Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tennis News

At $100K Vancouver Challenger, Canada

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Erik Chvojka (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN) 63 76(5)

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Tatsuma Ito (JPN)/ Hiroki Moriya (JPN)

Purav-Divij started with straight sets win though local wild-card pair stretched them to tie-break in the second set ... Next they r facing Japanese pair.
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At $10K USA F21 Futures, Decatur

[R1] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) bt (Q) Fares GHASYA (LBA,UNR) 62 46 63

[R2] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) vs Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA,780)

Doubles
[R1] Catalin-Ionut GARD (ROU)/ Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Jeremy EFFERDING (USA)/ Kyle MCMORROW (USA) 63 75

[QF] Catalin-Ionut GARD (ROU)/ Vijayant MALIK (IND) vs Becker O'SHAUGHNESSEY (USA)/ Daniil PROSKURA (ARM)

Vijayant needed three sets against Libyan qualifier and next he is facing South African ... In the doubles also Vijayant and his Romanian partner started win win ... Next they r facing unseeded American-Armenian pair.
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At $10K Egypt F18 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R1] Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) l (5) Issam Haitham TAWEEL (SYR) 64 16 06

Doubles
[QF] Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Sidharth RAWAT (IND) l Dmytro KOVALYOV (UKR)/ Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR) 46 16
[QF] (3) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt (WC) Filippo GIORGETTI (ITA)/ Giacomo VIANELLO (ITA) 61 61

[SF] (3) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs Dmytro KOVALYOV (UKR)/ Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR)

Fariz lost after winning the first set ... Expected win for Fariz-Vignesh in the doubles.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R1] Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) bt (8) Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS) 62 63
[R1] (2) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) l (SE) Linda PRENKOVIC (GER) 36 36

[R2] Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) vs Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA)
[R2] (4) Shweta RANA (IND) vs Dianne HOLLANDS (NZL)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS)/ Pauline PAYET (FRA) 60 75

[QF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (3) Dianne HOLLANDS (NZL)/ Anastasia KHARCHENKO (UKR)

Anushka scored excellent upset win over 8th seed Russian but Rishika failed to cross her first hurdle against German ... In the doubles Rishika-Sowjanya in the semis and they will face 3rd seed pair.

Snooker News

Snooker News
At the World Games Cali 2013, Colombia


Gold Medal match
Aditya Mehta (IND,73) bt Wenbo Liang (CHN,32) 3-0

Gold - Aditya Mehta (India)
Silver - Wenbo Liang (China)
Bronze - Dechawat Poomjaeng (Thailand)

Aditya created history after winning Gold medal at ongoing World Games at Colombia ... This is our best performance as before this we won only one medal at World game and that was also in inaugural event at Santa Clara, California, United States in 1981 ... At that time legendary Prakash Padukone won Bronze medal in Badminton.

In the final Aditya defeated higher ranked Chinese opponents in straight three frames and won deserving Gold medal ... Deserving yellow medal for Aditya as he defeated two pre-tournament favorites en route to title win.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tennis News

At $1.5M Citi Open, Washington, U.S.A

[R2] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,129) bt (9) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR,25) 63 76(4)

Buji produced a remarkable upset victory at the Citi Open, he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov, the world no. 25 player and the defending tournament champion ... In the opening set Buji struggled to hold his serve in first game but hold after saving 2 break points ... From 2-all match turned as Buji take advantage of unforced errors from Dolgo and broke him in 5th game ... After that Buji served 3 aces to hold his next game, 4-2 ... While serving for staying in the set at 3-5 Dolgo failed to hold his serve and lost the first set ... In the second set Buji lost his serve in 5th game and was down 2-4 but he broke Dolgo in 8th game to made it 4-all ... At 6-5 Buji missed 2 match points on Dolgo's serve but Buji dominated tie-break from the start ... He was up with mini-break early. 2-1 ... And had 4 match points at 6-2, Buji converted his 5th match point for his first top-25 win of they year ... This win is setting up a potential rematch with former college rival John Isner in the next round, if Isner wins his match against Alex Kuznetsov.

Somdev Devvarman - “[It’s] so good to get a quality win over a player like Alex. I’m just so happy to find good form at this tournament. I feel like I am playing before a hometown crowd, when I play here. I have so many friends here and former teammates and people from Charlottesville that come to cheer me on."

“It would be exciting to play John again but he also has a tough match ahead of him,” Devvarman said. “Either way I'm looking forward to another tough match on Thursday.”
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At $795K Southern California Open, Carlsbad, CA, USA (WTA Premier)

[R1] Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Katalin Marosi (HUN)/ Megan Moulton-Levy (USA) 61 62

[R2] Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (4) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

Sania-Flavia started with very comfortable win ... Next they r facing 4th seed pair Srebotnik-Jankovic.
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At $10K Denmark F3 Futures , Copenhagen (red clay)

[R1] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,627) l Milos Sekulic (SWE,761) 06 Retd.

Disappointing end as Prajnesh retired from the match after losing the first set ... In that set he managed to win only 9 points so mostly some injury troubled him.
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At $10K Egypt F18 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R1] Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Mark FYNN (ZIM) 62 46 63
[R1] Sidharth RAWAT (IND) l (6) Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR) 57 16
[R1] Chandril SOOD (IND) l (7) Damiano DI IENNO (ITA) 36 46

[R2] Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs (6) Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR)

Only Vijayant scored win though Zimbabwean stretched him to three sets ... Next he is facing 6th seed Ukrainian Mylokostov, who defeated Sidharth Rawat in the first round.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R1] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) l (Q) Kristi BOXX (USA) 63 26 16
[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND) l Kanami TSUJI (JPN) 16 16
[R1] (4) Shweta RANA (IND) bt Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND) 61 60

Disappointing results in women's side continues in Egypt ... Only Shweta wins and that also against fellow Indian player.

Hockey News

At Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2013, Monchengladbach, Germany

Pool C
India bt Russia 10-1 (5-0)
Goal Scorers - Vandana Katariya (IND) 7' PC, 15' and 31', Poonam Rani (IND) 22' and 27', Rani (IND) 39' and 49', Ritusha Kumani Arya (IND) 44', Russian own goal 66', Manjit Kaur (IND) 69' PC and Anastasia Miroshnikova (RUS) 36'

Australia dw New Zealand 3-3 (1-1)

INDIAN GIRLS QUALIFY FOR QUARTER FINAL OF JUNIOR WORLD CUP 2013!

In this match Indian girls started off strongly and never gave any chance to Russian girls ... The scoring started in 7th minute when Vandana converted 3rd penalty corner ... Vandana scored hattrick plus a double from Poonam Rani in the first half gave a 5-0 halftime lead ... In the second half Russian girls scored a goal in 2nd minute taking advantage of sloppy defense but Indians responded immediately through Rani, who added one more after 10 minutes and in between Ritusha scored ... Russian scored own goal in Indian attack and before hooter Manjit Kaur added one through penalty corner for dominating Indian girls win ... Despite this win our girls were waiting for the result of the Australia v New Zealand match ... New Zealand needed victory to grab quarter final place and after 1-all in the first half junior Black sticks take early lead in the second half ... Australians equalized in 49th minute and then take lead in 67th minute, 3-2 but again junior Black Sticks equalized in 69th minute and match ended on 3-all ... So with that Indian girls join Aussie girls and we will face Spain in the quarter final.

Snooker News

At the World Games Cali 2013, Colombia

Men's Snooker
[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,74) bt Ajeya Prabhakar (USA,UNR) 3-1
[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,73) bt Luis Lemus (GUA,UNR) 3-0

[QF] Pankaj Advani (IND,74) l Dechawat Poomjaeng (THA,67) 1-3
[QF] Aditya Mehta (IND,73) bt Joseph Perry (ENG,20) 3-2

[SF] Aditya Mehta (IND,73) bt Dechawat Poomjaeng (THA,67) 3-1

Gold Medal match
Aditya Mehta (IND,73) vs Wenbo Liang (CHN,32)

The World Games are an international multi-sport event for sports that are not currently contested in the Olympic Games ... In Snooker 16 players participated with mixture of professional and amateurs ... From India Aditya Mehta and Pankaj Advani participated in this World Games ... Before tournament start 3 players were considered as favorites; WR #20 Joseph Perry, WR #32 Wenbo Liang and WR #44 the defending champion from last World Games Nigel Bond.

Pankaj defeated American #2 player Ajeya Prabhakar in the first round but he failed to kept his momentum against his Thai opponent ... Thai Dechawat Poomjaeng defeated Pankaj in four frames, 1-3.

Aditya started with convincing win over Luis Lemus, 3-0 ... In the quarter final he faced tournament's favorite Britisher Joseph Perry ... Perry won the first frame but Aditya won the second frame ... Perry comfortably won the third frame to lead 2-1 and in fourth frame Perry take comfortable lead ... Aditya fought back and won this tight fourth game and then in decider frame Aditya take control and completed victory after 50+ points break, 3-2 ... In the semi final he faced Thai Dechawat Poomjaeng, who defeated Pankaj in previous round ... Aditya played solid game and completed victory in four frames ... For Gold medal he is facing Chinese top-35 player, Wenbo Liang.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Tennis News

At $1.5M Citi Open, Washington, U.S.A

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,128) bt (LL) Rhyne Williams (USA,121) 75 61

[R2] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,129) vs (9) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR,25)

Buji was early break down but then recover well and won the first set 7-5 ... In the second set he was up with early break and kept that advantage for comfortable win ... Next he is facing defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round.
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At $10K Denmark F3 Futures , Copenhagen (red clay)

[R1] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,627) vs Milos Sekulic (SWE,761)

This week field is more tougher so interesting to see how Prajnesh perform after his title win.
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At $10K USA F21 Futures, Decatur

[R1] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) vs (Q) Fares GHASYA (LBA,UNR)

This week Vijayant is facing Libyan qualifier and hopefully this week he perform as per his seeding.
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At $10K Egypt F18 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R1] Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs Mark FYNN (ZIM)
[R1] Sidharth RAWAT (IND) vs (6) Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR)
[R1] Chandril SOOD (IND) vs (7) Damiano DI IENNO (ITA)
[R1] Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) vs (5) Issam Haitham TAWEEL (SYR)

Doubles
[R1] Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Sidharth RAWAT (IND) bt (1) Matteo CIVAROLO (ITA)/ Edoardo EREMIN (ITA) 62 63
[R1] (3) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Oleg DOVGAN (UKR)/ Viktor PROKOPOV (UKR) 64 64
[R1] Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) l (WC) Filippo GIORGETTI (ITA)/ Giacomo VIANELLO (ITA) 26 75 9-11

[QF] Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Sidharth RAWAT (IND) vs Dmytro KOVALYOV (UKR)/ Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR)
[QF] (3) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs (WC) Filippo GIORGETTI (ITA)/ Giacomo VIANELLO (ITA)

This week our three players r facing seeded players in the singles.

In the doubles upset win by Neeraj-Sidharth, as they convincingly defeated top-seed Italian pair.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R1] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) vs (Q) Kristi BOXX (USA)
[R1] Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) vs (8) Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS)
[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND) vs Kanami TSUJI (JPN)
[R1] (4) Shweta RANA (IND) vs Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND)
[R1] (2) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (SE) Linda PRENKOVIC (GER)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Alessia CAMPLONE (ITA)/ Shweta RANA (IND) 62 63
[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND)/ Ao GAI (CHN) l Susanne CELIK (SWE)/ Samira GIGER (SUI) 36 64 4-10
[R1] (WC) Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND)/ Yana YURCHENKO (RUS) l (4) Kristi BOXX (USA)/ Abigail GUTHRIE (NZL) 26 16
[R1] (WC) Yuriko MIYAZAKI (JPN)/ Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) l Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA)/ Nastassia RUBEL (BLR) 36 46
[R1] Anushka BHARGAVA (IND)/ Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND) l (2) Kim KILSDONK (NED)/ Nicolette VAN UITERT (NED) 36 26

[QF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS)/ Pauline PAYET (FRA)

Hoping for better outing for Indian girls ... In the doubles only our top-seed pair enter into the quarter final.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hockey News

At Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2013, Monchengladbach, Germany

Pool C
India bt New Zealand 2-0 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Manjit Kaur (IND) 45', Vandana Katariya (IND) 51'

Australia bt Russia 6-0 (5-0)

Yesterday Indian girls showed flashes of brilliance in their performance despite heavy loss and in the second match they surprised higher ranked junior Black Sticks ... In the first half both teams missed few chances but no one had significant advantage ... In the second half they played attacking hockey ... Manjit Kaur take advantage of the crowded circle and scored opportunist goal ... In six minutes Vandana Katariya scored one of best goal of this Junior World Cup ... New Zealand had penalty corner but Indian girls saved that and on break Vandana scored with reverse stick shot from the edge of the circle ... After that Indian girls defended well for this upset win.

Tennis News

At $1.5M Citi Open, Washington, U.S.A

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,263) l (1) Matthew Ebden (AUS,117) 36 16
[Q2] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,128) bt Christian Harrison (USA,373) 60 61

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,128) vs (LL) Rhyne Williams (USA,121)

Matthew Ebden proved too strong for Saketh in this 62 minutes match ... Saketh gave decent performance in this match but he need to show more patience while finishing the points ... In the first set Saketh was doubles break down at 1-4 then he broke Matthew in 6th game and managed to reduce lead to 3-4 ... Matthew broke Saketh in 9th game when Saketh was serving for staying in the set to won this set ... In the second set Saketh failed to convert 2 break point chances but Matthew broke him twice for comfortable win.

Buji scored very dominating win over young Christian Harrison in only 45 minutes ... In this match Buji didn't face a single break point on his serve and he converted 5 break point chances from eight ... Buji also receive lucky break in main-draw as he is facing lucky loser similar ranked American Rhyne Williams in the first round.

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At $795K Southern California Open, Carlsbad, CA, USA (WTA Premier)

[R1] Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Katalin Marosi (HUN)/ Megan Moulton-Levy (USA)

Sania back on the tour after playing in Wimbledon ... She is pairing with Italian Flavia Pennetta and they r facing another unseeded Hungarian-American pair.
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At $100K Vancouver Challenger, Canada

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Erik Chvojka (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN)

This week also Purav-Divij r top-seed ... Hopefully this week they will give better performance ... They r facing local wild-card pair in the first round.

Hockey News

At Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2013, Monchengladbach, Germany

Pool c
India l Australia 1-6 (1-3)
Goal Scorers - Anupa Barla (IND) 27' and Kathryn Slattery (AUS) 17', Murphy Allendorf (AUS) 20', Madison Fitzpatrick (AU) 31', Broke Peris (AUS) 41' (PC) and 69', Anna Flanagan (AUS) 46' (PS)

New Zealand bt Russia 10-0 (5-0)

Australia produced a solid 6-1 win over India in their first match of Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup ... Indian girls are in very tough group and frankly I am not expected any upset but still important to see our performance against these teams ... Our girls gave fighting performance against strong Australian side ... Despite goals down they kept fighting and earned few penalty corners which were saved by Elizabeth Duguid.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Tennis News

At $1.5M Citi Open, Washington, U.S.A

[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,263) bt (9) Donald Young (USA,155) 67(2) 63 64
[Q1] Sanam Singh (IND,309) l (12) Samuel Groth (AUS,227) 06 57
[Q1] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,128) bt Jesse Witten (USA,572) 75 60

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,263) vs (1) Matthew Ebden (AUS,117)
[Q2] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,128) vs Christian Harrison (USA,373)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Andre Begemann (GER) vs Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Saketh scored biggest win of his career when he defeated American Donald Young in comeback victory ... Last week at Atlanta Open qualifying Young defeated Saketh in straight sets, 67(3) 36 ... This match started on similar note when Young won the first set in tie-break but this time Saketh showed his learning curve and won next two sets ... In the first set Saketh broke Young in 8th game to lead 5-3, but he failed to hold his serve while serving for the set in next game, 5-4 ... Young dominated tie-break and won it comfortably ... In the second set Saketh broke Young in 5th game to lead 3-2 ... He again broke Young in 9th game when Young was serving for staying in the set for winning this set ... In the decider Saketh missed 6 break points before taking crucial break in 10th game for memorable victory ... With this win he enter into the final qualifying round and facing Aussie Matthew Ebden.

Witten stretched Buji in the first set ... Buji was down early 1-3 but after that he produced excellent comeback he won 12 out of the last 14 games ... In that from 5-all Buji won last 8 games in a row for comfortable win ... Next he is facing American Christian Harrison.

Sanam failed to produce any challenge against Samuel Groth in the first set but he fought back in the second ... Samuel Groth take important break for completing victory in two sets.

In the doubles Rohan is partnering little unknown German Andre Begemann but they r facing top-seed pair Alexander Peya-Bruno Soares in the first round.

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At $10K Denmark F2 Futures , Aarhus (red clay)


Singles Final
(3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) bt Colin VAN BEEM (NED,663) 63 46 60

Prajnesh won the Denmark futures title beating in-form Dutch player Colin Van Beem, who was finalist in last week's futures ... After many years Indian player lifted a title on European clay, so huge achievement ... In the first set Prajnesh dominated and generated too many break points opportunities ... He broke Colin three times and lost his serve once for winning this set ... In the second set also Prajnesh created opportunities but failed to convert ... He had 5 break points on Colin's serve and converted one but lost his serve twice on two break points to lose the set ... Prajnesh played near perfect service games in the final set as he lost only 2 points on his serve ... And broke Colin three times for completing exciting win ... This is Prajnesh's 2nd futures title.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

Doubles Final
(1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) l (3) Mayar SHERIF (EGY)/ Zuzana ZLOCHOVA (SVK) 57 36

Top seed Sowjanya-Rishika lost against third seed Mayar-Zuzana in the doubles final.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Tennis News

At $10K Denmark F2 Futures , Aarhus (clay)

[SF] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) bt Fred SIMONSSON (SWE,1532) 64 75

[F] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) vs Colin VAN BEEM (NED,663)

Prajnesh won the first set but he struggled to hold his serve in the second set ... At last managed to hold his serve in 8th game ... Prajnesh produced excellent comeback from 2-5 down to won five games in a row for completing the victory in straight sets ... In the final he is facing 4th seed Dutch player Colin Van Beem.
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At $10K Egypt F17 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[QF] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) l (1) Karim HOSSAM (EGY) 36 16

Doubles
[SF] (4) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) l (1) Vladyslav MANAFOV (UKR)/ Ilia SHATSKIY (RUS) 67(5) 16

Vignesh lost in the single and doubles against top-seeds.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

Doubles
[SF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (4) Kristi BOXX (USA)/ Abigail GUTHRIE (NZL) 67(5) 64 11-9

[F] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (3) Mayar SHERIF (EGY)/ Zuzana ZLOCHOVA (SVK)

Hard fought comeback win after losing the first set tie-break for Sowjanya-Rishika against American-New Zelander ... Our pair won match tie-break in extra points ... In the final they r facing 3rd seed pair.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Tennis News

At $50K Lexington Challenger,

[QF] Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l Frank Dancevic (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN) 36 46

Canadian proved strong for Sanam-Ruan.
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At $10K Denmark F2 Futures , Aarhus (clay)

[QF] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) bt (6) George VON MASSOW (GER,715) 62 61

[SF] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) vs Fred SIMONSSON (SWE,1532)

Prajnesh scored very dominating win over 6th seed German opponent ... In the semis he is facing Swedish Simonsson, who defeated top-seed in the quarters.
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At $10K USA F20 Futures, Godfrey, IL

[R2] (2) Vijayant Malik (IND,462) l (WC) Evan King (USA,1274) 06 46

NCAA collegian top-15 Evan King proved too strong for Vijayant Malik in the second round.
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At $10K Egypt F17 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R2] Lakshit SOOD (IND) l (1) Karim HOSSAM (EGY) 06 26
[R2] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 63 61
[R2] Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) l Mark FYNN (ZIM) 67(2) 16

[QF] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs (1) Karim HOSSAM (EGY)

As expected only Vignesh manage comfortable win ... Next he is facing local top-seed Hossam.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R2] Shivika BURMAN (IND) l Linda PRENKOVIC (GER) 16 61 16

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Ekaterina LAVRIKOVA (RUS) / Alessia PIRAN (ITA) 63 62

[SF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (4) Kristi BOXX (USA)/ Abigail GUTHRIE (NZL)

Prenkovic defeated Shivika in three sets ... In the doubles top-seed Sowjanya-Rishika in the semis.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Tennis News

At $125K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,329) l (5) Marsel Ilhan (TUR,175) 67(7) 76(4) 06

Doubles
[QF] (2) Jose (Rubin) Statham (NZL)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/ Mikhail Kikushkin (KAZ) 67(4) 67(6)

Balaji got blown away in the third set but before that he produced excellent fight ... In the first set Balaji lost closely fought tie-break but he came back to win the second set tie-break ... Hoping no injury issue after looking at third set score.

Vishnu-Jose lost both tie-breaks against local experienced players and with that Indian challenge is over from this challenger.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Daniel Evans (GBR)/ James Ward (GBR) 46 76(8) 5-10

[QF] Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Frank Dancevic (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN)

This first match in the challenger was tough after their first ATP title win for Divij-Purav ... As somehow players r distracted after such achievement and same happened in this match against British pair ... After losing the first set Divij-Purav fought hard and saved couple of match points before winning the second set ... But they failed to keep same momentum in the match tie-break.

Sanam-Ruan r facing Canadian pair in the quarters.

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At $10K USA F20 Futures, Godfrey, IL

[R1] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) bt Alexander SARKISSIAN (USA,997) 75 60

[R2] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) vs (WC) Evan King (USA,1274)

Like the way Vijayant won the second set ... Solid win for Vijayant ... Next he is facing local wild-card pair.
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At $10K Denmark F2 Futures , Aarhus (clay)

[R2] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) bt Mauricio ALVAREZ-GUZMAN (CHI,1414) 61 61

[QF] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) vs (6) George VON MASSOW (GER,715)

Very dominating win by Prajnesh against lower ranked Chilean on the clay ... Next he is facing 6th seed German opponent.
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At $10K Turkey F29 Futures, Istanbul

[R2] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1303) l (3) Torsten Wietoska (GER,669) 36 64 16

Abhijeet managed to stretch Wietoska to three sets but Wietoska proved too strong in the final set.
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At $10K Egypt F17 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R2] Lakshit SOOD (IND) vs (1) Karim HOSSAM (EGY)
[R2] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs Sidharth RAWAT (IND)
[R2] Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) vs Mark FYNN (ZIM)

Doubles
[QF] Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) l Dmytro KOVALYOV (UKR)/ Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR) 67(7) 26

Hopefully men will show better performance than ladies.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R1] Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND) l (1) Zuzana ZLOCHOVA (SVK) 26 16
[R1] (4) Shweta RANA (IND) l Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA) 16 26
[R1] (WC) Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) l (WC) Sandra SAMIR (EGY) 16 06
[R1] (WC) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) l Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS) 36 36
[R1] (2) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) l Danielle KONOTOPTSEVA (GBR) 36 16

[R2] Shivika BURMAN (IND) vs Linda PRENKOVIC (GER)

Turned horrible day for Indians as our all seeded players lost their matches.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Tennis News

At $125K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,372) l Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,314) 57 62 67(3)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Jose (Rubin) Statham (NZL)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Alexey Nesterov (KAZ)/ Dmitry Popko (KAZ) 60 75

[QF] (2) Jose (Rubin) Statham (NZL)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/ Mikhail Kikushkin (KAZ)

In the first set both players shared early breaks, while staying in the set at 4-5 Jeevan broke Nikoloz to made it 5-all ... But Nikoloz again broke Jeevan in next game to lead 6-5 and then hold for winning ht first set ... In the second set from 2-all Jeevan won next 4 games for winning the set breaking Nikoloz in 6th and 8th games ... In the third set Jeevan missed opportunity he had 7 break points but he failed to break once and saved 1 break point on his own serve ... Jeevan lost the plot in tie-break and faced another heartbreaking loss.

Vishnu-Jose scored straight sets win over local wild-card pair though local pair stretched them in the second ... Next they r facing experienced Kazakh pair for place in the semis.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,

[R1] Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (2) Adam Feeney (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 75 16 10-7

Sanam-Ruan started with upset win over Australian 2nd seed in-form pair of Feeney-Reid in match tie-break ... After winning the first set Sanam-Ruan lost the second set easily but they played match tie-break sensibly for a win.
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At $10K USA F20 Futures, Godfrey, IL

[R1] (2) Vijayant MALIK (IND,462) vs Alexander SARKISSIAN (USA,997)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Michael SHABAZ (USA) l Nick CHAPPELL (USA)/ Dane WEBB (USA) 36 16

Interesting to see how Vijayant perform in these tough US futures.

In doubles he was 4th seed with Michael Shabaz but they lost easily against American pair.

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At $10K Turkey F29 Futures, Istanbul

[R1] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1303) bt Altug Celikbilek (TUR,UNR) 61 61
[R1] (2) Karunuday Singh (IND,619) l Costin Paval (ROU,992) 46 16

[R2] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1303) vs (3) Torsten Wietoska (GER,669)

Karunuday's disappointing run continues ... Abhijeet defeated 16 yrs old local boy easily but next he is facing 3rd seed German.
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At $10K Denmark F2 Futures , Aarhus (clay)

[R1] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) bt (Q) Oystein STEIRO (NOR,UNR) 64 57 64

[R2] (3) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,627) vs Mauricio ALVAREZ-GUZMAN (CHI,1414)

Interesting choice of place for Prajnesh ... Hard fought win over qualifier in the first match.
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At $10K Egypt F17 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh (clay)

[R1] Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt (Q) Igor SOBOLTA (UKR) 16 76(5) 63
[R1] Sidharth RAWAT (IND) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) 64 61
[R1] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Youssef HOSSAM (EGY) 63 63
[R1] Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) bt (WC) Norbert NAGYI (AUT) 62 61
[R1] (8) Chandril SOOD (IND) l Mark FYNN (ZIM) 16 75 57

[R2] (7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs Sidharth RAWAT (IND)
[R2] Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) vs Antoine RICHARD (CAN)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Norbert NAGYI (AUT)/ Oscar TORRES (COL) 61 60
[R1] Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Sidharth RAWAT (IND) bt Filippo GIORGETTI (ITA)/ Giacomo VIANELLO (ITA) 75 64
[R1] Arvind Vishnu BESTHA (IND)/ Sandeep TIRDALA (IND) l Mikhail KOROVIN (RUS)/ Igor SOBOLTA (UKR) 16 36
[R1] Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt Vladimir FILIP (ROU)/ Yvo PANAK (CZE) 75 26 10-2

[QF] (4) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 63 75
[QF] Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) vs Dmytro KOVALYOV (UKR)/ Denys MYLOKOSTOV (UKR)

[SF] (4) Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) vs (1) Vladyslav MANAFOV (UKR)/ Ilia SHATSKIY (RUS)

Excited to see so many players r playing in Egypt.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

[R1] Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND) vs (1) Zuzana ZLOCHOVA (SVK)
[R1] (4) Shweta RANA (IND) vs Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA)
[R1] (WC) Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) vs (WC) Sandra SAMIR (EGY)
[R1] Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) l (5) Susanne CELIK (SWE) 06 46
[R1] (WC) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) vs Alina MIKHEEVA (RUS)
[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND) bt Rika YAMAMOTO (JPN) 61 64
[R1] (2) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs Danielle KONOTOPTSEVA (GBR)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) / Mahitha DADI REDDY (IND) 60 63
[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND)/ Shweta RANA (IND) l (4) Kristi BOXX (USA)/ Abigail GUTHRIE (NZL) 16 26
[R1] Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND)/ Daria GLUSHICH (RUS) l Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA)/ Jasmin LADURNER (ITA) 36 64 2-10

[QF] (1) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs Ekaterina LAVRIKOVA (RUS) / Alessia PIRAN (ITA)

Also our girls join boys in this Egypt expedition.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Tennis News

As Spanish players, Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers, dropped their ranking points that help Rohan to rise his career best doubles ranking, WR #3 ... Mahesh is on 7th and Leander is on 9th position ... First time five Indian players r in top 100 ... After winning their first ATP title at Colombia, Divij Sharan climbs on #66 and Purav Raja climbs on #86.
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At $624K Atlanta Open, USA

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,275) l (5) Mischa Zverev (GER,149) 46 26

After defeating Buji in the last match expectations were high for Kash ... At Binghamton Kash retired when he was set down against Zverev and this time also he failed to challenge Zverev in straight sets loss.
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At $125K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q3] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,531) l (4) Egor Gerasimov (BLR,453) 64 67(3) 46

Doubles
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Ti Chen (TPE)/ Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR) 36 26

Vishnu lost match after winning the first set ... Recently this is trend with Vishnu's performance ... Need to play futures for build confidence.

I was expecting win or more fighting performance by Balaji-Jeevan.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Daniel Evans (GBR)/ James Ward (GBR)
[R1] Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (2) Adam Feeney (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

This week Purav and Divij r playing US challenger and they r top-seed.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Archery News

At World Cup 2013 - Stage 3, Medellin, Colombia


Recurve Women Team - Gold medal
(2) India bt (1) China 201-186
Gold - India - Deepika Kumari, Rimil Buriuly, Bombayla Devi Laishram
Silver - China - Ming Cheng, Yuanyuan Cui, Jing Xu
Bronze - USA - Michelle Gilbert, Miranda Leek, Khatuna Lorig


Recurve Mixed Team - Bronze medal
(4) Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND) bt (3) Aida Roman (MEX)/ Juan Rene Serrano (MEX) 150-132

Gold - Xiaoxiang Dai (CHN)/ Jing Xu (CHN)
Silver - Brady Ellison (USA)/ Khatuna Lorig (USA)
Bronze - Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND)

In windy condition Indian women defeated Olympic silver medalist Chinese team for lifting their first World Cup team gold since Shanghai 2011 ... In the final Deepika hit four 10s from her 8 arrows in difficult conditions and helped India in their Gold medal win.

Jing Xu and Ming Cheng were part of Chinese team who won Olympic team silver in London and their third teammate Yuanyuan Cui was individual winner in Antalya (last World cup), is shooting here for the individual bronze medal ... This final match started in the worst possible way for China as they missed first arrow and their archers struggled to handle windy condition followed by several disastrous scores ... After one end India take 13 points lead, 46-33 ... In the second end both teams scored 51 points so Indian women kept 13 points lead, 97-84 ... Third end was also tied as both teams managed 50 points, Indian women kept their lead 147-134 ... In last and fourth end Indian women scored 54 points and Chinese women managed 52 only and Indian women completed convicing win by 15 points against formidable Chinese team ... This is India's 5th win against Chinese team in 12 meetings.

In Recurve Mixed team event Indian team of Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari lifted Bronze medal beating Olympic silver medalist Aida Roman and Juan René Serrano ... Mexican pair hit couple of 6s in first end which gave lead to Indians, 37-32 ... Which Indian pair increased to 10 points after Second end, 75-65 ... Indian archers were hitting target consistently and then increased their lead to 112-97 after Third end ... Indians showed lot more composure in adjusting this difficult windy condition and completed dominating win over Mexican pair, 150-132.

Good outing in this final stage of World Cup for Indian archers who won one Gold medal and two Bronze medals.

Tennis News

At $624K Atlanta Open, USA

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,265) l (7) Donald Young (USA,154) 67(3) 36
[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,275) bt (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,130) 63 64

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,275) vs (5) Mischa Zverev (GER,149)

Prakash take full advantage of Buji's struggle with his service games and broke him in 6th game to won the first set ... Kash kept pressure on Buji's serve in the second set also and take important break in 9th game for winning the set ... In the final qualifying Kash is facing German Mischa Zverev.

Saketh gave decent fight to Young ... Take the first set in tie-break and in the second set had 3 break points, 0-40, at 3-all but failed to convert and lost next 3 games.

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At $125K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q2] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,531) bt (WC) Roman Khassanov (KAZ,UNR) 62 26 612

[Q3] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,531) vs (4) Egor Gerasimov (BLR,453)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,372) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,314)
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,329) vs (5) Marsel Ilhan (TUR,175)

Doubles
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR)
[R1] (2) Jose (Rubin) Statham (NZL)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (WC) Alexey Nesterov (KAZ)/ Dmitry Popko (KAZ)

Surprised to see match went to three sets ... After winning the first set Vishnu lost his concentration losing the second ... But he came back strongly in third winning it losing a game ... In the final qualifying Vishnu is facing 4th seed Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.

Tough match for Balaji in the singles and tricky one for Jeevan.

Golf News

At The 142nd Open Championship, Muirfield, Scotland

T73 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 77 83 71 +15

In the final round Shiv scored PAR round which included 4 birdies and 4 bogeys ... But his horrible third round guaranteed his finish below 70 in the final standing.

Archery News

At World Cup 2013 - Stage 3, Medellin, Colombia


Compound Men Team - Bronze medal
(6) India bt (5) Colombia 215-210

Gold - France - Pierre-Julien Deloche, Christophe Doussot, Dominique Genet
Silver - USA - Braden Gellenthien, Reo Wilde,Rodger Willett Jr.
Bronze - India - Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar, Ratan Singh Khuraijam

Our Indian men defeated local favorite Colombian team to lift Bronze medal in Compound team event ... Really creditable performance by our men's Compound team in difficult condition ... India take the lead in the first end, 52-50 ... Under a strong wind Colombia came back to lead 104-102 after second end ... India had four 10s in the third end and that gave them the lead 158-156 ... India was stronger in a last end at scored 57 points and Colombia managed 54 point only.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Golf News

At The 142nd Open Championship, Muirfield, Scotland

T83 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 77 83 +15

Shiv started on T24th position but his third round was disaster ... Shiv had worst round of the day, he scored 12 over and end on tied last position ... Shiv scored 6 bogeys on 3rd, 5th, 10th, 14th, 15th and 16th holes but what hurt most was two triple bogeys on 4th and 6th holes ... I m hoping somehow he avoid wooden spoon in the last round.

Tennis News

At $638K Claro Open Colombia, Bogota, Colombia


Doubles Final
(4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (2) Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)/ Igor Sijsling (NED) 76(4) 76(3)

Dream debut for Divij-Purav as a pair, they lifted their first ATP tour title in their first ATP tournament at Colombia open defeating 2nd seed Roger-Vasselin-Sijsling in entertaining match ... Divij-Purav fought hard against big serving Dutch-French pair in this 1 hour and 30 minutes match ... In this match Divij-Purav saved eight break points from eleven they faced and broke opponent's serve three times from five chances ... In the first set until 7th game both pairs were holding their serves though Indian saved break points in 4th game ... Roger-Vasselin-Sijsling broke Purav in 8th game to lead 5-3 but immediately our pair broke them to make it 4-5 ... In tie-break both pairs traded early mini-breaks but from 3-3 our pair won next 3 points and in that they take double mini-break lead ... Roger-Vasselin-Sijsling saved one set point taking mini-break back on Divij's serve but our pair won next point on Divij's serve for winning this set ... In the second set Roger-Vasselin-Sijsling broke Purav's serve in 1st game but again our pair broke Sijsling's serve in 2nd game and made it 1-all ... Divij-Purav again broke Sijsling in 6th game to lead 4-2 ... Roger-Vasselin-Sijsling made excellent comeback from 2-5, they broke Purav when he was serving for the match in 9th game to make it 4-5 ... Again this set went into tie-break but this time our pair take control early and completed memorable victory.

This title win gained them 250 ranking points and $17500 each (Rs. 10.5 lacs) as prize money ... In tomorrow's ranking updated Purav will jump inside top 90 and Divij will enter into top 70 ... This is a big step for qualifying for US open.

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At $624K Atlanta Open, USA

[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,265) bt Marcelo Demoliner (BRA,361) 76(4) 76(3)
[Q1] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,130) bt Patrick Davidson (USA,1578) 60 62
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,275) bt Jason Jung (USA,417) 62 60

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,265) vs (7) Donald Young (USA,154)
[Q2] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,130) vs Prakash Amritraj (IND,275)

Buji started with comfortable win ... He lost only two games against Patrick, which was expected ... But his next opponent is tricky one, Prakash Amritraj ... Kash scored very dominating win over top-425 American player Jason Jung losing only two games ... Saketh needed to dig deep against Brazilian in the second set ... Next he is facing 7th seed Donald Young..
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At $125K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q1] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,531) bt Syrym Abdukhalikov (KAZ,1740) 63 64

[Q2] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,531) vs (WC) Roman Khassanov (KAZ,UNR)

Vishnu started with comfortable win against Abdukhalikov ... Next match is also winnable.
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At $50K Lexington Challenger,

[Q1] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,336) l Mico Santiago (USA,816) 64 26 46

Sanam need to show consistency in his performance ... This week he lost against below 800 player after his last week's decent performance.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India


Singles Final
(1) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND) 64 64

Ankita continue with his upper hand over Indian player ... From last November she doesn't lose a match against any Indian player ... But impressive run by Kanika who reached in the final ... And gave creditable fight to winner Ankita ... This is Ankita's third ITF futures title of year.

Archery News

At World Cup 2013 - Stage 3, Medellin, Colombia

Recurve Women Team
[R1] (2) India bye
[QF] (2) India bt (7) Venezuela 224-201

[SF] (2) India bt (3) USA 216-211

[F] (2) India vs (1) China

Compound Men Team
[R1] (6) India bt (11) Guatemala 227-216
[QF] (6) India bt (3) El Salvador 236-229

[SF] (6) India l (2) France 231-234

[Bronze] (6) India vs (5) Colombia

Recurve Mixed Team
[R1] (4) Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND) bt (13) Andres Alfonseca (DOM)/ Lya Solano (DOM) 153-143
[QF] (4) Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND) bt (5) Mauro Nespoli (ITA)/ Jessica Tomasi (ITA) 148-147

[SF] (4) Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND) l Brady Ellison (USA)/ Khatuna Lorig (USA) 146-150

[Bronze] (4) Atanu Das (IND)/ Deepika Kumari (IND) vs (3) Aida Roman (MEX)/ Juan Rene Serrano (MEX)

Our archer had poor outing in individual events as only Deepika Kumari managed to reach in the quarters but our players performed well in team events.

Our Recurve Women team were 2nd seed for play-off after good positioning in individual qualifying ... Our women team received bye in the first round ... In the quarter-final our women defeated Venezuelan women comfortably ... In the semi-final they faced American women ... Indian women defeated American women in close match as after end of three ends both teams were tied 162-162 ... In the final end American women managed 49 only and our women scored 54 to won this match ... They will face Chinese women for Gold medal match.

Indian Recurve Men team lost in the quarter final against Canada, 220-223, after winning their first round match against France 220-219 ... Our Compound Women team also lost in the quarter final against American women, 223-229, after receiving bye in the first round.

Indian Compound Men team performed above the expectations ... They r in Bronze medal match against local team Colombia after losing the semi-final to France, 231-234 ... Before this our team convincingly defeated Guatemala in the first round, 227-216 ... In the quarter final they defeated higher seeded El Salvador, 236-229.

In Recurve mixed team, Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari r in Bronze medal match against Mexican pair ... In the first round they defeated Dominican Republic pair comfortably ... In the quarter-final they won close match by one point against Italian pair ... In the semi-final our pair lost against American pair.

Golf News

Golf News
At The 142nd Open Championship, Muirfield, Scotland

T24 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 77 +3

After excellent first round Shiv struggled in the second round ... He scored 4 bogeys in first 6 holes ... He scored 2 birdies on 9th and 12th hole but in between scored bogey on 10th hole ... Then scored another 3 bogeys on 13th, 17th and 18th holes and finished on +6 for the day ... Overall +3 score helped him to make cut comfortably in top-25 positions.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Tennis News

At $638K Claro Open Colombia, Bogota, Colombia

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 62 63

[F] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (2) Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)/ Igor Sijsling (NED)

Purav-Divij scored dominating win over local favourite and top-seed Cabal-Farah ... In this match Purav-Divij faced only one break point in the second set which they saved ... They broke Colombians twice in the first set and once in the second set ... In the final they r facing 2nd seed French-Dutch pair ... With this win Divij will enter into top 80 doubles ranking and Purav will first-time enter into top 100 doubles ranking ... And they r almost secure entry into US open.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[QF] Sanam Singh (IND,336) l (5) Bradley Klahn (USA,162) 63 16 26

Fighting performance by Sanam in his loss against in-form Klahn ... Sanam started well after winning the first set but after that Klhan made strong comeback winning next two sets losing only three games.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

Singles Semi Finals
(1) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (7) Natasha Palha (IND) 62 63
(Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt (2) Rishika Sunkara (IND) 60 63

Kanika produced dominating upset win against 2nd seed Rishika and she is facing top seed Ankita in the final.

Golf News

At The 142nd Open Championship, Muirfield, Scotland

1 Zach Johnson (USA) 66 -5

T4 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 -3

T9 Tiger Woods (USA) 69 -2
T9 Phil Mickelson (USA) 69 -2

Shiv Kapur had excellent first round at prestigious British open, where he qualified through International qualifying ... At end of first round he was tied fourth with 3 under but at one time he was leading the Open tournament ... Shiv Kapur scored 6 birdies in first 7 holes and take sole lead but he made double bogey on 10th hole and a bogey on 15th hole ... Today hoping for similar or better round from him.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Tennis News

At $638K Claro Open Colombia, Bogota, Colombia

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 36 63 10-6

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL)

Another good win for Divij-Purav against similar ranked pair ... After losing the first set they made excellent comeback winning the second set ... Divij-Purav kept momentum to win match tie-break comfortably ... In the semis they r facing tough opponents in local top-seed pair.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[R2] Sanam Singh (IND,336) bt (3) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,148) 64 62

[QF] Sanam Singh (IND,336) vs (5) Bradley Klahn (USA,162)

Doubles
[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (4) Jarmere Jenkins (USA)/ Austin Krajicek (USA) 36 62 7-10

Much needed win for Sanam and that also against top-150 Sugita ... So with this dominating win Sanam kept his upper hand over Sugita before this they faced each other at 2010 Asian Games ... That time also Sanam defeated Sugita ... Next in the quarters he is facing in-form Bradley Klahn.

Sanam-Yuki failed to keep winning momentum in the doubles ... After losing the first set they made strong comeback but failed to won match tie-break.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (6) Eetee Maheta (IND) 61 64
(7) Natasha Palha (IND) bt (4) Nidhi Chilumula (IND) 62 26 64
(Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt (5) Shweta Rana (IND) 62 75
(2) Rishika Sunkara (IND) bt Sharmada Balu (IND) 62 36 64

Kanika keep going her excellent recent performances and enter into the semis with straight sets win over Shweta ... Natasha also scored upset win over Nidhi in thee sets ... Top two seeds joins them in the semis with contrasting win.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Tennis News

At $50K Eskisehir Challenger, Turkey

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Alexander Jakupovic (GRE) l (WC) Efe Yurtkan (TUR)/ Cem Ilkel (TUR) 67(7) 64 6-10

Really turned out very disappointing week for Bala ... After losing in the singles he and his partner lost in the doubles first round match against local wild-card pair in match tie-break.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

Singles Second Round
(1) Ankita Raina (IND) bt Ching-Wen Hsu (TPE) 62 61
(6) Eetee Maheta (IND) bt (WC) Vaniya Dangwal (IND) 46 62 61
(4) Nidhi Chilumula (IND) bt (Q) Shruti Dhawan (IND) 75 63
(7) Natasha Palha (IND) bt Simran Kaur Sethi (IND) 63 60
(5) Shweta Rana (IND) bt Bhuvana Kalva (IND) 64 2-1 Retd.
(Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt Nehel Sahni (IND) 63 61
Sharmada Balu (IND) bt (8) Naomi Totka (HUN) 06 62 60
(2) Rishika Sunkara (IND) bt (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND) 62 62

With Sharmada's upset win over seeded Japanese played completes all Indians quarter-final lineup.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Tennis News

At $638K Claro Open Colombia, Bogota, Colombia

[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Emilio Gomez (ECU)/ Michael Quintero (COL) 62 62

Purav-Divij scored their first win on the tour as pair in Colombia open ... As expected they scored comfortable straight sets win against wild-card pair.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,414) l (5) Bradley Klahn (USA,162) 36 36
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,336) bt Dino Marcan (CRO,409) 64 64
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,265) l (7) Malek Jaziri (TUN,176) 57 16

[R2] Sanam Singh (IND,336) vs (3) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,148)

So no upset from Saketh or Yuki in the singles ... Now Saketh needs to wait till last moment for his qualification for US open qualifying ... Happy for Sanam for his straight sets win .. Much needed win for him after his injury break to build his confidence ... Next he is facing 3rd seed Japanese Yuichi Sugita.
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At $50K Eskisehir Challenger, Turkey

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,329) l Jules Marie (FRA,272) 26 26

Disappointing loss for Balaji in the singles against little higher ranked Frenchman.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Valladolid, Spain (clay)

[R1] (4) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,664) l (Q) Aina Schaffner Riera (ESP,UNR) 61 26 67(6)

Heartbreaking loss for Rutuja as she was up 5-2 in the third set before losing this match against unranked Spanish girl.

Tennis News

At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,275) l Mischa Zverev (GER,146) 26 2-3 Retd.

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Sekou Bangoura (USA)/ Dennis Novikov (USA) 64 76(6)

Prakash retired from his match due to illness after losing the first set ... Big setback for his chance of qualifying for US open qualifying.

Yuki-Sanam scored excellent win in the doubles over American Bangoura-Novikov in tight two sets.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Tennis News

At $638K Claro Open Colombia, Bogota, Colombia

Doubles
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Emilio Gomez (ECU)/ Michael Quintero (COL)

Lucky break on their first ATP tournament together for Purav-Divij as they r seeded and facing wild-card pair.
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At $50K Binghamton Challenger, New York, USA

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,413) vs (5) Bradley Klahn (USA,162)
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,338) vs Dino Marcan (CRO,409)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,266) vs (7) Malek Jaziri (TUN,176)
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,308) vs Mischa Zverev (GER,146)

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Sekou Bangoura (USA)/ Dennis Novikov (USA)

Saketh and Prakash needs good outing in this challenger to qualify for US open qualifying but both players facing seeded players in the first round ... Yuki is also facing in-form 5th seed Bradley Klahn ... Sanam is facing lower ranked Croatian but Sanam is coming out of injury so he is still not fully match fit.
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At $50K Eskisehir Challenger, Turkey

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,331) vs Jules Marie (FRA,272)

Doubles
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Alexander Jakupovic (GRE) vs (WC) Efe Yurtkan (TUR)/ Cem Ilkel (TUR)

Balaji is facing Frenchman in the first round and in the doubles with Alexander Jakupovic, they r facing local wild-card pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

Singles First Round
(1) Ankita Raina (IND) bt Sanya Madan (IND) 61 60
Ching-Wen Hsu (TPE) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) 36 61 2-0 Retd.
(WC) Vaniya Dangwal (IND) bt (Q) Smriti Joon (IND) 64 62
(6) Eetee Maheta (IND) bt (WC) Arushi Bhasin (IND) 60 60
(4) Nidhi Chilumula (IND) bt Damini Sharma (IND) 61 61
(Q) Shruti Dhawan (IND) bt Amrita Mukherjee (IND) 60 3-1 Retd.
Simran Kaur Sethi (IND) bt (Q) Ambika Pande (IND) 60 Retd.
(7) Natasha Palha (IND) bt Sharon Sanchana Paul (IND) 64 61
(5) Shweta Rana (IND) bt (Q) Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND) 62 63
Bhuvana Kalva (IND) bt (WC) Nishtha Dudeja (IND) 61 60
(Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt (WC) Namita Bal (IND) 60 60
Nehel Sahni (IND) bt (3) Prerna Bhambri (IND) 46 63 64
(8) Naomi Totka (HUN) bt (Q) Anjana Kompally (IND) 62 61
Sharmada Balu (IND) bt (Q) Aandrita Deb (IND) 64 62
(Q) Sneha Padamata (IND) bt Shivika Burman (IND) 76(7) 62
(2) Rishika Sunkara (IND) bt Manya Nagpal (IND) 63 61

Shocking loss of 3rd seed Prerna Bhambri in the first round though in this match she was struggling with right shoulder injury ... Other upsets were losses of Shivika Burman and Smriti Joon.
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At $10K Turkey F28 Futures, Istanbul

[R1] Abhijeet Tiwari (IND,1303) l (1) Riccardo Ghedin (ITA,296) 26 16
[R1] (4) Karunuday Singh (IND,619) l Aleksandre Metreveli (GEO,1084) 36 26
[R1] (WC) Srikar Alla (IND,1613) l Romain Bauvy (FRA,1141) 63 67(5) 16

Disappointed outing for Karunuday in Turkey futures with other Indians.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Tennis News

At $456K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[SF] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Tim Smyczek (USA)/ Rhyne Williams (USA) 67(2) 76(5) 8-10

Divij-Ivo lost in closely fought match against American pair Smyczek-Williams in 1 hour and 48 minutes ... In this match both pairs failed to break opponent's serve though Ivo-Divij had 11 break point chances ... They failed to convert 3 break point chances in the first set before losing it in tie-break ... In the second set they had 8 break point chances but this time they won tie-break ... Ivo-Divij weren't third time lucky in match tie-break ... Still good debut for Divij on ATP tour.

Squash News

At $10K Victorian Men's Open 2013, Melbourne, Australia

[QF] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) l (1) Campbell Grayson (NZL,41) 8/11 4/11 10/12

Fighting performance in the loss for Mahesh against top seed Campbell Grayson.

Tennis News

At $75K Beijing Challenger, China

[SF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 63 26 11-13

Vishnu failed to repeat Divij's heroic from Hall of fame and lost with his Japanese partner Hiroki against Chinse pair in extra points of match tie-break.

Squash News

At $10K Victorian Men's Open 2013, Melbourne, Australia

[R1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) bt Thomas Calvert (AUS,250) 11/6 11/1 11/3
[R2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) bt (6) Mike Corren (AUS,68) 5/11 11/8 11/9 12/10 (72m)

[QF] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) vs (1) Campbell Grayson (NZL,41)

In the second round Mahesh scored huge upset over experienced local player after losing the first game ... In the quarters he is facing top-50 and #1 seeded New Zealander Campbell Grayson.
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At $10K Victorian Women's Open 2013, Melbourne, Australia

[R1] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,116) l (15) Lisa Camilleri (AUS,73) 6/11 4/11 6/11

No up set from Aparajitha.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Tennis News

At $456K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[QF] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Adil Shamasdin (CAN)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 64 46 19-17
[QF] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Sam Querrey (USA) l (2) Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) w/o

[SF] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Tim Smyczek (USA)/ Rhyne Williams (USA)

Another epic win for Divij and Ivo ... After winning the first set they lost the second set ... Then both pairs played monstrous match tie-break ... Both pair didn't giving any chance to other pair and after 9-all both pairs didn't face a single break point before Divij-Ivo's winning on 36th point ... They saved four match point and this was season's longest match tie-break ... Ivo is still in the singles so tricky doubles match for our pair against American pair ... Prakash-Sam gave walkover to French pair due to elbow injury to Querrey.
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At $75K Beijing Challenger, China

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) bt Artem Sitak (NZL,436) 63 62

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) l Wu Di (CHN,197) 36 26

Doubles
[QF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) bt Yu Chang (CHN)/ Zhe Li (CHN) 61 62

[SF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN)

Vishnu started with a win but very disappointing loss against local player ... But in the doubles Vishnu and Hiroki scored dominating win over Chinese pair and in the semis they r facing another Chinese pair.
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At $10K Germany F9 Futures , Hannover (clay)

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,639) l Jaan-Frederik Brunken (FIN,780) 26 64 26

Prajnesh failed to raise game against Jaan-Frederik.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[R2] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) l (4) Katherine Ip (HKG,843) 16 57

Lost against talented Hong Kong girl Ip but gave fighting performance in the second set.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle/ Pistol/ Shotgun 2013, Granada, Spain

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
8. Sanjeev Rajput (IND) 397.7 pts

Sanjeev Rajput failed to raise his accuracy in the final and became first eliminated shooter in the final of 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men ... He qualified for the final on 4th position with impressive score of 1173 pts.

Tennis News

At $456K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R2] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,308) l (4) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS,64) 26 16

Doubles
[R1] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Illya Marchenko (UKR)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 46 76(1) 11-9
[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Sam Querrey (USA) bt Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ Michal Przysiezny (POL) 46 63 10-5

[QF] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Adil Shamasdin (CAN)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)
[QF] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Sam Querrey (USA) vs (2) Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt gave lesson of playing on the grass to Prakash in his thumping win ... In the doubles Prakash started with a win partnering Sam Querrey ... After losing the first set they made excellent comeback to win the second and then comfortably won match tie-break ... Next tough match against 2nd seed French pair.

Divij scored memorable first win on the tour partnering Ivo Karlovic in hard fought match ... After losing the first set they needed tie-break for winning the second ... In match tie-break Divij-Ivo were 4-9 down and they won 7 next points saving 5 match points for excellent win against Ukrainians ... In the quarters they r facing Canadian-Aussie pair, who upset 3rd seed American pair in the first round.

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At $75K Beijing Challenger, China

[R1] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) bt Kaden Hensel (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS) 64 36 10-2

[QF] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) vs Yu Chang (CHN)/ Zhe Li (CHN)

Good winning start for Vishnu in the doubles with Hiroki though they needed match tie-break ... Next they r facing local Chinese pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Getxo, Spain (clay)

[R2] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,664) l Gaia Sanesi (ITA,656) 36 06

Doubles
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Klartje Libbens (BEL) l Jacqueline Cabaz Avad (ESP)/ Cornelia Lister (ESP) 76(7) 46 4-10

Tame loss for Rutuja in the singles ... She also lost in the doubles after winning the first set.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[R1] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) bt Nathania Ratih Putri Karsita (INA,UNR) 63 60

Expected winning start for Kanika.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle/ Pistol/ Shotgun 2013, Granada, Spain

50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Gold - Petra Zublasing (ITA) 459.1 pts
Silver - Lajja Gauswami (IND) 454 pts
Bronze - Malin Westerheim (NOR) 443.9 pts

Indian lifted their first medal in ongoing Rifle/ Pistol/ Shotgun World cup ... Lajja Gauswami won the silver in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions ... This was her first medal in World cup and after longtime we also won medal in women rifle event ... Lajja qualified for the final on 5th position with 584 pts score ... She performed really well in final eliminations with keeping herself in top three ... But other two Indian shooters had disappointing outing ... Raj Chaudhary finished on 25th position with 578 pts ... Tejaswini Sawant finished on 39th position with 574 pts.

Tennis News

At $456K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA (grass)

[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,308) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA,152) 62 63

[R2] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,308) vs (4) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS,64)

Prakash started with convincing win over Cipolla at Newport open on grass ... He lost only five games in the match but his next match is tough one against former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Getxo, Spain (clay)

[R1] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,664) bt Anna Smolina (RUS,806) 62 36 62

[R2] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,664) vs Gaia Sanesi (ITA,656)

Great start after almost 6 months break for Rutuja ... She scored win against Russian and that also on Spanish clay ... Next she is facing similar ranked Italian ... More tough match.
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At $10K Germany F9 Futures , Hannover (clay)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,639) bt (Q) Julian Onken (GER,1722) 62 36 61

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,639) vs Jaan-Frederik Brunken (FIN,780)

Three sets for Prajnesh against local qualifier ... Next he is facing Finnish player.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[R1] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) vs Nathania Ratih Putri Karsita (INA,UNR)
[R1] Anjana Kompally (IND,UNR) l Mia Kasih (INA,UNR) 26 36
Doubles
[R1] Misa Kinoshita (JPN)/ Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt Mia Kasih (INA)/ Monica Putri Kusuma Wardhani (INA) 60 60

This week also Kanika qualify for main-draw and having winnable first round match.

Monday, July 08, 2013

Tennis News


After reaching semi-final of Wimbledon helped Rohan to rise his career best doubles ranking ... First time he is ranked inside top-5, #5 ... With quarter final appearence Mahesh also rise to #6 and after reaching semi final Leander also rise to #9 in latest updated rankings.
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At $75K Beijing Challenger, China

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) vs Artem Sitak (NZL,436)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Hiroki Kondo (JPN) vs Kaden Hensel (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)

Hopefully Vishnu perform well on hard courts.
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At $25K ITS Women's Tournament, Istanbul, Turkey

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,363) l Chiaki OKADAUE (JPN,401) 16 36

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Cemere ANIL (TUR) l Margarita LAZAREVA(RUS)/ Polina LEYKINA (RUS) 36 16

Ankita failed to cross first hurdle in the singles ... And also lost in the doubles first round so not so fruitful Turkey trip.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Getxo, Spain (clay)

[R1] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,664) vs Anna Smolina ( RUS,806)

Doubles
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Klartje Libbens (BEL) vs Jacqueline Cabaz Avad (ESP)/ Cornelia Lister (ESP)

Rutuja is playing after long time.
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At $10K Germany F9 Futures , Hannover (clay)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,639) vs (Q) Julian Onken (GER,1722)

Prajnesh is facing Qualifier.

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Squash News

At $15K Buler Challenge Cup, Hong Kong

[SF] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,27) l (5) Amanda Sobhy (USA,28) 9/11 6/11 5/11 (24m)

Surprisingly one sided loss of Joshana against Sobhy.
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At $15K Buler Challenge Cup, Hong Kong

[SF] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,71) l (1) Max Lee (HKG,33) 9/11 8/11 9/11 (43m)

Fighting performance by Harinderpal against top-seed Max Lee ... He stretched Max in all three games in 43 minutes.

Tennis News

At $456K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND,310) vs Flavio Cipolla (ITA,152)

Doubles
[R1] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Illya Marchenko (UKR)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR)
[R1] (WC) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Sam Querrey (USA) vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ Michal Przysiezny (POL)

Prakash received wild-crad at New port in the singles and doubles ... In the singles he is facing Italian Flavio Cipolla in the first round and pairing Sam Querrey in the doubles ... Divij is playing the doubles with former top-15 Ivo Karlovic and they r facing Ukrainian Davis cup pairing.
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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, Illinois, USA


Doubles Final
Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jack Sock (USA) 26 62 10-8

Turned to be terrific week for Yuki after coming out of injury break ... In the doubles he lifted his second doubles challenger title, this time with Michael Venus ... In the final after losing the first set they defeated 3rd seed pair Buji-Sock in match tie-break.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[SF] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) l (1) Lavinia Tananta (INA,568) 57 16

Kanika's fine run ended in the semis against top-seed Tananta in straight sets ... Overall fruitful week for Kanika.

Saturday, July 06, 2013

Squash News

At $15K Buler Challenge Cup, Hong Kong

[Q1] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,117) bt Chou Uen Shan (HKG,UNR) 13/11 11/7 9/11 11/6
[Q1] Anaka Alankamony (IND,85) l Hoe Tze Lok (HKG,UNR) 11/2 10/12 12/10 11/13 6/11

[Q2] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,117) l Li Dongjin (CHN,208) 8/11 9/11 11/7 11/13

[R1] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,27) bt (Q) Lee Ka Yi (HKG,126) 11/4 11/9 12/10
[QF] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,27) bt Tong Tsz Wing (HKG,54) 11/6 3/11 11/8 11/4 (38m)

[SF] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,27) vs (5) Amanda Sobhy (USA,)

Joshana enter into the semis and facing fifth seed American, who upset 2nd seed countrywoman in the quarters ... Earlier two matches Joshana stretched by two local girls.
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At $15K Buler Challenge Cup, Hong Kong

[Q1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) bt Alex Lau (HKG,UNR) 11/5 11/4 11/3
[Q1] Ravi Dixit (IND,133) bt Chi Him Wong (HKG,387) 11/7 11/4 11/9

[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) bt Valentino Bong (MAS,364) 11/1 11/4 11/4
[Q2] Ravi Dixit (IND,133) l Yip Tsz Fung (HKG,387) 11/13 12/10 12/14 4/11

[R1] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,71) bt Leo Au (HKG,46) 12/10 11/9 9/11 11/2 (56m)
[R1] (Q) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) bt (3) Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW,39) 13/11 11/7 9/2 Retd. (39m)

[QF] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,71) bt (Q) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,107) 11/3 11/6 5/11 2/11 11/6 (70m)

[SF] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,71) vs (1) Max Lee (HKG,33)

Harinderpal in the semis beating qualifier Mahesh in fives games ... Creditable performance by young Mahesh, who scored upset win over top-40 Kuwaiti player in the first round.

Friday, July 05, 2013

Tennis News

At $50K Winnetka Challenger, Illinois, USA

[SF] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,136) l (3) Jack Stock (USA,102) 63 46 67(5)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jack Sock (USA) bt (1) James Cerretani (USA)/ Chris Guccione (AUS) 75 76(1)
[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (2) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 76(2) 76(3)

Buji lost in the singles semis against Stock in three sets ... Buji started well winning the first set but Stock fought back from the second set ... He won the second set with a single break and then completed victory in third set tie-break.

In the doubles Yuki and Venus scored big upset win over 2nd seed pair of Krajicek and Krajicek in two tie-breaks ... They r facing Buji and Stock in the final ... Buji and Stock scored upset win over top-seed Cerretani and Guccione in close match ... They won the first set with a single break but needed tie-break in the second set.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[QF] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) bt (Q) Yukun Zhang (CHN,UNR) 63 57 64

[SF] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) vs (1) Lavinia Tananta (INA,568)

Doubles
[SF] Misa Kinoshita (JPN)/ Kanika Vaidya (IND) l (2) Aldila Sutjiadi (INA)/ Ai Wen Zhn (CHN) 64 67(9) 7-10

Kanika produced hard fought win against fellow qualifier ... After losing the first set Chinese girl fought back but Kanika kept her composure and won the decider ... In the semis she is facing top-seed Indonesian.

But she with her partner Kinoshita lost in the doubles semi-final against 2nd seed pair ... After winning the first set Kanika and Kinoshita missed match points in the second before losing it.

Thursday, July 04, 2013

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2013, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[SF] (14) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 76(4) 46 36 75 36
[SF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) l (12) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 63 46 16 63 36

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) l Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Vera Dushevina (RUS) 36 63 36
[QF] (2) Horia Tecau (ROU)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (8) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 67(5) 67(4)

In the first set both pairs failed to create break point chances but still Bryans were holding their service games more comfortably ... In tie-break important single mini-break came on Bryan's serve on 8th point which gave Rohan-Edouard 5-3 lead ... With that single mini-break they pocked the first set ... In the second set Bryans take early break on Edouard's serve and leading 4-2 ... Bryans kept that single break advantage for winning the second set ... In the third set also Bryans kept pushing pressure on Rohan-Edouard serves and managed to break Edouard in 7th and Rohan in 9th games for winning this set ... In the fourth set also Bryans started with upperhand ... Then Rohan-Edouard missed 6 break point chances in 7th game on Bryans serve and they were down 2 match points in 10th game on Rohan's serve... After that Rohan-Edouard showed tremendous courage as Rohan saved both match points with big serving and hold his serve ... After that they broke Bryans in 11th game and then Edouard hold his service game comfortably to make it two sets all. Bad start for Rohan-Edouard in the decider as Bryans broke Rohan in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... Bryans kept this single break advantage ... In 10th game when Bryans were serving for the match Rohan-Edouard saved couple of more match points but Bryans converted 5th match point for a win.

Lee-Radek started positively and broke Melo-Dodig early to lead 4-1 ... They kept that one break advantage for winning this set ... In the second set Lee-Radek missed couple of break points in 5th game and then they needed to save couple of break points on their own serve in next game ... But Melo-Dodig broke them in long 10th game and won this set ... In the third set Melo-Dodig broke Lee's serve to lead 3-1 ... Then they broke Radek in 6th game and won this set comfortably ... In the fourth set our pair fought back and won it with a single break ... In the fifth set both pairs hold their respective service games till seventh game ... Melo-Dodig broke Lee in long 8th game after multiple deuce and then hold their service game for the victory ... So our both pairs lost after winning the first set ... So turned to be disappointing day in men's doubles at Wimbledon.

Sania-Horia had tough match against very experienced Nestor and his partner Mladenovic ... Both pairs fought hard but Nestor-Mladenovic won both tie-breaks ... In tie-break Sania's serves were weak link ... Still good performance by Sania with Horia.

Rohan lost in mixed doubles quarter final with his Chinese partner Jie Zheng against Jean-Julien Rojer-Vera Dushevina in three sets ... Rojer-Dushevina won the first set with a single break ... Te second set Rohan-Jie won it with a single break ... In the final set both pairs traded breaks but Rojer-Dushevina take crucial second break and won the match ... So with that Indian challenge got over in the Wimbledon.

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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, Illinois, USA

[QF] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,136) bt Steve Johnson (USA,98) 75 64

[SF] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,136) vs (3) Jack Stock (USA,102)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jack Sock (USA) bt Jason Jung (USA)/ Evan King (USA) 64 64

[SF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jack Sock (USA) vs (1) James Cerretani (USA)/ Chris Guccione (AUS)

Buji take revenge of his loss against Johnson at Nottingham ... He scored straight sets upset victory ... In the first set Buji saved 4 break points before breaking Steve in 11th game ... In the second set also Buji take a single break ... In the semis Buji is facing his doubles partner and 3rd seed Jack Stock.

Buji-Jack pair scored comfortable straight sets win over Jung-King pair ... In the semis they r facing top-seed pair.

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At $10K USA F18 Futures, Pittsburgh

[R2] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,342) l (Q) Conor Smith (USA,UNR) 36 46

Sanam lost against unranked qualifier ... So it looks still he is not fully recover from his wrist injury ... Need more work on his fitness.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Solo, Indonesia

[R2] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) bt Sanae Ohta (JPN,1061) 64 61

[QF] (Q) Kanika Vaidya (IND,UNR) vs (Q) Yukun Zhang (CHN,UNR)

Doubles
[QF] Misa Kinoshita (JPN)/ Kanika Vaidya (IND) bt Nozomi Fujioka (JPN)/ Michika Ozeki (JPN) 62 75

[SF] Misa Kinoshita (JPN)/ Kanika Vaidya (IND) vs (2) Aldila Sutjiadi (INA)/ Ai Wen Zhn (CHN)

Kanika continue with her good form and scored another easy victory against Japanese girl ... With this win she is in the quarters and she is facing another young qualifier Chinese girl Yukun Zhang.

Kanika r in the doubles semi-final also with her Japanese partner Misa Kinoshita with straight sets win over Japanese pair ... In the semis they r facing 2nd seed Indonesian-Chinese pair.

Table Tennis News

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