee is busy with his Hindi movie assignment and Mahesh is playing one tournament before his marriage with Lara ... He is playing with Spanish partner Marcel Granollers.

Tough first round against Llodra and Zimo, against same pair Rohan and Aisam lost at Australian Open 3rd round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $220K PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand

[R1] (3) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA)/ Jessica Moore (AUS)

If she is still struggling with ankle injury then she should skip playing this week to avoid serious injury.
-----------------------------------------------------------
In new ranking update Somi re-enter into top-100 and after reaching final of SA Open he is now ranked his career best singles ranking, #80.

This week he was in main-draw of Bergamo Challenger but today he decided to withdrawn ... I think it is good decision to take break after last week's heroic.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, Quimper, France

[Q1] Purav Raja (IND,UNR) bt (WC) Bryan Laurent (FRA,UNR) 61 61
[Q2] Purav Raja (IND,UNR) bt (7) Julien Obry (FRA,633) 46 64 76(4)

[Q3] Purav Raja (IND,UNR) vs (3) Mathieu Rodrigues (FRA,391)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Treat Conrad Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Charles-Antoine Brezac (FRA)/ Vincent Stouff (FRA)

It looks Purav and Huey decided to play more tournaments together ... They r 3 rd seed in this French challenger .. Purav is also in singles final qualifying with upset win over top-650 local player.

Tennis News
At $442.5K SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg

[F] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) l (4) Kevin Anderson (RSA,56) 64 36 26

Somi started well breaking Kevin's serve in third game to take early lead ... After rain break Kevin broke Somi's serve in 6th game to make it 3-all ... Immediately Somi broke Kevin's serve in next game on 3rd break point to take lead ... Then hold his next couple of service games to won first set ... In second set Somi suddenly started making lot many unforced errors and Kevin take full advantage of it ... Crucial break on Somi's serve came in 6th game ... Though Somi saved set points on his serve in 8th game still Kevin served out to won second set ... Kevin managed to keep momentum in third set ... He was serving well and keeping pressure on Somi's serve ... He broke Somi's serve in 5th game but Somi had chance to broke back in next game when he had 3 break points at 0-40 ... Kevin saved all those before holding his serve and then again broke Somi's serve in 7th game to take double break lead ... Then converted first championship point on his serve when Somi's forehand went wide to won his first ATP tour title in 2 hours 19 mins.

Somi still need to wait for his first tour title but very fruitful tournament which gave him 150 ranking points which will lift him arounf #80 in the ranking.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $220K PTT Pattaya Open, Thailand

[Q1] (1)Sania Mirza (IND,135) l Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ,272) 46 46

It looks ankle injury hamppered Sania's game ans she lost in first round qualifying.

Tennis News
At $442.5K SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) bt (WC) Izak Van der merwe (RSA,170) 62 64

[F] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) vs (4) Kevin Anderson (RSA,56)

Somdev played excellent match to scored comfortable win in 1 hour 27 mins to moved into his second ATP final after 2009 Chennai Open final ... In this match Somi faced 2 break points on his serve in the first set and he saved all two ... Somi started well breaking Izak's serve in first and third game to lead 4-0 ... He won first set with these couple of break ... In second set he take crucial break in 5th game to won set and match.

Buji is playing another local player in the final ... This time 4th seed and WR #56 Kevin Anderson, hopefully he will make 3 wins in a row against local players.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

Singles Final
(1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) 61 63

Karan enter into top-280 ranking with style ... He won $15K title in Cambodian futures losing only 4 games ... Really heartening to see Karan winning title here.

Other hand Vijay Sundar played really well to reach his first final ... He was struggling with niggling ankle injury (his ankle injured during Chennai Open) from his quarter-fianl match, he played with taking icepack and some help from local physio.

-----------------------------------------------------------
At Asia/Oceania Group I,

Relegation Play-off

India l Chinese Taipei 1-2

Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA l Ting-Fei JUAN 36 36
Poojashree VENKATESHA l Chin-Wei CHAN 57 16
Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI/ Poojashree VENKATESHA bt Ting-Fei JUAN/ Yui-Lynn MIAO 16 63 76(5)

Sania twisted her ankle and decided to stay out of this match but frankly I don't think that changed the final result if she played in this match ... After following scores of previous matches I really feel this was deserving fate for India side to relegate to Group II.

Tennis News
At $442.5K SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) bt (WC) Rick De Voest (RSA,183) 36 76(5) 61

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) vs (WC) Izak Van der merwe (RSA,170)

Somi started well breaking Rik's serve in the first game but from 3-1 he started to make too many unforced errors and lost next 5 games to lost first set ... In second set again Somi broke Rik's serve in 2nd game and take 3-0 lead ... Rik broke Somi's serve in 7th game to brought set on serves ... In tie-break Somi take early mini-break and that was enough to won second set ... In third set Somi was fighting for each point, he broke Rik's serve in first game on 4th break point ... He again broke Rik in 5th game to double break ahead ... In 7th game when Rik was serving to stay in the match he saved one match point but Somi take second match point to broke Rik third time in the set to won this match.

In semis he is facing another local wild-crad player, Izak Van der merwe
-----------------------------------------------------------
At Asia/Oceania Group I,

Group A

India l Thailand 1-2

Ashvarya SHRIVASTAVA l Nicha LERTPITAKSINCHAI 26 06
Sania MIRZA bt Noppawan LERTCHEEWAKARN 62 60
Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI/ Sania MIRZA l Noppawan LERTCHEEWAKARN/ Nungnadda WANNASUK 63 06 57

This time we gave chance to Ashvarya in the first match but no luck ... In second match Sania played her best match of this Fed cup to scored dominating win over talented Noppawan ... In last match again we lost doubles against Thai pair after winning first set.

So with that we lost this tie 1-2 against Thai ... Now India will play play-off to stay in Group I against Chinese Taipei.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh


[SF] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) bt (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) 61 60
[SF] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) bt Arata Onozawa (JPN,602) 62 75

[F] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) vs N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677)

Doubles
[F] (4) BHAMBRI (IND)/ SHOKEEN (IND) l (3) HUANG (TPE)/ LEE (TPE) 36 46

Another excellent win by Vijay Sundar Prashanth over higher ranked foreign player to reach his first futures final ... In the final he is having tough task of facing his senior and experienced opponent Karan, who toyed Ranjeet in other semis to scored very thumping win.

I m very excited for Karan ... Smart choice of tournaments selection from him after coming out of career threatening back surgery ... Now he will definitely going to concentrate more on playing challengers and tougher futures but most importantly he will get chance to play in grand slams qualifying.

Football News
At I-League 2010-11, India - Round XIII

Mohun Bagan dw East Bengal 1-1

Goal Scored - Jose Ramirez Barreto (MB) 29' and Sanju Pradhan (EB) 9' P
-----------------------------------------

HAL Bangalore bt ONGC, Mumbai 1-0

Goal Scored - M.Meitei (HAL) 70'
-----------------------------------------

Pune FC bt Indian Arrows 3-0

Goal Scored - Arata Izumi (PFC) 63', Edmar Figueira (PFC) 71' and 78'
------------------------------------------

Chirag United SC l Churchill Brothers SC 3-5

Goal Scored - Elija Junior (CU) 19' and 65' P, Malswatulunga (CU) 57' and Kayne Vincent (CB) 10' and 78', Steven Dias (CB) 21', Boima Karpeh (CB) 49', Amauri Neto (CB) 70'
-----------------------------------------

Mumbai FC dw JCT Mills FC 1-1

Goal Scored - Ebi Sukore (MFC) 57' and Amandeep (JCT) 83'
-----------------------------------------

Air India FC dw Salgaocar SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Okorogor Praise (AI) 79' and Yusif Yakubu (SSC) 45+'
-----------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l Dempo SC 0-2

Goal Scored - Roberto Mendes Silva (Beto) (DSC) 70', Ranti Martins (DSC) 77'

Air men hold Salgaocar to 1-all draw ... Other hand Dempo scored away win over Viva.

Brace from Edmar Figueira helped Pune FC to scored comfortable win over Indian Arrow ... But most entertaining match happened between Chirag United and Churchill Brothers, it was 8 goals thriller ... Churchill was leading 3-1 when Chirag fought back to make it 3-all but again Churchill went ahead to win this away tie ... Late strike from Amandeep helped JCT to hold Mumbai FC.

Big Kolkata derby ended in 1-all draw ... HAL scored much needed victory over ONGC.

Tennis News
At $442.5K SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l Karol Beck (SVK)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) 76(1) 36 10-12

Buji and Martin lost doubles quarter-final in very close super tie-break ... They started well after winning first set in tie-break but lost second set due to service break before losing STB.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At Asia/Oceania Group I, Thailand

Group A

India l Uzbekistan 1-2

Poojashree VENKATESHA l Sabina SHARIPOVA 16 26
Sania MIRZA bt Nigina ABDURAIMOVA 64 61
Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI/ Sania MIRZA l Nigina ABDURAIMOVA/ Albina KHABIBULINA 62 36 36

Yesterday's loss against China is going to haunt us remaining Fed cup matches ... Today after usual Poojashree's loss Sania came out and won her match ... But unfit Sania again failed trouble in doubles to loss with Rushmi after winning the first set.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[QF] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) bt (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,525) 75 63
[QF] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) bt (Q) Perakiat Siriluethaaiwattana (THA,1175) 76(6) 63
[QF] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) bt Ervand Gasparyan (RUS,867) 63 63

[SF] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) vs (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545)
[SF] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) vs Arata Onozawa (JPN,602)

Doubles
[SF] (4) BHAMBRI (IND)/ SHOKEEN (IND) bt (1) SHARAN (IND)/ VARDHAN (IND) 64 62
[SF] PRASHANTH (IND)/ SINGH (IND) l (3) HUANG (TPE)/ LEE (TPE) 76(4) 67(5) 3-10

[F] (4) BHAMBRI (IND)/ SHOKEEN (IND) vs (3) HUANG (TPE)/ LEE (TPE)

Our 3 players in semis ... Very good results for players like Vijay Sundar and Ranjeet to achieve that outside India ... Big push for them to making inside top-500 ... Karan showed his class beating Yuki is straight sets to stamp his authority over him and moving towards top-300 ranking.

Tennis News
At $442.5K SA Tennis Open, Johannesburg

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) bt Jesse Huta Galung (NED,120) 63 64

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,110) vs (WC) Rick De Voest (RSA,183)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ David Martin (USA) bt Martin Fischer (AUT)/ Rainer Schuettler (GER) 63 64

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Karol Beck (SVK)/ Dudi Sela (ISR)

So no match against Tipsarevic as he lost against Dutch player Jesse Huta Galung, 76(4) 46 67(4), in the morning when match started from 3-all in the third set.

Buji had terrific second round match against Jesse Huta Galung ... In first set Somi started badly and lose his serve early to down 1-3 but after that he came back strongly winning next 5 games to won first set ... Second set also went like first one ... Somi was early break down and again he came back strongly to won second set and match in style ... In quarter-final he is facing local wild-card boy and his good friend Rick De Voest.

Good start in doubles also ... Next they r facing Beck and Sela who upset second seeds in the first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At Asia/Oceania Group I,

Group A

India l China 1-2

Poojashree VENKATESHA l Hao Chen TANG 36 26
Sania MIRZA l Jing-Jing LU 16 60 46
Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI/ Poojashree VENKATESHA bt Jing-Jing LU/ Ran TIAN 63 62

Na Li wasn't playing in this match so we had good chance of winning this ... Our both singles players was playing against lower ranked opponents and both failed ... That cost us match and most probably place in Group I.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R2] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) bt Kento Takeuchi (JPN,938) 26 62 60
[R2] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,525) bt Christopher Rungkat (INA,636) 62 46 64
[R2] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) bt (Q) Jan Blecha (CZE,1233) 75 62
[R2] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) bt (3) Nikolaus Moser (AUT,422) 64 62
[R2] Vijayant Malik (IND,800) l Arata Onozawa (JPN,602) 46 46
[R2] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,387) l Peng Gao (CHN,853) 36 26

[QF] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) vs (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,525)
[QF] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) vs (Q) Perakiat Siriluethaaiwattana (THA,1175)
[QF] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) vs Ervand Gasparyan (RUS,867)

Doubles

[QF] (1) SHARAN (IND)/ VARDHAN (IND) bt MARGAROLI (SUI)/ SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 60 64
[QF] (4) BHAMBRI (IND)/ SHOKEEN (IND) bt TAKEUCHI (JPN)/ WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA) 62 63
[QF] PRASHANTH (IND)/ SINGH (IND) bt ONOZAWA (JPN)/ SEKIGUCHI (JPN) 76(3) 36 10-6

[SF] (1) SHARAN (IND)/ VARDHAN (IND) vs (4) BHAMBRI (IND)/ SHOKEEN (IND)
[SF] PRASHANTH (IND)/ SINGH (IND) vs (3) HUANG (TPE)/ LEE (TPE)

Shocking result, Vishnu lost very easily against below 825 ranked Chinese Peng Gao ... Karan and Yuki also struggled to move into quarters and will face each other ... But solid dominating win by N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth over top-425 Austrian Nikolaus Moser to moved into quarters.

Tennis News
At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) bt (JE) Marton Fucsovics (HUN,1431) 36 62 61
[R1] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,525) bt (WC) Kenny Bun (CAM,1516) 62 60
[R1] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) bt (Q) Hung-Yuan Hsu (TPE,1516) 61 63
[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) bt (Q) Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1146) 64 76(2)
[R1] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,387) bt (Q) Bowen Ouyang (CHN,1009) 63 63

[R2] (1) Karan Rastogi (IND,332) vs Kento Takeuchi (JPN,938)
[R2] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,525) vs Christopher Rungkat (INA,636)
[R2] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,545) vs (Q) Jan Blecha (CZE,1233)
[R2] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,677) vs Nikolaus Moser (AUT,422)
[R2] Vijayant Malik (IND,800) vs Arata Onozawa (JPN,602)
[R2] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,387) vs Peng Gao (CHN,853)

Karan needed time to adjust his game with 2010 Wimbledon Junior champion Hungerian Marton Fucsovics ... But after losing first set he won next 2 sets in dominating fashion ... Other results were as expected ... Abhijeet Tiwari gave good fight to his senior team-mate Vijay Sundar.