Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) bt Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP,65) 64 63
[R1] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,519) bt Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) 46 63 64

[R2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) vs (3) Fabio Fognini (ITA,16)
[R2] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,519) vs (6) Marcel Granollers (ESP,38)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 64 46 11-9

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Saketh Myneni (IND)

Yuki scored super straight sets win over top-65 Pablo Carreño Busta in 76 minutes ... In the first set Yuki broke Pablo in 3rd game taking advantage of mistakes from him but Pablo immediately broke Yuki and made it 2-all ... After that till 8th game both players hold their respective service games easily ... In 9th game Yuki broke Pablo with some solid ground-stroke play and then hold his serve for winning this set ... In the second set Yuki again broke Pablo in 3rd game to lead 2-1 but this time Yuki hold in next game to kept his advantage, 3-1 ... After that Yuki kept pressure on Pablo's serve and holding his service games comfortably ... Yuki again broke Pablo in 9th game when he was serving for staying in the match and completed solid game ... In this match Yuki played excellent game from baseline with solid ground-strokes ... Next he is facing top-20 Italian player Fabio Fognini.

As expected match between Buji and RamK was cracker as two Indians were playing in home tournament and crowd was supporting both local players ... In this match RamK played super aggressive game with his huge forehand and very effective services ... In the first set both players traded early break to 2-all but then Buji kept control and winning important points ... Witl late break of serve Buji won the first set ... Instead of coming under pressure RamK came out all cylinders blazing in the second set His aggressive game started to gave dividends as with his super aggressive game he won the second set with a single break ... In the third set RamK broke Buji in 3rd game to take 2-1 lead but with unforced errors he gave break back to Buji, 2-all ... Buji needed to save 2 break points in 5th game before holding his serve ... RamK was pressuring Buji with his shot making and take important break in 9th game and then served for the match ... He converted 1st match point for his first win over top-100 player ... Buji was annoyed with himself and that was visible ... In this match Buji failed to play his regular game and he wasn't looking match-fit ... And then he faced a player, who is player on a hot streak ... Happy for RamK but next he is facing big challenge of top-40 ranked Spanish player, Marcel Granollers.

Rohan-Aisam rekindled their partnership on positive note ... They defeated defending champions Stanislas Wawrinka-Benoit Paire in well fought match which went to extra points in the match tie-break ... Next they r facing wild-card pairing of Saketh-Karen.

Leander Paes withdrew from the tournament when Fabio Fognini pulled out of the doubles event citing a left leg strain though Fognini is planning to play the singles.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Hongkong ITF Women's Tournamen, Hongkong

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,295) l (3) Olga SAVCHUK (UKR,187) 36 06

Ankita failed to raise her game against her top-200 opponent.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[Q3] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,519) bt Norbert Gombos (SVK,197) 76(3) 36 63

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) vs (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,519)
[R1] (WC) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,312) l Jiri Vesely (CZE,84) 57 26

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Albert Ramos (ESP) 61 76(6)

RamK struggled with his 1st serve percentage but still didn't face a single break point in the first set .. RamK had a set point (only break point of the first set) on Norbert's serve but failed to convert ... RamK dominated tie-break and won it convincingly losing only 3 points ... RamK started tentatively in the second set and lost his serve in 2nd game to down 0-3 ... Norbert kept this single break advantage despite facing few break points to won the second set ... In the third set RamK started positively and turned table ... He broke Norbert in 2nd game and take 3-0 lead ... This time RamK kept that advantage for the victory in 2 hours and 6 minutes ... Really good performance by 19 yrs old RamK to qualify for main-draw of Chennai open ... RamK having tough match against Buji in the first round but I m counting tricky match for Buji against in-form RamK.

Saketh-Karen scored huge upset win over experienced Spanish players in straight sets ... After winning the first set easily Saketh-Karen stretched to tie-break by Spanish pair but our pair won the tight tie-break.

Jeevan started well and was break up early leading 4-1 but after that Jiri proved too strong to him ... Jiri won 12 games from next 15 games and completed victory in straight sets.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Hongkong ITF Women's Tournamen, Hongkong

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,295) vs (3) Olga SAVCHUK (UKR,187)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Hao Chen TANG (CHN)/ Ran TIAN (CHN) 26 57

In the doubles Ankita-Prarthana lost against Chinese pair in straight sets ... In the singles also Ankita is facing tough challenge of 3rd Ukrainian Savchuk, who is top-100 doubles player and former top-100 singles player.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[Q2] Sanam SINGH (IND,391) l Frederik NIELSEN (DEN,617) 57 57
[Q2] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,519) bt Mikhail ELGIN (RUS,958) 63 75

[Q3] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,519) vs Norbert GOMBOS (SVK,197)

RK in the final qualifying round beating experienced former top-125 singles player and current top-75 type doubles player Russian Mikhail Elgin ... After winning the first set RK faced stiff resistant from Elgin ... In 11th game RK saved 2 break points on his serve and then take crucial break on Eligin serve in 12th game for straight sets victory ... Next he is facing top-200 Slovakian Norbert Gombos, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Serbian Lajovic.

But other hand Sanam failed to live up of challenge from another doubles specialist Frederik Nielsen ... In the first set Frederik broke Sanam early to lead 2-1 but Sanam fought back and broke him, 5-all ... Frederik take crucial break in 11th game before holding his serve for winning the set ... Same story repeated in the second set as Frederik take crucial break in 11th game and then hold his serve for completing the win.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Hongkong ITF Women's Tournament, Hongkong

[Q1] (4) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,401) bt Miki KOBAYASHI (JPN,UNR) 62 36 61

[Q2] (4) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,401) l (13) Kai-Lin ZHANG (CHN,757) 26 36

Bad loss for Prarthana in the second qualifying round against her lower ranked Chinese opponent.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[Q1] Sanam SINGH (IND,391) bt (WC) Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1454) 60 60
[Q1] (WC) Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,1606) vs. (2) Go SOEDA (JPN,103) 67(2) 57 46
[Q1] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,385) vs. Henri LAAKSONEN (SUI,245) 16 75
[Q1] (WC) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,2050) l (3) Dusan LAJOVIC (SRB,116) 36 46
[Q1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,519) bt (WC) Sumit NAGAL (IND,1675) 62 60
[Q1] Saketh MYNENI (IND,315) l Philipp OSWALD (AUT,979) 36 46
[Q1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,708) l Ze ZHANG (CHN,255) 46 16

[Q2] Sanam SINGH (IND,391) vs Frederik NIELSEN (DEN,617)
[Q2] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,519) vs Mikhail ELGIN (RUS,958)

[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) vs Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP,65)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) vs Qualifier
[R1] (WC) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,312) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE,84)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
[R1] (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Albert Ramos (ESP)
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) vs Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Frank Moser (GER)
[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT)
[R1] (WC) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)
[R1] (2) Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Mohit Mayur was 1-5 down before he tried excellent comeback ... He managed to made it 5-all before losing the set in tie-break ... Mohit Mayur broke Soeda in 7th game to take 4-3 lead but failed to hold when serving for the set at 5-4 ... In 11th game on Soeda's serve Mohit Mayur had 3 break points, 0-40, which he failed to convert ... After that Soeda broke Mohit Mayur when he was serving for staying in the match and completed victory.

Balaji lost the first set without much fight ... In the second set Bala fought neck to neck and take crucial break of serve in 11th game on Henri's serve ... And then hold his service game for winning this set ... In the third set also both players fought hard but this time Henri broke Bala in 10th game when he was serving for staying in the match for completing the victory.

Young Sasi Kumar gave decent performance in his loss against top-125 Serbian opponent Lajovic ... Vijay Sundar lost in one-sided match against Zhang ... I was hoping better performance by Saketh bu he struggled with his serve in this match and big serving 6'7" tall Oswald take full advantage of it ... After losing the first set Saketh tried fightback but his serve cost him the match ... In the second set Saketh broke Oswald in 1st game but failed to hold his serve in next game, 1-1 ... Saketh again broke Oswald in 5th game, 3-2, but lost his serve in 6th and 8th games to falling behind 3-5 ... Saeth broke Oswald in 9th game when he was serving for the match, 4-5, but again lost his serve in 10th game for losing the match.

RK scored very dominating win over young Sumit losing only two games ... Next he is facing top-75 type doubles player, who was top-125 singles player before, Russian Mikhail Elgin ... Sanam crushed Ajai Selvaraj as he he double bageled Ajai ... Sanam is facing experienced Danish player, who was top-200 in the singles, who is former top-20 and current top-60 doubles player Frederik Nielsen.

The singles draw is out and Buji having favorable draw as he is facing an qualifier in the first round ... Yuki and Jeevan r also facing unseeded players but having real hope from Yuki only.

The doubles draw is also out ... Rohan-Aisam r top-seed pair and Lee is partnering Italian Fabio Fognini ... Divij is playing with Yen-Hsun Lu in preparation for Australian open ... Happy to see Purav find higher ranked partner in Dudi Sela to participate in Chennai open.

Tennis News

2013 Year-end singles rankings of our male tennis players, India

90 Somdev Devvarman
195 Yuki Bhambri
312 Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan
315 Saketh Myneni
363 Prakash Amritraj
385 N.Sriram Balaji
391 Sanam Singh
483 Prajnesh Gunneswaran
488 Karunuday Singh
517 Vijayant Malik
519 Ramkumar Ramanathan (796)

Buji is back in top-100 with consistent performance ... Injury-free Yuki is bound to join him in top-100 ... This year some encouraging performance by Prajnesh Ramkumar and Karunuday ... Hoping for at least 10 players around or over top-350 after end of March 2014.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

So new season will start with Chennai open ... This is 19th edition of the tournament ... Bravo to organizers!!!

Buji made a cut with his current rankings, #90 ... Usual controversy with wild-cards ... Singles wild-card are given to deserving Yuki and second goese to Jeevan, instead of him RK was better candidate ... In the doubles wild-cards given to pairing of Sriram Balaji-Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni with Russian Karen Khachanov ... Here Purav with Buji were better option but TNTA promote their players through Chennai open ... Hopefully our wild-card players took advantage of their chances.

Squash News

At PSA Challenger $5K Imet Open 2013, Bratislava, Slovakia


Final
(3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt (2) Greg Lobban (SCO,82) 3-2 (7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7) (77m)

[SF] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt (1) Jan Koukal (CZE,73) 3-2 (13-11, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11) (98m)
[QF] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt Christophe Andre (FRA,177) 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 13-11) (40m)
[R1] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt Anthony Brindle (GIB,212) 3-2 (7-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3 11-6 (66m)

19 yrs old Mahesh Mangaonkar lifted his 2nd PSA title in Slovakia ... Mahesh was stretched in the first round by Brindle but he won quarter-final comfortably ... In the semis-final he defeated top-seed Czech player Koukal in well fought match ... He was leading 2-0 before Koukal fought back and won next two games ... In the decider both players were neck to neck which Mahesh won in extra points after saving match ball.

In the final he faced 2nd seed and defending champion Scottish Greg Lobban ... Despite playing long match in the semis Mahesh again produced solid performance in this long match ... After losing the first game Mahesh made strong comeback ... Mahesh won next two games but lost fourth game ... In the decider Mahesh kept his nerve and completed victory in 77 minutes.

Snooker News

At Haikou World Open Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[QR1] Pankaj Advani (IND,66) bt (A) Mitchell Travis (ENG) 5-2 (71-29, 53-48, 0-71(58), 72-33, 54-67, 67-28, 67-16)

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,66) vs Xiao Guodong (CHN,26)

I was hoping easier passage to main-draw for Pankaj but amature player Travis stretched Pankaj ... Pankaj needed to play well to beat Travis ... So he is join Aditya at Haikou World Open ... Pankaj having tough match against local favorite and top-25 type player Xiao Guodong in the first round.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Quarter Finals 1
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2794) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) 1-0 GM Peter Svidler (RUS,2746)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2779) ½-½ GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2764)
GM Nigel Short (ENG.2684) 0-1 GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2772)

Quarter Finals 2
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) 0-1 GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2794)
GM Peter Svidler (RUS,2746) 1-0 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)
GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2764) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2779)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2772) ½-½ GM Nigel Short (ENG,2684)

Quarter Finals Tie-break
[T1] GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) 1-0 GM Peter Svidler (RUS,2746) (2-1)
[T1] GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2779) 0-1 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2764) (1-2)

[T2] GM Peter Svidler (RUS,2746) 0-1 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)(1-3)
[T2] GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2764) 1-0 GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2779) (3-1

Anand draw first game with Black pieces ... But in the second game Anand used a relatively passive opening and Kramnik countered with an aggressive pawn sacrifice ... Anand did not accept and quickly lost after 27 moves ... So disappointing end of 2013 for Anand.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

For 9th position
India l Pakistan 1-1 (0-1) 2-4 SO
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 66' and Rizwan Ali (PAK) 7'

Indian boys ended on disappointing 10th position after they lost penalty shoot-out against Pakistan ... Indians boys had support from vocal crowd but Pakistan take early lead ... After that our boys were doing catching game and they created few chances but were too hasty in trying to conclude ... After missing few penalty corners Gurjinder Singh converted when 5 minutes were remaining ... In shoot-out Pakistani players proved too good to Indian goal-keeper and completed memorable victory.

Snooker News

At Haikou World Open Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[QR1] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) bt Jak Jones (WAL,122) 5-2 (71-51(50), 67-20, 76(76)-0, 5-82(82), 82-5, 54(54)-65, 79-30)

After qualifying for prestigious German Masters Aditya continues with his good run ... He is qualify for Haikou World Open, which will be play from 10th to 16th March 2014 at Haikou, China, beating Wales player Jak Jones ... After losing the first 3 frames Jak tried fight back but Aditya kept focus and completed victory ... In man-draw of Haikou World Open he is playing another Wales player, WR #32 Michael White.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Group A
Round Five
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) ½-½ GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709)
GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697) 0-1 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)

Round Six
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709) 1-0 GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697)

Quarter Finals
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2794) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) - GM Peter Svidler (RUS,2746)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2779) - GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2764)
GM Nigel Short (ENG.2684) - GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2772)

In the fifth round Anand played safe against Istratescu for draw ... In the last match of group Adams and Anand played an interesting game in which surely Anand was simply winning as he was up a piece but however his technique was faulty and Adams escaped with a draw.

So Anand and Adama qualified for quarterfinal from Group A ... Anand having dangerous quarter-final opponent, Vladimir Kramnik, who finished on 2nd position from Group B.

Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,7) 21-11 17-21 21-13

For qualifying for the semis Saina needed to win this match in straight games but she failed to did that ... Still moral-boosting win for Saina against Korean Bae, who troubled her through out the year, in 60 minutes ... In the first game Saina take 4-0 lead but Bae caught up with her at 6-all ... Saina won next 6 points in a row to lead 12-6 and that proved crucial ... Bae reduced lead to 10-15 but again Saina won next 5 points, 20-10, and converted 2nd game point for winning it ... In the second game both players were neck to neck till 10-all ... Bae opened 13-10 lead which Saina reduced to 12-13 but Bae kept single point advantage ... At 17-16 Bae won next 3 points, 20-16, and converted 2nd game point to won it ... In the final game Saina opened 4-0 lead and kept increasing it ... At one time Saina was leading 14-5 though Bae tried fight back winning 4 points in a row from 7-16 but gap was too large ... Saina converted 1st match point for completing her first win of 2013 Superseries Final.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[SF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) l (1) Ti Chen (TPE,325) 64 36 67(3)
[SF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) l (4) Toshihide Matsui (JPN,509) 26 57

Doubles Final
Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (1) Takuto NIKI (JPN)/ Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) 64 63

KU gave fighting performance against his experienced Taiwani opponent, Ti Chen ... After winning the first set KU failed to kept momentum in the second set ... In the third set KU tried but Ti Chen completed victory after winning tie-break ... RK must be tired as he was 13 singles matches winning streak in last three weeks ... Japanese Matsui proved tough challenge for RK and he lost in straights sets ... Still superb performance by our both players in this futures and some terrific wins for RK in last two weeks of Cambodian futures.

Their singles losses didn't affected RK-KU's mentality in the doubles final ... They scored comfortable win over top-seed Japanese pair to lift the title.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,67) l Mark Selby (ENG,2) 1-5 (65(53)-45, 67-45, 71-22, 34-51, 79(79)-8, 115(115)-1))

Pankaj gave decent performance against WR #2 Mark Selby ... First 4 frames were closely fought but after losing 4th frame Selby showed his class ... So with that Pankaj fails to qualify for German Masters ... So only Aditya is in the main-draw.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Group A
Round Three
GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) ½-½ GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697)

Round Four
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) 1-0 GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) 1-0 GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709)

Anand showed his mastery in Rapid chess and scored two dominating wins over Istratescu after 50 moves and McShane after 38 moves ... So after four rounds Anand leading with 10 points and Adams is in 2nd position with 8 points in Group A.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

For 9 / 12 positions
India bt Argentina 4-2 (3-0)
Goal Scorers - Ramandeep Singh (IND) 4' and 31', Amit Rohidas (IND) PC 7', Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 40' and Lucas Martinez (ARG) 38', Lautaro Diaz (ARG) 69'

Indian boys started confidently scoring 2 goals in first 10 minutes ... Then they scored another goal before half-time hooter ... In the second half Argentina scored a goal but Indians responded immediately to retake 3 goals lead ... Afterwards Indians had many chances including hit the crossbar but in end Argentina manged another goal.

Pakistan defeated South Africa 4-0, which set up much anticipated match between India-Pakistan but only for 9th place.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Group A
Round One
GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709) 0-1 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)

Round Two
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) ½-½ GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)
GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697) 1-0 GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709)

The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament has started ... Players are divided into four groups initially, to play a double round robin between them and determine two qualifiers to the knock out stages ... Points calculation - 3 points for a win and 1 point for draw.

In the first round Anand defeated McShane playing with black pieces after 46 moves ... In the second round Anand and Adams played a "real game" instead of a rapid and played some theory, exchanged some pieces and solidly drew ... So after two rounds Anand and Adams r leading with 4 points from Group A.

Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) l Xuerui Li (CHN,1) 9-21 14-21

After yesterday's poor loss wasn't expected any firework from Saina ... And today she didn't disappointed and lost easily against Li in 27 minutes ... In the first game Li take 8-1 lead which Saina reduced it to 8-10 but Li won last 8 points in a row for winning it comfortably ... In the second round both players were neck to neck till 5-all but after that Li opened 3 points lead which she kept increasing until winning the match.

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

[SF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Jocelyn RAE (GBR)/ Anna SMITH (GBR) 57 36


Ankita-Prarthana lost in the semis and with that Indian challenge got over form this ITF tournament.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (Q) Harry Meehan (GBR,1423) 64 64
[QF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt (2) Robin Kern (GER,412) 76(6) 64

[SF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (1) Ti Chen (TPE,325)
[SF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (4) Toshihide Matsui (JPN,509)

Doubles
[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Robin KERN (GER)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT) 64 76(5)

[F] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (1) Takuto NIKI (JPN)/ Arata ONOZAWA (JPN)

RK's impressive form continues ... In the quarter-final he defeated top-400 type German youngster Kern in straight sets ... After winning the first set in tight tie-break RK won the next one with a single break advantage ... KU also join him in the semis with comfortable straight sets win over young British qualifier ... In the semis our both players r facing experienced and higher ranked Asian players ... KU is facing top-seed and former top-200 Ti Chen ... RK is facing former top-260 and 4th seed Toshihide Matsui.

In the doubles also RK and KU r in the final ... They defeated German-Austrian pair of Kern-Pongratz in straight sets ... In the final they r facing top-seed Japanese pair.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[QR] Pankaj Advani (IND,67) vs Mark Selby (ENG,2)
[QR] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) bt Li Yan (CHN,83) 5-0 (64-51, 66(61)-42, 68-0, 62-48, 86(68)-1)

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) vs Joel Walker (ENG,86)

Aditya qualified for German Masters, which will be played from 29th January, 2014 to 2nd February, 2014, with comfortable win over his Chinese opponent Li Yan ... Aditya will face Britisher Joel Walker in the first round of German Master.

But Pankaj having really tough match to qualify for German Masters .. He is facing fromer WR #1 and current WR #2 Mark Selby in the qualifying round.

Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) l Minatsu Mitani (JPN,13) 21-19 22-24 19-21

Saina is hoping to end year on positive notes after poor 2013 season from her standard ... She is in Group B with WR #1 Xuerui Li, WR #7 Yeon Ju Bae and WR #13 Minatsu Mitani ... In Group's first match Li defeated Bae comfortably losing only 16 points.

But really bad start for Saina as she lost against closely fought match against young Japanese Minatsu Mitani in 67 minutes ... In the first game from 6-7 Saina won next 6 points and opened 12-7 lead ... Minatsu tried to reduce it from 14-19 ... She saved 2 game points but Saina won this game converting third game point ... In the second game Saina opened 7-0 lead and at that time she was cruising for straight games victory ... After that Minatsu made excellent comeback with help of unforced errors from Saina ... Minatsu caught Saina at 11-all and after that both players were neck to neck ... After 19-all Minatsu didn't lose a lead and she converted 4th game point for winning this tight game in extra points ... Same trend repeated in the third game ... From 3-4 Saina opened 9-5 lead which she extended to 15-10 ... Minatsu again fought back and caught her at 17-all ... And from 19-all Minatsu won next 2 points for completing the victory ... In the third game Saina was struggling with injury but still this loss wasn't expected.

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Second round
(1) Magda Linette (POL) bt Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA)63 62
Hao Chen Tang (CHN) bt Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 36 61 63
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt (3) Gioia Barbieri (ITA) 62 61
(8) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) bt (WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 62 63
(Q) Ani Amiraghyan (ARM) bt (6) Jade Windley (GBR) 64 26 64
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt (4) Basak Eraydin (TUR) 62 36 63
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) bt (5) Ankita Raina (IND) 64 76(5) 61
(Q) Anna Smith (GBR) bt (2) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT) 16 63 63

Doubles
[R1] Rika FUJIWARA (JPN)/ Miyabi INOUE (JPN) bt Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) 61 61
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) 46 62 10-8
[R1] (2) Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Jade WINDLEY (GBR) bt (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 62 64

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Gioia BARBIERI (ITA)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) 75 64

[SF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Jocelyn RAE (GBR)/ Anna SMITH (GBR)

Rutuja failed to produce fight against Kalashnikova ... Ankita lost the plot after winning the first set ... She lost the second set in the tie-break and break down in the third when Plipuech broke her in 4th game ... And then Plipuech again broke Ankita in 6th game to won the third set comfortably.

So now our challenge is remaining in the doubles only as Ankita-Prarthana r in the semis with straight sets win over Italian-Israeli pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R2] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (Q) Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1137) 63 64
[R2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt (LL) Ivo Klec (SVK,467) 63 76(1)

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (Q) Harry Meehan (GBR,1423)
[QF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (2) Robin Kern (GER,412)

Doubles
[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (4) Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA)/ Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE) 61 63

[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs Robin KERN (GER)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT)

Solid performance by RK against higher ranked and experienced Ivo Klec ... This is his 12th win in a row in three weeks ... Next he is facing 2nd seed German opponent ... KU scored straight sets win and next he is facing teenager British qualifier, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Goodall.

In the doubles RK and KU scored comfortable win over 4th seed pair ... In the semis they r facing unseeded pair.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

Pool C
India dw Korea 3-3 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 32' and PC 35', Mandeep Singh (IND) 45' and Seungju You (KOR) PC 16', PC 58' and PC 60'

Netherlands bt Canada 7-0 (4-0)

Our boys needed to win this match to qualify for the quarter-final but they screwed up big way despite dominating the match ... After taking 3-1 lead they unnecessarily went in defensive mode when last 15 minutes were remaining ... And then our boys conceded two penalty corners with clumsy defending in next 5 minutes ... Koreans obliged and scored two goals to made it 3-all ... After that Koreans had couple of chances of taking lead which they failed to convert ... Othrrhand Indians were looking panic on the turf and failed to stop simple passes in desperation ... With this draw Koreans r in the quarter-final on better goal average than Indians ... Really stupid hockey from Indians.

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles First round
(1) Magda Linette (POL) bt (WC) Nidhi Chilumula (IND) 64 62
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA) bt Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) 64 62
Hao Chen Tang (CHN) bt (Q) Janina Toljan (AUT) 64 62
Miyabi Inoue (JPN) bt (7) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR) 64 60
(3) Gioia Barbieri (ITA) bt Tamara Curovic (SRB) 57 62 2-0 retd.
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 64 64
(WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) bt (WC) Rishika Sunkara (IND) 64 62
(8) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ) 61 61
(6) Jade Windley (GBR) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA) 63 16 76(2)
(Q) Ani Amiraghyan (ARM) bt (Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR) 76(6) 46 63
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt So-Ra Lee (KOR) 60 60
(4) Basak Eraydin (TUR) bt (Q) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) 64 62
(5) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Sharmada Balu (IND) 62 16 64
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) bt Anna Morgina (RUS) 60 60
(Q) Anna Smith (GBR) bt Melis Sezer (TUR) 64 63
(2) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT) bt (WC) Vasanti Shinde (IND) 61 64

Only Ankita and Rutuja r in the second round though they faced Indian opponents ... Still good win by Rutuja over Rishika.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (WC) Kenny Bun (CAM,UNR) 62 61
[R1] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt Samneang Long (CAM,UNR) 60 62

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (Q) Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1137)
[R2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (LL) Ivo Klec (SVK,467)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Siyu LIU (CHN)/ Cheng-Yu YU (TPE) 63 63

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (4) Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA)/ Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE)

This week KU joining RK in Cambodian futures ... Expected comfortable winning start for Ramkumar and Karunuday in the singles ... In the second round RK is facing tough challenge against experienced and former top-200 Slovak player Ivo Klec ... Surprisingly Ivo lost in the final qualifying against British player and got entry as lucky loser ... KU is having winnable match against Austrian qualifier Pongratz.

Also winning start in the doubles for KU and RK ... Next they r facing 4th seed Thai pair.

Football News

Biggest news of the week was - India to host 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup!

The Under-17 World Cup happens every two years. UAE hosted this year while Chile will stage the 2015 event ... The Under-17 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest international soccer event ever on Indian soil. Although the AIFF has hosted several international tournaments both at national and club levels, it has never hosted a FIFA event ... The AIFF has proposed holding of matches in five states -- Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and one among Assam, Goa and Kerala.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

Pool C
India l Netherlands 2-3 (1-3)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 13', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 42' and Milan Van Baal (NED) 3' and 27', Mark Rijkers (NED) 25'

India bt Canada 3-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) PC 30', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 57', Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 69' and Sukhi Panesar (CAN) 3', Gordon Johnston (CAN) PC 51'

Korea bt Canada 7-4 (4-1)
Netherlands bt Korea 3-2 (2-2)

Our boys completed two matches but still they r struggling with their game plan ... In the first match Dutch boys played solid game and didn't gave much chance to our boys ... Still our boys managed to put pressure but Dutch kept their advantage for a win.

In their second match Canadian boys surprised Indians with their open play ... Indians never settled in the match as Canadians take early lead and after that Indians were doing catching game ... Indians had more than 80% possession in the first half and had numerous penetrations in the circle but failed to score ... In the end Indians were lucky as Gurjinder Singh converted penalty corner for a win.

Now for qualifying for the quarter final Indian boys need to win their final pool match against Korea ... But for that Indians need to raise their game few notches./span>

Squash News

At $77K Hong Kong Open 2013,

[Q1] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,109) l Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,45) 0-3 (0/11, 6/11, 4/11) (20m)

[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) bt (7) Natalie Grinham (NED,9) 3-0 (11/8, 11/8, 11/4) (31m)
[R1] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) l Nour El Tayeb (EGY,27) 0-3 (13/15, 6/11, 2/11) (34m)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) bt (15) Line Hansen (DEN,20) 3-1 (12/10, 11/8, 9/11, 11/5) (44m)

[QF] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) l (4) Alison Waters (ENG,4) 1-3 (14/12, 7/11, 3/11, 6/11) (41m)

After disappointing loss of Dipika in the first round Joshna gave terrific performance ... She scored back to back win against top-20 players ... In the first round she defeated top-10 Dutch player Natalie Grinham in straight games ... In the second round she defeated Danish top-20 player Hansen in well fought match ... In the quarters she faced WR #4 Britisher Waters and stretched her ... Joshana won the first game in extra points but after that Waters played smart game and won next two tight games
----------------------------------------------
At $150K Hong Kong Open 2013,

[Q1] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,80) bt Wong Chi Him (HKG,260) 3-0 (12/10, 13/11, 11/9) (34m)
[Q1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN,37) 3-1 (9/11, 11/8, 11/5, 11/4) (45m)

[Q2] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,80) l Adrian Waller (ENG,31) 0-3 (9/11, 7/11, 7/11) (40m)
[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) l Joe Lee (ENG,34) 0-3 (0/11, 4/11, 8/11) (40m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (Q) Lucas Serme (FRA,76) 3-0 (11/5, 11/4, 11/9) (40m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l (4) Nick Matthew (ENG,3) 1-3 (11/3, 5/11, 4/11, 8/11) (53m)

Saurav lost in the second round but again gave fighting performance against WR #3 Nick Matthew ... Before that Mahesh scored upset win over top-40 Finnish player Henrik Mustonen in the first qualifying round.

Tennis News

At $25K Pune ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Second round
(1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,751)62 62
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) bt (6) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO,303) 3-0 Retd.
(3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt (Q) Sharmada Balu (IND,817) 64 60
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) bt (WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,UNR) 61 60
(Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) bt Miyabi Inoue (JPN,389) 63 62
(4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR,564) 63 62
(WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) bt Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,407) 64 60
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,365) 57 75 60

[QF] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) 63 57 62
[QF] (3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) 63 75
[QF] (4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) 62 63
[QF] Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) 63 63

[SF] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) 67(2) 61 62
[SF] Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) 62 62

[F] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) 75 76(5)

Only Prerna managed to enter into the quarters ... Was hoping better performance by Ankita ... In the doubles only Sowjanya Bavisetti and Sharmada Balu managed to enter into the semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED,427) 64 63

[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt Mate Pavic (CRO,359) 76(2) 26 61
[SF] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt (7) Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,334) 76(6) 64

[F] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) l (1) Boy Westerhof (NED,263) 16 46

Doubles
[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) bt (2) Antal VAN DER DUIM (NED)/ Boy WESTERHOF (NED) 64 60

[SF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) l (4) Peng GAO (CHN)/ Wan GAO (CHN) 06 26

Impressive performance by Karunuday in tougher Thai futures ... He lost in the final against top-seed Dutchman Westerhof but before that he defeated higher ranked opponent in his every match ... Such performance will give him good confidence fr future matches.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Senegal F2 Future, Daker

[R1] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,306) l Luca MARGAROLI (SUI,930) 36 36

Doubles
[QF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) bt Eric FOMBA (FRA)/ Theo FOURNERIE (FRA) 16 63 10-2

[SF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) l (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Damon GOOCH (RSA) 63 46 3-10

Turned to be disappointing tournament for Jeevan, who lost in the first round of the singles.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (WC) Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1319) 63 64

[R2] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (LL) Soichiro MORITANI (JPN,1296) 63 75

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (Q) Soong-Jae CHO (KOR,1231) 60 75

[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (2) Hiroki KONDO (JPN,297) 76(2) 64

[F] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (6) Josh GOODALL (GBR,464) 61 46 64

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) bt Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR) 46 64 10-4

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) l (1) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)/ Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA) 1-2 retd.

Ramkumar lifted his second title in a row and that also in abroad ... In the final he defeated seasoned British player Josh Goodall ... In well fought match he completed win and now he is on 10 match winning streak.

Before that Ramkumar take full advantage of weak draw and entered in the semis with straight sets win over lower ranked opponents ... In the semis he faced in-form experienced Japanese top-300 Hiroki Kondo ... Ramkumar scored tight straight sets upset win over him ... In the final he faced former top-200 Britisher Josh Goodall.

On Vacation!

Going on vacation for four days ... Hoping for some superb results in Junior World championship (hockey) and in tennis ... So will be back on reporting from Monday, 9th December.

Tennis News

At $25K Pune ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles First round
(1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) 60 63
(Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,751) bt Tamara Curovic (SRB,448) 64 75
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) bt (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,478) 61 61
(6) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO,303) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,369) 75 62
(3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt So-Ra Lee (KOR,335) 61 26 62
(Q) Sharmada Balu (IND,817) bt (WC) Nidhi Chilumula (IND,625) 61 26 61
(WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,UNR) bt Anna Morgina (RUS,367) 26 62 63
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) bt (5) Ankita Raina (IND,297) 62 63
(7) Jade Windley (GBR,307) vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN,389)
(Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,609) 63 63
(Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR,564) bt (Q) Janina Toljan (AUT,538) 36 61 76(4)
(4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (LL) Natasha Palha (IND,593) 62 61
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,407) bt (8) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR,319) 64 75
(WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBR,421) 62 63
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (WC) Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,UNR) 61 62
Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,365) bt (2) Melanie Klaffner (AUT,179) 67(7) 62 64

Terrific upset wins by young Snehadevi over top-400 Russian in three sets ... Similar upset win by Sowjanya over top-450 Serbian player but next she is facing top-seed and top-150 type Polish girl.

On the second day Prerna scored upset win over top-425 British player but other hand Ankita got upset from Thai girl Wannasuk.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt (8) Suk-Young Jeong (KOR,344) 63 61

[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED,427)

Doubles
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) bt Patcharapol KAWIN (THA)/ Warot UDOMSUK (THA) 75 36 10-8

[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) vs (2) Antal VAN DER DUIM (NED)/ Boy WESTERHOF (NED)

Good upset win by Karunuday against top-350 Korean in dominating style ... Next he is facing Dutch top-425 typle player ... And also winning start in the doubles for KU and his Kazakh partner in the match tie-break ... Next they r facing 2nd seed Dutch pair and again facing Van Der Duim.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Senegal F2 Future, Daker

[R1] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,306) vs Luca MARGAROLI (SUI,930)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) bt Mohd Assri MERZUKI (MAS)/ Ivo MINAR (CZE) 57 75 10-7

[QF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) vs Eric FOMBA (FRA)/ Theo FOURNERIE (FRA)

Jeevan trying to qualify for Australian open qualifying so participating in Senegal futures ... He need to win the title for raising his hope.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) vs (WC) Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1319)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) vs Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR)

After his first title win Ramkumar is playing in Cambodian futures.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City


Women's Singles Final
(1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt (7) Li Michelle (CAN,30) 21-15 21-12

Sindhu scored comfortable win in 38 minutes to lift her 2nd Gold GP title of the year beating Canadian Michelle in this final ... Before this in April Sindhu won Malaysia Grand Prix Gold title.

Sindhu started confidently winning first seven points and this 7 points difference proved too long for Michelle to reduce in the first game ... After losing the first game Michelle tried to kept pace with Sindhu ... They were on equal term till 6-all but from here Sindhu won next eight points to lead, 14-8 ... After that winning was the formality which Sindhu completed comfortably.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City

[SF] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt (Q) Qin Jinjing (CHN,780) 21-13 18-21 21-19

[F] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) vs (7) Li Michelle (CAN,30)

In the first game Qin take 6-3 early lead but Sindhu caught her at 7-all ... From 13-12 Sindhu gave only a single point to Qin and won the first game comfortably ... In the second game Sindhu started with 4-0 lead but Quin won next 4 points to made it 4-all ... Sindhu opened 3 points lead at 8-5 and kept couple of points lead till 16-14 ... Qin won next 5 points and first time take lead in this game 19-16 ... Then Qin kept that lead and converted 2nd game point for winning this game ... The decider turned to be dog fight as both players continuously changing lead ... Qin take 4-0 lead but Sindhu won next 6 points to take 6-4 lead ... Qin caught her at 7-all and take 9-7 lead ... From 9-10 down Qin won next 4 points to lead 13-10 but again Sindhu caught her at 13-all ... Qin again opened lead 15-13 then 16-14 ... This time also Sindhu fought back winning next 3 points, 17-16 ... Both were neck to neck till 19-all and then Sindhu won last 2 points for very hard fought win in 68 minutes ... Surprisingly tough match for Sindhu against this 17 yrs old Chinese qualifier ... In the final Sindhu is facing Canadian Li Michelle, who upset 3rd seed Pui Yin Yip.

Tennis News

At Asian Tennis Championship 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

[SF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) l (1) Ti Chen (TPE,305) 1-2 retd.

Doubles
[SF] Aqeel Khan (PAK)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (1) Hsin Han Lee (TPE)/ Hsien Yin Peng (TPE) 63 26 2-10

And today Vishnu also retired from the singles match playing only three games due to injury.

Vishnu still played the doubles and lost against top-seed Taipei pair after winning the first set.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F11 Futures, Raipur

Singles Final
(6) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt Duck Hee LEE (KOR,897) 46 76(6) 64

Ramkumar lifted his first ITF futures title beating talented 15 yrs old Korean kid in well contested two and half hours match ... Congratulation to Ramkumar for his singles Futures title win.

Ramkumar neweded to dig seep for this win ... In the first set Ramkumar was leading 3-1 but then he lost 5 games in a row for losing this set ... In the second set Lee was leading 5-3 and at 5-4 he served for the match ... Ramkumar broke him and take the set in tie-break ... In the tie-break also Ramkumar was match point down at 5-6 before saving it and then winning the tie-break 8-6 ... In the final set Ramkumar was up with double break, 4-0, but while serving for the match at 5-2 Lee broke him ... Ramkumar kept his nerve in 10th game when he was again serving for the match ... He hold his serve @15 and completed excellent win.

Snooker News

At £700K UK Championship, York, England

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,67) l Tian Pengfei (CHN,64) 1-6 (10-76(76), 73-44, 24-78(61), 49-68, 6-65(64), 8-73(54), 30-77)
[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) l Robbie Williams (ENG,70) 2-6 (25-81, 16-53, 65-17, 61-68, 21-73, 10-73, 52-50, 0-66(58))

Pankaj failed to produce challenge to his Chinese opponent ... Tian scored comfortable win against Pankaj losing single frame.

Aditya also lost his match against young Britisher ... In this match Aditya failed to score substantial break and Williams take advantage of it ... I m feeling that our players r still struggling to adjust with speed of cloth in Britain.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City

[QF] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt (5) Tsz Ka Chan (HKG,28) 21-17 21-12

[SF] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) vs (Q) Qin Jinjing (CHN,780)

In this match Sindhu started confidently after winning first 4 points ... Chan won 4 points in a row from 6-11 and reduced Sindhu's lead to 1 point, 10-11 ... But at 10-14 Chan first time take lead in the match after winning next 5 points, 15-14 ... Sindhu recovered from her lapse of concentration and won 6 points in a row from 15-17 to won the first game ... In the second game Sindhu won 6 points in a row from 1-3 to take 7-3 lead .. Chan managed to reduce lead to 1 point, 10-11, from 7-11 ... But after that Sindhu lost only 2 more points before completing victory in 28 minutes ... In the semis Sindhu is facing 17 yrs old Chinese qualifier ... Winnable match for Sindhu.

Tennis News

At Asian Tennis Championship 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

[QF] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,319) l (5) Pruchya Isarow (THA,827) 36 retd.
[QF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) bt (7) Ting-Yu Chuang (TPE,939) 62 36 75

[SF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) vs (1) Ti Chen (TPE,305)

Doubles
[QF] Aqeel Khan (PAK)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (4) Warit Sornbutnark (THA)/ Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA) 76(5) 62

[SF] Aqeel Khan (PAK)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (1) Hsin Han Lee (TPE)/ Hsien Yin Peng (TPE)

Sanam's decision of skipping Thai futures for this tournament backfired ... After losing the first he retired from the match ... I m hoping not a serious injury scare.

Vishnu stretched to three sets by his 900+ ranked Taipei opponent ... In the semi-final he is facing top-seed Ti Chen ... In the doubles also Vishnu in the semi-final with Aqeel after upsetting 4th seed Thai pair ... Here also they r facing top-seed Taipei pair for place in the final.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Thailand F4 Futures, Bangkok

[SF] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) l Luke Saville (AUS,445) 36 63 36

Karunuday blew chance of entering in the final beating former junior WR #1 Luke Saville ... After losing the first set Karunuday fought back and was controlling the match ... He won the second set and had a break point in 1st game of the final set ... Karunuday missed that opportunity and after that Luke didn't gave him a chance on his own serve .. Luke broke Karunuday in 8th game and then hold his serve for completing the victory.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F11 Futures, Raipur

Singles Semi Finals
Duck Hee LEE (KOR) bt (3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) 64 retd.
(6) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (4) Tortsen WIETOSKA (GER) 57 75 63

Doubles Final
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) 61 63

Really good comeback win by Ramkumar over his higher ranked German opponent ... Wietoska won the first set but Ramkumar turned his fortune take crucial break in the tight second set ... Ramkumar controlled the final set and completed victory ... In the final he is facing 15 yrs old talented Korean Duck Hee Lee for the title ... Duck Hee Lee is deaf player so his achievement is more remarkable .. Both players r trying for their first futures title.

Bala-Ranjeet lifted the doubles title after convincingly beating Mohit Mayur-Ramkumar after losing only 4 games.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City

[R2] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt Salakjit Ponsana (THA,62) 18-21 21-8 21-14
[R2] Sayali Gokhale (IND,127) l Chochuwong Pornpawee (THA,64) 19-21 21-10 15-21
[R2] Thulasi P. C. (IND,72) l Di Suo (CHN,48) 15-21 7-21

[QF] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) vs (5) Tsz Ka Chan (HKG,28)

Sayali had chance in this 52 mins match ... In the first game Sayali was 6-9 behind but she came back in the game after winning next 6 points to lead 12-9 ... Pornpawee caught Sayali at 14-all but Sayali again opened 18-15 then 19-16 lead ... Pornpawee won next 5 points for winning the first game ... In the second game Sayali take 4-1 lead with Pornpawee reduced to 7-8 but after that Sayali gave her chance to win 3 more points and won this game comfortably ... But in the decider Pornpawee opened 7-1 lead which Sayali failed to overcome and lost this match ... Other hand Thulasi failed to create much challenge to her Chinese opponent Di Suo ... In the first game she tried little much but Suo didn't gave chance to Thulasi in the second game.

In this match also Sindhu started slowly ... From 8-all Sindhu opened 15-10 lead but Ponsana take advantage and fought back ... Ponsana won 5 points in a row from 14-16 to lead 19-16 ... Ponsana won 2nd game point and grabbed the first game ... Sindhu recovered in the second game and from 5-all she gave chance of winning 3 more points to Ponsana before winning it comfortably ... In the third game from 4-all Sindhu won next 9 points to lead 13-4 ... After that Ponsana tried fightback but this gap proved too much for her ... Sindhu completed win in 48 minutes and take revenge of her loss against Ponsana in 2011 ... Next in the quarter final she is facing Hong Kong girl Tsz Ka Chan.

Tennis News

At Asian Tennis Championship 2013, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,319) bt Phassawit Burapharittha (THA,1917) 62 75
[R1] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) bt Grittaboon Prammanee (THA,1674) 36 63 62
[R1] Garvit Batra (IND,1365) bt Thanasit Issaraporn (THA,1314) 26 62 61

[R1] Sharmada Balu (IND,829) bt Jitsupang Samrej (THA,UNR) 57 61 61

[R2] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,319) bt Nutthanon Kadchapanan (THA,1237) 61 60
[R2] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) bt Pongsiri Nirot (THA,UNR) 76(4) 64
[R2] Garvit Batra (IND,1365) l Trijati Sunu Wahyu (INA,UNR) 16 46

[R2] Sharmada Balu (IND,829) l (7) Ling Zhang (HKG,427) 16 36

[QF] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,319) vs (5) Pruchya Isarow (THA,827)
[QF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,721) vs (7) Ting-Yu Chuang (TPE,939)

Doubles
[R1] Sharmada Balu (IND)/ Katherine Westbury (THA) bt Plobrung Plipuech (THA)/ Bunyawi Thamchaiwai (THA) 63 75
[R1] Aqeel Khan (PAK)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Tanatuch Bonsiri (THA)/ Suthinan Tanthaseraneewat (THA) 75 64

[QF] Sharmada Balu (IND)/ Katherine Westbury (THA) l (2) Chin Wei Chan (TPE)/ Ya Hsuan Lee (TPE) 36 16
[QF] Aqeel Khan (PAK)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (4) Warit Sornbutnark (THA)/ Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA)

Sanam take a bizarre decision of playing in this Asian Tennis championship ... He was playing in the fututres event and won first 2 rounds but now he is playing in this tournament which having more prize money but zero ranking points ... The ITF will definitely going to penalized Sanam for his actions ... Surprisingly tough wins for our players in the first round ... After producing little upset Garvit got upset from unranked Indonesian in one-sided match ... Sanam is comfortably in the quarters but Vishnu struggled against local wild-card player ... Next both having winnable matches.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Thailand F4 Futures, Bangkok

[QF] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,319) l Luke Saville (AUS,445) w/o
[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) bt (WC) Singekrawee Wattanakul (THA,UNR) 61 64

[SF] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) vs Luke Saville (AUS,445)

Sanam withdrew from this futures as he decided to play in Asian Tennis championship ... Karunuday scored comfortable win over Thai unranked player ... Next Karunuday is facing Aussie Luke Saville.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F11 Futures, Raipur

Singles Quarter Finals
Duck Hee LEE (KOR) bt (5) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 57 63 63
(3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) bt Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) 63 60
(4) Tortsen WIETOSKA (GER) bt (7) Marc KALOVELONIS (GRE) 46 63 75
(6) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) 62 1-0 retd.

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (WC) Ronit Singh BISHT (IND)/ Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 61 60
Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Luca MARGAROLI (SUI) 63 64

Bala must be tired in these demanding condition as he was finalists (with the title win last week) in last two weeks futures and more over also he participated in the doubles in all three futures ... In his match against Ramkumar he gave walkover after losing the first set ... Ranjeet won the first set against talented Korean youngster Lee before losing next two sets ... So only Ramkumar is remaining in the singles.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

Indian Squad
Goalkeepers - Sushant Tirkey, Harjot Singh Defenders - Gurjinder Singh, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Surender Kumar, Sukhmanjit Singh, Pardeep Mor, Kothajit Singh
Midfielders - Manpreet Singh (captain), Satbir Singh, Harjit Singh, Imran Khan, Prabhdeep Singh
Forwards - Malak Singh, Mandeep Singh, Talwinder Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh

Standbys - Jagdeep Dayal (goalkeeper), Lalit Upadhyay and Gurmail Singh (midfielder), Affan Yousuf (forward)

Pool A
Germany, Pakistan, Belgium and Egypt

Pool B
Australia, Spain, Argentina and France

Pool C
India, Netherlands, South Korea and Canada

Pool D
England, New Zealand, South Africa and Malaysia

Our team is announced for junior world cup ... Talented midfielder Manpreet Singh, a veteran of 85 international matches, is named the captain ... Our team is full of talented players, whom HI groomed with playing them in senior team in international matches.

The tournament schedule is set with four pools of four teams of which two from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals ... India is in Pool C with favorite Netherlands, South Korea and Canada.

Tennis News

At $15K Thailand F4 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,319) bt (Q) Kaichi Uchida (JPN,946) 61 63
[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) bt (3) Tak Khunn-Wang (FRA,289) 64 64

[QF] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,319) vs Luke Saville (AUS,445)
[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) vs (WC) Singekrawee Wattanakul (THA,UNR)

Excellent upset win by Karunuday against top-300 Frenchman Tak Khunn-Wang in the straight sets ... Next he is facing local wild-card player Wattanakul.

Sanam also scored dominating win over young Japanese and former junior world #3 Kaichi Uchida ... Next he is facing young Aussie and former junior world #1 Aussies Luke Saville who defeated 2nd seed Spanish in the second round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F11 Futures, Raipur

Singles Second Round
Duck Hee LEE (KOR) bt (1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 67(5) 64 retd.
(5) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) 62 61
(3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) bt Ronit Singh BISHT (IND) 75 3-0 retd.
Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) bt (8) N. Vijay Sunder PRASHANTH (IND) 62 76(6)
(7) Marc KALOVELONIS (GRE) bt (WC) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 64 62
(4) Tortsen WIETOSKA (GER) bt Arjun KADHE (IND) 64 75
(6) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (Q) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) 63 61
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Luca MARGAROLI (SUI) 60 76(2)

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Fedor CHERVYAKOV (RUS)/ Timur KHABIBULIN (KAZ) 64 64
(WC) Ronit Singh BISHT (IND)/ Jatin DAHIYA (IND) bt (4) Jannis LINIGER (SUI)/ Mithun MURALI (IND) 5-2 retd.
Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Luca MARGAROLI (SUI) bt Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 67(4) 64 10-7
Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) 64 61

An upset stomach forced top seed Jeevan Nedunchezhian to concede his second round match ... Only Balaji, Ramkumar and Ranjeet r in the quarters.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City

[R2] Sourabh Varma (IND,62) l (9) Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,31) 16-21 13-21
[R2] (12) Prannoy H. S. (IND,46) l Chun Hei Tam (HKG,198) 13-21 18-21
[R1] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt Soo Jin Kim (KOR,182) 15-21 21-12 21-9
[R1] Sayali Gokhale (IND,127) bt (8) Chi Ya Cheng (TPE,68) 24-22 21-15
[R1] Thulasi P. C. (IND,72) bt (2) Nichaon Jindapon (THA,12) 22-20 21-19

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Pei Rong Wang (TPE)/ Kuo Yu Wen (TPE) 0-2 retd.
[R1] (7) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Nipitphon Puangpuapech (THA)/ Puttita Supajirakul (THA) 10-21 21-17 13-21

[R2] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) vs Salakjit Ponsana (THA,62)
[R2] Sayali Gokhale (IND,127) vs Chochuwong Pornpawee (THA,64)
[R2] Thulasi P. C. (IND,72) vs Di Suo (CHN,48

Thulasi scored big win against top-15 Thai girl in straight games in 46 minutes ... In the first game Thulasi take 11-6 then 15-7 lead from 6-all ... Nichaon fought back and caught Thulasi at 18-all ... Nichaon had game point at 20-19 but Thulasi won next 3 points to won the game ... In the second game Nichaon opened 8-4 lead then she increased to 12-7 then 17-12 ... Thulasi won next 6 points to take 18-17 lead ... After that Thulasi had 2 match points at 20-18 and she converted 2nd match point for good win ... Next she is having another tough match against top-50 Chinese girl Di Suo.

Sayali also scored upset win over 8th seed Taipei player Cheng in 39 minutes ... In the first game Cheng opened 10-5 lead but Sayali caught her at 11-all ... Cheng again opened 18-14 lead and she had 4 game points at 2016 ... Sayali saved all 4 game points, 20-all and then again Sayali saved 5th game point at 20-21 ... Sayali converted 2nd game point for winning this game ... In the second game Sayali opened 8-4 lead from 4-all which she managed to keep through out the game ... Sayali won this game comfortably and next she is facing Thai girl Chochuwong Pornpawee.

Sindhu struggled with her game in the beginning and Kim take advantage of it ... In the first game Kim take 14-9 then 16-11 lead which Sindhu reduced to 15-16 ... But Kim won next 5 points for winning this game ... Sindhu found her touch from the second game and then she dominated this 45 minutes long match ... Sindhu take 8-2 lead which Kim reduced to 6-8 but Sindhu again take control and won this game losing another 6 points ... In the final game from 3-all Sindhu won next 8 points to lead 11-3 and she kept increasing the lead for winning the match ... Next she is facing Thai girl Salakjit Ponsana.

But disappointing losses of our men's players in the second round ... In MXD also seeded Ashwini-Tarun lost in three games ... After losing the first game they fought back to won the second game but Thai pair proved too strong in the third game ... In women's doubles Jwala-Ashwini retired from the match after only 2 points.

Tennis News

At $15K Thailand F4 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) bt (Q) Hong Chung (KOR,1413) 67(4) 36 57

[R2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,319) vs (Q) Kaichi Uchida (JPN,946)
[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) vs (3) Tak Khunn-Wang (FRA,289)

Surprisingly Korean qualifier Hong Chung stretched Karunuday to three sets ... Next KU is facing tough match against 3rd seed and top-300 Frenchman Tak Khunn-Wang ... Sanam is facing Japanese qualifier.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City

[R1] (10) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,40) l (Q) Sol Kyu Choi (KOR,1314) 19-21 17-21
[R1] Sourabh Varma (IND,62) bt Hok Man Lou (MAC,821) 21-5 21-7
[R1] (12) Prannoy H. S. (IND,46) bt Andre Marteen (INA,119) 21-10 21-23 21-10
[R1] (1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) vs Soo Jin Kim (KOR,182)
[R1] Sayali Gokhale (IND,127) vs (8) Chi Ya Cheng (TPE,68)
[R1] Thulasi P. C. (IND,72) vs (2) Nichaon Jindapon (THA,12)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Pei Rong Wang (TPE)/ Kuo Yu Wen (TPE)
[R1] (7) Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Nipitphon Puangpuapech (THA)/ Puttita Supajirakul (THA)

[R2] Sourabh Varma (IND,62) vs (9) Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,31)
[R2] (12) Prannoy H. S. (IND,46) vs Chun Hei Tam (HKG,198)

Sourabh scored very dominating win in 18 minutes over local player losing only 12 points ... In the second round he is facing 9th seed Taiwani player.

Other hand Prannoy was stretched to three games by Indonesian 100+ ranked player ... Prannoy won the first game easily and then he was leading 13-8 in the second ... After that loss of concentration for Prannoy and Andre caught him at 17-all .. Andre had 2 game points at 20-18 but Prannoy saved them and had match point at 21-10 ... Andre saved that and then converted 3rd game point ... In the third game from 8-all Prannoy won next 9 points to lead 17-8 and that gap was enough for winning this game ... Next he is facing 200-around ranked Hong Kong player.

Shocking loss of Prannoy against lowly ranked Korean junior qualifier ... Choi defeated Prannoy in 42 minutes.

Tennis News

At $15K Thailand F4 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,319) bt Yuichi Ito (JPN,484) 62 75
[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,636) vs (Q) Hong Chung (KOR,1413)

Doubles
[R1] Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) l (4) Yong-Kyu LIM (KOR)/ Sang-Woo NOH (KOR) 36 26

Good win by Sanam against experienced Ito in straight sets.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F11 Futures, Raipur

Singles First Round
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (WC) Prateek PUSHKAR BAXI (IND) 60 60
Duck Hee LEE (KOR) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND) 67(2) 62 62
Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 62 62
(5) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Timur KHABIBULIN (KAZ) 62 61
(3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) bt (Q) Odil AKRAMOV (UZB) 62 61
Ronit Singh BISHT (IND) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND) 57 75 63
Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) bt David PEL (NED) 63 62
(8) N. Vijay Sunder PRASHANTH (IND) bt (WC) Abdullah SHAIKH (IND) 62 61
(7) Marc KALOVELONIS (GRE) bt Fedor CHERVYAKOV (RUS) 62 62
(WC) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) bt (Q) Anvit BENDRE (IND) 57 64 62
Arjun KADHE (IND) bt (WC) Kumar ADAVELLY (IND) 62 62
(4) Tortsen WIETOSKA (GER) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 62 60
(6) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Timon REICHELT (GER) 64 63
(Q) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 64 75
Luca MARGAROLI (SUI) bt Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) 76(5) 64
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 64 36 62

Doubles First Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Arjun KADHE (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 36 76(5) 10-6
Fedor CHERVYAKOV (RUS)/ Timur KHABIBULIN (KAZ) bt Duck Hee LEE (KOR)/ Jung-Woong NA (KOR) W/O
(4) Jannis LINIGER (SUI)/ Mithun MURALI (IND) bt Kumar ADAVELLY (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 76(5) 75
(WC) Ronit Singh BISHT (IND)/ Jatin DAHIYA (IND) bt (WC) Prateek PUSHKAR BAXI (IND)/ Sourabh SINGH (IND) 61 64
Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Luca MARGAROLI (SUI) bt (ALT) Elwin ANTONY (IND)/ Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) 76(6) 67(4) 10-7
Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) bt (3) Tortsen WIETOSKA (GER)/ Timon REICHELT (GER) 67(8) 62 10-1
Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (WC) Nail KHABIYEV (USA)/ Abdullah SHAIKH (IND) 62 61
Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt (2) Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE)/ Markos KALOVELONIS (GRE) 76(4) 76(3)

Good win by Ronit, Arjun and 16 yrs old Sasi Kumar Mukund ... In the doubles Sood brothers upset 2nd seed pair and Ronak-Abhijeet scored upset win over 3rd seed German pair.

Tennis News

At Asia-Pacific Australian Open 2014 - WildCard PlayOff Tournament, Shenzhen, China

Men's Singles
[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,204) l (3) Wu Di (CHN,205) 67(6) 46

Men's Doubles Final
(2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Zhe Li (CHN) 76(3) 16 10-5

In the singles Yuki had chances but he failed to take it ... He was break up at 5-4 but Wu broke him on luv in 10th game to made it 5-all ... In the tie-break also Yuki had 2 set points at 6-4 but he lost next 4 points for losing the set ... In the second set Wu broke Yuki in 7th game and kept that advantage for winning the set and match.

Yuki and Venus lifted the doubles wild-card beating local pair in the final ... They won the first set in tie-break but Chinese pair made strong comeback and won the second set losing only a single game ... In match tie-break Yuki-Michael fought back and won it to book their ticket to Australian Open 2014.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K India F10 Futures, Bhopal

Singles Final
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,458) bt (3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR,499) 75 75

Balaji scored tight win over Korean Na to lift the futures title at Bhopal ... Bala was needing this title as last few months he struggle on the futures curcuit.

Chess News

At the FIDE World Chess Championship 2013, Chennai, India (November 9th to 28th, 2013)

Game Ten
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2870) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) (6½-3½)

Norway's Magnus Carlsen become new Chess World Champion!!!

22 yrs old Carlsen become the youngest World champion ... He defeated Anand comfortably to won the title when two games were remaining ... So Anand's 6 yrs regime over World championship got over and frankly Carlsen is most deserving candidate ... WR #1 Magnus Carlsen dominating chess world last couple of years and in the World championship match he show why he is WR #1 ... Carlsen showed his solid preparation for endgame in the World championship.

In 10th game Sicilian Defense utilized ... Carlsen and Vishy played very tactical game in this match ... But Carlsen played excellent defensive game and after long game it was eneded in draw after 65 moves.

Tennis News

At Asia-Pacific Australian Open 2014 - WildCard PlayOff Tournament, Shenzhen, China

Men's Singles
[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,204) bt (Q) Zhicheng Zhu (CHN,UNR) 62 61

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,204) vs (3) Wu Di (CHN,205)

Men's Doubles
[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (3) Chieh-Fu Wang (TPE)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) 62 60

[F] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Zhe Li (CHN)

Yuki in the semis of Asia-Pacific Australian Open WildCard PlayOff Tournament with very comfortable win against junior Chinese player ... Real test for Yuki is starting from the semis ... In the semis he is facing defending champion and Chinese top-seed Wu Di.

In the doubles Yuki-Venus r one win away from sealing AO 2014 wild-card ... They scored dominating win over Taiwani pair in the final they r facing 4th seed Chinese pair, who scored upset win over top-seed pair in match tie-break.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K India F10 Futures, Bhopal

Singles Semi Finals
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,321) l (3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR,499) 26 64 26
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,458) bt (WC) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,778) 75 62

Doubles Final
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) 63 63

Bala is in 2nd final in two weeks of Indian futures ... He scored straight sets win over Vijay Sundar ... In the final he is facing Korean Jung-Woong Na, who scored upset win over top-seed Jeevan in the semis.

Jeevan-Purav lifted the doubles title with comfortable win over unseeded pair of Karunuday and Daniiar.

Chess News

At the FIDE World Chess Championship 2013, Chennai, India (November 9th to 28th, 2013)

Game Nine
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) 0-1 GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2870) (3-6)

Magnus Carlsen is on verge of becoming new World champion as he need only half point from last three games ... In 9th game Anand came out all guns blazing but he blundered in this complicated game which cost him the victory ... This game played with sharp Nimzo-Indian Defence ... Anand got in a nice attacking position and had his chances but he made mistakes middle of the game ... Carlsen won this match after 28 moves.

Badminton News

At $350K Hong Kong Open 2013, Kowloon (Superseries)

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,26) l Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,15) 18-21 12-21
[R2] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) l Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,13) 17-21 21-9 15-21

Really disappointing results of Saina and Ajay ... In their previous six meetings Saina was victorious against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk ... But here Saina failed to overcome her challenge ... After losing the first game Saina made strong comeback to won the second comfortably ... This time also Saina failed to kept momentum in the decider and lost control from 5-all ... Ajay also won his last match against Sony but here he failed to repeat that and lost in straight games.

Tennis News

At Asia-Pacific Australian Open 2014 - WildCard PlayOff Tournament, Shenzhen, China

Men's Singles
[QF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,204) vs (Q) Zhicheng Zhu (CHN,UNR)

Men's Doubles
[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (Q) Tianjia Guo (CHN)/ Shenghao Zhou (CHN) 60 61

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs (3) Chieh-Fu Wang (TPE)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE)

Yuki-Michael scored very comfortable win against local qualifiers ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Taiwani pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K India F10 Futures, Bhopal

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (8) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) 63 63
(3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) bt (Q) David PEL (NED) 64 76(3)
(WC) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (6) Karunuday SINGH (IND) 64 64
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 75 76(6)

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (4) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) 64 57 12-10
Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND)64 64

Vijay Sundar scored upset win over Karunuday but Vishu again failed to overcome challenge of Bala ... Jeevan and Purav scored very close win in the doubles and keep Jeevan's hope alive for double crown.

Badminton News

At $350K Hong Kong Open 2013, Kowloon (Superseries)

[R1] K. Srikanth (IND,28) l (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 18-21 14-21
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,11) l Zhengming Wang (CHN,9) 14-21 10-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,26) bt (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,7) 21-7 21-12
[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Bellaetrix Manuputty (INA,30) 21-14 21-16
[R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) l (2) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,2) 16-21 17-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) l (1) Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA) 18-21 19-21
[R1] (Q) Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l Vladimir Ivanov (RUS)/ Ivan Sozonov (RUS) 9-21 15-21
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (7) Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Vita Marissa (INA) 19-21 21-19 17-21

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,26) vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,15)
[R2] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,13)

Though losses were expected still disappointing outing for our players, who failed to stretch their respective opponents ... Sindhu gave decent fight to WR #2 Ratchanok Intanon in 39 minutes match.

Saina scored comfortable win in her 34 minutes match ... Next she is facing top-15 Thai opponent Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.

Ashwini-Tarun gave fighting performance against 7th seed Indonesian pair ... After losing the first game Tarun-Ashwini fought back to won the second ... But Indonesian pair proved better in the third.

In the last match of the day Ajay faced WR #7 Tien Minh Nguyen and Ajay continued Indian dominance over him ... In recent matches Tien Minh Nguyen lost too many matches against Indian opponents and that repeated in this match ... Ajay scored very dominating win over Tien Minh Nguyen losing only 19 points in 25 minutes ... Next he is facing Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro.

Tennis News

At Asia-Pacific Australian Open 2014 - WildCard PlayOff Tournament, Shenzhen, China

Men's Singles
[R1] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,204) bt Michael Venus (NZL,388) 26 62 63

Men's Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs Qualifier

Women's Singles
[R1] (WC) Prarthna Thombre (IND,425) l (WC) Chin-Wei Chan (TPE,324) 16 06
[R1] Ankita Raina(IND,293) l (WC) Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN,1006) 26 62 16

Women's Doubles
[Q1] (2) Ankita Raina(IND)/ Prarthna Thombre (IND) bye

[Q2] (2) Ankita Raina(IND)/ Prarthna Thombre (IND) l (4) Qiuyu Ye (CHN)/ Wushuang Zheng (CHN) 06 36

Yuki needed comeback win for beating his doubles and practice partner Michael Venus ... After losing the first set Yuki made strong comeback in the match.

But Ankita and Prarthana had forgettable tournament ... Ankita lost against 1000+ ranked local player and in the doubles also she lost convincingly with Prarthana against local pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K India F10 Futures, Bhopal

Singles Second Round
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (Q) Abdullah SHAIKH (IND) 63 62
(8) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Markos KALOVELONIS (GRE) 67(5) 63 62
(3) Jung-Woong NA (KOR) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND) 62 76(4)
(Q) David PEL (NED) bt(7) Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) 64 64
(6) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 64 64
(WC) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (Q) Akash WAGH (IND) 67(2) 61 63
Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) 62 63
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (Q) Jannis LINIGER (SUI) 75 63

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Arjun KADHE (IND) 62 62
(4) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt Timon REICHELT (GER)/Torsten WIETOSKA (GER) 62 62
Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (WC) Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Aaditya TEWARI (IND) 63 63
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (WC) Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) 76(2) 75

Expected results in the second round but Akash missed opportunity of upsetting his senioe Vijay Sundar after winning the first set.

Football News

At FIFA International Friendlies 2013, Siliguri, India

India bt Nepal 2-0 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 21', Clifford Miranda (IND) 48'

Sunil Chhetri became India's all-time top scorer (43 goals) courtesy of his first half strike against Nepal in an international friendly ... Indians scored comfortable win against Nepal with strikes from Sunil Chhetri and by Clifford Miranda in the second half.