Golf News
At Nationwide Tour 2011, USA

2011 Nationwide Tour Money Leaders
19 Daniel Chopra $225,637

At $1M Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island, Daniel Island, Charleston

T3 Daniel Chopra 72 62 77 71 -6 $58,000

With finishing tied 3rd position in the final tournament Daniel Chopra has earned the 2012 PGA Tour card ... He finished on 19th in the Nationwide tour ... Top 25 money leaders at the end of the Nationwide tour earns the PGA Tour card for next year ... After losing his card at the end of 2010, Daniel went back to the Nationwide tour with a goal of making a comeback to the PGA Tour ... This year Daniel won the second tournament of the year, Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae and then he had only another top 10 finish at Miccosukee Championship ... He needed good result in the last tournament as he entered ranked 24th in the Nationwide Tour moneylist.

So Daniel Chopra will join Arjun Atwal in 2012 PGA Tour.

Hockey News
At Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament, Burnbury, Australia

India l Australia 0-5

Goal Scored - Kieran Govers (AUS) 9' PC and 32', Timothy Deavin (AUS) 21', Russel Ford (AUS) 25', Aran Zalewski (AUS) 57'

Indians started slowly and were rusty in the beginning ... Australians take full advantage and scored one goal after another ... But in the second half our team gave creditable performance ... They were gelling well and defended well ... Had few scoring chances which they missed.

Squash News
At $275k Men's & $143k Women's World Open, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[Q1] Siddarth Suchde (IND,64) bt Sander van Tour (NED,398) 11-2 11-5 11-3 (19m)

[Q2] Siddarth Suchde (IND,64) l Shawn Delierre (CAN,58) 7-11 8-11 8-11 (67m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,26) vs (Q) Davide Bianchetti (ITA,62)
[R1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,19) vs (15) Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL,16)

Siddarth played qualifying in this big World Open but lost in the final qualifying in close match.

Dipika having good chance to scored upset win over similar ranked seeded player ... Winnable first round against qualifier for Saurav.

Tennis News
At €2.02M Valencia Open, Spain

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Pablo Andujar (ESP)

This week at Valencia they r playing against Spanish pair and r in same top draw with Bryans.
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At € 1.84M Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland

[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Michal Mertinak (SVK) vs Xavier Malisse (BEL)/ Dick Norman (BEL)

This week Mahesh is playing with Michal Mertinak at Swss Indoor ... Lee is missing mostly due to his prior commitment in India, today he was present at Indian Grand Prix ... Mostly he will be back with Mahesh from next week's Paris Masters.
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At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[R1] (1) Somdev Devvarman (IND,81) vs Greg Jones (AUS,184)
[R1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,854) vs (3) Bobby Reynolds (USA,117)

Sommy in top-seed in his (away)home challenger ... Sanam is received wild-card but facing tough match against 3rd seed Bobby Reynolds.
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At $10K Thailand F4 Futures, Phuket

[Q1] (5) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND,1490) Bye

[Q2] (5) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND,1490) l Roy HOBBS (SIN,UNR) 46 46

[R1] Rohan GAJJAR (IND,609) vs (7) Arata ONOZAWA (JPN,483)
[R1] (LL) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND,1490) bt (Q) Kevin JORDI (SUI,UNR) 76(4) 64

Doubles
[R1] HOBBS (SIN)/ TIWARI (IND) vs LERTCHAI (THA)/ LUESANTIA (THA)
[R1] (4) GAJJAR (IND)/ RUNGKAT (INA) bt KHUNDARNPINITVON (THA)/ PRAHMANEE (THA) 62 63

Great to see Abhijeet Tiwari take advantage of facing unranked player to earn one ranking point.
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At $10K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[Q1] Kamal SURESH KUMAR (IND,UNR) l Kevin ALBONETTI (ITA,UNR) 16 36
[Q1] Arvind Vishnu BESTHA (IND,UNR) bt Muheto Ronald RUFYIKIRI (BDI,UNR) 62 60

[R1] Arvind Vishnu BESTHA (IND,UNR) vs Guy Orly IRADUKUNDA (BDI,UNR)

Arvind Vishnu Bestha having a great chance to earn his first ranking point as he is facing local 15 yrs old kid.
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At $10K Kuwait F3 Futures, Meshref

[Q1] Ritwick SUNDAR (IND,UNR) l Fahad AL SAAD (KSA,UNR) 26 46
[Q1] (6) Akash WAGH (IND,1504) bye

[Q2] (6) Akash WAGH (IND,1504) l Tim FOCHT (GER,UNR) 62 36 46

[R1] (LL) Akash WAGH (IND,1504) vs (Q) Richard RUCKELSHAUSEN (AUT,1181)

With his recent form I doubt he has a chance against this former 500 Austrian player ... Waste of 3 weeks which doesn't give him a single ranking point.

Need proper planning in selection of tournaments ... This week he should rested so he can concentrate on 4 weeks of Indian leg which is starting from next week ... Now he will be playing 7 weeks in a row if he play all 4 Indian futures ... For me it is really bad planning.

Billiards News
At WPBSA 2011 World Billiards Championship, Leeds, England

Our only 3 players reached in knockout stage - Pankaj Advani, Devendra Joshi and Rupesh Shah ... Pankaj Advani defeated Devendra Joshi 1000-721 in quarters ... Rupesh Shah lost in one-sided match in quarters against David Causier, 455-1000 ... In the semis Pankaj faced defending champion Mike Russell ... Pankaj fought hard but failed to convert in the win ... Mike Russell defeated Pankaj Advani 1250-1012 to book his place in the final.

Formula 1 News
At 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, Noida, New Delhi - Final Results

1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:30:35.002
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +8.4 secs
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +24.3 secs
4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +25.5 secs
5 Michael Schumacher Mercedes +65.4 secs
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +66.8 secs
7 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +84.1 secs
8 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
10 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari +1 Lap
11 Vitaly Petrov Renault +1 Lap
12 Bruno Senna Renault +1 Lap
13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
14 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault +2 Lap
15 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +2 Lap
16 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth +3 Lap
17 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth +3 Lap
18 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth +3 Lap
19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault +5 Lap
Ret Felipe Massa Ferrari +28 Laps
Ret Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari +36 Laps
Ret Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth +48 Laps
Ret Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +58 Laps 24
Ret Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + secs

Sebastian Vettel led from start to finish to became the first winner of the Grand Prix of India in New Delhi on Sunday ... McLaren's Jenson Button took second, 8.4 seconds behind and consolidating his P2 in the standings ... Ferrari's Fernando Alonso completed the podium line-up at the Buddh International Circuit.

On the first turn Kobayashi was retired due to collision with Barrichello ... There were total five retirements in the race including Ferrari's Massa ... Sahara Force India's Adrian Sutil finished on 9th position and earned points for the team in this first Indian Grand Prix ... Narain Karthikeyan started from last position but finished the race on 17th position, ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Lotus-Renault's Jarno Trulli.

Overall excellent the first Indian Grand Prix.

Hockey News
At Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament, Australia

Disciplinary action taken over Indian players and official but other hand action taken against only Pakistan captain.

Young forward Gurvinder Singh Chandi and penalty corner coach Jugraj Singh were slapped with five-match suspensions each, another Indian player Gurbaj Singh has been banned for three matches ... Indian hockey skipper Tushar Khandekar is banned for one match.

Pakistan’s hockey captain Shakeel Abbasi is banned for one match as a penalty for indulging in the physical fight on the ground.

“It is very disappointing to see the players being suspended,” said Indian coach Michael Nobbs, hinting that the disaster was waiting to happen due to the poor choice of umpires. “Even before the start of the match, I requested the tournament director to opt for neutral umpires since the match between these two teams can go out of control, but the technical director did not heed my request.

“I really don’t know what happened but the Pakistan players were the ones who instigated our players. It’s really sad that we have received the bulk of the punishment and they’ve gotten away rather lightly.”

The intensely-fought contest, which saw Pakistan reduce a three-goal deficit with a stirring second-half display, turned ugly when Indian umpire Bhupinder Singh awarded India a penalty corner after Gurbaj’s clearance caught Shafqat Rasool’s leg.

Clearly enraged, three Pakistani players, led by skipper Shakeel Abbasi, pounced on Gurbaj, triggering the free-for-all. That match was called off with a minute and 35 seconds left, the 3-3 result remaining intact.

As a result of the sanctions, India’s Champions Challenge campaign in South Africa next month will take a huge hit. “We have to pick a team of 16 for the Champions Challenge. If Chandi is named, he will have to sit out for at least two matches. That is a cause for concern and leaves us in a difficult situation. I will submit my report to Hockey India on my return.”

Tennis News
At $15K+H Nigeria F4 Futures, Lagos

[F] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) l (1) Kamil CAPKOVIC (SVK,294) 26 57

Vijayant failed to win but produced creditable performance in the final against top 300 Slovakian player ... Overall satisfying 2 weeks Nigerien futures for our youngsters.

Formula 1 News
At 2011 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL Grand Prix Of India, Noida, New Delhi

Qualifying Results
Q3
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:26.218
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.563
3 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:26.473
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.774
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.225
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.012
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.364
8 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:26.271
9 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:26.608
10 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:26.557
Q2
11 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:26.189
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.790
13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:26.864
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:26.829
15 Bruno Senna Renault 1:26.766 6
16 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:27.479
Q1
17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.249
18 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.876
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:28.565
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:28.752
21 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1:30.216
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:30.238
23 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.866
DNQ Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:34.046

Race track is looking very dusty but overall very good infrastructure and world-class facilities ... Congrats to Jaypee group for building this excellent facility.

Sahara is investing $100 millions in Force India F1 team ... So from this race this team will be known as Sahara Force India F1.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start Sunday's Indian race from pole ... Vettel's best of 1m 24.178s was three-tenths quicker than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in second but will drop to fifth thanks to his Friday penalty.

Mark Webber who was third will thus take second on the grid, ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Jenson Button ... Felipe Massa, who crashed on his last lap, will start sixth ... Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil will start from eighth ... Only Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan qualified on 22nd in HRT-Cosworth.

As per report Narain Karthikeyan also received 5 places grid penalty for overtaking Schumacher ... So he will stat from the last place.

Tennis News
At €650K Vienna Open, Austria

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (4) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 46 63 4-10

After losing the first set Rohan and Aisam fought back winning the second ... But in super tie-break Polish team proved too strong for our team.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F4 Futures, Lagos

[SF] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) bt (5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,477) 76(3) 60

[F] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) vs (1) Kamil CAPKOVIC (SVK,294)

Terrific win for Vijayant against Yuki ... Good chance for him to lift his first futures title in this big $15K+H futures.

Somewhat expected Yuki's loss, considering he played so many matches in last 3 weeks ... If he remain fit than he is having chance of breaking into top-275 before end of the season.

Hockey News
At Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament, Busselton, Australia

India dw Pakistan 3-3

Goal Scored - Tushar Khandkar (IND) 5', Danish Mujtaba (IND), Rupinder Pal Singhand (IND) 27' and Sohail Abbas (PAK) 46' PC and 64' PC, Shakeel Abbasi (PAK) 65'

India squander 3-0 lead at half-time to draw against Pakistan in very heated match ... In the closing stages of the match, a hard tackle by an Indian player resulted in a scuffle between the two teams ... Match was stopped one minute and 35 seconds before the end of regulation time due to ugly incidents on the field involving players of both sides ... The incident forced the match to be stopped for about half-an-hour ... Even though the two teams returned to the turf later, they agreed not to resume the match.

In the beginning India were clearly the better side in the first half with numerous attacks on the Pakistani goals ... Khandkar gave early lead before Mujtaba and Rupinder increased it ... In the second half Pakistan bounced back in style as veteran Abbas scored 2 goals before their captain scored equalizer.

Tennis News
At $15K+H Nigeria F4 Futures, Lagos

[QF] (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,572) l (1) Kamil CAPKOVIC (SVK,294) 06 46
[QF] (3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,422) l (6) Ante PAVIC (CRO,532) 75 36 57
[QF] (5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,477) bt (4) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,461) 63 67(5) 64
[QF] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) bt (2) Karan RASTOGI (IND,313) 62 62

Yuki's this long 3 setter making me uncomfortable as this was his continuous 8th match in less than two weeks ... Hope he stays fit and don't want to see niggles and injuries right now.

Other hand Vijayant showing his newly found dominance over Karan ... He scored second win in 2 weeks over Karan ... But sad to see Vishnu lost against Pavic.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Badminton French Open 2011, Paris (Superseries)

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,30) l (6) Jin Chen (CHN,6) 19-21 14-21
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Xuerui Li (CHN,15) 18-21 29-30

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (6) Jung Eun Ha (KOR)/ Min Jung Kim (KOR) 13-21 12-21

Saina and Xuerui were exchanging lead in the first game ... Xuerui take 13-11 and 15-13 lead but Saina fought back to lead 17-15 ... Xuerui caught her at 17-all and win 3 points in a row from 18-all to won the first game ... In the second game Xuerui take 4-2 lead which she increased to 9-4 but Saina again fought back to make it 10-all ... From 12-all Saina take 14-12 lead which she increased to 18-13 but this time Xuerui fought back winning next 6 points in a row to make it 18-19 ... Saina won next 2 points but Xuerui saved a game point, 20-all ... Xuerui had a match point which Saina saved to make it 21-all ... Then against Xuerui saved another three game points, 24-all ... After that Saina saved couple of match points to malke it 26-all ... After Xuerui saved 5th game point Saina again saved 2 match points ... As per rule at 29 all, whoever score the next point is the winner of the game and Xuerui won that point to complete the victory in 48 minutes ... Heartbreaking loss to Saina who saved 5 match points but failed to won crucial winning point in the second game.

In the first game Ajay produced fighting performance but Jin proved stong in the second in this 46 minutes match.

Jwala and Ashwini failed to produce any fight against 6th seed Koreans.

Tennis News
At $664K St. Petersburg Open , Russia

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) l (4) Marin Cilic (CRO,22) 75 36 16

In the first set Sommy take first break but Cilic broke back to make it 5-all ... Sommy take crucial break in 11th game to won the first set ... In the second set Cilic was too strong and he broke Sommy's serve twice to won it ... In the third set again Cilic take early break and was controlling the proceedings ... In the 9th game while serving for staying in the match Cilic again broke Sommy's serve to complete victory ... Now Sommy will play couple of challengers before off-season training.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F4 Futures, Lagos

[R2] (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,572) bt (Q) Clifford ENOSOREGBE (NGR,1350) 63 62
[R2] (3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,422) bt Terence NUGENT (CIV,966) 62 64
[R2] (5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,477) bt (WC) Daouda NDIAYE (SEN,UNR) 62 64
[R2] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) bt (Q) Andre GASPAR MURTA (POR,UNR) 60 63
[R2] (2) Karan RASTOGI (IND,313) bt (LL) Clayton GILBERTSON (RSA,UNR) 64 61

(7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,572) vs (1) Kamil CAPKOVIC (SVK,294)
(3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,422) vs (6) Ante PAVIC (CRO,532)
(5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,477) vs (4) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,461)
(2) Karan RASTOGI (IND,313) vs (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615)

Another expected results for Indians ... Now their real test begins from quarters.
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At $10K Laos F1 Futures, Vientiane

[QF] (5) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,609) l (1) Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA,201) 36 26

Rohan lost in straight sets against Danai.

Hockey News
At Tri-Nation Hockey Tournament, Busselton, Australia

India l Australia 3-8

Goal Scored - Danish Mujtaba (IND) 12' and 66', SV Sunil (IND) 32', and Kieran Govers (AUS) 8' and 21' PC, Des Abbot (AUS) 15' and 39', Chris Ciriello (AUS) 21' PC and 68' PC, Chris Ciriello (AUS) 35' PC, Glenn Turner (AUS) 59'

Full strength Australian side toyed Indian team to hand humiliating defeat on Diwali evening ... Australians dominated in all parts of the game and gave very tough lesson to Indians.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Badminton French Open 2011, Paris (Superseries)

[R1] (Q) Chetan Anand (IND,57) l Brice Leverdez (FRA,36) 13-21 Retd.
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,22) l Wan Ho Shon (KOR,25) 18-21 21-17 9-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,30) bt (Q) Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,55) 18-21 21-9 21-10
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Jie Yao (NED,19) 21-14 21-9

[R1] Rupesh Kumar K. T. (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Angga Pratama (INA)/ Ryan Agung Saputra (INA) 21-15 12-21 13-21
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Kyung Eun Jung (KOR)/ Ha Na Kim (KOR) 21-17 8-21 21-14
[R1] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (3) Tontowi Ahmad (INA)/ Liliyana Natsir (INA) 16-21 8-21

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,30) vs (6) Jin Chen (CHN,6)
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Xuerui Li (CHN,15)

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (6) Jung Eun Ha (KOR)/ Min Jung Kim (KOR)

Last week PV Sindhu won $15K Swiss International title ... Sayali Gokhale reached in the semis before losing to German Carola Bott ... In women's doubles youngsters Pradnya Gadre and Prajakta Sawant lifted their first International title beating like 2nd seed Swedish and 4th seed Swiss pairs ... Our men's doubles pair Pranav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar lost in the final against 2nd seed Polish team ... So overall good tournament except little disappointing performance in men's singles.

This week French Superseries r going on ... Chetan and Guru qualified for maindraw but both lost in the first round ... Chetan retired from the match against local player after losing the first game ... Gur started well taking the first game against his senior Ajay Jayaram but Ajay dominated next 2 games to move in the second round ... He is facing tough challenge of WR #6 Chinese Jin Chen.

In MXD Diju and Jwala failed to produce fight against WR #3 Indonesian pair ... Rupesh and Sanave also failed to convert good start into the win ... Jwala and Ashwini scored good fighting win over higher ranked Korean pair and next they r facing another Korean pair but this time WR #6 pair.

Saina scored very dominating win over Jie Yao in 29 minutes ... In this match Saina hit 22 smashes winners and in comparison Jie Yao managed only one ... But next Saina is having tricky match against Chinese Xuerui Li ... Saina having 1-2 win-loss record against Xuerui ... In their last meeting at Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold 2011, Xuerui scored very dominating win, 21-13 21-12.

Tennis News
At $664K St. Petersburg Open , Russia

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) bt Karol Beck (SVK,103) 62 63

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) vs (4) Marin Cilic (CRO,22)

Much needed victory for Sommy but I luv the way he showed dominance over Karol Beck ... Next tough match against Cilic but Sommy troubled him in his previous matches.
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At €650K Vienna Open, Austria

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 26 76(1) 10-4

Terrific comeback by Rohan and Aisam in this thricky match against Brazilians ... After losing the first set 2-6 our pair was down 2-5 in the second ... They broke Brazilians while serving for the match in 8th and 10th games before dominating tie-break to won the second set ... In super tie-break also our pair dominating to won this match.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F4 Futures, Lagos

[R1] (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 75 61
[R1] (3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Sunday MAKU (NGR) 62 62
[R1] (5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 61 64
[R1] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) 62 62
[R1] (LL) Clayton GILBERTSON (RSA) bt (Q) Pulkit MISHRA (IND) 64 76(5)
[R1] (2) Karan RASTOGI (IND) bt Abdul-Mumin BABALOLA (NGR) 64 60

[R2] (7) Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,572) vs (Q) Clifford ENOSOREGBE (NGR,1350)
[R2] (3) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,422) vs Terence NUGENT (CIV,966)
[R2] (5) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,477) vs (WC) Daouda NDIAYE (SEN,UNR)
[R2] (8) Vijayant MALIK (IND,615) vs (Q) Andre GASPAR MURTA (POR,UNR)
[R2] (2) Karan RASTOGI (IND,313) vs (LL) Clayton GILBERTSON (RSA,UNR)

Expected results from the first round.
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At $10K Laos F1 Futures, Vientiane

[R1] (5) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,609) bt (Q) Kong Pop LERTCHAI (THA,UNR) 62 64
[R1] Abhijeet TIWARI (IND,1500) l Kenny BUN (CAM,1202) 16 26

[R2] (5) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,609) bt Kenny BUN (CAM,1202) 63 64

[QF] (5) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,609) vs (1) Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA,201)

Good to see Rohan is performing as per his seedings.
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At $10K Kuwait F2 Futures, Meshref

[R1] (9) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) l (WC) Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW,UNR) 36 26

Doubles
[R1] Sumeet Shinde (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) l Levente Godry (HUN)/ Richard Ruckelshausen (AUT) 06 36

Disappointing 2 weeks of Kuwait futures for Akash ... Poor planning, he should have played in Nigerian futures with other bunch of Indian players.

Tennis News
At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

Doubles Final
(1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (4) Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 61 63

This was Rohan's fourth ATP doubles title and With Aisam this was his second title of the year ... Before this they won on grass at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle in June ... This title win also give big boost to their effort to qualify foe year-end ATP Tour Finals.

Rohan and Aisam made a fast start, breaking serve twice to clinch the first set ... They then broke in the seventh game of the second set before breaking again in the ninth game to complete victory in 57 minutes.
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At $664K St. Petersburg Open , Russia

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) vs Karol Beck (SVK,103)

Sommy need to start winning these matches to move towards top 50 ranking.
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At €650K Vienna Open, Austria

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

This week at Vienna the first round match-up between hot 2 pairs of last couple of weeks ... Hoping repeat performance of Stockholm from Rohan and Aisam.
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At $100K Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[F] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (3) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 46 67(3)

In the first set Ratiwatanas take crucial break after converting 3rd break point and that break was enough to won the first set ... In the second set both pairs traded early breaks ... In 10th game Purav and Divij had 3 set points which they failed to convert ... Then in tie-break Ratiwatanas proved too strong for our pair ... Still creditable performance from Purav and Divij to reach in the final in this $100K challenger.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F3 Futures, Lagos

[F] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) bt (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,465) 75 75

Yuki lifted his first title at abroad winning $15K +H Nigerean futures title in Lagos ... Overall, this was his 7th futures title, before this he won 5 titles in his debut year in 2009 and one early this year in Mumbai but all were at home.

In the final he defeated South African Ruan Roelofse in tight two sets ... Yuki didn't lose a single set in this futures showing dominant performance.
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At $10K Kuwait F2 Futures, Meshref

[Q1] (12) Sumeet Shinde (IND,1636) l Ali Ghareeb (KUW,UNR) 46 36
[Q1] (8) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) bt Mohammed Al Nabhani (OMA) 5-2 Retd.

[Q2] (8) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) bt (11) Kamil Khalil (LIB,1651) 64 62

[R1] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) vs (WC) Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Sumeet Shinde (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) vs Levente Godry (HUN)/ Richard Ruckelshausen (AUT)

Akash qualified for the main-draw in the second week ... He is having tricky match against experienced and former top-350 Kuwaiti Mohammad Ghareeb ... Akash need to win these matches to move in his career ... Go Akash.

Hockey News
At Lanco International Super Series Hockey 9s, Perth, Australia

Women Final
India l Australia 1-4

Goal Scored - Soundarya Yendala (IND) 9' and Hope Munro (AUS)11', Kellie White (AUS)13', Marnie Hudson (AUS) 20', Ashleigh Nelson (AUS) 21'

Men 3rd Place
India l Pakistan 1-4

Goal Scored - Rajpal Singh (IND) 15' PC and Shakeel Abbasi(PAK) 7' PC, Muhammad Waqas (PAK) 12' PC and 21', Fareed Ahmed (PAK) 17' PC

In both matches Indians team outplayed by their respective opponents ... Indians teams failed to inspired for the occasions ... Disappointing performance on the field by our players.

Hockey News
At Lanco International Super Series Hockey 9s, Perth, Australia

Women
India dw Malaysia 1-1

Goal Scored - Jasjeet Handa (IND) 4' and Rahma Othman Siti (MAS) 30' PC

India l Australia 2-3

Goal Scored - Vandana (IND) 10' PC, Deepika (IND) 24', and (AUS) 13', Emily Smith (AUS) 18', Hudson (AUS) 20' PC

Men
India l Australia 1-4

Goal Scored - Sardar Singh (IND) 13' and Jamie Dwyer (AUS) 2' and 27', Des Abbott (AUS) 16',

Indian women team is in the final after drawing their match against Malaysian team, they will face Australia ... As per report very sluggish match ... Indians take early lead in 4th min through Jasjeet Handa but instead of taking control they allowed the Malaysians to claw back later in the game ... India ended up conceding a penalty corner just 10 seconds before the hooter went off and Rahma Othman Siti converted it for Malaysia to earn her team its first point in the four-day competition.

In the women's last league match Australia defeated India ... Tomorrow both teams will again face eachother in the final.

Australia handed it a 4-1 drubbing to Indian men in their last league match and Pakistan managed draw with New Zealand ... So Australia against New Zeland final on Men side and India will now face Pakistan for the bronze medal on Sunday.

Australians outperformed us in all departments ... They scored very comfortable win and our struggle in 9-side tournament continued.

Tennis News
At $15K+H Nigeria F3 Futures, Lagos

[SF] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) bt (6) Ante Pavic (CRO,519)
[SF] (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,614) l (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,465) 46 46

[F] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) vs (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,465)

Yuki in the final of Nigerian futures ... Hopefully on Sunday he will win his first title outside India ... Happy to see he is playing well after his career threatening injury,

Badminton News
At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2011, Odense (Superseries Premier)

[QF] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (3) Joachim Fischer Nielsen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 5-21 7-21

Disheartening performance by Diju and Jwala in the quarters ... After reaching quarters with excellent wins they were totally off-color ... They didn't manage to win double digit points in both games and lost match in 26 minutes.

Hockey News
At Lanco International Super Series Hockey 9s, Perth, Australia

Women
India dw Malaysia 1-1

Goal Scored - Yandala (IND) 25' and Ashleigh (AUS) 9' PC

Women
India dw Pakistan 1-1

Goal Scored - Ravi Pal Singh (IND) 12' and Waseem Ahmad (PAK) 11'

Indian women's hockey team managed 1-1 draw against mighty Australia after being on the backfoot in the first half.

India produced a much improved show after their opening match loss as they played out a 1-1 draw against Pakistan in an entertaining league match.

Tennis News
At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)

Rohan and Aisam produced excellent comeback win over Baghdatis and Del Potro ... In the first set Baghdatis and Del Potro were all over Rohan and Aisam ... They created 8 break point chances and converted two of them ... In the second set Rohan and Aisam turned table on them ... They created four break point chances and converted two of them ... They also didn't face a single break point on their serve ... In closely fought super tie-break our pair prevailed over Baghdatis and Del Potro to book place in the final.
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At $100K Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ David Martin (USA) 62 67(6) 10-3

[F] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (3) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Our pair started well winning the first set with couple of breaks ... But they failed to finish match in the second but dominated the super tie-break against top-seed and enter into the final ...Really great news that they r in the final in this big $100K challenger ... Wishing them good luck for the final.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F3 Futures, Lagos

[QF] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) bt(3) VIshnu Vardhan (IND,420) 64 76(2)
[QF] (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,614) bt (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,316 ) 64 64
[QF] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,577) l (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,465) 46 26

[SF] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) vs (6) Ante Pavic (CRO,519)
[SF] (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,614) vs (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,465)

Yuki continued showing upper-hand over Vishnu in their matches ... Vijayant scored good upset win over Karan to join Yuki in the semis.

Hockey News
At Lanco International Super Series Hockey 9s, Perth, Australia

Women
India bt Malaysia 3-1

Goal Scored - Ritu Rani (IND) 9', Sushila Chanu (IND) 18', Vandana Katariya (IND) 27' and Malaysian Captain (MAS) 16'

Men
India l New Zealand 3-6

Goal Scored - Danish Mujtaba (IND) 11', Sardar Singh (IND) 17' PC, Ravi Pal Singh (IND) 25' and Stephen Jennes (NZL) 5' and 25', Blair Hilton (NZL) 6', Benjamin (NZL) 10' PC, Joe baker (NZL) 13' PC

Many were expecting lot more goals considering reduced number of players (9) on the field, wider goal cage in place and 30 minutes match time but that didnot happen ... Indian women team certainly goes in to the record book as the first team ever to win the Hockey 9s international.

Indian women scored a goal on long corner through Ritu Rani ... Malaysian scored field goal immediately after half-time ... Indians immediately responded before scoring another goal late in the match.

In men's match Black sticks take control from the start they scored 2 goals in 5th and 6 mins ... Then increased lead to 3-0 in 10th mis through penalty corner but Indians responded immediately through Danish Mujtaba on log corner ... But Black sticks again increased lead to 3 goals as they converted penalty corner to lead 4-1 at half-time and Indians were heading for the big defeat ... In the second half Indians played with 8 players as Raghunath received yellow card at end of the first-half ... Still we managed to score goal through penalty corner ... Ravi Pal Singh scored another goal for Indians in 25th min to reduced margin to one goal but Stephen Jennes again increased lead to two after scoring immediate goal within few seconds ... Black sticks scored another goal in last seconds to complete good victory in entertaining match.

Badminton News
At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2011, Odense (Superseries Premier)

[R2] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,50) l (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 14-21 13-21
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,18) 19-21 13-21

[R2] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Imogen Bankier (SCO) 21-16 21-19

[QF] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (3) Joachim Fischer Nielsen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

Disappointing outing for Saina ... She never settled in the match as Tzu Ying take early lead and was leading 15-6 ... Saina tried fightback and managed to make it 18-all but Tzu Ying converted 2nd game point to won the first game ... In the second game early both players were exchanging lead but Saina lost concentration from 10-8 ... Tzu Ying won 5 points in a row and then didn't look back to seal upset win in 36 mins.

Expected loss of Anand against WR #1 Lee.

Diju and Jwala take early control of the match ... They were leading 10-4 and 13-7 before Brit-Scot team crawled back to make it 13-all winning 6 points in a row ... But Diji and Jwala again take 2 pts lead which they increased and won the first game ... In the second game both pairs were neck to neck ... Indians take lead from 4-6 after winning 5 pts ... But Brit-Scot pair take lead after 5 pts from 10-13 lead ... Indians managed to make it 16-all ... Then both pairs wer equal until 19-all ... Indians won last 2 pts to complete their victory in 32 mins ... So with this win Diju and Jwala in the quarter-final in this big Superseries Premier tournament ... Next they will face local 3rd seed pair.

Tennis News
At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Michael Kohlmann (GER)/ Alexander Waske (GER) 76(5) 75

In the first set both pairs traded a break but in tie-break our pair take early mini-break and managed to maintained until the end to win the first set converting 3rd set point ... In the second set our pair saved a break point early before taking crucial break in 11th game ... Our pair saved 3 break points before completing the victory.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F3 Futures, Lagos

[R2] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,316) bt Kingsley Enosoregbe (NGR,1651) 62 62
[R2] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,577) bt Shehu Lawal (NGR,1651) 60 63
[R2] (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,614) bt Candy Idoko (NGR,1352) 61 62
[R2] (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479) bt Paris Gemouchidis (GRE,656) 62 63
[R2] (3) VIshnu Vardhan (IND,420) bt Sylvain Anibie (CIV,UNR) 63 61

[QF] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,316) vs (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,614)
[QF] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,577) vs (4) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,4)
[QF] (3) VIshnu Vardhan (IND,420) vs (5) Yuki Bhambri (IND,479)

All seeded Indian players entered into quarter-finals in Nigeria futures ... Our 2 players will be definitely in the semis ... But still it is difficult to find draw of this futures.

Badminton News
At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2011, Odense (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,22) l (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 11-21 13-21
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,50) bt Pablo Abian (ESP,23) 21-11 21-12
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) l Tommy Sugiarto (INA,18) 11-21 16-21
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,11) 21-16 21-8

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Shinta Mulia Sari (SIN)/ Lei Yao (SIN) 16-21 17-21
[R1] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (8) Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Birgit Michels (GER) 15-21 24-22 23-21

[R2] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,50) vs (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1)
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,18)

[R2] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Imogen Bankier (SCO)

Anand continued with his good run in this Premier event ... He scored very dominating win over top-25 Spanish player to moved into the second round ... He will face winner between Kashyap and WR #1 Chong Wei Lee in the second round.

Saina started with comfortable win against Thai top player, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk ... She won her match in only 31 mins to move in the second round ... She will face Chinese Taipei's Tai.

Other hand easy loss of Ajay against higher ranked Indonesian and Kashyap failed to put fight against WR #1 Malaysian Chong Wei Lee.

Jwala and Ashwini lost against Singaporean pair ... In both games our pair was neck to neck until 12-all before Singaporean pair take control of the game.

In the first game German pair take early lead but Jwala and Diju managed to make it 10-all ... But German pair won 4 pts from 13-12 to take control of the game and won it comfortably ... In the second game our pair managed to lead by couple of points before German pair managed to make it 13-all ... Diju and Jwala won 5 pts in a row from 13-15 to take control ... They wasted 3 game points but managed to save a match point before converting 4th game point to won the second game ... In the third game both pairs were exchanging lead ... German pair won 4 pts in a row from 7-8 to take lead but Indian pair won 5 pts in a row from 9-12 to regained the lead ... Still German pair managed to catch them at 19-all ... Then German pair saved two match points but Indian pair kept pressure and completed their victory converting 3rd match point ... Good fighting win for Indians against 8th seed German pair ... Next our pair is facing unseeded British-Scottish pair.

Tennis News
At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL) 64 64

Much required winning start for Rohan and Aisam, they need very good performance in next 3 weeks to qualify for ATP Finals.
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At $100K Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) 76(5) 64

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Jordan Kerr (AUS)/ David Martin (USA)

Purav and Divij scored another good win, this time against experienced players to reach into semis ... Next they r facing top-seed.

Squash News
At $11K WISPA Dread Squash Series 2, Baltimore, USA

Final
(1) Dipika Pallikal (IND,20) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG,115) 11-9 11-3 11-7 (33m)

[SF] (1) Dipika Pallikal (IND,20) bt (Q) Larissa Stephenson (NZL,130) 11-3 11-7 11-5 (27m)
[QF] (1) Dipika Pallikal (IND,20) bt (5) Sarah Cardwell (AUS,69) 11-4 11-3 11-6 (27m)
[R1] (1) Dipika Pallikal (IND,20) bt (Q) Georgine Stoker (ENG,204) 11-7 11-5 11-3 (23m)

Dipika Pallikal won her second WISPA tournament title and celebrated her entry into top 20 world ranking ... With that she become highest ranked Indian women player in the squash ... In this tournament nobody able to stretched her in the match ... Still her British opponent in the final gave her some trouble in the first game ... Dipika was down 5-9 before winning next six points in a row to win it 11-9.
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At $147K Qatar Classic 2011, Doha

[Q1] Siddarth Suchde (IND,69) bt Leo Au (HKG,100) 11-7 11-13 11-4 11-1 (62m)
[Q1] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,115) l Mohammed Abbas (EGY,35) 10-12 10-12 11-8 9-11 (60m)

[Q2] Siddarth Suchde (IND,69) bt Matthew Karwalski (AUS,72) 9-11 11-4 11-6 12-10 (57m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,32) l Cameron Pilley (AUS,16)6-11 10-12 7-11 (54m)
[R1] (Q) Siddarth Suchde (IND,69) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY,23) 11-8 11-6 9-11 11-1 (64m)

[R2] (Q) Siddarth Suchde (IND,69) l (6) Gregory Gaultier (FRA,6) 3-11 3-11 8-11 (44m)

Siddarth Suchde scored huge upset win over top 25 Egyptian player Reda as an qualifier in big Qatar open ... In the second round he lost against former WR #1 Frenchman Gaultier in the straight games.

Athletic News
At Halloween Throw Meet 2011, Portland, Orgeon, USA

Discus thrower Krishna Poonia achieved the ‘A' qualification standard for the London Olympics with a throw of 62.25 meters and won the gold medal in this meet ... The ‘A' standard for Olympics is 62.00m. Poonia had just two days earlier crossed the ‘B' standard (59.50m) by throwing 61.12 metres at the same venue.

Tennis News
At $100K Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Soong-Jae Cho (KOR)/ Jae-Min Seol (KOR) 61 62

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (CAN)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)

Purav and Divij started with easy win.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F3 Futures, Lagos

[R1] (3)Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Bala Habu Musa(NGR) 60 61
[R1] (5)Yuki BHambri (IND) bt Oneyka Mbanu(NGR) 63 62
[R1] (8)Vijayant Malik (IND) bt Mark Finn(NZL) 60 63
[R1] (2)Karan Rastogi (IND) bt Alexei Filenkov(RUS) 64 61
[R1] (7)Ranjeet Virali (IND) bt Mlandeli Ndleda(NGR) 62 62
[R1] Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND) l Yusuke Watanuki(JPN) 46 36

With Vishnu and Karan as per local daily Ranjeet is also in the second round.
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At $10K Kuwait F1 Futures, Meshref

[R1] Sumeet Shinde (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) l (1) Claudio Grassi (ITA)/ Mikhail Vasiliev (RUS) 63 36 8-10

Early exit despite tough fight against top-seed.

Badminton News
At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2011, Odense (Superseries Premier)

[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,50) bt Vladimir Ivanov (RUS,55) 21-12 21-17
[Q1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,56) l Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif (MAS,69) 18-21 17-21

[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,50) bt Daren Liew (MAS,51) 21-23 22-20 21-9

[Q1] (4) Rupesh Kumar K. T. (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (MAS)/ Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (MAS) 19-21 13-21

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,22) vs (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1)
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,50) vs Pablo Abian (ESP,23)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) vs Tommy Sugiarto (INA,18)
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,11)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Shinta Mulia Sari (SIN)/ Lei Yao (SIN)
[R1] Diju V. (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (8) Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Birgit Michels (GER)

Anand started with comfortable win in the first qualifying but Guru lost against Malaysian ... In the final qualifying round Anand had tough match against Malaysian Daren Liew ... In the first game Anand take early 11-4 lead but then he lost concentration and Daren take lead 17-13 ... Anand managed to make it equal at 19-all ... He saved 2 game points before Daren converting third ... In the second game from the start both players were neck to neck ... Anand converted second game point to won this game in extra points ... In the third game from 7-5 Anand take a control to won next 8 pts and then comfortably won this game and match losing 4 more pts ... So with that Anand qualify for this big Superseries Premier tournament.

Our all men players r in top draw ... Kashyap having very tough match ... Saina is also in the top draw with top-seed.

Tennis News
At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) l (WC) Tommy Haas (GER,292) 67(4) 46

Sommy struggled with his serve in the first set ... Sommy saved 3 break points in 4th game from 0-40 ... In 11th game Sommy had 2 break points on Haas's serve but failed to convert it ... In tie-break Haas was leading 2-0 with early mini-break but Sommy managed to 3-all ... Haas again take break to lead 4-3 and then take another mini-break to won the first set ... In the second set Tommy broke Sommy in 1st game then both players hold their next 3 service games before Sommy broke Tommy in 8th game to bring set back on the serve 4-all ... But same old story for Sommy, his service let down him in crucial juncture ... He failed to hold in 9th game and then Tommy hold on his service on love to complete the victory.
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At $15K Spain F38, Sabadell (clay)

[Q3] (9) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,922) l (5) Jean-Marc WERNER (GER,809) 16 26

Another tough loss in the final qualifying for Ramkumar.

Badminton News
At $50K Yonex Dutch Open 2011, Almere

Women's Final
Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) l (2) Jie Yao (NED,19) 16-21 17-21

Jie Yao take early 4-1 lead which she increased to 17-8 ... After that Sindhu tried comeback in the game but Jie kept control to win this game ... In the second game Sindhu take 5-2 lead but then Jie won next 5 pts to take lead ... Jie increased lead to 13-8 and then to 17-11 ... Sindhu saved 3 match points but Jie converted next to complete victory in 40 mins ... Still creditable performance by 16 yrs old Sindhu in this Dutch Open ... She scored couple of good wins over top 25 players.

Badminton News
At $50K Yonex Dutch Open 2011, Almere

[SF] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) bt (1) Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,11) 21-14 15-21 21-13

[F] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) vs (2) Jie Yao (NED,19)

Sindhu continued with her giant killing ... In the semis she defeated top-seed Thai, who is WR #11, Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in 3 games ... After winning the first game easily Sindhu lost the second to Thai but again in the final game she take control from 7-all to complete remarkable victory ... In the final she is facing 2nd seed local player Jie Yao.

Athletic News

Krishna Poonia achieved the objective of her 'training-and-competition' trip to the United States to qualify for the London Olympics ... Competing in the IAAF-approved competition at the Fling Throw meet in Portland, Oregon, Krishna produced four marks above the 60-metre mark, two of which soared past 61 meters ... Her best for the day was 61.12m, her season's best - way over the Olympic 'B' standard qualification mark of 59.50m.

Krishna Poonia is the 6th Indian athlete to make the Olympics grade after Vikas Gowda (discus throw), Mayookha Johny (triple jump), Tintu Luka (800m), Babubhai Panocha and Gurmeet Singh (both 20km walk).

Tennis News
At $3.24M Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, China

[SF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) l (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 16 46

Mirnyi and Nestor did not give chance to Lee and Mahesh to settle in the match ... They dominated the first set to win it and with crucial break won the second set and match.

But reaching in the semis helped Lee and Mahesh to become 5th pair to qualify for ATP World Tour Finals ... They joins Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor and Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner.
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At €600K Stockholm Open, Sweden

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) vs (WC) Tommy Haas (GER,292)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL)

Sommy is in top draw and can face 5th seed Kevin Anderson in the second round but before that he need to win the first round ... Interesting match up against former WR #2 Tommy Haas ... Sommy is favorite in this match against 33 yrs old aging star.

In doubles Rohan and Aisam r top-seed ... They need solid performance in remaining tournaments to qualify for ATP Finals.
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At $100K Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Soong-Jae Cho (KOR)/ Jae-Min Seol (KOR)

This week Divij is playing with Purav in Seoul challenger ... They r 4th seed and facing local wild-card pair in the first round.
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At $15K Spain F38, Sabadell (clay)

[Q1] (9) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,922) bt Joep DIETEREN (NED,1636) 61 60
[Q2] (9) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,922) bt Matthieu VIERIN (ITA,1885) 62 46 62

[Q3] (9) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,922) vs (5) Jean-Marc WERNER (GER,809)

Ramkumar still need to play in futures qualifying ... This week he is in the final qualifying and facing tough match against German player Werner ... Werner defeated Ramkumar in their last match in July and last month as an qualifier he reached in the final in Spanish futures.
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At $10K Kuwait F1 Futures, Meshref

[Q1] (11) Sumeet Shinde (IND,1636) l David Pamminger (AUT,UNR) 46 46
[Q1] (9) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) bt Zaki Al Abdullah (KSA,UNR) 75 63

[Q2] (9) Akash Wagh (IND,1519) l (4) Kalle Averfalk (SWE,1167) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] Sumeet Shinde (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) vs (1) Claudio Grassi (ITA)/ Mikhail Vasiliev (RUS)

This week Akash and Summet tried their luck in Kuwait futures qualifying but they failed to qualify in singles.
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At AITA Fenesta Nationals, New Delhi

Mens Final
(2) Yuki Bhambri bt (1) Vishnu Vardhan 64 76(6)

Womens Final
Rutuja Bhosale bt Isha Lakhani 63 63

Boys u18 Final
(1) Arjun Kadhe bt (2) Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 75 61

Girs u18 Final
P Shri Vaishnavi bt (12) Simran Kaur Sethi 64 62

Congratulations to all national champions.

Terrific result for young 15 yrs old Rutuja to lift Indian national title beating experienced Isha Lakhani ... Rutuja Bhosale became 2nd youngest national champion ... Ratnika Batra was the youngest champion after winning senior national title In 2008 at the age of 14 ... Yuki also lifted his first national championship beating his senior Vishnu Vardhan ... Arjun won double as with his junior title he also won men's doubles with veteran but evergreen Nitin Kirtane ... Also happy to see different name, Vaishnavi, as junior champion.

Badminton News
At $50K Yonex Dutch Open 2011, Almere

[QF] (2) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) l (5) Eric Pang (NED,39) 11-21 24-22 22-24
[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,64) l Tien Chen Chou (TPE,68) 22-20 13-21 12-21
[QF] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) bt Jeanine Cicognini (SUI,45) 21-18 21-9

[QF] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) l (4) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED) 19-21 16-21
[QF] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) l (1) Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA) 18-21 7-21

[SF] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) vs (1) Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,11)

Sindhu in the semis with another thumping win over top-50 player ... She dominated in 2nd game against Swiss girl Cicognini after winning tight 1st game ... Next she is facing top-seed Thai Buranaprasertsuk.

Disappointing loss for Ajay ... Pang won 1st game before Ajay got settle in the match ... Next both games stretched to extra points ... Ajay won 2nd game and in 3rd game Ajay saved couple of match points at 18-20 ... Then Ajay had couple of match points which he failed to convert before Pang converted third match point.

Arvind started with winning 1st game in extra points but after that Tien proved too strong for him.

In doubles our both pairs lost against seeded pairs.

Tennis News
At $3.24M Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, China

[QF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt Thomas Belluci (BRA) / Ivan Dodig (CRO) 63 64

[SF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Lee and Mahesh scored very comfortable win over Belluci and Dodig ... In this match our pair didn't face a single break point on their service games ... Other hand they created 10 chances on opponents serve and converted one each in both sets.
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At $10K Turkey F27 futures, Antalya

[R2] (Q) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,1072) l (Q) Vadim ALEKSEENKO (UKR,815) 63 06 16

I was expecting better run in this futures for Balaji after his excellent win against top 325 Ukrainian.

Badminton News
At $50K Yonex Dutch Open 2011, Almere

[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,169) bt Jordy Hilbink (NED,385) 21-16 21-11
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,130) bt Ralph Starren (NED,656) 21-10 21-14
[R1] Nandagopal K. (IND,254) bt Stanislav Pukhov (RUS,60) 21-16 21-18
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,50) bt Sven Eric Kastens (GER,85) w/o
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,64) bt Gabriel Ulldahl (SWE,124) 21-18 12-21 21-15
[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,54) bt Vladimir Ivanov (RUS,55) 20-22 21-13 21-11
[R1] Anup Sridhar (IND,81) l Anthony Dumartheray (SUI,250) 1-0 Retd
[R1] (2) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) bye

[R2] Prannoy H. S. (IND,169) bt Scott Evans (IRL,53) 13-21 21-14 21-11
[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,130) bt Birger Abts (BEL,550) 21-7 21-10
[R2] Nandagopal K. (IND,254) l (7) Hsuan Yi Hsueh (TPE,40) 14-21 15-21
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,50) bt Henri Hurskainen (SWE,49) 21-6 21-19
[R2] Arvind Bhat (IND,64) bt Pratama Yoga (INA,UNR) 21-19 21-15
[R2] Chetan Anand (IND,54) bt Vladimir Malkov (RUS,82) 21-10 16-21 21-19
[R2] (2) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) bt Stilian Makarski (BUL,215) 21-14 21-12
[R1] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) bt (4) Juan Gu (SIN,22) 21-12 21-19
[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,72) bt (3) Salakjit Ponsana (THA,21) 21-12 21-11

[R1] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) bt Mattijs Dierickx (GER)/ Freek Golinski (GER) 21-8 21-12
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bt Jacco Arends (NED)/ Jelle Maas (NED) 21-19 14-21 21-17
[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) bt Samantha Barning (NED)/ Eefje Muskens (NED) w/o
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) bt Kuan Hao Liao (TPE)/ Pei Hsin Chiang (TPE) 21-8 19-21 21-19
[R1] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) bt Rikkert Suijkerland (NED)/ Lisa Malaihollo (NED) 21-15 18-21 21-10

[R3] Prannoy H. S. (IND,169) l Rasmus Fladberg (DEN,117) 15-21 13-21
[R3] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,130) l Valeriy Atrashchenkov (UKR,80) 18-21 22-20 12-21
[R3] Anand Pawar (IND,50) l (7) Hsuan Yi Hsueh (TPE,40) 20-22 15-21
[R3] Arvind Bhat (IND,64) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,76) 25-23 21-15
[R3] Chetan Anand (IND,54) l Tien Chen Chou (TPE,68) 19-21 18-21
[R3] (2) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) bt Yuhan Tan (BEL,59) 21-16 21-18
[R2] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) bt Judith Meulendijks (NED,54) 12-21 21-13 21-10
[R2] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,72) l Kristina Gavnholt (CZE,53) 19-21 14-21

[R2] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) bt Jelle Kelderhuis (NED)/ Rein Ridder (NED) 21-15 21-14
[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l (2) Vladimir Ivanov (RUS)/ Ivan Sozonov (RUS) 14-21 18-21
[R2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) bt Kim Buss (GER)/ Claudia Vogelgsang (GER) 21-14 21-8
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pradnya Gadre (IND) l Valeriy Atrashchenkov (UKR)/ Anna Kobceva (UKR) 21-9 9-21 19-21
[R2] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) l Peter Kaesbauer (GER)/ Johanna Goliszewski (GER) 15-21 16-21

[QF] (2) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) vs (5) Eric Pang (NED,39)
[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,64) vs Tien Chen Chou (TPE,68)
[QF] Sindhu P. V. (IND,76) vs Jeanine Cicognini (SUI,45)

[QF] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) vs (4) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED)
[QF] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) vs (1) Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA)

Big Indian contingent playing in Dutch Open ... Few creditable wins by Indians, Arundhati Pantawane defeated Thai WR #21 Salakjit Ponsana losing only 23 pts ... Sindhu P. V. also scored similar upset win over WR #22 Singaporean Juan Gu in straight games ... Prannoy also scored upset win over experienced Irish Scott Evans in comeback win.

Tennis News
At $3.24M Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, China

[R2] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 67(8) 46
[R2] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 63 64

[QF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Thomas Belluci (BRA) / Ivan Dodig (CRO)

Good to see Lee and Hesh r back on winning track but I m really surprised to see Rohan and Aisam's struggle on Asian fast courts.
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At $10K Turkey F27 futures, Antalya

[Q1] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bye
[Q2] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Scott BROWNE (AUS) 62 60
[Q3] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (9) Oliver HUDSON (GBR) 63 63

[R1] (Q) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,1072) bt (3) Artem SMIRNOV (UKR,316) 63 64

[R2] (Q) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,1072) vs (Q) Vadim ALEKSEENKO (UKR,815)

Terrific start for Balaji with upset win over top-325 Ukrainian ... This is the big win, hopefully he will convert this into long run with couple of more wins.

Chess News
At 2011 Chess Masters Final, São Paulo

Round 10 - Tuesday, October 11
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand 1-0 Francisco Vallejo
Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Magnus Carlsen

Chess Masters Final 2011 - Final Standing
1 Magnus Carlsen 15 (1.5)
2 Vasily Ivanchuk 15 (0.5)
3 Hikaru Nakamura 12
- Levon Aronian 12
- Viswanathan Anand 12
6 Francisco Vallejo 10

Anand avoided a last place finish ... He defeated Francisco Vallejo playing with white to finish ahead of him in the final standing ... Carlsen and Ivanchuk ended on the top position ... So top prize was decided by two blitz games, in which Carlsen defeated Ivanchuk in the last game playing with black.

Chess News
At 2011 Chess Masters Final, São Paulo

Round 9 - Monday, October 10
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk
Francisco Vallejo 1-0 Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian 1-0 Viswanathan Anand

Anand take his one of the worst defeat in recent years against Levon Aronian ... It looks Anand completely losing focus in his game against Aronian, and losing in a mere 25 moves ... In other match WR #1 Magnus Carlsen defeated leader Vassily Ivanchuk and now he is joined leader with Vassily ... Francisco Vallejo also scored upset win over Nakamura and push Anand on the last place ... Ananad is going to lose but of rating points and that can push him on 3rd position in World Chess ranking.

Tennis News
At $3.24M Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, China

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,84) l Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP,53) 46 36

Same old story repeated in this match, lost opportunities ... Sommy wasted 3 break points in the first game of the match and then at 4-5 he was serving for staying in the set ... First time in the match he faced couple of break point on his serve and Guillermo converted 2nd to won the first set.

In the second set also Guillermo saved a break point in 1st game ... Sommy wasted another 2 break point chances in 5th game and in next game Guillermo converted 2nd break point to take decisive lead in the match ... But Sommy broke back in the next game to make it 3-4 and in his next service game Sommy again failed to hold his serve to gave advantage back to Guillermo, 3-5 ... Guillermo hold his serve to complete victory in 88 mins despite poor 1st serve percentage.

In this match both players had poor first serve percentage ... In this match Guillermo's 1st serve percentage was 39% and Sommy's 1st serve percentage was 45% ... In the second set , Guillermo's 1st serve percentage was 33% and Sommy's percentage was 42%.

Golf News
At $5M Frys.com Open, San Martin, CA

T24 Arjun Atwal 71 70 68 67 -8 $ 40,500.00
T30 Tiger Woods 73 68 68 68 -7 $ 30,375.00

In the final round 2 friends Arjun and Tiger grouped together and both played good final round ... Arjun scored -4 round to finished inside top-25 and Tiger scored -3 to finished inside top-30.

Chess News
At 2011 Chess Masters Final, São Paulo

Round 8 - Saturday, October 8
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Francisco Vallejo

In round 8 two games had decisive end but Anand match ended in a draw ... Anand managed draw with Ivanchuk after 58 moves playing with black ... Carlsen scored win with white against Vallejo in 46 moves ... But in longest match of the tournament American Nakamura scored upset win over Aronian after 79 moves playing with white.

So after 8 rounds, Ivanchuk is leading with 15 pts ... Carlsen and Nakamura r 2nd with 11 pts ... Anand is 4th with 9 pts ... Aronian is in 5th position with 8 pts and Vallejo is in the last with 7 pts.

Tennis News
At $3.24M Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011, China

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,85) vs GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP,44)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bye
[R1] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bye

Tricky but winnable match for Sommy ... In doubles our seeded pairs having bye in the first round.
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At $15K Indonesia F5 Futures 2011, Palembang

[SF] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) l Hiroki KONDO (JPN,526) 46 36

Overall disappointing outing for Indians ... Moreover these futures showed that Yuki is still not fully fit.

Chess News
At 2011 Chess Masters Final, São Paulo

Round 7 - Friday, October 7
Francisco Vallejo 1-0 Vassily Ivanchuk
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Viswanathan Anand ½-½ Hikaru Nakamura

Vallejo scored upset win over leader Ivanchuk ... He defeated Ivanchuk in 47 moves playing with white ... Anand drew against Nakamura in a Ruy Lopez Berlin game in 37 moves playing with white ... Aronian was in trouble from middle game against Carlsen but managed draw in 50 moves.

Boxing News
At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan

Men's Welter 69kg
[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) l Taras Shelestyuk (UKR) 12-15

Vikas started cautiously and Taras take advantage of it winning the first round 4-2 ... Taras managed to keep pressure in the second round and won that 6-4 to lead 10-6 ... In the final round Vikas tried fightback but Taras matched him ... Vikas won this round 6-5 but lost the match ... Still creditable performance from him to win Bronze in his first World Championship.

Chess News
At 2011 Chess Masters Final, São Paulo

Round 6 - Thrusday, October 6
Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0 Hikaru Nakamura
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Francisco Vallejo ½-½ Levon Aronian

From yesterday the 2nd leg started in Bilbao ... Ivanchuk showed that shocking incident of robbing not affected him on the board ... He defeated American GM Hikaru Nakamura in 39 moves playing with white ... Anand managed draw against Carlsen after 49 moves playing with black ... Vallejo also managed to share a point with Aronian.

Tennis News
At $15K Indonesia F5 Futures 2011, Palembang

[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND,695) l (Q) Soong-Jae CHO (KOR,1052) 16 46
[QF] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) bt (WC) Elbert SIE (INA,1140) 46 61 60
[QF] (6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,426) l Hiroki KONDO (JPN,526) 62 67(3) 16

[SF] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) vs Hiroki KONDO (JPN,526)

Disappointing outing for Indians as our 2 players lost against lower ranked opponents and only Karan managed to reach in the semis.

Tennis News
At At $2.1M China Open, Beijing

[QF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 26 36

Our players failed to make pressure on Croatians service games ... Croatians had 11 chances of break converting 4 and other hand Croatians did not give a single chance to Indians ... Mahesh struggled with serve and Indians made 7 double faults ... In the first set Croatians broke Indians service games twice ... In the second set Croatians broke Mahesh's serve twice to won the match.
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At $15K Indonesia F5 Futures 2011, Palembang

[R2] (Q) Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND,822) l (1) Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA,205) 06 16
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,695) bt (7) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,430) 63 63
[R2] Rohan GAJJAR (IND,610) l (WC) Elbert SIE (INA,1140) 67(6) 06
[R2] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) bt (Q) Jung-Woong NA (KOR,1848) 62 64
[R2] (6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,426) bt Vijayant MALIK (IND,611) 76(6) 63

[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND,695) vs (Q) Soong-Jae CHO (KOR,1052)
[QF] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) vs (WC) Elbert SIE (INA,1140)
[QF] (6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,426) vs Hiroki KONDO (JPN,526)

Doubles
[QF] TIWARI (IND)/ YI (TPE) l (1) HELIOVAARA (FIN)/ KONDO (JPN) 67(9) 36
[QF] BHAMBRI (IND)/ GAJJAR (IND) l (3) UDOMCHOKE (THA)/ WANG (TPE) 06 1-1 Retd.

Karan and Vishnu r in quarters ... Another win for Karunuday against YUki, hoping no injury scare for Yuki as he and Rohan retired from their doubles match.
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At $25K Palembang ITF Tournament, Indonesia

[R1] (Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND,790) l (7) Luksika KUMKHUM (THA,336) 16 36

Doubles
[R1] CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ GUMULYA (INA) l (2) DAMAYANTI (INA)/ ROMPIES (INA) 26 36

Failed to do much in main-draw in singles and doubles.

Boxing News
At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan

Men's Light Fly 49kg
[QF] Devendro Singh Laishram (IND) l (2) Jong Hoon Shin (KOR) 16-28

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[QF] Manoj Kumar (IND) l (5) Thomas Lee Stalker (ENG) 18-24

Men's Light 60kg
[QF] Jai Bhagwan (IND) l Gani Zhailauov (KAZ) 10-11

Men's Welter 69kg
[QF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Vasilii Belous (MDA) 9-8

[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs Taras Shelestyuk (UKR)

Only Vikas managed to win quarter-final ... With this he is guaranteed maiden medal in senior World Championship in his first attempt ... He won very closely fought match against Moldovan boxer Vasilii Belous ... Both boxers started cautiously and tied 2-all after the first round ... After the second round Vikas went nose ahead winning this round 3-2 ... In the final round both boxers tried but again round ended on 4-all but winning the second round helped Vikas to move in the semis.

What a performance from 19 yrs old young Vikas in his first senior World Championship ... Truly champion material and definitely contender for medal in 2012 London Olympics.

2011 Asian Champion and bronze medalist from 2009 World Championship Korean Jong Hoon Shin proved strong to young Devendro Singh Laishram ... In the first round Devendro gave tough fight before losing it 9-11 ... After second round Koreans take control, he won this round 9-5 to lead 20-14 ... In the third round Korean proved too strong for Devendro and lost round 8-2.

Manoj Kumar gave fighting performance against European silver medalist British boxer Thomas Lee Stalker ... British boxer won the first round 5-4 but he won the second round more dominantly with 11-7 to lead 16-11 ... In the final round Manoj tried fightback but Stalker did not lose control to win this round 8-7.

Jai Bhagwan lost in closely fought bout against Kazakh boxer Gani Zhailauov ... In the first round both players played cautiously and ended with 3-all ... In the second round also Jai played cautiously and that cost him this round ... Jai lost 2-3 and Gani take 6-5 lead in the bout ... In the final round Jai tried hard but Gani also matched him and this round ended on 5-all ... Jai lost this bout by 1 point.

Tennis News
At At $2.1M China Open, Beijing

[R1] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (WC) Mao Xin-Gong (CHN)/ Zhe Li (CHN) 62 36 10-3

[QF] (4) Leander Peas (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)

After winning the first set comfortably against local wild-card pair, our pair struggled in the second ... Both pairs traded early breaks but Chinese pair take crucial break in 8th game and then hold to take match in super tie-break ... Terrific STB for Lee and Mahesh, they won 9 points in a row taking four mini-breaks to lead 9-0 and then converted 4th match point to complete the victory.

Next they r facing tricky Croatian pair.
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At $1.215M Japan Open Tennis Championships 2011, Tokyo

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 46 36

Japan open proved disappointing for Indians ... After Sommy's loss in the singles first round, today our top-seed pair, Rohan and Aisam, lost against experienced Brazilian pair in straight sets ... In both sets Brazilians broke our pair serve twice and other hand our pair managed to broke their serve once despite getting multiple opportunities.
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At $50K Palermo Challenger, Italy

[QF] Walter Trusendi (ITA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (4) Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/ Mateusz Kowalczyk (POL) 46 67(5)

Purav and his Italian partner gave close fight to 4th seed Polish pair but found themselves on losing side.
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At $15K Indonesia F5 Futures 2011, Palembang

[R1] (Q) Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND,822) bt Chuhan WANG (CHN,727) 75 61
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,695) bt (Q) Ji Sung NAM (KOR,1117) 36 64 62
[R1] (7) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,430) bt (Q) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND,1213) 63 61
[R1] Rohan GAJJAR (IND,610) bt (8) Christopher RUNGKAT (INA,446) 63 64
[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,561) l (Q) Jung-Woong NA (KOR,1848) 46 16
[R1] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) bt (Q) Kenny BUN (CAM,1217) 75 60
[R1] (6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,426) bt Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,918) 61 63

[R2] (Q) Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND,822) vs (1) Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA,205)
[R2] (7) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND,430) vs Karunuday SINGH (IND,695)
[R2] Rohan GAJJAR (IND,610) vs (WC) Elbert SIE (INA,1140)
[R2] (3) Karan RASTOGI (IND,324) vs (Q) Jung-Woong NA (KOR,1848)
[R2] (6) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,426) vs Vijayant MALIK (IND,611)

Very good upset win by Rohan Gajjar over top-500 and talented young local player in straight sets ... Also good upset win by Kaza over higher ranked Chinese ... Other results were expected but surprising loss of Ranjeet against very lowly ranked Korean.

Shooting News
At 2011 ISSF World Cup Final, Al Ain, UAE

Double Trap
Gold - Ronjan Sodhi (IND) (142 + 45) 187(+2)
Silver - Binyuan Hu (CHN) (144 + 43) 187(+1)
Bronze - Vitaly Fokeev (RUS) (138+47) 185

Ronjan Sodhi won today’s Double Trap Men event at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final held in Al Ain ... He qualified for the final in 2nd place behind Chinese shooter Binyuan Hu ... After final round both shooters tied for 187 targets ... Then in shoot-off Ronjan defeated China’s Hu by 2 to 1 hits in the tiebreaker, securing his second ISSF World Cup title back to back ... Last yearhe won ISSF World Cup Final in Izmir, Turkey.

Boxing News
At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[R3] Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Qing Hu (CHN) 17-15

[QF] Manoj Kumar (IND) vs Thomas Lee Stalker (ENG)

Men's Light Fly 49kg
[R3] Devendro Singh Laishram (IND) bt (7) Carlos Quipo (ECU) 18-12

[QF] Devendro Singh Laishram (IND) vs (2) Jong Hoon Shin (KOR)

Men's Light Heavy 81kg
[R3] (12) Dinesh Kumar (IND) l (5) Damien Duncan Hooper (AUS) 7-16

Men's Light 60kg
[R3] Jai Bhagwan (IND) bt (7) David Joyce (IRL) 32-30

[QF] Jai Bhagwan (IND) vs Gani Zhailauov (KAZ)

Men's Welter 69kg
[R3] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Onder Sipal (TUR) 14-7

[QF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs Vasilii Belous (MDA)

Manoj Kumar became the first Indian boxer to qualify for 2012 London Olympics ... He defeated Chinese Qing Hu in closely fought bout ... Manoj Kumar started slowly and Hu won the first round 6-3 ... In the second round both boxers were matched eachother and score was 7-all but still in favor of Chinese 13-10 ... In the final round Manoj was good in attacking and defending, he turned table on Hu winning this round 7-2 and match 17-15 ... Next he is facing British boxer Thomas Lee Stalker, who is silver medalist in European championship and was Gold medalist at CWG in 60 kg category.

Devendro Singh Laishram also booked his ticket for 2012 London Olympics in his first senior level international tournament ... He defeated current American Continental champion Ecuadorean Carlos Quipo winning all 3 rounds ... Devendro started positively to won the first round 5-2 ... In the second round Carlos fought back but still Devendro managed to win it 6-5 to lead 11-7 ... In the final round also Devendro kept attacking and won this round 7-5 ...Next in quarters he is facing 2nd seed Korean Jong Hoon Shin ... Jong Hoon Shin was bronze medalist in 2009 Milan World Chmpionship ... This year he won Asian Confederation Boxing Championships beating Indian Amandeep Singh.

Jai Bhagwan qualified for London Olympics beating Irish boxer David Joyce in very entertaining match ... Both boxers played attacking boxing ... Jai started positively and won the first round 13-8 ... David Joyce fought back in the second round and Jai played more cautiously in this round which cost him as Joyce won this round 10-7 but kept lead 20-18 ... The third round turned out to be dramatic and tense, as both Jai and Joyce were warned twice by the referee ... Jai was penalised for clinching too much and Joyce was docked 4 points for using his fist to hit Jai on the back of his head ... This round was ended on 12-all ... So first round 5 pts lead helped Jai to win this match by 2 pts, 32-30 ... Next he is facing Kazakh boxer Gani Zhailauov.

Vikas Krishan Yadav became 4th Indian boxer to qualify for 2012 London Olympics ... He defeated Turkish boxer Onder Sipal very methodically ... Vikas started well to won the first round 5-3 ... In the second round he take control from beginning to won it 5-2 and leading 10-5 ... And Vikas kept his upper-hand in the bout to won the third round 4-2 ... With that he won this bout comfortably in the end, 14-7 ... Next Vikas is facing Moldovan boxer Vasilii Belous.

Australian 5th seed Damien Duncan Hooper proved too strong for Dinesh Kumar ... Australian boxer won all 3 rounds to complete convincing victory ... After cautious start Hooper won the first round 4-2 ... From the second round Hooper take control of the bout winning 6-3 and he won the third round more easily, 6-2, to complete victory.