Tennis News

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

Singles Final
(4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325) 62 62

Ankita wins her first $25K title comfortably beating British girl Katy Dunne losing only four games ... Ankita played percentage tennis but helped lot by Katy's erratic game ... With this win Ankita will enter into top-250 in ranking and will get chance of playing in Australian open qualifying.

Tennis News

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

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Cristina Ene (ROU,576) 61 36 63

[F] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325)

Ankita enter into her third $25K tournament final and this is her first $25K final in India ... In last two finals she lost but hoping for third time lucky ... In the final she is facing British teenager Katy Dunne ...In the semis she beat Romanian Ene in three sets to book berth in the final.

Badminton News

2014 Year-end rankings of Indian Players

Men's Singles
4 Srikanth Kidambi
16 Parupalli Kashyap
21 H. S. Prannoy
39 B. Sai Praneeth
40 Sourabh Varma
43 R. M. V. Gurusaidutt
45 Anand Pawar

Women's Singles
4 Saina Nehwal
11 P. V. Sindhu
40 P. C. Thulasi

Men's Doubles
38 Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy
40 Pranaav Jerry Chopra / Akshay Dewalkar

Women's Doubles
24 Jwala Gutta / Ashwini Ponnappa
47 Pradnya Gadre / N. Sikki Reddy

Mixed Doubles
51 Ashwini Ponnappa / Tarun Kona
52 Aparna Balan / Arun Vishnu

Srikanth Kidambi climbs to his career best WR #4 ranking after his BWF World SuperSeries Finals semi-final appearance.

Our 7 male players in top-50 singles ranking ... Srikanth is a find of year for us but next year he need to show consistent performance to remain in top-10 rankings ... Prannoy is also showing rapid improvement ... I am hoping injury free Guru can be in top-15 ... Other hand Anand and Sourabh are stagnant.

In women's singles Saina is showing vast improvement in her overall game after poor 2013 but in 2014 Sindhu fail to show improvement ... All over year she was inconsistent ... Thulasi is showing steady progress but she still need to travel long journey.

In doubles only re-united pair of Ashwini-Jwala starting to show some promise ... Other pairs are far behind though I am hoping improve performance by our young male pairs of Manu Attri-B. Sumeeth Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar in 2015 ... But in mixed doubles currently we don't have a single proper pair.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461) 64 63

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Cristina ENne (ROU,576)

Ankita score comfortable straight sets win over her Serbian opponent Nina Stojanovic ... In the semis she is facing unseeded Romanian opponent Cristina Ene.

Tennis News

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

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558) 63 67(3) 61
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) l (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228) 46 76(4) 67(6)

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461)

Ankita get stretched by Thai qualifier in the second round ... In the quarters she is facing 18 yrs old Serbian Stojanovic ... Other hand Prarthana give valiant efforts against top-230 Shapatava ... After losing first set Prarthana gave errific performance ... She won second set in tie-break but lost final set tie-break in extra points.

Tennis News

At Chennai Open 2015, India

After Somdev and RamK receiving Indian wild-cards for the singles yesterday doubles wild-cards are announced ... Mahesh Bhupathi-Saketh Myneni and local pair N.Sriram Balaji - Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan are received doubles wild-card ... In that Mahesh is making comeback on pro tour after nine moths gap and hopefully he help Saki to defend last year's semi-final appearance points.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Pune, India

[R1] (1) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR) bt (WC) Sharrmadaa Baluu (IND) 61 60
[R1] Ayaka Okuno (JPN) bt (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) 62 64
[R1] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) bt (Q) Katarzyna Kawa (POL) 62 61
[R1] (4) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 63 26 76(6)
[R1] (8) Veronika Kapshay (UKR) bt (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND) 75 75
[R1] Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR) bt (WC) Natasha Palha (IND) 60 76(2)

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558)
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) vs (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228)

Rutuja and Karman qualified for main-draw with top-500 wins ... In first round Rutuja gave terrific fight to Ankita ... After losing first set Rutuja fought back to win second comfortably ... In the final set Rutuja take set to tie-break but Ankita won it in extra points ... In next round Ankita is facing Thai qualifier.

With Ankita only Prarthana qualify for second round ... She defeated Polish qualifier comfortably but next she is facing top-225 type Shapatava ... In other matches wild-card Mihika Yadav give fighting performance against 8th seed Ukrainian.

Golf News

At $500K Dubai Open, UAE

1 Arjun Atwal (IND) 73 65 68 66 -16 $90,000
T11 Shiv Kapur (IND) 69 69 69 71 -10 $7,912.50
T11 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 71 66 69 72 -10 $7,912.50
T31 Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 73 71 70 68 -6 $3,862.50

Arjun Atwal ended a frustrating four-year title drought by winning the inaugural Dubai Open by one stroke on Sunday after Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun bogeyed the final hole ... This is is his first title since 2010 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour and first win on Asian Tour since 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open.

Shiv Kapur was joint leader with Arjun after 3rd round but today he managed only PAR to find outside top-10 ... Gagan was also in top-5, he also finishes outside top-10.

Arjun Atwal - “This one feels really special.”
“I think the last time I won on the Asian Tour was 2008. I’ve gone through some really tough times the last few years with injuries and losing my card on the PGA TOUR and all that stuff. It was at a point where I almost wanted to quit. Thanks to a few of my family and friends, I didn’t, and here we are.”
“I just found a little something in my putting. I adjusted to something that I used to do because the greens in Asia are a little bit slower than the ones I’m used to on the PGA TOUR. Just making that adjustment got me rolling the ball a little bit better, so I made some putts.”
“It was like just more relief than anything else that the day is over. I was feeling a little bit with my nerves but it was a gift today. I haven’t won a tournament like this where someone has actually gifted it to me. I got lucky.”
“He’s a great young player. I couldn’t believe he’s only 19. He’s old enough to be my son. It’s a tough loss for him but I’m sure he’s going to win a lot.”

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9) 21-11 13-21 9-21
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Long Chen (CHN,2) 18-21 9-21

Tzu Ying Tai hands another loss to Saina, this time in this big SuperSeries Finals semi-final ... It looks like Tzu has Saina's number, she also defeated Saina in recently concluded Hong Kong Superseries ... Here also Saina started confidently for winning the first game but after that it was all Tzu show ... With this loss Saina miss huge opportunity of winning Superseries Finals title as in rare occasion there was not a single Chinese girl in the semis.

Srikanth lose in straight games against in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis and with that Indian challenge get over in the tournament ... In first game from start Srikanth take lead ... He increased his lead to 16-10 but from here Long Chen fought back ... From 15-18 he won next six points in a row for winning this game ... Long Chen dominated second game and won it comfortably ... Still creditable performance by Srikanth, who managed to reach in the semis of his first Superseries Finals.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) l (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3) 2-5 (36-84, 71-8, 74-4, 38-81(56), 0-81(74), 43-74, 20-71(50))

Multiple time World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan score expected win over Aditya but this time Aditya give decent fight ... Before this match Aditya never won a frame against Ronnie but this time he take 2-1 lead after winning 2nd and 3rd frames ... After that Ronnie take control and won the match scoring three 50+ breaks.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 15-21 21-7 21-17
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-721-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 21-17 12-21 14-21
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 23-21 7-21 21-15

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9)
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) vs Long Chen (CHN,2)

Saina score comeback win over Yeon Ju Bae after losing the first game ... With this win Saina top Group A and facing Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai in the semis.

Srikanth lose after despite starting well against Jan O Jorgensen ... Srikanth won first game but after that he failed to keep momentum ... Though he qualify for semis in second position from Group B but he is facing in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR1] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) bt (A) Adam Duffy (ENG) 5-3 (3-121(121), 141(141)-0, 63-48, 8-68, 60-44, 58-77, 82 (82)-8, 101(101)-0, )

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) vs (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3)

Surprisingly tougher match for Aditya against his amature British opponent Adam Duffy ... Adam started with 121 points break for winning first frame ... Aditya immediately responded scoring 141 points break for winning the second frame ... After that both players shared frames till 3-all ... Aditya scored 82 points break for winning seventh frame and with another 100+ frame Aditya completed victory ... Next Aditya having toughest challenge as he is facing former WR #1 and also five World Championship, five Masters, and five UK Championship winner Ronnie O'Sullivan ... In their last two meetings Aditya fails to win a single frame ... Hoping for better performance.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) 21-12 21-18
Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-17

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-18 21-13
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 20-22 21-18 21-12

Saina and Srinath complete second win in two days to almost securing their respective semi final place ... Saina score comfortable win over Ji Hyun Sung ... Srikanth also score comfortably win over top-5 Indonesian Sugiarto in straight games.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) l (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3) 1-3 (11-7 5-11 3-11 6-11) (50m)

After winning the first game Dipika's game faded away and Welily won next three games convincingly.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) l Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494) 46 06

Sharmadaa's excellent run ends in quarter final against Frech girl Chole Paquet.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[QF] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) l (7) Maximilian NEUCHRIST (AUT,539) 76(9) 36 46
[QF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) l (5) Guillaume RUFIN (FRA,369) 36 57

Sunit give fighting performance in his loss against Austrian Maximilian ... After winning long tie-break Sumit failed to keep momentum and lost next two sets ... Other hand surprising loss of RamK against Frenchman Rufin.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-18
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) btYeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 21-15 21-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Kento Momota (JPN,15) 15-21 21-16 21-10
Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-15 21-9

Winning start for Indian players on first day of World Superseries Finals ... Saina score terrific win over Shixian Wang in well fought 58 minutes match ... What a top class match both players played! Hats off for their efforts ... In the first game from 8-10 Saina won next 10 points, those points were high quality points ... In this match too many long rallies and in those rallies amazing shot making by both players ... After 10-18 down Shixian tried fight back but difference was too much recover ... In the second game Shixian was leading 8-4 but Saina caught her at 9-all ... From 10-all Saina take couple of points lead and she kept that lead in this game ... Shixian saved couple of match points at 16-20 but Saina converted third match point for exciting win.

Srikanth score comeback win over his Japanese opponent Kento Momota for exciting start in his first World Superseries Finals ... After losing the first game Srikanth made solid comeback, he dominated the third game for completing the win.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) l (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7) 2-3 (11-6, 3-11, 13-11, 7-11, 8-11) (64m)

Joshana play competitive match against WR #7 Malaysian girl Low Wee Wern ... Joshana was leading 2-1 after winning the third game in extra points but afterwards she failed to keep momentum in last two games ... Low Wee Wern won last closely fought games for winning the match.

Tennis News

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

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) l (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226) 36 57
[R2] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 26 26
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361) 63 64

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494)

Sharmadaa continue with terrific run ... She beats top-360 Greece girl Despina in straight sets ... In the quarter final she is facing French girl Chole Paquet.

Nidhi give decent fight to top-seed Dutch player Cindy Burger but Rutuja lose one-sided match against her Russian opponent.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191) 16 16
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) l (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381) 36 36
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127) 63 61
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) l James MARSALEK (GBR,947) 67(4) 36
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Michael GEERTS (BEL,924) 63 57 76(4)

RamK need to dig deep for comeback win over his Belgian opponent ... After losing the second set RamK was under pressure ... He saved 3 match points at 4-5 before winning the tie-break ... Sunit joins him in the quarter-final with easy straight sets win over his Chinese opponent.

Bala's poor run continue with his another loss against lower ranked opponent.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R1] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) bt (Q) Samantha Teran (MEX,34) 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7) (75m)
[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) bt (12) Madeline Perry (IRL,14) 3-1 (14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7) (50m)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) vs (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3)
[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) vs (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7)

Great start for Indians as our both players crossed first hurdle in contrasting style ... Joshana score upset win over top-15 Irish player in four games after winning the first game in extra points ... Next she is facing Malaysian WR #7 Low Wee Wern.

Dipika dig deep to score comeback win over Mexican veteran and former WR #11 Teran in 75 minutes long match ... Dipika lost first 2 games before fighting back to win last three games ... Next she is facing in-form WR #3 Egyptian Raneem El Welily.

Tennis News

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

[R1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,297) l Miyabi INOUE (JPN,351) 36 26
[R1] (WC) Prarthana THOMBARE (IND,500) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 36 16
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (533) l (6) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,308) 46 62 26

Today turn terrible for Indian players after terrific yesterday ... All three players lose their match that include 3rd seed Ankita
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Pirmin HAENLE (GER,717) 62 61
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) bt (Q) Delf GOHLKE (GER,UNR) 75 62
[R1] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (4) David RICE (GBR,351) 62 63
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) bt (WC) Ali AL-SAYGH (QAT,UNR) 61 60
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (Q) Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1204) 62 61

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191)
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) vs (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381)
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) vs (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127)
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) vs James MARSALEK (GBR,947)
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) vs Michael GEERTS (BEL,924)

Terrific comfortable win by young Sumit against top-350 ranked experienced British player David Rice ... Sumit needed to qualify ... Other hand expected win by our players ... Sumit facing qualifier Chinese player in the second round.

Tennis News

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

[R1] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) bt (Q) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,963) 76(5) 63
[R1] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) bt (7) Polina LEYKINA (RUS,321) 76(4) 16 62
[R1] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt (4) Manon ARCANGIOLI (FRA,313) 63 64

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) vs (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226)
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361)

Excellent upset wins by Sharmadaa and Rutuja against seeded players ... Sharmadaa beat top-315 French girl convincingly in straight sets ... Rutuja beat top-325 Russian girl in three sets ... After winning first set in tie-break Rutuja lost focus to lose second set easily against Leykina ... But Rutuja recovered in the third for winning it breaking opponent twice ... Other hand Nidhi also start with straight sets win against Karman ... In the next round she is facing top-seed Dutch girl ... Sharmadaa is facing Greece girl in the second round.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R4] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) l Judd Trump (ENG,7) 2-4 (29-85, 27-83(50), 32-68(60), 119(118)-1, 72-(56)-29, 0-139(139))

Aditya play decent match in his loss against top-10 and in-form Judd Trump ... After losing first 3 frames Aditya made strong comeback when he score 100+ break in the fourth ... He won the fourth scoring another 50+ break ... But in the fifth on his first visit to the table Judd scored match winning 139 points break for the victory ... Next Aditya is playing German Masters qualifying.

Golf News

At $1M Thailand Golf Championship, Thailand

T6 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 73 68 73 -3 $28,766.67
T45 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 76 75 73 72 +8 $5,220.00
T55 SSP Chowrasia (IND) 77 74 72 75 +10 $3,650.00
T55 Chirag Kumar (IND) 72 77 76 73 +10 $3,650.00
T65 Arjun Atwal (IND) 79 71 72 78 +12 $2,650.00

Anirban fail to repeat his third round performance and slide to down to T6 in the standing ... But this finish is enough for capturing quota place for 2015 British open, Congats Anirban Lahiri ... This tournament had given chance for grabbing four quota places ... 'The leading four players, who finish in the top 12 and ties and who are not already exempt, will earn a place in The Open from 16-19 July, 2015.'

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Bronze Medal match
India l Australia 1-2 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Lalit Upadhyay (IND) 42' PC and Eddie Ockenden (AUS) 18', Matt Gohdes (AUS) 52'

In well contested match Aussie defeat India to lift the Bronze ... In this match also Indians started slowly as Aussie take lead when scoring in early 2nd quarter ... After that Indians fought back and managed to score equalizer in 3rd quarter ... After that Indians had numerous chances but they failed to convert ... Other hand Aussie take lead when 8 minutes were remaining ... After that defended well to win their 28th Champions trophy medal and disallow Indians to win their only 2nd medal.

Tennis News

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

[R1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,297) vs Miyabi INOUE (JPN,351)
[R1] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) vs (Q) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,963)
[R1] (WC) Prarthana THOMBARE (IND,500) vs Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325)
[R1] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) vs (7) Polina LEYKINA (RUS,321)
[R1] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs (4) Manon ARCANGIOLI (FRA,313)
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (533) vs (6) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,308)

Karman Kaur Thandi and Natasha Palha qualify for main-draw with upset win over top-450 players ... Karman is facing Nidhi and that is only match where Indian players facing each other ... Ankita is facing Miyabi, tricky match considering their face to face record is stand for 1-all.

Chess News

At London Chess Classic 2014, England

10-12.2014 - Round One
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) 1-0 GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)

11-12.2014 - Round Two
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)
GM Anish Giri (NED,2768) 1-0 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745)
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) 1-0 GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775)

12-12.2014 - Round Theee
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) ½-½ GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)

13-12.2014 - Round Four
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) 1-0 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745)

14-12.2014 - Round Five
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829) ½-½ GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775)
GM Anish Giri (NED,2768) ½-½ GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769)

Viswanathan Anand wins the 6th London Chess Classic on tie-break from Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri after defeating Michael Adams with the black pieces in the final round ... After his World championship match Anand was playing in London Chess Classic ... After playing four rounds Anand was still searching for first win though he managed to draw all his games.

Final scores in tie-break order - 1 Anand 7 (win with black pieces), 2 Kramnik 7 (win with white pieces), 3 Giri 7 (win with white pieces), 4 Nakamura 6, 5 Adams 4, 6 Caruana 4.

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

[F] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192) 67(5) 26

RamK fail to overcome challenge of top 200 Basilashvili and lose match in tie-break ... RamK stretched top-seed to tie-break in the first set but after losing it Basilashvili proved too strong for RamK.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Semi Finals
India l Pakistan 3-4 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) 12' PC, Dharamvir Singh (IND) 38', Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 44' and Muhammad Arslan Qadir (PAK) 17' and 59', Muhammad Waqas (PAK) 32', Muhammad Irfan (PAK) 44' PC

Germany bt Australia 3-2 (2-0)

Pakistan scored a 4-3 win over India to qualify for Sunday’s final of the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar thanks to a late strike from Muhammad Arslan Qadir ... Overall patchy game from us as in this match we failed to keep possession ... Pakistan played attacking game and were looking more solid on the field ... In fourth quarter we had few open goal chances but we failed to convert it ... In this match we had five penalty corners but managed to convert only first one ... And again we were on receiving side of accepting goal in dying moments ... Tomorrow we are playing in Bronze medal match against Australia.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Elliot Slessor (ENG,99) 4-0 (72-0, 68-14, 81(60)-5, 119(119)-0)
[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Sam Baird (ENG,73) 4-1 (59-55, 70-0, 71-31, 34-75(52), 75(74)-8)

[R4] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) vs Judd Trump (ENG,7)

Aditya enter into fourth round of Fifth European tour event ... In the second round he scored comfortable win over lower ranked British players ... In the fourth round he is facing WR #7 Judd Trump ... He beat Aditya convincingly in their last meeting at UK Championship ... Hoping for decent fighting performance by Aditya.

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

[R1] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192) 64 57 36
[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,499) l Peter HELLER (GER,483) 16 62 16
[R1] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,342) bt (WC) Ali AL-SAYGH (QAT,UNR) 62 60
[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Niels LOOTSMA (NED,618) 46 76(7) 63

[R2] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,342) l Richard GABB (GBR,577) 67(4) 16
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Evgeny KARLOVSKIY (RUS,714) 75 46 63

[QF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt (Q) Scott CLAYTON (GBR,1123) 62 63

[SF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Richard GABB (GBR,577) 64 62

[F] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) vs (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Aria HARAJCHI (SUI)/ Adam SKALSKY (GBR) 62 61
[R1] Giorgio PORTALURI (ITA)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ James MARSALEK (GBR) 63 63

[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Giorgio PORTALURI (ITA)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) 76(4) 63

[SF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ Adam MAJCHROWICZ (POL) 63 62

[F] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (4) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Maximilian NEUCHRIST (AUT) 63 64

RamK is in the singles final against top-seed Basilashvili ... First couple of rounds Ramk stretched to three sets but after that he scored comfortable wins ... He also lifts doubles title with Bala without losing a set.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Hammad Miah (ENG,87) 4-1 (25-57, 75-10, 74-24, 75-30, 80(62)-18)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) vs Elliot Slessor (ENG,99)

After losing the first frame Aditya make strong comeback for comfortable win ... Next he is facing another lower ranked British player.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[SF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) l (Q) Anastasiya Komardina (RUS,976) 46 57

Ankita fail to overcome under JR top 20 young Russian girl Komardina ... Qualifier Komardina won in two sets for entering into the final ... Ankita lifts doubles title with Emily Webley-Smith beating Rushmi-Nidhi, 62 64.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Quarter Finals
India bt Belgium 4-2 (2-2)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Singh (IND) 18' PC, SK Uthappa (IND) 27', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 41', Dharamvir Singh (IND) 49' and Felix Denayer (BEL) PC 12', Sebastien Dockie (BEL) 18'

Pakistan bt Netherlands 4-2
Australia bt Argentina 4-2 (1-1)
Germany bt England 2-0 (1-0)

Indian score unbelievable comeback win against in-form Belgian side ... Belgians started well and 2-0 up before 18th minute ... On the same minute Rupinder Pal Singh scored through penalty corner and then Uthappa equalized before end of the second quarter ... Before end of the third quarter Akashdeep gave lead and in the fourth quarter Indians scored excellent goal through counter-attacking after blocking penalty corner ... After first 20 minutes we defended well and our forward line was looking sync with eachother ... Excellent result for us but that also means end of Terry Walsh despite his all contribution ... In the semis we r facing Pakistan, who score upset win over Dutch side.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) bt Silvia Njiric (CRO,449) 75 36 76(5)

[QF] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) l (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248) 36 67(3)
[QF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) bt Ellen Allgurin (SWE,421) 36 75 63
[QF] Natasha Palha (IND,531) l (4) Emily Webley-Smith (GBR,319) 16 36

[SF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs Anastasiya Komardina (RUS,76)

Ankita need comeback win against Swedish girl before completing victory ... In the semis she is facing young Russian girl ... She is currently JR WR #18, tricky but winnable match for Ankita ... Natasha completed victory winning the third set in tie-break but 4th seed British player prove too strong ... Bhuvana gives fighting performance against top-250 and first seed Sofia.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,498) l (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248) 46 16
[R2] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) bt (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,325) 46 61 64
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) vs Silvia Njiric (CRO,449) 75 36 stopped
[R2] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) bt. Katie Boulter (GBR,362) 63 62

[QF] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) vs (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248)
[QF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs Ellen Allgurin (SWE,421)

What a upset win by Bhuvana Kalva over top-325 Kazakh player ... After losing the first set Bhuvana scored comeback win ... Next she is having tough match against top-250 player Shapatava ... Ankita score comfortable win and next facing Swedish girl ... Natasha's match is one set all.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India bt Netherlands 3-2 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - SV Sunil (IND) 33', Manpreet Singh (IND) 47', Rupinder Singh (IND) 49' PC and Mink van der Weerden (NED) 36' PC and 58' PC

Argentina bt Germany 3-0 (2-0)

Indians play spirited game against Netherlands and score their rare win over them in many years ... In the first half both teams matched each other's game as both team had equal chances ... In the second half we started with beautiful deflection goal by Sunil but Weerden equalized converting third penalty corner ... Indians taken control of the match when they scored back to back score in three minutes of fourth quarter ... In that excellent goals by Manpreet on rebound and excellently executing penalty corner his by Rupinder Pal Singh ... After that Dutch side tried hard and Weerden again converted fourth penalty corner when 2 minutes were remaining ... After they failed to score ... Again in this match Sreejesh was excellent in front of the goal but defenders also gave him terrific support ... So with this win we finish on third position of the pool ahead of German side.

Thursday’s quarter final will see the Netherlands taking on Pakistan, England playing Germany, Argentina facing Australia and Belgium meeting India.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R1] (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO) bt Nidhi Chilumula (IND) 63 63
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) bt Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR) 76(4) 75
[R1] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND) bt (WC) Sneha Padamata (IND) 64 62
[R1] (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt (Q) Shweta Rana (IND) 64 63
[R1] (4) Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) bt (Q)Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Diana Bogoliy (UKR) bt (WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) 36 63 63
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND) bt (Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) 64 46 64
[R1] (Q) Anastasiya Komardina (RUS) bt (WC) Damini Sharma (IND) 61 62
[R1] Margarita Lazareva (RUS) bt Rishika Sunkara (IND) 62 60
[R1] (3) Katy Dunne (GBR) bt (Q) Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND) 62 62
[R1] Katie Boulter (GBR) bt (Q) Sharrmadaa Baluu (IND) 63 64
[R1] (2) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (WC) Shubhi Dwivedi (IND) 60 61

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,498) vs (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248)
[R2] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) vs (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,325)
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) vs Silvia Njiric (CRO,449)
[R2] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs. Katie Boulter (GBR,362)

Our four girls are in the second round but on paper only Ankita is having winnable match.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India l Argentina 2-4 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Akashdeep Singh (IND) 30', Gurjinder Singh (IND) 37' PC and Lucas Vila (ARG) 30', Juan Lopez (ARG) 37', Agustin Mazzilli (ARG) 49', Joaquin Menini (ARG) 59'

Netherlands bt Germany 4-1 (3-0)

Another loss for India and with this loss their chances of reaching semis is over ... Again in this match it is exposed that the structure which was developed by Terry Walsh is missing ... Our team is again making old mistakes and in this match two times we conceded goal on same minute after scoring ... Our players played in patches and surprisingly our players were hesitates while moving forward ... We really need Terry Walsh back as our coach.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India l Germany 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Florian Fuchs (GER) 60'

Netherlands bt Argentina 3-0 (2-0)

India lose match when Fuchs score goal when 40 seconds were remaining ... That was only mistake made by our goal-keeper Sreejesh, otherwise he was excellent in-front of goal who denied many German chances ... Our forwards, especially Akashdeep Singh missed few sitters and they also failed to earn penalty corners ... We saved all three penalty corners and we earned only a single penalty corner ... Overall disappointing performance by our team against young German side.

Tennis News

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

[R1] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt Michele Alexandra ZMAU (ROU,UNR) 76(4) 60
[R1] Manya NAGPAL (IND,1228) l Julia WACHACZYK (GER,802) 16 16

[R2] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt (6) Marianna ZAKARLYUK (UKR,551) 63 41 retd.

[QF] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt Nina STADLER (SUI,1116) 76(5) 60

[SF] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) vs Simona HEINOVA (CZE,1174) 46 46

Young 17 yrs old Snehadevi is playing in Egypt last couple of week ... This week she lose her semi-final against junior WR #40 Czech player Heinova in straight sets ... Before that she gave decent performance for reaching in the semis.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2014, Macau (Grand prix Gold)

Women's Singles Final
(2) P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Kim Hyo Min (KOR,91) 21-12 21-17

[SF] (3) H. S. Prannoy (IND,25) l (6) Wong Wing Ki Vincent (HKG,34) 16-21 21-16 12-21
[SF] (2) P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,23) 21-14 21-15

[QF] (3) H. S. Prannoy (IND,25) bt (13) Sony Dwi Kuncero (INA,125) 21-19 21-17
[QF] (2) P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt (5) Han Li (CHN,17) 21-17 19-21 21-16

[R3] (3) H. S. Prannoy (IND,25) bt Lin Hu Hsien(TPE,127) 17-21 21-19 21-14
[R3] (8) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,40) l (13) Sony Dwi Kuncero (INA,125) 16-21 21-19 17-21
[R3] (2) P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Lindaweni Fanetri (INA,33) 21-16 16-21 21-19

[R2] (3) H. S. Prannoy (IND,25) bt Andre Marteen (INA,169) 21-18 21-16
[R2] (7) Sourabh VARMA (IND,37) l Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,75) 21-17 17-21 20-22
[R2] (8) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,40) bt Ronald Susilo (SIN,277) 21-15 21-18
[R1] (2) P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Shih Han Hung (TPE,113) 21-19 21-15
[R1] P. C. Thulasi (IND,36) l Ya Ching Hsu (TPE,26) 12-21 17-21

[R1] (7) Sourabh VARMA (IND,37) bt Chih Chieh Yang (TPE,284) 21-14 21-15
[R1] (14) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,71) l Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,62) 15-21 11-21
[R1] Arvind BHAT (IND,79) l Yuqi Shi (CHN,409) 15-21 5-21
[R1] (8) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,40) bt Kok Hong Woon (MAS,206) 11-5 retd.
[R1] (3) H. S. Prannoy (IND,25) bt Kuei Chun Shih (TPE,86) 21-12 21-18

Sindhu defend her Macau grand prix title beating lowly ranked Korean girl Kim Hyo Min comfortably ... Considering her recent form this is confidence boosting performance by Sindhu ... Prannoy missed chance of playing final as he lost in the semis due to poor shot making.

In newly updated ranking Srikanth climb to his career high ranking of WR #8.

Golf News

At $500K King's Cup, Khon Koen, Thailand

T2 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 65 67 68 70 -18 $43,250.00
T13 Rashid Khan (IND) 71 69 71 66 -11 $7,241.67
T31 SSP Chowrasia (IND) 65 71 70 72 -10 $5,867.86
T54 Arjun Atwal (IND) 72 67 71 75 -3 $1,800.00
T63 Chikka S (IND) 69 68 78 72 -1 $1,425.00

Anirban fail to win title as in the final round he managed only 2 under but eventual winner Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant score 6 under to win by 2 strokes ... Anirban was leading 1st three rounds but last round let him down.

Snooker News

At £755K UK Championship 2014, York, England

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) l Judd Trump (ENG,11) 1-6 (47-67, 6-76(72), 32-61, 73-2, 0-110(110), 1-71, 0-92(62))

Judd Trump prove too strong for Aditya in this one-sided match ... Aditya only managed to win 4th frame otherwise this was Judd's show.

Tennis News

At 2015 Asia Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, Shenzhen, China

[QF] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) bt Di Wu (CHN,284) 64 46 63
[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,228) l (4) Ze Zhang (CHN,183) 26 16

[SF] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) l (4) Ze Zhang (CHN,183) 36 36

Doubles
[SF] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) 67(4) 76(5) 10-8

[F] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (4) Hsin Han Lee (TPE)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 62 16 8-10

In end this doesn't become one of the best week of Purav's career ... In singles quarter-final he scored upset win over defending champion Di Wu but as expected he lost against Ze Zhang in the semis, who before this match trashed Yuki in the quarters.

In the doubles Purav-Ruben scored comeback win in the semi-final against Yuki-Zhe Li in match tie-break but in the final Purav-Ruben face heartbreaking loss after winning the first set ... In this match Ruben let down Purav with his poor shot seletions.

Tennis News

At 2015 Asia Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, Shenzhen, China

[R1] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,311) l (2) Eri Hozumi (JPN,146) 26 16

Doubles
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) bt (WC) Sergey Belov (NZL)/ Wesley Whitehouse (NZL) 61 62
[QF] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Sho Katayama (JPN)/ Bumpei Sato (JPN) 76 63

[SF] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN)

In the doubles winning start for our pairs but they r facing each other in the semis ... Other hand disappointing loss for Ankita in the singles against Hozumi.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[QF] (7) Karunuday Singh (IND,522) l Dekel Bar (ISR,821) 67(5) 1-4 retd.

Hopefully not a recurrence of injury ... KU please stay fit.

Tennis News

At 2015 Asia Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, Shenzhen, China

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) bt (1) Hiroki Moriya (JPN,146) 76(3) 64
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,228) bt (Q) Wesley Whitehouse (NZL,1711) 76(1) 63

[R1] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,311) vs (2) Eri Hozumi (JPN,146)

[QF] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) vs Di Wu (CHN,284)
[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,228) vs (4) Ze Zhang (CHN,183)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) bye
[R1] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) bye

[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) vs (WC) Sergey Belov (NZL)/ Wesley Whitehouse (NZL)
[QF] (2) Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sho Katayama (JPN)/ Bumpei Sato (JPN)

Purav and Ankita qualify for main-draw with ease but had tough first round matches ... Purav score biggest upset of the tournament when he beat top-seed Moriya in two sets ... Yuki also start with win but surprise by his struggle to win ... Next both having tough matches against local players ... In doubles our both pairs r in same draw and they r on course on facing eachother in the semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R2] (7) Karunuday Singh (IND,522) bt (Q) Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,1839) 64 76(4)

[QF] (7) Karunuday Singh (IND,522) vs Dekel Bar (ISR,821)

Good tight win by KU against decent player ... Next he is facing Israeli Bar, who score upset win over 3rd seed Japanese.

Snooker News

At £755K UK Championship 2014, York, England

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) bt Alex Davies (ENG,75) 6-4 (67-6, 29-76, 79(79)-26, 62-25, 63-54, 0-97(97), 15-71, 54-38, 31-77(73), 110(67)-9)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) vs Judd Trump (ENG,11)

Aditya start with win against Britisher Alex Davies in tight match ... But overall encouraging performance by Aditya, who is showing improvement in his game ... But next he is having tough task against top-10 type another Britisher Judd Trump.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] (7) Karunuday Singh (IND,522) bt (Q) Ho-Min Kang (KOR,1245) 62 62

[R2] (7) Karunuday Singh (IND,522) vs (Q) Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,1839)

KU start with comfortable win against Korean qualifier ... Next he is facing another qualifier but this time Taipei's former top-500 player Chu-Huan Yi, who is also making comeback after very long injury break.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) l GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 4½-6½

23.11.2014 - Game Eleven
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) 1-0

Magnus Carlsen retaines World championship after completing victory in 11th game ... As everyone predicted Carlsen go for a win in 11th game playing with White ... In this game also Anand opted for Berlin defense ... Anand tried to surprise Carlsen with c5 on 12th move ... And after that Anand take control but again like 6th game Anand made a blunder on 27th move, Rb4 ... Again Anand lost his patience and played self destructed moves from 26th to 28th, those were Rdb8, then Rb4, and cxb4 ... Carlsen kept playing perfect moves after that and Anand resigned after 45th move ... In my view this was the last match Anand played in World championship as I doubt he will ever recover from his blunders from 6th and 11th games, though he gave brilliant fight in this championship matches.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Four 2014, Mülheim, Germany

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) bt (A) Kishan Hirani (WAL) 4-2 (14-65, 67-1, 70-27, 63-58, 48-63, 93-21)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) l Dominic Dale (WAL,29) 3-4 (17-73, 1-74(74), 87-28, 76-24, 71-66(66), 26-84(54), 1-89(83)

Aditya lose in the second round of Euro Tour 4 against Wales player Dominic Dale ... Aditya was 0-2 frames down but he fought back well for winning next three frames ... After that Aditya failed to keep momentum and Dale produced timely 2 fifty over breaks for winning this match ... Before this Aditya won against an amature player ... Next week he is playing in UK championship.

Badminton News

At $350K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2014, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Superseries)

[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,10) l (1) Chen Long (CHN,2) 17-21 21-19 6-21

Srikanth lose his match against Chen long but he gives fighting performance in this match ... After losing the first game Srikanth kept fighting to win the second game ... Chen proved too strong in the third but considering this was Srikanth's 9th match in 10 days this was good performance ... This performance will help Srikanth to solidify his place in top-10.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

Singles Final
(3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) l (4) Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,621) 64 36 26

KU started well after winning the first set against Lim but fail to keep momentum ... Kim win next two sets convincingly to lift the title ... Still creditable performance by KU after long injury break.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 4½-5½

21.11.2014 - Game Ten
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) ½-½

World champion Carlsen show amazing skill of defending in 10th game to hold Anand after 32 moves ... In this match Carlsen employed the Gruenfeld defense but in end Anand failed to crack it despite having advantage in middle of the game ... Crucial 11th game for Anand, where he is playing with Black pieces.

Badminton News

At $350K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2014, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Superseries)

[QF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,10) bt Wei Nan (HKG,21) 21-14 21-15
[QF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l (6) Tai Tzu Ying (TPE,9) 15-21 19-21

[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,10) vs (1) Chen Long (CHN,2)

Srikanth continues with his terrific form ... He beats Wei Nan convincingly in 36 minutes ... He is facing real test against WR #2 Chinese Chen Long in the semis.

Other hand shocking loss of Saina in straight games against her Taipei opponent Tai Tzu Ying ... On paper this was winnable match but Saina struggled with her game to lose it in 39 minutes.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

[SF] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) bt Dylan Seong-Kwan Kim (KOR,898) 63 62

[F] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) vs (4) Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,621)

KU score comfortable win for entering in the final ... Next he is facing Yong-Kyu Lim, who is also coming out of long injury break and he is former top-250 player.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 4-5

20.11.2014 - Game Nine
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) ½-½

Carlsen surprise everyone with quick draw after 20 moves and that also draw by repetition! In this game also Anand selected Berlin defense but without novelty it was drawish game ... So now Anand is playing with White in two of remaining three games.

Golf News

At European Tour 2015 Final Qualifying Stage, Girona, Spain (Final Standing)

T16 Anirban Lahiri (IND) -9 65 68 66 73 75 72

Anirban Lahiri earn European Tour card for 2015 with final round of PAR ... This was tough tournament as players needed to play six rounds for securing the card and top 25 players get 2015 crad ... In the final round Anirban struggled ... He was +2 for the day after 13th hole and was just outside qualifying score ... Anirban kept his cool and scored birdies on 14th and 16ht holes for securing card comfortably.

Badminton News

At $350K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2014, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Superseries)

[R2] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,10) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,29) 21-19 23-21
[R2] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Beiwen Zhang (USA,14) 21-16 21-13
[R2] (7) P V Sindhu (IND,10) l Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,48) 17-21 21-13 11-21

[QF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,10) vs Wei Nan (HKG,21)
[QF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs (6) Tai Tzu Ying (TPE,9)

After last week's China Superseries title win help Srikanth for entering into top-10 world ranking for the first time ... Saina also climb one place on #4 position.

Srikanth face tough fight from Thai Saensomboonsuk before winning in straight games ... In the first game Srikanth was leading 14-5 before Saensomboonsuk made a comeback and take 16-15 lead ... After that Srikanth recovered and won the first game after converting 3rd game point ... Similar story happened in the second game, Srikanth take 18-13 lead but again Saensomboonsuk tried comeback and had a game point at 20-19 ... Srikanth saved another game point at 21-20 before converting first match point ... In the quarter final he is facing Wei Nan.

Other hand Saina score comfortable straight games win over American top-15 player Beiwen Zhang ... In the quarter she is facing top-10 Taipei player Ying ... But surprising loss for Sindhu against very lowly ranked Japanese player Okuhara ... Sindhu made lots of unforced errors in this match.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

[QF] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) bt (6) Min-Kyu Song (KOR,764) 46 61 63

[SF] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) vs Dylan Seong-Kwan Kim (KOR,898)

KU score comeback win against Korean opponent Song ... In the semis he is facing another Korean.

Badminton News

At $350K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2014, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Superseries)

[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,63) l (1) Chen Long (CHN,2) 13-21 7-21
[R1] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,16) bt (7) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,8) 18-21 22-20 21-16
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) l Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,32) 21-16 17-21 14-21
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,52) l Sho Sasaki (JPN,19) 15-21 21-15 20-22
[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Jamie Subandhi (MAS,52) 21-17 21-11
[R1] (7) P V Sindhu (IND,10) bt Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,20) 21-15 16-21 21-19

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l (2) Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA) 15-21 17-21
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Yin Loo Lim (MAS)/ Meng Yean Lee (MAS) 21-16 14-21 21-23

[R2] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,16) vs Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,32)
[R2] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Beiwen Zhang (USA,13)
[R2] (7) P V Sindhu (IND,10) vs Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,37)

Srikanth score fighting win over in-form Chou Tien Chen in comeback win ... In the second game Chen saved two game points but Srikanth converted third ... After that Srikanth comfortably won the third game ... Other hand Kashyap lose his match after winning the first game ... So Srikanth is next meeting Saensomboonsuk ... Guru tried hard in the third game he saved three match point but failed to save fourth match point ... Ajay failed to give decent performance against Long.

Saina score comfortable win but Sindhu need three games ... Saina is meeting American girl in the second round ... And Sindhu is missing Japanese girl.

Jwala-Ashwini failed to convert two match points in third game before losing their match.

Tennis News

At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND) l (3) Marina Melnikova (RUS,210) 46 46
[R2] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,612) l Nicha Lerrtpitaksinchai (THA,372) 64 16 06
[R2] (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND) l (2) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR,176) 26 46

Indians fail to raise their game and our challenge get over in the second round only.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

[R2] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) bt (Q) Hiroki Horikiri (JPN,UNR) 61 62

[QF] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) vs (6) Min-Kyu Song (KOR,764)

KU score comfortable win against Japanese qualifier ... Next he is facing top-800 Korean for place in the semi-final.

Squash News

At $325K Men's Qatar PSA World Championship 2014 (World Open), Doha

[R3] (14) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) l (3) Nick Matthew (ENG,3) 1-3 (11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9) (52m)

Saurav gives fighting performance against defending champion Matthew ... After losing first 2 games cheaply Saurav raised his game ... He won the third game and Matthew needed extra hard-work for winning fourth game.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 3½-4½

18.11.2014 - Game Eighth
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) ½-½

After boring last long game Anand-Carlsen play safe and agree draw after 41st move ... This game played with Queen's Gambit opening ... Both players played safe moves to avoid any complication and agreed draw quickly considering last game.

Badminton News

At $350K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2014, Kowloon, Hong Kong (Superseries)

[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,63) bt Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif (MAS,53) 21-12 22-20
[Q1] (3) Sourabh Varma (IND,38) l Gao Huan (CHN,43) 15-21 18-21
[Q1] Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) bt (3) Gideon Markus Fernaldi (INA)/ Rizki Amelia Pradipta (INA)

[Q2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,63) bt Shih Kuei Chun (TPE,85) 23-21 21-7
[Q2] Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) l Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR)/ Eom Hye Won (KOR) 15-21 12-21

[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,63) vs (1) Chen Long (CHN,2)
[R1] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,16) vs (7) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,8)
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) vs Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,32)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,52) vs Sho Sasaki (JPN,19)
[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Jamie Subandhi (MAS,52)
[R1] (7) P V Sindhu (IND,10) vs Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,20)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) vs (2) Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA)
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Yin Loo Lim (MAS)/ Meng Yean Lee (MAS)

Good to see Ajay winning matches to qualify for main-draw ... He is having tough match against WR #2 Chen Long ...Last week's winner Srikanth is facing another in-form player Chou Tien Chen, who also win couple of titles in last three weeks ... Kashyap and Guru are facing tricky opponents.

Tennis News

At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND) bt Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) 62 62
[R1] (WC) Natasha Palha (IND,520) l Maria Sakkari (GRE,298) 16 36
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) l (6) Sabina Sharipova (UZB) 26 16
[R1] (LL) Vaniya Dangwal (IND,1149) l Nicha Lerrtpitaksinchai (THA,372) 26 16
[R1] (WC) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,UNR) l (2) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR,176) 36 67(5)

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND) vs (3) Marina Melnikova (RUS,210)
[R2] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,612) vs Nicha Lerrtpitaksinchai (THA,372)
[R2] (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND) vs (2) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR,176)

Only Ankita wins on the second day ... Next our all three players having tough matches.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

[R1] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) bt Sebastien Wagner (GER,910) 60 26 64

KU start with win in three sets ... He was totally off in the second set before recovering but this rustiness is expected after his long injury break comeback.

Squash News

At $325K Men's Qatar PSA World Championship 2014 (World Open), Doha

[R2] (14) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt Nasir Iqbal (PAK,44) 3-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4) (51m)
[R2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,49) l (2) Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY,1) 3-0 (6-11, 4-11, 1-11) (29m)

[R3] (14) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs (3) Nick Matthew (ENG,3)

Saurav score win in four games against Nasir ... In pre-quarter final he is facing defending champion Nick Matthew.

Mahesh gives decent performance in first 2 games against WR #1 before losing one-sided third game.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 3-4

17.11.2014 - Game Seven
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) ½-½

Anand manages to hold Carlsen after marathon game which lasted for 122 moves ... So in end mission successful for Carlsen who tired Anand before next game where Anand is playing with White ... This was crucial game for Anand after his blunder in the last game ... Anand choose Berlin defense but made dangerous 28th move Ne5 ... After that Anand defended well playing accurate moves not giving any chance to Carlsen, other hand it took so many moves for inevitable draw ... Carlsen extended game and waited for any mistake from Anand.

Tennis News

At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, New Delhi, India

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND) vs Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA)
[R1] (WC) Natasha Palha (IND) vs Maria Sakkari (GRE)
[R1] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND) bt (Q) Shweta Rana (IND) 62 60
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) vs (6) Sabina Sharipova (UZB)
[R1] (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND) bt (WC) Sharon Sanchana Paul (IND) 64 62
[R1] (WC) Bhuvana Kalva (IND) vs (2) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR)

Expected wins for Rishika and Prerna ... Hopefully Ankita and at least another one Indian player join them in the second round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Cambodia F1 Futures,

[R1] (3) Karunuday Singh (IND,526) vs Sebastien Wagner (GER,910)

KU is coming back on the court after long injury break ... Lets see how he perform.

Badminton News

At $700K Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China (Superseries Premier)


Men's Singles Final
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,16) bt Lin Dan (CHN,14) 21-19 21-17

Women's Singles Final
(6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,35) 21-12 22-20

Srikanth beats two time (current) Olympic champion and five time World champion Lin Dan to win China Open ... This is his first Superseries title and that also Superseries Premier title which having big winner cheque of $52,500 (approx. Rs. 32.5 lacs) ... Saina also win her maiden China open title beating 17 yrs old and current junior World champion Akane Yamaguchi in the final.

Srikanth played amazing match against 'Super' Dan in a final, early he take 9-5 lead but Dan catch with him at 15-all ... It was neck-and-neck till 19-all but Srikanth held his nerves to take the next two points and bag his first ever game against Dan ... The second game was more closely fought but Srikanth matched with greatest player for 15-all ... After that Srikanth raised his game for winning six of the next eight points and earn the biggest win of his career in 46 mins.

In women's final Saina dominated the first game against Akane for winning it comfortably ... Akane fought hard in the second gam she was leading 11-9 and 16-14 but Saina kept pressure on it ... Akane had a game point at 20-19 but Saina kept her nerves and win next three points for winning her second Superseries title of year in 42 mins ... In June she won the Australian Open Super Series title.

Golf News

At $700K Chiangmai Golf Classic, Thailand

1 Rashid Khan (IND) 68 69 66 68 -17 $135,000
2 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 68 65 70 69 -16 $64,875
T16 Chikka S (IND) 69 72 71 69 -7 $8,537.78
T31 Chiragh Kumar (IND) 69 75 69 71 -4 $5,715
T46 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 71 70 72 74 -1 $3,900
T60 M. Dharma (IND) 70 74 74 74 +4 $2,325
63 Abhijit Chadha (IND) 71 74 73 75 +5 $2,175

Rashid Khan produce a gutsy performance to win Chiangmai Classic by a stoke over his experienced compatriot Jyoti Randhawa ... In the final round both players started on T2 position but in end they fought for a title and finish 1 and 2.

Squash News

At $325K Men's Qatar PSA World Championship 2014 (World Open), Doha

[R1] (14) Saurav Ghosal (IND,18) bt Steven Finitsis (AUS,57) 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-6) (35m)
[R1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,49) bt (Q) Lance Beddoes (NZL,141) 3-1 (11-9, 11-3, 11-13, 11-9) (54m)

[R2] (14) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs Nasir Iqbal (PAK,44)
[R2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,49) vs (2) Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY,1)

Saurav start with comfortable win over Aussie Finitsis in straight games in World championship ... Next he is facing Pakistani Nasir Iqbal.

Mahesh score tight win over New Zealand's qualifier Lance Beddoes for his first win in Men't World championship ... But in the second round he is facing WR #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 2½-3½

15.11.2014 - Game Six
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) 1-0

Despite making blunder on 26th move Carlsen wins 6th game to take lead in World championship ... In this game Anand again selected Sicilian defense ... Carlsen had small advantage early but Anand defended skillfully ... And suddenly Carlsen committed a blunder on the move 26, Kd2, giving Anand a chance to deliver a simple tactical blow with Nxe5 27 move ... Anand failed to notice this chance and made an indifferent A4 move fairly quickly ... And then Anand realized their mutual errors, and it was a tough mental blow for him ... After the blunder he never recovered and resigned game after 38 moves ... Now after rest day Carlsen will again play with White so big testing time for Anand ... This blunder will haunt him and I am really hoping this is not going to cost him World championship match.

Badminton News

At $700K Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China (Superseries Premier)

[SF] Srikanth K. (IND,16) bt Marc Zwiebler (GER,25) 21-11 13-7 Retd.
[SF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Liu Xin (CHN,17) 21-17 21-17

[F] Srikanth K. (IND,16) vs Lin Dan (CHN,14)
[F] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,35)

Saina play patient and control game with mixture of attacking, defending and smart net game to beat Chinese girl Liu Xin in straight games ... In both games Xin took early small lead but Saina coolly made a comeback to take control from middle of the game for winning both games ... In the final she is facing junior World champion Japanese giant-killer Akane Yamaguchi ... Interestingly this is a first Superseries ladies final of 2014 where not a single Chinese player is playing.

Srikanth enter into his first Superseries final when his German opponent Zwiebler retired from semi-final match ... That time Srikanth was dominating the match ... In the final Srikanth is facing Chinese living legend and undoubtedly most successful badminton player Lin Dan.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 2½-2½

14.11.2014 - Game Five
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) ½-½

Anand and Carlsen play cautious game and accepted draw after 39 moves ... In this game Carlsen opted for the Queen's Indian defense but Anand showed his preparation for that and play near perfect game ... Next two games are crucial for Anand as Carlsen is playing with White in 6th and 7th games.

Badminton News

At $700K Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China (Superseries Premier)

[QF] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) l Marc Zwiebler (GER,25) 18-21 21-18 21-13
[QF] Srikanth K. (IND,16) bt Kento Momota (JPN,12) 21-17 23-21
[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Di Suo (CHN,179) 21-13 17-21 21-5

[SF] Srikanth K. (IND,16) vs Marc Zwiebler (GER,25)
[SF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Liu Xin (CHN,17)

Huge upset win for Srikanth against Momota in straight games ... In their last two meetings Momota defeated Srikanth so he started in this match as favorite ... In thew first game both players were neck to neck till 17-all but from here Srikanth won next 4 points for winning this game ... The second game was also very close as both players were together till 19-all ... Momota had a game point at 20-19 but Srikanth saved that and then converted 2nd match point for winning this match ... In the semis he is facing German Zwiebler, who scored comeback win over Kashyap.

Saina wins her match in three games against Di Suo ... After winning the first game comfortably Saina lost her focus and concentration ... After losing the second game Saina crushed Suo losing only 5 points in the final game ... Next she is having another Chinese challenge Liu Xin.

Kashyap always face trouble against Zwiebler and that again prove here ... He started well after winning the first game but after that failed to keep momentum ... Other hand Zwiebler dominated the third game after losing the second.

Tennis News

At $50K Champaign Challenger, USA

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ruben Gonzales (PHI) l Gastao Elias (POR)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) 46 46

Disappointing loss for Purav-Ruben ... This was winnable match for them but they failed to capitalize ... Overall not an encouraging performance from them in their last few weeks partnership ... Next they r playing big Australian open wild card tournament in China, hoping for their qualification for Australian open.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Mumbai, India

[QF] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,315) l (2) Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR,174) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] (4) Jia-Jing LU (CHN)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Ivana JOROVIC (SRB)/ Sofiya KOVALETS (UKR) 62 62
[QF] (4) Jia-Jing LU (CHN)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) 61 63
[SF] (4) Jia-Jing LU (CHN)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (2) Elise MERTENS (BEL)/ Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR) 61 64

Final
(4) Jia-Jing LU (CHN)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (1) Nicha LERTPITAKSINCHAI (THA)/ Peangtarn PLIPUECH (THA) 64 16 11-9

Ankita play decent match in her loss against top-175 Ukrainian player ... Ankita is looking well settled player around her 300 ranking ... Now she need to take next step to push her ranking towards 250 and then top 200.

Ankita win her first $25K tournament title though in the doubles with Jia-Jing Lu ... In the final and semi-final they defeated top two seeds pairs ... In the final after winning the first set they struggled against Thai pair, who dominated the second set ... In match tie-break Ankita-Lu recovered and won it in extra points.

Badminton News

At $700K Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China (Superseries Premier)

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) bt Song Xue (CHN,53) 11-21 21-11 21-13
[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,16) bt Huan Gao (CHN,44) 21-17 19-21 21-14
[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Jinjing Qin (CHN,239) 21-18 21-18

[QF] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) vs Marc Zwiebler (GER,25)
[QF] Srikanth K. (IND,16) vs Kento Momota (JPN,12)
[QF] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Di Suo (CHN,179)

Terrific performance by our players to reach in the quarter finals after scoring win against Chine players ... Saina scored straight sets win over Qin and in the quarters she is facing another Chinese Di Suo ... Kashyap needed comeback win after losing the first game against her lowly ranked Chinese opponent ... In the quarter he is facing German Zwiebler ... But most impressive win was from Srikanth ... He defeated top-50 ranked Gao in three games ... In their previous meeting Gao defeated Srikanth so this was sweet revenge for him ... Next he is facing Japanese Kento Momota.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 2-2

12.11.2014 - Game Four
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) - GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) ½-½

After yesterday's win Anand play perfect a Sicilian defense against Carlsen's King's Indian Attack ... Carlsen tried to shake Anand with moves but Anand played rock-solid game ... Carlsen accepted draw after 47 moves ... So favorable result before rest day for Anand.

Tennis News

At $50K Yoklahoma Challenger, Japan

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,232) l (2) Go Soeda (JPN,116) 16 26

Doubles
[R1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Hiroki Moriya (JPN) l Addam Hubble (AUS)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 67(2) 36

Surprisingly one-sided loss for Yuki against Go Soeda in the singles ... In the doubles also he and Moriya lose their match in straight sets.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Champaign Challenger, USA

[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ruben Gonzales (PHI) bt (Q) Jared Donaldson (USA)/ Farris Fathi Gosea (GBR) 64 62

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ruben Gonzales (PHI) vs Gastao Elias (POR)/ Sean Thornley (GBR)

Comfortable winning start for Purav-Ruben against qualifiers ... Next they r facing Elias-Thornley.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Mumbai, India

[R2] (Q) Bhuvana KALVA (IND,NR) l (1) Patricia MAYR-ACHLEITNER (AUT,107) 67(3) 75 26
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,526) l (4) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO,216) 46 76(8) 36
[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,315) bt Ivana JOROVIC (SRB,449) 26 75 76(5)

[QF] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,315) vs (2) Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR,174)

Ankita need to dig deep for this tight win against Ivana ... After losing the first set easily Ankita show terrific fighting spirit and won next two sets which were stretch to fullest ... Next she is facing 2nd seed Anastasiya Vasylueva.

Bhuvana and Natasha lose their respective matches but showed fighting quality in their matches ... Both players stretched their senior and seeded opponents to three sets.

Badminton News

At $700K Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) bt Nan Wei (HKG,21) 24-22 19-21 21-15
[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,16) bt (Q) Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,54) 21-11 9-21 21-15
[R1] H. S. Prannoy (IND,27) l Viktor Axelsen (DEN,13) 10-21 21-19 18-21
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) bt Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,15) 21-14 19-21 21-17

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l (7) Xiaolong Liu (CHN)/ Zihan Qiu (CHN) 12-21 15-21
[R1] (Q) Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) vs (8) Cheng Liu (CHN)/ Yixin Bao (CHN)

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) vs Song Xue (CHN,53)
[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,16) vs Huan Gao (CHN,44)
[R2] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Jinjing Qin (CHN,239)

Kashyap, Srikanth and Saina win their respected matches but all matches went to three games ... In the second round our all players facing lower ranked Chinese players so tricky matches against local players in their own den.

Chess News

At 2014 World Chess Championship, Sochi, Russia (November 7– November 28, 2014)

GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 1½-1½

11.11.2014 - Game Three
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2792) - GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 1-0

After losing the second game I wasn't expected such a strong response by Anand ... He prove everyone wrong (including me) with his tactical and aggressive moves ... Carlsen was shocked with Anand's sharp game and lose this game on time trouble ... Anand is definitely putting extra pressure on Carlsen with this win.

This game moved on Queen's Gambit Declined opening ... Till 15 moves both players were on bookish moves ... Anand surprised Carlsen with his aggressive Ng5 move ... Carlsen take more than half hour for his next move, Ndf6 ... Anand used very sharp f3 move on 19th move ... Due to Anand's aggressiveness Carlsen found himself in time trouble as he was taking lot more time to think his next move ... Only 7 minutes were remaining for 12 moves for Carlsen ... And in that Carlsen made mistake and then resigned after 34 moves.

Tennis News

At $50K Champaign Challenger, USA

[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ruben Gonzales (PHI) vs (Q) Jared Donaldson (USA)/ Farris Fathi Gosea (GBR)

In the first round Purav-Ruben are facing British-American qualifiers.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Mumbai, India

[R1] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND) bt Barbara Haas (AUT) 64 16 64
[R1] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND) l Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA) 46 46
[R1] (Q) Shweta Rana (IND) l (Q) Ho Ching Wu (HKG) 62 46 16
[R1] (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) l (6) Sofiya Kovalets (UKR) 46 46
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) l (4) Tadeja Majeric (SLO) 46 26
[R1] (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND) l (JE) Ivana Jorovic (SRB) 26 75 26

[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,526) vs (4) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO,216)
[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,315) vs Ivana JOROVIC (SRB,449)
[R2] (Q) Bhuvana KALVA (IND,NR) vs (1) Patricia MAYR-ACHLEITNER (AUT,107)

Bhuvana score upset win over top-400 Austrian player in three sets ... Next she is facing top-seed and top-100 type Austrian player Patricia.

Badminton News

At Thaihot China Open 2014, Fuzhou, China

[Q1] (1) Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,54) bye

[Q2] (1) Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,54) bt Siyuan Zhu (CHN,585) 18-21 21-19 24-22
[Q1] (3) Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) bt Chi-Lin Wang (TPE)/ Chi Ya Cheng (TPE) 21-18 18-21 21-17

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,17) vs Nan Wei (HKG,21)
[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,16) vs (Q) Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,54)
[R1] H. S. Prannoy (IND,27) vs Viktor Axelsen (DEN,13)
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,5) vs Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,15)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) vs (7) Xiaolong Liu (CHN)/ Zihan Qiu (CHN)
[R1] (Q) Vountus Indra Mawan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) vs (8) Cheng Liu (CHN)/ Yixin Bao (CHN)

Saina having terrific chance of going deep in this China Superseries as top-seed withdrawn from her draw ... Guru qualify for main-draw with hard fought win but he is facing Srikanth in the first round ... Kashyap is having winnable match but Prannoy is facing top-15 Danish player ... In the doubles our both pairs facing Chinese seded pairs in the first round.