Squash News

At World Squash Championship 2013, Manchester, England


[QF] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) l (1) Ramy Ashour (EGY,1) 0-3 (9-11, 5-11, 9-11) (48m)

Frankly I wasn't expected any upset in this match but wanted to see Saurav's performance ... Saurav tested injured WR #1 Ramy Ashour in this match ... Saurav was unlucky to won the first game, he was dominating in the front and Ramy was dominating from back ... Saurav was leading 9-6 but at that time Ramy started to put pressure and Ramy won 5 points in a row for winning this game ... In the second game may be Saurav was down after losing the first game after taking control ... Ramy take full control of it and won this game comfortably ... Saurav again fought hard in the third and was neck to neck till 6-all ... Ramy opened 2 points lead 8-6 then 9-7 but again Saurav caught him at 9-all ... Ramy won next point with amazing reverse backhand volley and Saurav committed error on the last point of the match ... Overall creditable performance by Saurav in this World championship.

Tennis News

At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[R2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,91) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR,239) 62 63
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,313) bt Chase Buchanan (USA,271) 64 64

[QF] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,91) vs (7) Rhyne Williams (USA,122)
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,313) vs Jesse Levine (CAN,160)

Doubles
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (2) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 46 26

Somdev scored easy straight sets win over his Ukrainian opponent Denys Molchanov in 87 minutes ... In the first set Buji broke Denys in 4th game and then again in 8th game for winning this set ... In the second set Buji broke Denys in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... After that he kept that advantage for winning the match ... In this match Buji had only 48% 1st serve percentage and he saved all four break points but other hand Buji converted three from nine break points ... In the quarter Buji is facing young American Rhyne Williams.

Saketh showed his last win against top-100 player Tim Smyczek wasn't fluke ... He defeated American Chase Buchanan in straight sets for entering into the quarters ... Saki didn't face much trouble in this match as he broke once Chase in both sets ... Next he is facing Canadian Jesse Levine.

In the doubles 2nd seed American pair proved too strong for Buji-Sanam ... They defeated Indian pair convincingly.
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At $50K Traralgon Challenger, Australia

[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,277) bt Michael Venus (NZL,391) 16 63 76(4)

[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,277) vs (4) Tatsuma Ito (JPN,172)

Yuki and Venus practices regularly so know each other game and that showed in their match ... Venus dominated the first set and won it losing only one game ... Yuki fought back and won the second set ... In the third set both players hold their respective service games and in the tie-break Yuki was better player than Venus ... In the quarter final Yuki is facing top-200 Japanese player Tatsuma Ito ... In their last meeting Ito defeated Yuki, so tough match for Yuki.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] Arantxa Andrady (IND) l (7) Janina Toljan (AUT) 36 46
[R2] (5) Shweta Rana (IND) ls (Q) Lena Lutzeier (GER) 46 46

I m really worried about these players development.

Squash News

At World Squash Championship 2013, Manchester, England

[R3] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN,40) 3-2 (5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2) (66m)

[QF] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs (1) Ramy Ashour (EGY,1)

Saurav produced fantastic fightback to become India’s first ever World quarter-finalist ... Saurav started slowly and Henrik take advantage of it winning the first game comfortably ... In the second game both players were neck to neck but again Henrik won important points to won it ... Saurav was under pressure in the third game and he delivered after winning close game ... After that Saurav's super fitness helped him as he dominated last two games for really exciting win ... In the quarter final he is facing defending champion and WR #1 Egyptian Ramy Ashour, who is currently on 52 matches win streak.

Tennis News

At €€2.6M Paris Masters, France

[R2] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) / Scott Lipsky (USA) 46 36
[R2] (5) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt John Isner (USA) / Nicholas Monroe (USA) 76(2) 75

Rohan-Edouard won very close match against American pair in and hour and fourteen minutes match ... Rohan-Edouard had few break point chances which they failed to convert but they were too strong for American pair in the tie-break ... In the second set match's only break came in 12th game which helped our pair for winning the first round.

But Lee-Nestor lost in the second round against Mexican-American pairing ... Mexican-American won the both sets with a single break.
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At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (WC) Mitchell Frank (USA)/ Mac Styslinger (USA) 62 63

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (2) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA)

Comfortable winning start for Buji-Sanam pairing ... Next they r facing 2nd seed American pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Ashmitha Easwaramurthi (IND) l (Q) Caroline Daxhelet (BEL) 46 26
[R1] Arantxa Andrady (IND) bt (WC) Anke Poncelet (BEL) 5-2 Retd.
[R1] (5) Shweta Rana (IND) bt (Q) Tanisha Rohira (IND) 60 60

[R2] Arantxa Andrady (IND) vs (7) Janina Toljan (AUT)
[R2] (5) Shweta Rana (IND) vs (Q) Lena Lutzeier (GER)

Arantxa joins Shweta in the second round of this tournament.

Squash News

At World Squash Championship 2013, Manchester, England

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt (15) Alister Walker (BOT,15) 3-1 (11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7) (55m)

[R3] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs Henrik Mustonen (FIN,40)

Saurav is in the pre-quarter final with upset win over 15th seed Walker in four games ... Saurav played superb squash in this 55 minutes match to upset Walker ... Saurav won 1st two games controlling from the start and take 2-0 lead ... Walker fought back and won the third game ... Saurav kept his nerve and take 7-2 lead in the fourth ... Walker tried comeback but Saurav kept his advantage for completing victory in four games.

Saurav is having good chance for entering in his first World championship quarter final ... He is facing Finnish Henrik Mustonen in next round, Henrik got lucky as his opponent WR #7 Peter Baker retired from his match when he was 1-2 games down.

Tennis News

At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[R1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,91) bt Samuel Groth (AUS,192) 36 63 64
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,313) bt (1) Tim Smyczek (USA,83) 64 46 75

[R2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,91) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR,239)
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,313) vs Chase Buchanan (USA,271)

Saketh scored the best win of his career, his first win over top-100 player ... Saketh used his big serving for his advantage ... His second serves were huge which Smyczek struggled to return ... After winning the first set with a single break Saketh broke Smyczek in 1st game to lead 2-0 in the second set ... When Saketh was 4-2 up he missed 2 break point opportunities on Smyczek's serve ... Smyczek won next four games breaking Saketh in 8th and 10th games for winning the second set ... In the third set Saketh broke Smyczek in 5th game to lead 3-2 but Smyczek immediately broke him for 3-all ... Saketh take crucial break on Smyczek's serve in 11th game and then hold his service game for memorable win ... Next he is facing American Chase Buchanan.

Another slow start for Buji ... Buji missed break point chances on Groth' serve and one bad service game from Buji gave important break to Groth ... He kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set Buji take crucial break in 8th game to lead 5-3 and then hold his serve for winning the second set ... In the final set Buji broke Groth in 5th game to lead 3-2 but Groth broke back on 8th game for 4-all ... This time Buji immediately broke Groth in 9th game for retaking the lead and then hold his serve for fighting win ... Next he is facing Ukrainian Denys Molchanov.
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At $50K Traralgon Challenger, Australia

[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,277) bt (Q) Brendon Moore (AUS,1078) 62 1-0 Retd.

[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,277) vs Michael Venus (NZL,391)

Yuki started with comfortable win as his opponent retired after losing the first set ... In the second round Yuki is facing the doubles's specialist Venus.
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At $50K Taipei ITF Women's Tournament, Chinese Taipei

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,298) l Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE,444) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Gioia Barbieri (ITA) l Shao-Yuan Kao (TPE)/ Hua-Chen Lee (TPE) 67(3) 26

Turned to be disappointing week for Ankita ... She lost against experienced Taipei player Hsu without giving much fing in the single ... Then in the doubles Ankita and Gioia lost against higher ranked local Taipei pair.
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At $10K Great Britain F23 Futures, Edgbaston

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,775) l (Q) Nicolas Rosenzweig (FRA,1267) 36 46

Doubles
[R1] Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) l (3) Erik CREPALDI (ITA)/ James MARSALEK (GBR) 36 26

Vijay Sundar's terrible run in the singles continued in this futures also.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Ashmitha Easwaramurthi (IND) vs (Q) Caroline Daxhelet (BEL)
[R1] Arantxa Andrady (IND) vs (WC) Anke Poncelet (BEL)
[R1] Manya Nagpal (IND) l (WC) Tanya Samodelok (RUS)67(8) 26
[R1] Vishesh Vishnu (IND) l (3) Natalija Kostic (SRB) 16 16
[R1] (5) Shweta Rana (IND) vs (Q) Tanisha Rohira (IND)

Expected losses for our girls.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Benicarlo, Spain

[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) l Andrea Lazaro Garcia (ESP) 06 0-4 Retd.

Sowjanya received bagel in the first set and then she was 0-4 down when she retired from the match ... May be due to injury.

Squash News

At World Squash Championship 2013, Manchester, England

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt Joe Lee (ENG,34) 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-3) (48m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs (15) Alister Walker (BOT,15)

Really good start in World championship for Saurav ... He won the first round match against experienced Lee in straight games but he really needed to work hard in this match ... After winning the first game easily Saurav was stretched to tie-break by Lee in the second ... After winning the second game Saurav didn't gave much chance to Lee in the third ... In the next round Saurav is facing WR #15 Alister Walker.

Tennis News

At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (WC) Mitchell Frank (USA)/ Mac Styslinger (USA)

After longtime Sanam and Buji r playing together and they r facing wild-card American pair in the first round.
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At $50K Traralgon Challenger, Australia

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) l Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin Van Pepperzeal (AUS) 46 46

Yuki lost his first round doubles match with his American partner against Aussie pair.
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At €30K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Robin Kern (GER)/ Maximilian Marterer (GER) 57 75 3-10

Divij-Purav's horrific performance continues and they as top-seed in this tournament lost against local wild-cad pair in match tie-break ... In this match they struggled with their first serve percetage and their opponents take advantage of these weak serving ... After losing the first set they fought back to won the second but their poor serving didn't help them in match tie-break.

Snooker News

At £625K International Championship, Chengdu, China

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,69) l Dave Harold (ENG,55) 4-6 (33-69(54), 5-64, 60-14, 29-108(104), 66-1, 0-79(54), 30-77, 64-10, 76-7, 3-70)
[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) l Rod Lawler (ENG,57) 3-6 (61-27, 60-81, 71-43, 0-78(54), 57-19, 38-75(68), 0-88, 0-103(103), 8-66)

Pankaj failed to scored single substantial break and he lost against Britisher Dave Harold in close match ... After 2-5 down Pankaj tried fight back winning next two frames but Dave won 10th frame for a victory.

Aditya started with his defensive style and won the first frame despite scoring a single 15+ break ... Rod made strong comeback winning the next frame ... Both players shared next 4 games to remained 3 frames all ... But Rod scored 2 fifty breaks in 4th and 6th frames ... Rod was looking more comfortable on the board ... In 7th frame Rod scored 2 forty plus break for winning it comfortably ... After that Rod scored 1st hundred break of the match for winning it comfortably ... From 6th frame Rod gathered momentum and won 9th frame with short but decisive breaks for comfortable win over Aditya ... Frankly I was expecting better results from Pankaj and Aditya after their great run in Indian open but it seems our players struggled to adjust the speed of the table in China.

Tennis News

At €€2.6M Paris Masters, France

[R1] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) bye
[R1] (5) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bye

Lee and Daniel r 7th seed and in bottom draw ... Rohan-Edouard r 5th seed and r in top-draw with Bryans.
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At $75K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[Q1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,365) l Denis Zivkovic (USA,799) 46 36
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,506) bt (8) Vijayant Malik (IND,504) 62 64

[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,506) l Alexios Halebian (USA,824) 67(5) 67(0)

[R1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) vs Samuel Groth (AUS,193)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,312) vs (1) Tim Smyczek (USA,84)

Turned to be poor qualifying rounds for our players ... Sanam lost in straight sets against 800 ranked American ... Prajnesh scored upset win over Vijayant but got upset by local teenager in the second round in tie-breaks.

In main-draw Sakeh is facing toughest challenge against top-seed Tim Smyczek and Buji is facing tricky Aussie opponent Samuel Groth.
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At $50K Traralgon Challenger, Australia

[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) vs (Q) Brendon Moore (AUS,1078)

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) vs Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin Van Pepperzeal (AUS)

Favorable draw for Yuki in the singles ... This week in the doubles he is playing with American partner and facing Aussie pair.
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At €30K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND,70) / Purav Raja (IND,82) v. (WC) Robin Kern (GER) / Maximilian Marterer (GER)

Divij-Purav is playing in lower level challenger instead of $75K challenger ... They r top-seed ad hopefully lift the title.
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At $50K Taipei ITF Women's Tournament, Chinese Taipei

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,298) vs Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE,444)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Gioia Barbieri (ITA) vs Shao-Yuan Kao (TPE)/ Hua-Chen Lee (TPE)

Good to see Ankita is trying higher level tournaments whenever she is getting chance to play.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

Singles Final
(3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) l (4) Ante Pavic (CRO,495) 46 36

Jeevan failed to raise his game against Pavic and lost in straight sets ... Pavic broke Jeevan once in both sets but other hand Jeevan failed to put pressure on Pavic's serve.

Squash News

At $50K China Open, Shanghai

[QF] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) l (1) Nicol David (MAS,1) 1-3 (6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11)

Decent fighting performance from Dipika against formidable Nicol David in her loss ... This match was played in very windy-cold condition ... After losing the first game Dipika fought back to won the second ... After that Nicol played smartly with her drop shots, volleying and cross-court returns to won next two games.

Tennis News

At €2M Swiss Indoors, Basel

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 46 46

Rohan-Edouard lost in straight sets against Austrian pair and with that their chances of playing in year-end ATP Tour Finals r finished.
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At $50K Melbourne Challenger, Australia

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) l (5) James Duckworth (AUS,147) 36 46

Yuki failed to adjust windy, wet and cold condition and lost in straight sets ... After losing the first set Yuki lost his serve in 9th game at 4-all in the second ... Then James hold for a win ... James broke Yuki twice from four chances and other hand Yuki failed to break him from 7 break point chances.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt (8) Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,679) 61 62

[F] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs (4) Ante Pavic (CRO,495)

Jeevan started positively and comfortably won the first set breaking Andre twice ... Same story repeated in the second set, Jeevan again broke Andre twice for comfortable win ... In the final he is facing Croatian Ante Pavic.
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At $10K Spain F36 Futures, El Prat De Llobregat

Doubles Final
(2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (4) Antonio Campo (ITA)/ Omar Giacalone (ITA) 63 46 6-10

Ramkumar-Sanz started strongly ... They won the first set but lost the plot from 4-all in the second ... For them missed opportunity of lifting title.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) l Pauline PAYET (FRA) 16 26

French giel easily defeated Shweta in one-sided match.

Badminton News

At $200K Yonex French Open 2013, Paris (Superseries)

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) l (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 18-21 18-21
[R2] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) l Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,19) 20-22 18-21
[R2] (Q) K. Srikanth (IND,30) l (6) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,8) 21-15 18-21 15-21
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,11) 22-20 15-21 20-22
[R2] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) l Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,30) 21-10 19-21 16-21

In the first game Srikanth opened 4 points lead from 8-all, 12-8 ... Which he kept increasing for winning the first game ... In the second game Srikanth take lead at 10-6 but Boonsak caught him at 11-all ... Then Boonsak take 2 points lead from 15-all and kept this advantage for winning this game ... In the final game Srikanth take 10-7 lead but Boonsak made it 10-all ... After that again Srikanth take 14-10 lead but then Boonsak won next 9 points to take crucial lead, 19-14 and completed victory in 58 minutes ... Missed opportunity for young Srikanth.

Sindhu opened 12-8 lead in the first game and she kept that advantage for winning this game comfortably ... But from the second game Sindhu started committing unforced errors ... Through out the game both players were neck to neck ... From 18-all Kirsty won next 2 points for giving herself 2 game points and she converted 2nd game point ... In the decider also both players were neck to neck until 11-all but after that Kirsty opened 17-12 lead ... Sinshu reduced it to 16-17 but Kirsty won next 4 points for upset win ... Big missed opportunity for Sindhu to go deep in this Super Series tournament.

Ajay lost in two games but gave fighting performance against WR #1 Lee ... In the first game both players were neck to neck till 17-all ... Here Lee opened 2 points lead and which he maintained to won this game ... In the second game from 11-all Lee opened 3 points lead but from 16-19 Ajay won next 2 points and was 18-19 ... This time also Lee kept his nerve and won next 2 points for straight games victory.

Anand missed opportunity of upsetting his Thai opponent in 41 minutes match ... In the first game from 10-12 Anand take 3 points lead ... At one time he was leading 19-15 and then had a game point at 20-19 which he failed to convert ... In the second game from 7-all Tanongsak opened 3 points lead which he kept till end ... Anand tried fight back winning 4 points from 14-19 but that much close he got.

And this turned to be terrible day for Indian shuttlers at French Super series as Saina lost against another Korean girl, WR #11 Yeon Ju Bae, in long 71 minutes match ... In closely fought the first game Saina converted 2nd game point for winning it in extra points ... In the second game from 11-all Bae take control and won it losing only 4 more points ... In the third game Saina had 2/3 points lead early on but Bae caught her at 12-all ... After wards Bae had couple of points lead at 17-15 but this time Saina won next 4 points to lead 19-17 ... Bae caught her at 19-all, then Saina had match point at 20-19 which she failed to convert ... And Bae converted her first match point for exciting win for her.

Squash News

At $50K China Open, Shanghai

[R1] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (7) Madeline Perry (IRL,9) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-4)

[QF] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (1) Nicol David (MAS,1)

Dipika scored straight games upset win over current top-10 and former WR #3 Irish Madeline Perry ... First 2 games very close but Dipika dominated the third for exciting victory ... So two wins over top-10 players in two weeks for Dipika ... Next she is facing Malaysian WR #1 Nicol David.

Tennis News

At $50K Melbourne Challenger, Australia

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) bt (Q) Maverick Banes (AUS,836) 61 76(5)

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) vs (5) James Duckworth (AUS,147)

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l (3) Bradley Klahn (USA)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 46 63 5-10

Yuki won the first set comfortably and was leading 5-3 when he was serving for the match ... Banes broke him in 9th game but Yuki kept his nerves and won the tie-break for victory ... Next he is facing 5th seed Aussie James Duckworth.

In the doubles Yuki-Yasutaka lost against 3rd seed pair in match tie-break.
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At $25K Hamamatsu ITF Women's Tournament, Japan

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,298) l (1) Zarina Diyas (KAZ,175) 57 06

Ankita fought hard in the first set but Diyas won last eight games in a row for comfortable victory.
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At Lagos $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Nigeria

[QF] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) l (2) Nina Bratchikova (RUS,128) 06 46

After losing the first set without winning a single game Prarthana gave decent performance in the second set against former top-80 Russian player Bratchikova.

So overall good two weeks for Prarthana ... She reached 2 quarter-finals in two $25K tournaments ... This performance will push her ranking inside top-425 and she will become 2nd ranked Indian singles player after Ankita Raina in the new rankings update.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) 76(4) 75

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs (8) Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,679)

Doubles
[SF] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) l (1) Ante Pavic (CRO)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA) 16 36

Jeevan won the tight first set in tie-break ... In the second set also Ranjeet tried hard but Jeevan kept pressure and take important break for winning match in two sets ... Next he is facing young Portuguese Gaspar Murta.

Mithun and his partner failed to put challenge against top-seed pair.
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At $10K Spain F36 Futures, El Prat De Llobregat

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (3) Jose Anton Salazar Martin (ESP)/ Jean-Marc Werner (GER) 60 62

[F] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (4) Antonio Campo (ITA)/ Omar Giacalone (ITA)

One-sided win by Ramkumar-Sanz against 3rd seed German-Spanish pair ... They lost only 2 games in the match ... In the final they r facing 4th seed Italian pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] (7) Natasha PALHA (IND) l Elise MERTENS (BEL) 26 26
[R2] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) l Pauline PAYET (FRA) 26 16
[R2] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) bt Karina VENDITTI (BRA) 67(4) 75 64

[QF] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) vs Pauline PAYET (FRA)

Shweta needed to dig deep for winning her match against Karina ... She lost the first set in tie-break against Brazilian girl and was match points down with break when Karina was serving at 5-3, 40-0 ... She saved those match points then Shweta broke Brazilian in 11th game before holding her serve for winning the set ... In the second set Shweta take crucial break in 7th game and hold that advantage for excellent comeback win ... Other hand Natasha again lost against young Belgian girl without much fight

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Bantam 56kg
[QF] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) l Javid Chalabiyev (AZE) WP 0-3 (27-30, 27-30, 27-30)

Men's Light 60kg
[QF] Vikas Malik (IND) l (4) Robson Conceicao (BRA) WP 0-3 (28-29, 25-30, 27-30)

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[QF] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) l Yasnier Lopez (CUB) 0-3 (27-20, 28-29, 26-30)

Men's Light Heavy 81kg
[QF] Sumit Sangwan (IND) vs (1) Adilbek Niyazymbetov (KAZ) WP 0-3 (27-30, 28-29, 27-30)

Men's Super Heavy +91kg
[QF] Satish Kumar (IND) l (2) Ivan Dychko (KAZ) W/O (right eye injury)

Our boxers showed little improvement in their performance as this time 5 boxers were in the quarter-finals ... But still our boxers (with their coaches) fail to cross next hurdle of going in medal matches ... We need to find workaround and deliver that in near future.

Azerbaijani boxer Javid Chalabiyev out performed higher ranked Shiva Thapa in their quarter final match ... Disappointing end for Shiva Thapa, who had genuine chance of winning the medal.

Frankly I never seen Indian boxer beating Cuban counterpart and same story repeated again ... Yasnier was bronze medalist at London Olympic in lightweight category ... Here he participated in Lightwelter and still scored comfortable win ... After losing the first round easily Manoj Kumar gave decent fight in the second round, which he lost by solitary point ... But Yasnier was too strong in the third for Manoj Kumar.

Satish Kumar sustained cut above right eye in his previous bout against Yan Sudzilouski and today he declared medically unfit for the bout by the doctors ... May be local doctors also favoring local players like these referees.

Vikas Malik gave tough fight in the first round against 4th seed Brazilian but after that in next two rounds Robson was too strong for young Vikas.

Sumit played decent match against WR #1 local boxer Adilbek Niyazymbetov ... Niyazymbetov won the first round comfortably but faced stiff resistant from Sumit in the second ... In the third again Niyazymbetov take control for a win.

Tennis News

At €2M Swiss Indoors, Basel

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) 57 63 10-7

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Oliver Marach (AUT)

Rohan-Edouard needed comeback after losing the first set against tricky pairing of Seppi and Kubot ... Our pair won the second set comfortably before winning the match tie-break after keeping their nerves ... Next they r facing Austrian pair.
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At Lagos $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Nigeria

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) bt (8) Conny Perrin (SUI,308) 62 76(11)

[QF] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) vs (2) Nina Bratchikova (RUS,128)

Doubles
[QF] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l (3) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) 36 67(5)

Prarthana continues with her really good run at Nigerian tournament ... She scored upset win over 8th seed Swiss girl ... After winning the first set easily Prarthana stopped tremendous fight back of Perrin ... In tie-break Prarthana had 6 match points when she take 6-0 lead but after that Perrin won next 7 points in a row ... After that it was see-saw battle and Perrin was creating set points but Prarthana saved all those set points before converting her 9th match point for excellent win ... Next she is facing 2nd seed and former top-80 Russian Nina Bratchikova ... In the doubles Prarthana-Rishika lost against 3rd seed Russian pair.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) l (4) Ante Pavic (CRO,495) 16 46
[R2] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) bt Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) 63 64
[R2] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt Lawal Shehu (NGR,1786) 60 63

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596)

Doubles
[QF] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) bt Sunday Maku (NGR)/ Lawal Shehu (NGR) 36 62 10-8

[SF] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) vs (1) Ante Pavic (CRO)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA)

I m going to call upset for Ranjeet's win against Vishnu ... Ranjeet won the match comfortably and that shows Vishnu's mental state after coming out of injury ... Ranjeet is going to face Jeevan in the quarters, who scored comfortable win against local player.

In the doubles Mithun with his partner r in the semis with comeback win in the match tie-break against local pair ... Next they r facing top-seed pair.
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At $10K Great Britain F22 Futures, Tipton

[QF] (2) Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) l Graeme DYCE (GBR)/ Calum GEE (GBR) 46 46

2nd seed Vijay Sundar and his Polish partner lost against British pair in straight sets.
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At $10K Spain F36 Futures, El Prat De Llobregat

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Bogdan Didenko (UKR)/ Alan Gadjiev (UZB) 63 62

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (3) Jose Anton Salazar Martin (ESP)/ Jean-Marc Werner (GER)

Comfortable win for Ramkumar-Sanz against Eastern European pair ... In the semis they r facing 3rd seed Spanish-German pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (7) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Ola ABOU ZEKRY (EGY) W/O
[R1] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) bt (Q) Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) 46 62 64

[R2] (7) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs Elise MERTENS (BEL)
[R2] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) vs Pauline PAYET (FRA)
[R2] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) vs Karina VENDITTI (BRA)

Prarthana ans Sneha joined Shweta in the second round.

Badminton News

At $200K Yonex French Open 2013, Paris (Superseries)

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) l (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 20-22 12-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) bt Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,35) 21-16 21-11
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) l Chen Yuekun (CHN,29) 9-21 14-21
[R1] (Q) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,41) l Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (DEN,17) 18-21 Retd.
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) bt (Q) Thomas Rouxel (FRA,83) 21-9 24-22
[R1] (Q) K. Srikanth (IND,30) bt Wing Ki Wong (HKG,12) 21-14 17-21 21-10

[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,51) l Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,17) 17-21 21-16 14-21
[R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt (6) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,6) 21-8 21-12
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Nichaon Jindapon (THA,15) 12-21 21-16 21-13

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Gebby Ristiyani Imawan (INA)/ Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah (INA) 18-21 21-13 17-21

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Robert Blair (SCO)/ Imogen Bankier (SCO) 17-21 21-19 12-21
[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (Q) Jacco Arends (NED)/ Selena Piek (NED) 13-21 16-21

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) vs (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1)
[R2] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) vs Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,19)
[R2] (Q) K. Srikanth (IND,30) vs (6) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,8)
[R2] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) vs Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,30)
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,11)

Ajay started with comfortable win against his Japanese opponent in 38 minutes ... Next he is facing WR #1 Chong Wei Lee, who defeated Kashyap in straight games in 37 minutes ... In the first game Kashyap was down 5-14 but he fought back to caught Lee at 20-all after saving 3 game points ... After that it was Lee show as he didn't gave much chance to Kashyap ... Guru failed to gave much challenge to his Chinese opponent Yuekun in 30 minutes match.

Arundhati gave fighting performance in her 45 minutes loss against top-20 Thai girl ... After losing the first game Arundhati fought back to won next game but failed to kept momentum in the decider.

Sindhu bounced back after bad Danish open and here she scored upset win over WR #6 and Danish open finalist Korean Ji Hyun Sung in 29 minutes ... In the first game Sindhu dominated from the start and won the final 9 points in row to won it comfortably ... In the second game Sindhu was 5-9 down but she caught Korean at 9-all ... And from 9-10 she allowed only 2 more points to Korean for this convincing win ... Sindhu is facing Scottish girl in the next round.

Jwala-Ashwini played first time after London Olympics and gave decent performance against Indonesian pair ... After losing the first game despite leading 17-13 they won the second game convincingly ... In the third game they were 7-10 down but fought back and caught Indonesian pair at 14-all ... Here Indonesian pair opened 4 points lead, 18-14 and that lead was enough for them for a win.

Saina started slowly against her top-15 Thai opponent and Nichaon take advantage of it and won the first game comfortably ... In the second game both players were neck to neck until 12-all and after that Saina take control and won it ... In the final game both players were neck to neck until 14-13 and then Saina won next 7 points for winning the match ... Another tricky match for Saina against WR #11 Korean Yeon Ju Bae, who defeated her in their last meeting at World championship in August.

Anand Pawar take advantage of weak draw and defeated lowly ranked Frenchman in straight games though he needed to save 3 game points in the second ... Next he is facing top-20 Thai opponent Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.

Srikanth continued Indian dominance over Hong Kong's WR #12 Wing Ki Wong ... He defeated Wong in three games after 47 minutes ... Srikanth won the first game from 10-12 with his attacking game ... In the second game Wong opened early lead which Srikanth failed to overcome but in decider Srikanth started with bang ... He won first 9 points to opened 9-0 lead which sealed the match ... Next he is facing top-8 Thai Boonsak Ponsana.

Sai got injured and retired from the match after losing the first game.

In mixed doubles our both pair lost in contrasting style the first round ... Ashwini-Tarun lost in three games against Scottish pair but Jwala-Manu lost in straight games against Dutch qualifiers.

Squash News

At $50K China Open, Shanghai

[Q2] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt Misaki Kobayashi (JPN,34) 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-8)

[R1] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (7) Madeline Perry (IRL,9)

As expected Dipika won comfortably against Misaki ... After winning the first 2 games easily Dipika faced some resistant from Misaki in the third ... In the main-draw Dipika is facing experienced Irish top-10 player Madeline Perry.

Boxing news

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Light 60kg
[R3] Vikas Malik (IND) bt (5) Miklos Varga (HUN) WP 3-0 (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

[QF] Vikas Malik (IND) vs (4) Robson Conceicao (BRA)

Men's Light Heavy 81kg
[R3] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt (8) Siarhei Novikau (BLR) WP 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

[QF] Sumit Sangwan (IND) vs (1) Adilbek Niyazymbetov (KAZ)

Men's Super Heavy +91kg
[R2] Satish Kumar (IND) bt Yan Sudzilouski (BUL) WP 3-0 (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

[QF] Satish Kumar (IND) vs (2) Ivan Dychko (KAZ)

Vikas Malik scored upset win over 5th seed Hungarian Miklos Varga ... After winning the first round easily Malik faced stiff resistance from Varga but Malik won next two rounds with solitary point advantage ... In the quarter he is facing 4th seed Brazilian.

Other hand Sumit toyed his 8th seed Belarusian opponent in one-sided match ... He won all three rounds comfortably ... Next he is facing local top-seed and London Olympics silver-medalist Adilbek Niyazymbetov.

Young Satish Kumar also joined our young brigade in the quarters with close win over Belarusian boxer ... All three rounds were closely fought which Satish Kumar won by a single point advantage ... Next he is facing local 2nd seed player and London Olympics bronze-medalist Ivan Dychko.

This is the first time that our five boxers r in the quarter-final ... In last edition our four boxers reached in the quarter final stage.

Tennis News

At $50K Melbourne Challenger, Australia

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) bt (Q) James Lemke (AUS,640) 64 60

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) vs (Q) Maverick Banes (AUS,836)

Australian qualifier stretched Yuki in this match ... Yuki was 1-3 down before winning 11 games from next 12 games ... James Lemke was decent player as he was in top-225 in 2011 but this year making comeback from injury ... Next Yuki is facing another Aussie qualifier, who scored upset win over 2nd seed Frenchman.
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At Lagos $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Nigeria

[R1] Rishika Sunkara (IND,470) l (3) Chanel Simmonds (RSA,170) 46 16
[R1] (Q) Kyra Shroff (IND,756) l Anna Morgina (RUS,413) 46 26
[R1] (Q) Smriti Joon (IND,1200) l (6) Naomi Broady (GBR,284) 26 16
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,591) l (8) Conny Perrin (SUI,308) 16 16
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) bt (Q) Ester Masuri (ISR,725) 62 60

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) vs (8) Conny Perrin (SUI,308)

Doubles
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Zarah RAZAFIMAHATRATRA (MAD)/ Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 62 67(5) 10-7
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Michaela FRLICKA (GER) l (3) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) 46 46
[R1] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) l Nina BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)/ Ines MURTA (POR) 67(3) 26

[QF] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs (3) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS)

Only expected win for Prarthana ... In the doubles Prarthana with Rishika scored hard fought win in match tie-break ... Next they r facing 3rd seed pair, who defeated Nidhi and her German partner.
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At $25K Hamamatsu ITF Women's Tournament, Japan

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,298) bt Yuka Higuchi (JPN,419) 63 63

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,298) vs (1) Zarina Diyas (KAZ,175)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Sanae Ohta (JPN) l Miyu Kato (JPN)/ Kaori Onishi (JPN) 46 26

Ankita started with straight sets win over her Japanese opponent but next she is facing top-seed Kazakh girl.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R1] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) bt Robert Mensah Kpodo (GHA,UNR) 63 61
[R1] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) bt (Q) Joseph Imeh Ubon (NGR,UNR) 75 46 60
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) bt Eric Vehovec (CAN,1612) 63 62
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt Clifford Enosoregbe (NGR,1786) 64 75

[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) vs (4) Ante Pavic (CRO,495)
[R2] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) vs Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699)
[R2] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs Lawal Shehu (NGR,1786)

Doubles
[R1] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) bt (4) Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Andre Gaspar Murta (POR) 46 63 10-8
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) l (WC) Candy Idoko (NGR)/ Daouda Ndiaye (SEN) w/o

[QF] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) vs Sunday Maku (NGR)/ Lawal Shehu (NGR)

Expected wins for our players in the first round though Ranjeet struggled against local qualifier ... In the second round Ranjeet against Vishnu is interesting match but I m favoring that one to fit-again Vishnu.

In the doubles Mithun scored upset win over 4th seed pair in match tie-break with his partner but Jeevan-Ranjeet withdrew from the tournament.
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At $10K Great Britain F22 Futures, Tipton

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,798) l Jesper Brunstorm (SWE,1648) 46 16

Doubles
[R1] (2) Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bye

[QF] (2) Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) vs Graeme DYCE (GBR)/ Calum GEE (GBR)

Terrible loss for Vijay Sundar against Swedish journeyman.
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At $10K Spain F36 Futures, El Prat De Llobregat

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,688) l (3) Lamine Ouahab (ALG,241) 16 61 26

Doubles
[R1] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Jason Kubler (AUS)/ Pol Toledo Bague (ESP) 76(4) 76(7)

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Bogdan Didenko (UKR)/ Alan Gadjiev (UZB)

Ramkumar gave fight but Algerian proved too strong in the third ... In the doubles he and Sanz needed to dig deep for their win.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (WC) Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) l (1) Sandra ZANIEWSKA (POL) 16 06
[R1] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) bt (Q) Iva IVKOVIC (SRB) 60 76(2)

Shweta won her first round match.

Badminton News

At $200K Yonex French Open 2013, Paris (Superseries)

[Q1] (4) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,41) bt Ville Lang (FIN,40) 21-14 21-15
[Q1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,43) l Lucas Corvee (FRA,84) 21-13 18-21 14-21
[Q1] (3) Anand Pawar (IND,33) bt Brice Leverdez (FRA,50) 21-17 23-21
[Q1] K. Srikanth (IND,30) bt Scott Evans (IRL,54) 21-19 21-15
[Q1] Sourabh Varma (IND,46) bt Matthieu Lo Ying Ping (FRA,82) 21-8 21-12

[Q1] (4) Sumeet Reddy (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) bt Vincent Espen (FRA)/ Didier Nourry (FRA) 21-10 21-7

[Q2] (4) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,41) bt Lucas Corvee (FRA,84) 21-12 21-15
[Q2] (3) Anand Pawar (IND,33) bt Joachim Persson (DEN,62) 16-21 21-11 21-19
[Q2] K. Srikanth (IND,30) bt Sourabh Varma (IND,46) 18-21 21-18 21-11

[Q2] (4) Sumeet Reddy (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Mads Conrad-Petersen (DEN)/ Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 7-21 8-21

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) vs (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) vs Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,35)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) vs Chen Yuekun (CHN,29)
[R1] (Q) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,41) vs Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (DEN,17)
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) vs (Q) Thomas Rouxel (FRA,83)
[R1] (Q) K. Srikanth (IND,30) vs Wing Ki Wong (HKG,12)

[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,51) vs Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,17)
[R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) vs (6) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,6)
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Nichaon Jindapon (THA,15)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Gebby Ristiyani Imawan (INA)/ Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah (INA)

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Robert Blair (SCO)/ Imogen Bankier (SCO)
[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (Q) Jacco Arends (NED)/ Selena Piek (NED)

This week also big Indian contingent is participating in French Superseries ... In the first round of qualifying surprising loss of Prannoy ... Srikanth and Sourabh r facing eachother in the final qualifying ... Anand is facing Danish player Joachim Persson and Sai is facing Frenchman Lucas Corvee, who scored upset win over Prannoy.

Sai scored comfortable win over against local player for qualifying in main-draw ... He is facing Danish player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus ... Anand Pawar scored comeback win against experienced Danish player Joachim Persson after losing the first game ... Anand is facing another qualifier Frenchman Thomas Rouxel in the main-draw ... Srikanth also joined our teammates in the main-draw with win over his hitting partner Sourabh Varma after losing the first game ... Next he is facing Hong Kong WR #12 Wong

In main-draw our male players having really tough draw ... Sindhu is facing WR #6 Ji Hyun Sung, who defeated Saina in last week's Danish Superseries ... Arundhati got lucky s few players withdrew and she is in the main-draw facing Thai girl.

Squash News

At $50K China Open, Shanghai

[Q1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt vs Jessica Turnbull (AUS,90) 3-0 (11-0, 11-6, 11-4) (20m)

[Q2] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs Misaki Kobayashi (JPN,34)

Expected straight games victory for Dipika in China open qualifying round ... Dipika scored dominating win losing only 10 points in this 20 minutes long match ... Next in the final qualifying round she is facing Japanese Kobayashi.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Light Fly 46-49kg
[R3] Nanao Thokchom (IND) l (8) Anthony Chacon Rivera (PUR) WP 0-3 (27-30, 28-29, 28-29)

Men's Bantam 56kg
[R3] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) bt Alberto Melian (ARG) WP 2-1 (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

[QF] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) vs Javid Chalabiyev (AZE)

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[R3] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Yves Ulysse (CAN) WP 2-1 (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

[QF] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) vs Yasnier Lopez (CUB)

Men's Heavy 91kg
[R3] Manpreet Singh (IND) l (1) Teymur Mammadov (AZE) WP 0-3 (27-30, 27-30, 27-30) R3 1:32

Nanao Thokchom lost against Puerto Rico boxer in the third round ... After losing the first round easily Nanao gave fighting performance in next two rounds but that wasn't enough for him.

Shiva started slowly and his Argentine opponent take advantage after winning the close first round ... But Shiva fought back and won the second round in close bout with a single poiint ... After that Shiva won the final round convincingly for entering in the quarters ... Next he is facing Azerbaijan boxer Javid Chalabiyev.

WR #1 Teymur Mammadov proved better boxer than Manpreet Singh in this bout ... But still Manpreet gave decent performance in his loss ... In all three rounds Teymur won but Manpreet faced warned and then bout awarded to Teymur in middle of the third round.

Canadian Yves gave really tough fight to Manoj Kumar in his loss ... All three rounds were close and won by boxer by a single point margin ... Manoj Kumar lost the first round but the he worked hard to won next two and enter into the quarter ... Next he is facing 2011 World cup silver medalist Cuban Yasnier Lopez, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Russian.

Tennis News

At €2M Swiss Indoors, Basel

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Need title for Rohan-Edouard for chance of qualifying for year-end ATP Tour Finals
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At $50K Melbourne Challenger, Australia

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,287) vs (Q) James Lemke (AUS,640)

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs (3) Bradley Klahn (USA)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

Interesting to see how Yuki perform in the singles.
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At Lagos $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Nigeria

[R1] Rishika Sunkara (IND,470) vs (3) Chanel Simmonds (RSA,170)
[R1] (Q) Kyra Shroff (IND,756) vs Anna Morgina (RUS,413)
[R1] (Q) Smriti Joon (IND,1200) vs (6) Naomi Broady (GBR,284)
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,591) vs (8) Conny Perrin (SUI,308)
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,505) vs (Q) Ester Masuri (ISR,725)

Doubles
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Zarah RAZAFIMAHATRATRA (MAD)/ Jasmin STEINHERR (GER)
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Michaela FRLICKA (GER) vs (3) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS)
[R1] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) vs Nina BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)/ Ines MURTA (POR)

Kyra and Smriti qualified for main-draw.
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At $25K Hamamatsu ITF Women's Tournament, Japan

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,298) vs Yuka Higuchi (JPN,419)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Sanae Ohta (JPN) vs Miyu Kato (JPN)/ Kaori Onishi (JPN)

Ankita is back on the tour and playing $25K tournament in Japan.
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At $15K+H Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R1] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) vs Robert Mensah Kpodo (GHA,UNR)
[R1] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) vs (Q) Joseph Imeh Ubon (NGR,UNR)
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) vs Eric Vehovec (CAN,1612)
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs Clifford Enosoregbe (NGR,1786)

Doubles
[R1] Mithun Murali (IND)/ Tunde Segodo (BEN) vs (4) Alexei Filenkov (RUS)/ Andre Gaspar Murta (POR)
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs (WC) Candy Idoko (NGR)/ Daouda Ndiaye (SEN)

Jeevan, Vishu and Ranjeet r in bottom draw ... They r facing eachother from the second round.
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At $10K Spain F36 Futures, El Prat De Llobregat

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,688) vs (3) Lamine Ouahab (ALG,241)

Doubles
[R1] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Jason Kubler (AUS)/ Pol Toledo Bague (ESP)

Another tough draw for Ramkumar in the singles.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (WC) Tanisha ROHIRA (IND) vs (1) Sandra ZANIEWSKA (POL)
[R1] (7) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs Ola ABOU ZEKRY (EGY)
[R1] (Q) Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) vs Sneha PADAMATA (IND)
[R1] (3) Shweta RANA (IND) vs (Q) Iva IVKOVIC (SRB)

Hopefully our players will perform as per their seedings.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Light 60kg
[R2] Vikas Malik (IND) bt Dawid Michelus (POL) WP 2-1 (28-28!, 29-27, 28!-28)

[R3] Vikas Malik (IND) vs (5) Miklos Varga (HUN)

Men's Welter 69kg
[R2] Mandeep Jangra (IND) l Serdar Hudayberdiyev (TKM) WP 2-0 (18-18, 17-19) R2 2:17

Men's Light Heavy 81kg
[R2] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt (9) Petru Ciobanu (MDA) WP 2-1 (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)

[R3] Sumit Sangwan (IND) vs (8) Siarhei Novikau (BLR)

Sumit scored upset win over 9th seed Moldovan boxer Petru Ciobanu ... Sumit won the first 2 rounds comfortably and then he was relaxed in the third round ... Ciobanu take advantage of it and won the final round by 1 point ... In the third round Sumit is facing 8th Belarusian boxer.

Vikas Malik won very close bout against his Polish opponent Dawid Michelus ... This match was very close as two rounds ended tied on the points ... In the first when both players tied 28-all then referees preferred Vikas as winner of the round ... Vikas won the second round more convincingly but again both boxers tied 28-all in the third round ... But this referees preferred winner of the round was Dawid ... Next Vikas is facing 5th seed Hungarian boxer Verga.

Mandeep had close bout against Turkmenistan boxer but warning cost him dearly in the second round ... After close first round Mandeep opponent's sustained cut and referee warned Mandeep and in end referee stopped bout late in the second round and awarded match to Turkmenistan's Serdar Hudayberdiyev.

Squash News

At $35K Macau Open, Taipa


Final
(3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (4) Rachael Grinham (AUS,16) 3-1 (12-10, 5-11, 11-7 11-9) (42m)

Dipika lifted her first title of the season beating Australian Rachael Grinham in four games ... This was the seventh Women's Squash Association (WSA) title of Dipika's career ... Yesterday she defeated Rachael's sister former WR #2 Natalie in the semi-final.

In this match both players played very tight first game, they were tied at 5-all then 10-all but after that Dipika won next two rallies to won the first game in extra points ... Rachel came back strongly and dominated the second game which she won comfortably ... After that Dipika reduced her errors and played excellent squash ... From 5-all Dipika take control of the third game and won after winning successive rallies ... Again very close battle in the fourth game ... Both players exchanges lead multiple time but again at 9-all Dipika played two excellent shots for winning the title.

Dipika Pallikal - "It seems all the summer training is paying off now. I trained really hard on and off the court. Beating Natalie in the semifinals gave me a lot of confidence. She is the most experienced player on the circuit."

"It is time I beat the top-10 players regularly. One of the reasons I have started beating them is Ken Way.",(the sports psychologist, who has also worked with Dipika's coach and five-time World Open winner Sarah Fitz-Gerald.).

"Ken has helped me a lot. Earlier it was frustrating to come close to beating the higher-ranked players. With his help, and Sarah of course, I am playing the mental side of the game better."

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Light Fly 46-49kg
[R2] Nanao Thokchom (IND) bt Aqeel Ahmed (SCO) WP 3-0 (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

[R3] Nanao Thokchom (IND) vs (8) Anthony Chacon Rivera (PUR)

Men's Bantam 56kg
[R2] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) bt Mario Fernandez (PHI) WP 3-0 (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

[R3] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) vs Alberto Melian (ARG)

Men's Middle 75kg
[R2] Vijender Singh (IND) l (5) Jason Quigley (IRL) WP 0-2 (28-28, 26-30, 26-30)

Men's Super Heavy +91kg
[R1] Satish Kumar (IND) bt Mirodzhidin Karimov (TJK) WP 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

[R2] Satish Kumar (IND) vs Yan Sudzilouski (BUL)

Our most experience boxer Vijender Singh lost against 5th seed Irish boxer Quigley in the second round ... The first round ended on tie but afterwards Quigley dominated and won next two rounds convincingly.

But our other three young boxers won their respective bouts ... Nanao Thokchom started with winning the first round comfortably but in next two rounds his Scottish opponent stretched him ... Both these rounds Nanao won by a single point ... Next he is facing Puerto Rico 8th seed boxer Rivera.

Filipino boxer gave surprisingly tough fight to Shiva ... Shiva won the first round by single point advantage but then won the second round convincingly ... Again in the third round Shiva needed to fight hard and won it by a single point ... Next he is facing Argentine boxer.

Young Satish Kumar started with convincing victory over Mirodzhidin Karimov ... Satish Kumar won all three rounds comfortably ... In the second round he is facing Bulgarian boxer Yan Sudzilouski.

Squash News

At $35K Macau Open, Taipa

[SF] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (1) Natalie Grinham (NED,8) 3-2 (11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9) (68m)

[F] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (4) Rachael Grinham (AUS,16)

Dipika scored huge upset win over top-10 Dutch player Natalie Grinham in 68 minutes ... Dipika won the first game but afterwards Natalie won next two games as she increased tempo of the game to take 2-1 lead ... But after that she was tired and Dipika take advantage of it after winning the fourth game comfortably ... In the decider both players tried hard but Dipika won it playing important points smartly ... In the final she is facing Aussie girl Rachael Grinham.
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At $50K Macau Open, Taipa

[SF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) l (1) Omar Mosaad (EGY,10) 1-3 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11) (81m)

Saurav lost after giving valiant effort against top-seed Omar Mosaad in 81 minutes match ... After losing the first game Saurav won the second but after that Omar won next two in this long match ... In this match Saurav got injured in the first game but still he troubled Omar with his quick game.

Tennis News

At $10K Germany F19 Futures, Essen

Doubles Final
(3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) l (2) Andreas Mies (GER)/ Oscar Otte (GER) W/O

Bala and his Serbian partner Miki Jankovic gave walkover to their opponents in the final.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[SF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) l (5) Elise MERTENS (BEL) 26 36

Junior WR #7 Elise proved too strong for Natasha.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India


Final
Aditya Mehta (IND,72) l (4) Ding Junhui (CHN,4) 0-5 (36-76(52), 0-87(81), 0-107(107), 1-93(93), 1-116(100))

History was already created but I was hoping for icing on it with the title win for Aditya ... The final was anti-climax and Chinese Ding Junhui had a different idea ... In the final he totally outperformed Aditya and won the title convincingly ... Junhui won the best of 9 final by 5-0 ... He scored two century and three fifty+ breaks ... Aditya managed to won only 38 points in the final and in that he won 36 points in 1st frame, that shows us dominance of Junhui ... Still creditable performance by Aditya, who reached in the final which gave him £25,000 prize money and importantly 4000 ranking points ... Pankaj Advani also won £9,000 prize money and 2,500 points from this ranking tournament.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Heavy 91kg
[R2] Manpreet Singh (IND) bt Kaddy Agnes (SEY) WP 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

[R3] Manpreet Singh (IND) vs (1) Teymur Mammadov (AZE)

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[R2] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Fatih Keles (TUR) WP 2-1 (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

[R3] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) vs Yves Ulysse (CAN) [21 OCT]

In heavyweight category Manpreet won his bout comfortably and enter into the third round ... He controlled bout from beginning and didn't give any real opportunity to his opponent ... Next he is facing current WR #1 Azerbaijan boxer Teymur Mammadov.

In light welterweight category Manoj Kumar had a close call ... He won the very close bout ... He lost the first round with a single point but then won next two rounds by single point margin for win against Turkish boxer ... Next he is facing Canadian boxer,

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2013, Odense (Superseries)

[QF] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) l (3) Pengyu Du (CHN,3) 11-21 19-21
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l (6) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,6) 21-13 18-21 19-21

Saina failed to defend her title and lost in 66 minutes against Korean Sung ... In the first game both players were exchanging lead till 10-all ... From 10-11 Saina opened 15-12 lead and then won 6 points in a row from 15-13 to won this game ... In the second game also both were exchanging lead till 10-all but after that Sung take 19-12 lead ... Saina saved 3 game points from 15-20 but Sung converted 4th game point ... In the decider also both players were exchanging lead through out the game ... From 13-all Saina opened 3 points lead but Sung won next 3 points for catching Saina at 16-all ... Again Sung take 2 points lead after winning 3 points from 16-17 ... This time Saina caught her at 19-all but Sung won next 2 points for completing victory ... This was Sung's first victory over Saina after four losses.

Pengyu Du defeated Guru in 47 minutes ... Pengyu Du won the first game comfortably after taking control from the start ... Guru gave fighting performance in the second game ... Guru take 7-3 lead which he increased to 12-7 but then he failed to take advantage of it ... Pengyu won next 6 points to take 13-12 lead ... Again Guru take couple of points lead 16-14 but this time also Pengyu fought back to take 19-17 lead ... Guru made it 19-all but Pengyu won next 2 points and completed victory in straight games ... Still good performance by Guru in this Danish Super series.

Squash News

At $35K Macau Open, Taipa

[QF] (6) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) l (1) Natalie Grinham (NED,8) 1-3 (7-11 11-13 12-10 9-11) (51m)
[QF] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (8) Delia Arnold (MAS,33) 3-0 (11-8 11-7 11-8) (45m)

[SF] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (1) Natalie Grinham (NED,8)

Joshana lost closely fought battle against top-seed Natalie in four games ... After losing the first game Joshana was neck to neck with Natalie in next three games ... In that two games went to tie-breaks and one won by Joshana ... In the fourth game also both players had chance but Natalie was better on the court.

Dipika scored straight games victory over Malaysian girl but Delia gave really tough challenge to Dipika in each game ... Next she is facing top-seed Dutch girl Natalie Grinham.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Macau Open, Taipa

[QF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt Max Lee (HKG,31) 3-0 (12-10 11-8 11-5) (55m)

[SF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs (1) Omar Mosaad (EGY,10)

Saurav scored straight games victory in 55 minutes ... The first game was very close which went to tie-break which Saurav won ... In the second game also Max troubled Saurav before Saurav winning it ... In the final game Saurav gave solid performance ... In the semi-final Saurav is facing top-seed and top-10 Egyptian player Omar Mosaad.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India

[SF] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) bt (5) Stephen Maguire (SCO,5) 4-3 (84-0, 137(81)-0, 132(132)-0, 0-72(68), 10-53, 6-67(61), 67-45)

[F] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) vs (4) Ding Junhui (CHN,4)

Aditya is in the final of Indian open with another thrilling win over top-5 player Scottish Stephen Maguire ... Aditya played exceptionally well and didn't give chance to Stephen on the table in first few frames ... Stephen Maguire failed to score a single point in first 3 frames on his visit ... Aditya won the first frame with substantial small breaks ... In the second frame he scored 81 points break for winning this frame ... Aditya continued with his good form and scored this match's only century break and take 3-0 lead ... At this point it was looking like Aditya was going to steamrolled Stephen Maguire in one-sided match ... But Stephen used all his experience and then played very tactical game on the table ... He started to gave very few chance to Aditya and suddenly Aditya was under pressure ... Stephen won 4th frame with 68 points break ... In 5th frame both players played with very safe approach and again Stephen won this low scoring frame ... Stephen was looking dangerous and he was successfully kept Aditya under pressure ... Stephen scored 61 points break in 6th frame and catch Aditya 3-all ...In the final frame momentum was with Stephen but Aditya kept his nerve and waited for opportunity ... Whenever Aditya got opportunity he was building small breaks to open up the lead ... His this strategy worked wonderfully and that put extra pressure on Stephen ... Aditya kept lead throughout this frame for his first final of ranking tournament of pro-tour ... In the final he is facing Chinese sensation WR #4 Ding Junhui, who is already win 2 tournament in 2013 including big Shanghai Masters.

Tennis News

At $15K Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) l Sunday Maku (NGR)/ Lawal Shehu (NGR) 63 36 6-10
[QF] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Pekun Akingbade (NGR)/ Kehinde Alade (NGR) 60 61

[SF] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Borna Coric (CRO)/ Dino Marcan (CRO) 61 36 10-12

Dominating win for 2nd seed Vishu-Hiroki against local pair ... In the semis they r faced Croatian pair in which young talented Borna Coric was playing ... Other hand Jeevan-Ranjeet pair lost against local pair in match tie-break after winning the first set.

In end Croatian puzzle was tough to crack for Vishu-Hiroki in the semis ... They started confidently winning the first set losing only a single game but Croatian fought back and won the second set ... In closely fought the match tie-break Croatian pair prevailed in extra points.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (7) Valeria PROSPERI (ITA) 63 63

[SF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs (5) Elise MERTENS (BEL)

Natasha scored straight sets win over Italian girl Prosperi ... In the semis she is facing Belgian junior WR #7 Elise Mertens.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India

[QF] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) bt Pankaj Advani (IND,70) 4-3 (29-70, 70-0, 68(51)- 82, 58-43, 65(55)-24), 45-66, 72-0)

[SF] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) vs (5) Stephen Maguire (SCO,5)

Aditya become first Indian to reach in the semi-final of big snooker professional ranking event ... He defeated compatriot Pankaj Advani in exciting match which lasted more than 5 hours ... This match was played with lot of passion, both players started with attacking game ... Pankaj won the first frame making less mistakes ... From the second frame both players played highly tactical and safe game ... Aditya won this frame with timely small but significant breaks ... In the third frame Aditya scored first 50 break of the match but he made silly mistake and after that Pankaj produced superb comeback when he was more than 40 points behind ... In end both players playing safe shots and wasn't giving chance to their opponent ... In end Pankaj won this an hour long frame ... The fourth frame was against very complicated and tactical ... This closely fought frame won by Aditya and made score 2-all ... In fifth frame Aditya scored his second fifty break and this time kept advantage to won this frame ... First time in the match Aditya take lead 3-2 ... Sixth frame was another closely fought and Panakj used his all experience to won in the end to made it 3-all ... In the final frame Aditya played flawless snooker and didn't give any chance to Pankaj and scored timely couple 30s for deserving win ... Next he is facing WR #5 Scottish Stephen Maguire.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Middle 75kg
[R1] Vijender Singh (IND) bt Hampus Henriksson (SWE) WP 3-0 (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)

[R2] Vijender Singh (IND) vs (5) Jason Quigley (IRL) [19 OCT]

Vijender Singh started with a win under new rule change of playing without headgear ... But he managed to win with points which was lot closer than expected ... In the second round he is facing 5h seed Irish boxer.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India

[R3] Pankaj Advani (IND,70) bt Stuart Bingham (ENG,12) 4-3 (99(53)-26, 1-117(117), 80(67)-15, 69(53)-16, 11-72(72), 8-119(119), 86(86)-30)
[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) bt Mark J Williams (WAL,18) 4-2 (34-65, 79(54)-21, 85(66)-0, 45-74, 63-49, 70-41)

[QF] Pankaj Advani (IND,70) vs Aditya Mehta (IND,72)

Dream quarter-final for inaugural Indian open for Indian fans, Pankaj vs Aditya ... Both won their respective matches in contrasting style.

Pankaj's match against Stuart was free flowing as both players were scoring big breaks ... In this match Pankaj scored four 50+ breaks and other hand Stuart scored 2 century and 1 fifty breaks ... Pankaj started with winning 1st frame with 53 points break ... Stuart responded with century break and won 2nd frame ... In 3rd and 4th frames Pankaj scored 67 points and 53 points break, those helped him to won these frames ... Stuart tried fightback from 1-3 down as he scored 72 points break for winning 5th frame ... Immediately in next frame Stuart scored another big century frame and take match into the decider, 3-all ... Pankaj rose to occasion scoring 86 points break, his biggest of the match, and completed victory.

Before this match Aditya faced Mark Williams three times on the pro-tour and all three times he lost against Mark so Aditya started this match underdog ... This match wasn't free flowing scoring like Pankaj-Stuart match, in this match Aditya and Mark played tactical game ... Only two 50+ breaks scored in this match and both those breaks scored by Aditya ... Mark started positively and with substantial small breaks he won 1st frame but Aditya responded strongly ... He scored 54 points break to won 2nd frame and then scored another 66 points break in 3rd frame to take 2-1 lead ... Mark won 4th frame with small breaks ... 5th frame was very close which Aditya managed to win and he kept that momentum in next frame ... Aditya won 6th frame with small breaks and completed his first win over Mark Williams.

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2013, Odense (Superseries)

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) l (5) Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,5) 11-21 15-21
[R2] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) bt Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) 21-15 21-16
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,30) 21-12 21-7

[QF] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) vs (3) Pengyu Du (CHN,3)
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs (6) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,6)

Comfortable win for Guru against his senior countryman in 35 minutes ... In both games Guru was leading against Ajay almost throughout the match ... Next he is facing Chinese WR #3 Pengyu Du in the quarter final ... Saina also joined him in the quarters with very dominating win inside an half hour against her Scottish opponent losing only 19 points ... Next she is facing WR #6 Korean Ji Hyun Sung ... But Kashyap failed to raise his game against local player Jorgensen and lost in only 35 minutes.

Squash News

At $50K Macau Open, Taipa

[Q1] Ravi Dixit (IND,116) l Leo Au (HKG,46) 10-12 11-7 3-11 8-11

[R1] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt (Q) Mazen Hesham Sabry (EGY,38) 3-1 (11-4 9-11 11-9 13-11) (55m)

[QF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs Max Lee (HKG,31)

Egyptian qualifier Sabry stretches Saurav in the first round ... Saurav won the first game easily but after that Sabry produced excellent comeback ... He troubled Saurav with his deceptive shots and won the second game ... In the third game also Sabry was using deceptive shots cleverly but this Saurav handled him better and won this game ... In the fourth game Sabry had a chance of taking match into decider but he failed to convert game ball and Saurav completed victory on extra points ... Next he is facing Hong Kong player Max Lee.
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At $35K Macau Open, Taipa

[R1] (6) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) bt Siyoli Waters (RSA,28) 3-0 (12-10 11-3 11-4) (34m)
[R1] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (Q) Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,49) 3-1 (11-5 11-8 14-16 11-8) (47m)

[QF] (6) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) vs (1) Natalie Grinham (NED,8)
[QF] (3) Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (8) Delia Arnold (MAS,33)

Dipika started with tight win over Egyptian qualifier Ibrahim ... After losing the first game easily Ibrahim troubled Dipika with her game ... Ibrahim was leading in the second game but Dipika catch up and won it ... In the third game also same happened as Ibrahim was leading and had game ball at 10-9 but Dipika saved and take it in tie-break ... This time Ibrahim won this game on extra points ... The fourth game was also close but Dipika used her experience to finish it off ... Next she is facing 8th seed Malaysian opponent Delia Arnold ... South African take first set in tie-break but Joshna won it on extra points ... After that Joshna didn't give much chance to Waters ... Joshna is facing top-seed and WR #8 Dutch girl Natalie Grinham.

Tennis News

At $15K Australia F10 Futures, Sydney

[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) l (6) Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,348) 26 57

Doubles Final
(3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l (1) Dane Propoggia (AUS)/ Jose Statham (NZL) 46 36

Yuki struggled in windy condition and his doubles partner Uchiyama take full advantage of it ... He defeated Yuki in straight sets ... In the doubles also Yuki struggled and lost the final in straight sets against top-seed pair with Uchiyama.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Lagos, Nigeria

[QF] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) l (7) Naomi BROADY (GBR,284) 16 26

Doubles
[QF] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) vs Gioia BARBIERI (ITA)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) 63 26 7-10

Broady proved too strong for Prarthana ... Kyra-Dalila failed to taking advantage of beating seeded pair in previous round ... They won the first set but then lost advantage to lose the match.
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At $15K Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) l (6) Borna Coric (CRO,531) 76(5) 26 16
[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) l Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,681) 26 62 46
[QF] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) l (5) Ante Pavic (CRO,489) 16 26

Vishnu broke Borna in 6th game to lead 4-2 but WR #1 junior immediately broke him to make 4-3 ... In tie-break Vishu take 4-1 lead but again Borna made it 4-all ... Vishnu take crucial mini-break on 11th point and hold his serve for winning the first set ... But after that Borna blow off the challenge of Vishnu and won next two sets losing only three games ... Jeevan also lost against Portuguese youngster in three sets ... After losing the first set Jeevan made comeback winning the second set comfortably ... But Andre kept his nerve and won the third set with single break advantage ... Mithun failed to gave any fight to to Pavic.
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At $10K Germany F19 Futures, Essen

[R2] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,457) l Alexander Ritschard (SUI,747) 64 46 26

Doubles
[QF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) bt Peter Torebko (GER)/ Holger Zuehlsdorff-Pavlovic (GER) 36 63 10-7

[SF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) bt Michel Dornbusch (GER)/ Jonas Koeing (GER) W/O

Bala started well and won the first set but after that Ritschard take control of the match ... He scored upset win after winning next two sets.

In the doubles Bala is in the final with his Serbian partner Miki Jankovic ... They needed comeback win in the quarter final after losing the first set ... They won the second set and kept momentum for winning the match tie-break ... In the semi-final their opponents gave them walkover so safe entry in the final.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Ella LEIVO (FIN) 62 61

[QF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs (7) Valeria PROSPERI (ITA)

Comfortable win for Natasha against Finnish girl ... Next she is facing Italian girl.
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At $10K Spain F35 Futures, Sant Cugat

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Jordi Munoz-Abreu (VEN)/ Mark Vervoort (NED) 46 64 6-10

Ramkumar-Sanz lost in match tie-break against unranked pair.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Welter 69kg
[R1] Mandeep Jangra (IND) bt Selemani Kidunda (TAN) WP 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)

[R2] Mandeep Jangra (IND) vs Serdar Hudayberdiyev (TKM)

Mandeep won his first bout on points and enter into the second round of World championship ... Next he is facing Hudayberdiyev.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India

[R2] Pankaj Advani (IND,70) bt Mark Allen (ENG,11) 4-2 (48-72, 81(55)-0, 92(71)-5, 45-87, 60-42, 73-27)
[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) bt Hammad Miah (ENG,99) 4-1 (20-97(97), 74-2, 69-27, 68(67)-0, 69-60)

[R3] Pankaj Advani (IND,70) vs Stuart Bingham (ENG,12)
[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) vs Mark J Williams (WAL,18)

Aditya failed to produce his regular game on the table and Hammad take advantage of it winning the first frame with big 90+ break ... From the second frame Aditya recovered and played short effective breaks to won next four frames ... In this match Aditya managed only single fifty break and couple of 40s breaks ... So despite struggling with his putting Aditya won this match but he need to produce A+ game in the third round as he is facing Wales player Mark J Williams, who scored upset win over WR #2 Mark Selby.

Pankaj played exceptional match to bear North Irish WR #11 Mark Allen ... After losing the first frame Pankaj fought back and won next two frames with couple of 50s breaks ... Allen won 4th frame to made it 2-all ... After that both players fought hard but Pankaj counted more on visit with small significant breaks and completed victory ... Next he is facing WR #12 Stuart Bingham.

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2013, Odense (Superseries)

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) bt Daren Liew (MAS,16) 11-4 Retd
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) bt (8) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,8) 21-11 21-14
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) bt Yun Hu (HKG,11) 21-17 21-14
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) l (2) Long Chen (CHN,2) 11-21 6-21

[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,53) l (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,1) 17-21 15-21
[R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) l Eriko Hirose (JPN,18) 19-21 20-22
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Stefani Stoeva (BUL,64) 21-16 21-12

[R1] Sumeet Reddy (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Johannes Schoettler (GER) 14-21 14-21
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (Q) Yong Dae Lee (KOR)/ Seung Chan Shin (KOR) 14-21 13-21

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) vs (5) Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,5)
[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) vs Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24)

[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,30)

Ajay scored dominating win over top-8 Thai Boonsak Ponsana in 32 minutes ... In this match Ajay didn't give chance of settling for Boonsak and controlled it from the start ... Guru also joined him with win over former top-5 Yun Hu in 39 minutes ... In this match also Guru didn't look under pressure and played to his strength for a win in straight games ... Kashyap's opponeet Malaysian Daren Liew retired due to injury after first break ... Saina also scored comfortable win over her Bulgarian opponent in 26 minutes ... Arundhati gacve decent fight to WR #1 Xuerui Li in their match ... Other hand Sindhu lost another close match against experienced Hirose in 50 minutes ... Both games were close, in the second game Sindhu had a game point also which she failed to convert ... So this was Sindhu's 3rd loss against Hirose in three matches ... Anand also lost one-sided match against Long Chen.

In the second round interesting match between Ajay and Guru ... Saina having winnable match against Scottish player ... Kashyap is facing local top-5 player Jan O Jorgensen.

Tennis News

At $$824K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) 46 63 5-10

Big missed opportunity for Divij-Purav to going deep in ATP tour tournament ... They lost the first set then shared early breaks with opponents but then won the second set from 3-all ... After that Divij-Purav had nightmarish match tie-break ... They were early 1-6 down with triple mini-breaks and they never recovered from that.
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At $15K Australia F10 Futures, Sydney

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) bt Gavin van Peperzeel (AUS,586) 64 63

[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) vs Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,348)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin van Peperzeel (AUS) 76(3) 62

[F] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs (1) Dane Propoggia (AUS)/ Jose Statham (NZL)

Yuki scored comfortable straight sets win in the second round ... Next he is facing his doubles partner Yasutaka ... In the doubles Yuki-Yasutaka r in the final ... In the first set their opponents take them in tie-break but after that they won the match with double break ... In the final they r facing top-seed pair.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Lagos, Nigeria

[R2] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) bt (3) Eva BIRNEROVA (CZE,145) 61 62

[R2] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) vs (7) Naomi BROADY (GBR,284)

Doubles
[R1] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) bt (4) Melanie KLAFFNER (AUT)/ Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO) 63 63
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Michaela FRLICKA (GER) l (3) Fatma AL NABHANI (OMA)/ Cristina DINU (ROU) 26 26
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Jasmin STEINHERR (GER) 63 26 7-10

[QF] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) vs Gioia BARBIERI (ITA)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS)

Huge win by >Prarthana against former top-60 Czech player in straight sets ... Prarthana broke Eva 6 times in the match and lost her serve twice in this one-sided win ... Really big win for Prarthana and really hoping that she built on this win ... Next she is facing former top-200 British player Naomi Broady.

In the doubles Kyra-Dalila scored upset straight sets win over 4th seed pair but our other two pairs lost ... Rishika-Prarthana lost in the match tie-break after winning the first set ... Nidhi and her German partner failed to gave challenge to 3rd seed pair.
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At $15K Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) bt (4) Dino Marcan (CRO,447) 62 76(5)
[R2] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) l Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,681) 67(5) 16
[R2] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt Sanni Adamu (NGR,1499) 62 63
[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) bt (WC) Joseph Imeh Ubon (NGR,UNR) 64 46 60

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) vs (6) Borna Coric (CRO,531)
[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,681)
[QF] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) vs (5) Ante Pavic (CRO,489)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Henry Atseye (NGR)/ Eric Vehovec (CAN) 62 62

[QF] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Pekun Akingbade (NGR)/ Kehinde Alade (NGR)

After longtime Vishnu scored upset(?) win over higher ranked opponent ... His Croatian opponent was also former top-300 player like Vishnu ... After winning the first set easily Vishnu faced stiff challenge from Marcan but he kept focus and finished the match in two sets after winning the tie-break ... Next he is facing tough challenge of junior WR #1 and very talented 16 yrs old Croatian Borna Coric, who is current junior US open champion and also reached in the semis of junior Australian open and junior French open in 2013 ... In the doubles also Vishu and Kondo started with comfortable win.

Jeevan and Mithun scored contrasting win over their Nigerian opponent ... Jeevan won his match comfortably but Mithun required three sets ... Mithun's next opponent is 5th seed Croatian Pavic ... Jeevan is facing talented Portuguese teenager Andre, who scored upset win over Ranjeet in the second round.
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At $15K USA F27 Futures, Mansfield, Texas

[R1] (5) Vijayant Malik (IND,494) l (Q) Jakob Sude (GER,1786) 26 36
[R1] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,357) l Andrew Harris (AUS,809) 76(6) 26 67(2)

Doubles
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l Mindaugas Celedinas (LTU)/ Marek Pesicka (CZE) 57 46

Turned to be horrible US futures for Indians ... Shocking losses of Sanam and Vijayant against very lowly ranked opponents ... Sanam won the first set after tight tie-break but then he lost momentum and conceded the second set easily ... And in the third set tie-break Aussie Harris proved strong for Sanam ... Vijayant failed to gave decent fight to German qualifier and in the doubles also Sanam-Vijayant lost in the first round.
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At $10K Germany F19 Futures, Essen

[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) bt Jan Oliver Sadlowski (GER)/ Johann Willems (GER) 63 75

[QF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) vs Peter Torebko (GER)/ Holger Zuehlsdorff-Pavlovic (GER)

Bala-Miki started with straight sets win and next they r facing another German pair.
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At $10K Spain F35 Futures, Sant Cugat

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Javier Fernandez (ESP)/ Sergio Martos Gornes (ESP) 63 61

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Jordi Munoz-Abreu (VEN) / Mark Vervoort (NED)

Ramkumar-Sanz scored comfortable win against their Spanish opponents ... In the semis they r facing 3rd seed Spanish-Dutch pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (WC) Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) l Ksenia DMITRIEVA (RUS) 26 57
[R1] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) l Liudmila VASILYEVA (RUS) 16 26

Expected losses of our players.