Chess News

At Zurich Chess Challenge 2014, Switzerland

Classical Games
Round Two
GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2777) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2782)
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2773) 0-1 GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2789)
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2872) ½-½ GM Levon Aronian (ARM,2825)

I was expecting worse and that happened ... In this Berlin game Nakamura outsmarted Anand and won this game after 36 moves ... Nakamura take advantage of Anand's mistake for this good win ... So after two rounds Anand is on last position with zero point ... Otherhand Nakamura joins Carlsen and Aronian at top of leaderboard with 3 points.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - Group I Asia/Oceania -1st Round, Indore, India

India vs Chinese Taipei 1-0

Day One
[M1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,173) bt Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,216) 64 64 67(1) 63
[M2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,103) vs Ti Chen (TPE,284) 67(4) 76(3) 16 62 7-7 (stopped due to bad light)

I was hoping easy win for Buji but he struggled in this match from the start ... He was leading in the first set 4-2 but failed to hold advantage and then lost it in tie-break ... In the second set also Buji take 4-1 early lead again failed to kept the advantage but this time he won tie-break ... In the third set Ti Chen out performed Buji and won it comfortably ... Buji made strong comeback and won the fourth set ... In the decider Buji was break up and serving for the match at 5-3 ... Buji had 3 match points at 40-0 but he somehow managed to lose his serve after wasting 3 match points ... Then again Buji had match point on Ti Chen's serve in 10th game which he again failed to convert ... After fourteen games from fifth set match was stopped due to bad light.

Before this Yuki started comfortably and won first 2 sets but little lapse in concentration and his usual cramping trouble cost him the third set ... Yuki regained his focus and won fourth set to give India 1-0 lead ... Yuki need to work hard on his fitness and first serve.

Chess News

At Zurich Chess Challenge 2014, Switzerland

Classical Games
Round One
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2872) 1-0 GM Boris Gelfand (ISR,2777)
GM Levon Aronian (ARM,2825) 1-0 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2773)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2789) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2782)

The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 is the strongest tournament in chess history - at a massive 2801 rating average (means the first Category 23 tournament) ... In this tournament Anand is the player with lowest rating ... The points from classical and rapid tournaments r to determine the winner of the event ... Here every win in Classical game will give player 2 points and draw will give a single point but in Rapid winner receive single point and half point for draw ... Yesterday a blitz used to determine the colors and pairings for classical game ... In that Anand won two, lost two and drew one ... He lost against current top 2 players, i.e. Carlsen and Aronian ... He won against Caruana and Gelfand, and managed draw against Nakamura.

In classical games, WR #1 Carlsen and WR #2 Aronian started with convincing win ... Aronian pressured Anand until the Indian made mistake and needlessly sacrificed a piece ... Aronian won after 73 moves ... Other hand Carlsen started with dominating win after 37 moves ... So setback for Anand as he is already 2 points behind from leaders in this short tournament.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - Group I Asia/Oceania -1st Round, Indore, India

India vs Chinese Taipei

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,173) vs Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,216)
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,103) vs Ti Chen (TPE,284)

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)/ Hsin-Han Lee (TPE)

Day Three
[R4] Somdev Devvarman (IND,103) vs Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,216)
[R5] Yuki Bhambri (IND,173) vs Ti Chen (TPE,284)

On paper Indians r favorite ... On first day interesting match between 2 former junior world #1 players, Yuki and Tsung-Hua ... Also interest in performance of our new doubles pairing.
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At $10K Sharm El Sheikh ITF Women's Tournament, Egypt

[R1] (WC) Shivani Manchanda (IND) l Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 06 16
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND) bt (WC) Janina Geiss (GER) 60 60

[R2] Natasha Palha (IND) l Valeria Prosperi (ITA) 46 57

Expected easy win for Natasha in first round but failed to kept that momentum in the second... She lost in two sets after giving decent fight to Italian girl.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne


Mixed Doubles Final
(6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) l Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 36 26

Sania failed to win her third Mixed doubles title partnering Romanian Horia Tecau ... In the final they were totally off-colored against French-Canadian pair Mladenovic-Nestor ... Mladenovic-Nestor dominated the match and won it comfortably with scoring two breaks each in both sets.

Squash News

At $70K Men's Motor City Open 2014, Detroit, USA (International 70)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l (7) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL,14) 2-3 (7-11, 11-6, 10-12, 14-12, 7-11) (111m)

Another close loss for Saurav against similar ranked player, Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez ... Saurav need to start winning these matches ... This match was almost going on for 2 hours but losing third game in extra points cost Saurav ... He tried comeback after saving few match balls in the fourth before winning it in extra points ... In the fifth Miguel proved better player than Saurav.

Squash News

At $35K Women's Harrow Greenwich Open 2014, USA (Silver 35)

[R1] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) l Amanda Sobhy (USA,18) 1-3 (10-12, 10-12, 11-8, 1-11)
[R1] (Q) Joshana Chinappa (IND,20) l (8) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG,17) 1-3 (11-6, 3-11, 9-11, 11-13)

Turned to be bad day of Indians at Greenwich openas our both players lost in the first round ... Dipika and Amanda played very close first 3 games ... In that Amanda won first 2 games in extra points and Dipika won tight third game ... But in fourth game Amanda dominated and won it losing a single point ... Hoping for no injury scare for Dipika.

Joshana gave fighting performance against higher ranked Sarah-Jane ... Joshana won first game but lost second game easily ... In next two games Joshana tried hard but she lost both games in this close match.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[SF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Matthew Ebden (AUS) 26 63 10-2

[F] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Sania-Tecau enters in the final of mixed doubles at AO 2014 after their match tie-break win over local Aussie pair ... In the first set Aussie pair dominated and converted 2 break point chances from 7 to won this set comfortably ... In the second set also Aussie pair created 3 break point chances which all saved by Sania-Tecau ... In this match Sania-Tecau got only a single break point which they grabbed and that single break advantage gave them the second set ... In match tie-break story was different ... Sania-Tecau dominated from the start taking 6-1 lead and won it losing another point for excellent comeback win ... In the final they r facing unseeded French-Canadian pair of Kristina Mladenovic-Daniel Nestor.

Squash News

At $35K Women's Harrow Greenwich Open 2014, USA (Silver 35)

[Q2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,20) bt Sarah Kippax (ENG,24) 3-1 (11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9)

[R1] (Q) Joshana Chinappa (IND,20) vs (8) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG,17)

Joshana needed to foght hard in her win against former top-15 British player Sarah Kippax in four games ... Joshana started with winning the first game but Sarah fought back and won the second game in extra points ... Joshana won the third game after controlling it but again Sarah produced close fight in the fourth game ... Joshana kept her composure and completed victory in this game ... Next she is facing top-20 British girl, Sarah-Jane Perry.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[QF] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 36 36
[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt Julia Goerges (GER)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 63 64

[SF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Matthew Ebden (AUS)

Mixed results for Indians at AO ... Sania-Tecau scored straight sets win over Aisam-Julia Goerges pairing ... Next they r facing unseeded Aussie pair, who scored upset with over 2nd seed Rohan-Katarina Srebotnik in previous round. Other hand Lee-Daniela failed to raise their game against Nestor-Mladenovic ... Nestor-Mladenovic defeated them convincingly.
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At $125K+H Heilbronn Challenger, Germany

[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) l Andreas Beck (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER) 67(4) 46

Divij-Andreas Siljestrom lost against tricky German pair in straight sets ... So with this loss Divij's wait for first win of 2014 is extended.

Squash News

At $35K Women's Harrow Greenwich Open 2014, USA (Silver 35)

[Q1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,20) bt Heba El Torky (EGY,39) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7)

[Q2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,20) vs Sarah Kippax (ENG.24)

[R1] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) vs Amanda Sobhy (USA,18)

This week Joshna joins Dipika in US tour ... Joshna needs to play qualifying and she started confidently beating Egyptian girl in straight games ... Next she is facing experienced British girl, Sarah Kippax.

Dipika is 4th seed in main-draw and facing local top20 player in the first round.
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At $70K Men's Motor City Open 2014, Detroit, USA (International 70)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) vs (7) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL,14)

Saurav is facing similar ranked Colombian in the first round of Motor City Open.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[QF] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) l (13) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 26 67(4)

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Matthew Ebden (AUS)

Lee-Radek failed to raise their game against crafty Frenchmen and lost in straight sets ... In the first set Radek and Lee lost their service games in 1st and 3rd games, were down 0-4 ... French pair kept that advantage for winning this set ... The second set was close one but again in tie-break experienced French pair kept their control and won match in straight sets.

Chess News

At Candidates Tournament 2014, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (March 13 to March 31, 2014)

Candidate	Country	Rating	Rank	Qualification
1. Viswanathan Anand	India	2773	9	Previous World Champion
2. Vladimir Kramnik	Russia	2787	4	World Cup 2013 winner
3. Dmitry Andreikin	Russia	2709	41	World Cup 2013 finalist
4. Veselin Topalov	Bulgaria	2785	5	Grand Prix 2012-13 winner
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	Azerbaijan	2757	12	Grand Prix 2012-13 runner-up
6. Levon Aronian	Armenia	2812	2	Rating list 2012-13
7. Sergey Karjakin	Russia	2759	10	Rating list 2012-13
8. Peter Svidler	Russia	2758	11	host nominee

The deadline for player's participation in the Candidates Tournament is 20 January 2014 ... Many people were saying Anand seemed reluctant to commit to participating in the next cycle but when FIDE published the official list of participants with Anand's name in it ... So Anand is committed to particvipate in it ... But very tough tournament for all participants.


Format

• The 8 players will play a double round robin tournament (14 rounds).
• The time control for each game - 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. Tiebreaks
• If the top two or more players score the same points, the tie will be decided by the following criteria - 

a) The results of the games between the players involved in the tie. If they are still tied ...
b) The total number of wins in the tournament of every player involved in the tie. If they are still tied ...
c) Sonneborn-Berger System.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 26 63 46

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Julia Goerges (GER)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Juniors Doubles
[R2] Snehadevi Reddy (IND)/ Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND) l (1) Anhelina Kalinina (UKR)/ Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) 16 26

In the first set Sania-Cara broke Italian opponent in 2nd game to lead 2-0 but after that top-seed Italian broke Sania-Cara thrice in a row ... They won six games in a row to won this set ... In the second set Sania-Cara broke Italian 2nd and 4th games to lead 4-0 but after that again they lost their service games in 5th and 7th games to brought set on the serve, 4-3 ... Sania-Cara take crucial break in 8th game to lead 5-3 and then Sania hold her serve to won the second set ... In the final set Sania-Cara broke Italian 1st game to lead 2-0 ... Again our pair broke Italian in 5th game to lead 4-1 and after that terrible turnaround happened ... Italian pair won next five games in that they broke Sania-Cara thrice and also saved 4 break points in 9th game to won this see-saw match ... Missed opportunities for Sania and Cara ... So now Sania's challenge remains only in mixed doubles.

In MXD Sania-Tecau r facing Aisam-Goerger in the quarters.

Top-seed east European pair proved too strong for Snehadevi-Dhruthi in the second round.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)/ Vera Dushevina (RUS) 64 63

[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (8) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) 60 26 10-6
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Colin Fleming (GBR) 62 62
[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS)/ John Peers (AUS) 76(5) 75

[QF] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)
[QF] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Matthew Ebden (AUS)

Juniors Doubles
[R1] Ilze Hattingh (RSA)/ Simran Kaur Sethi (IND) l (7) Michaela Gordon (USA)/ Katrine Steffensen (USA) 67(2) 76(7) 3-10

Sania-Cara scored comfortable win in 72 minutes against unseeded pair Bouchard-Dushevina ... Next they r facing top-seed Italian pair Sara Errani-Roberta Vinci in the quarters.

Rohan-Katarina scored tight win against Australian pair in MXD ... In both sets Australian pair stretched Rohan-Katarina but they prevail to enter quarters of MXD ... Next they r facing another unseeded Aussie pair, who scored upset win over 7th seed pair.

Sania-Tecau started confidently and won the first set with double break ... They continued same tempo in the second set and won this also with double break.

Lee-Daniela scored win in match tie-break against Mahesh-Elena ... Lee-Daniela won the first set without losing a single game but Mahesh-Elena fought back and won the second set with double break ... Lee-Daniela recovered and won match tie-break to enter the quarters ... Next they r facing Nestor-Mladenovic..

Simran Kaur-Ilze gave fighting performance against 7th seed American pair ... First 2 sets shared by both pairs as both sets went to tie-break ... But in match tie-break American pair proved too strong.
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At $125K+H Heilbronn Challenger, Germany

[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) vs Andreas Beck (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER)

This week Divij is playing in Germany with Swedish partner and they r facing tricky local pair in the first round.

Squash News

At $50KTournament of Champions, New York, USA (Gold 50)

[Q1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) bt Emily Whitlock (ENG,26) 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6) (31m)

[Q2] Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) l Annie Au (HKG,13) 0-3 (8-11, 9-11, 5-11) (33m)

After winning the first qualifying match Dipika failed to raise her game in the second ... She lost in the final qualifying against Hong Kong player Annie Au in straight games.
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At $115K Tournament of Champions, New York, USA (World Series Gold)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l Simon Rosner (GER,13) 2-3 (12-14, 16-14, 11-4, 9-11, 5-11) (90m)

Saurav played marathon match against German Simon Rosner but lost in 90 minutes ... First 2 games were closely fought as both games went to extra points ... After three games Saurav was leading 2-1 but he failed to take advantage in 4th game and then Rosner won decider comfortably.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (12) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 46 67(1)
[R3] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 63 62

[QF] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (13) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)/ James Duckworth (AUS) 75 46 10-7
[R1] (8) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP) 67(3) 64 10-5

[R2] (8) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND)
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Colin Fleming (GBR)

Juniors
[R1] Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,154) l (9) Katie Boulter (GBR,28) 36 36

[R1] Snehadevi Reddy (IND)/ Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND) bt Nozomi Ohya (JPN)/ Yukina Saigo (JPN) 62 67(4) 10-5
[R1] (8) Hyeon Chung (KOR)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) l Pedro Martinez Portero (ESP)/ Jaume Antoni Munar Clar (ESP) 36 67(2)

[R2] Snehadevi Reddy (IND)/ Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND) vs (1) Anhelina Kalinina (UKR)/ Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS)

Lee-Radek scored comfortable win against Yuki-Venus almost giving doubles lesson to them ... Next they r facing French pair Llodra-Mahut in the quarters, who scored upset win over 2nd seed Soares-Peya.

Rohan-Aisam got upset by talented Huey-Inglot in straight sets.

In MXD, Lee-Daniela needed to dig deep for win against spirited Duckworth-Tomljanovic in match tie-break ... Next they r facing 8th seed Mahesh-Elena, who also needed match tie-break against Spanish pair.

In junior, Venugopal lost against British top-30 Boulter in straight sets ... But in the doubles, Venugopal started with win against Snehadevi against Japanese pair ... Next they r facing top-seed pair of Kalinina and Kulichkova ... Other hand Sumit had terrible AO as he and his Korean partner lost against Spanish pair.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

For 5th Position
India l Belgium 1-2 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Chandanda Thimmaiah (IND) 59' and Florent van Aubel (BEL) 67', Tom Boon (BEL) PC 68'

In very closely fought match Belgium defeated Indians ... First 50 minutes both teams showed tight defending but Indians take lead through Chandanda in 59 minutes ... But two goals in two minutes from Belgium when 4 minutes remaining broke Indians hearth ... Still overall improvement in the performance for Indian team.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Monica Niculescu (ROU)/ Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 75 61
[R2] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Colin Fleming (GBR)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR) 46 63 62
[R2] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 61 64
[R3] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs
[R2] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 46 67(7)

[R3] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)/ Vera Dushevina (RUS)
[R3] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (12) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR)
[R3] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 46 76(3) 10-8
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Treat Huey (PHI) 62 63

[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Ashleigh Barty (AUS)/ John Peers (AUS)

Juniors
[R1] Snehadevi Reddy (IND,60) l Ying Zhang (CHN,88) 46 06
[R1] Simran Kaur Sethi (IND,123) l (14) Katrine Steffensen (USA,39) 46 26
[R1] Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,154) vs (9) Katie Boulter (GBR,28)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,43) l Harry Bourchier (AUS,29) 36 36

Juniors Doubles
[R1] Snehadevi Reddy (IND)/ Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND) vs Nozomi Ohya (JPN)/ Yukina Saigo (JPN)
[R1] Ilze Hattingh (RSA)/ Simran Kaur Sethi (IND) vs (7) Michaela Gordon (USA)/ Katrine Steffensen (USA)
[R1] (8) Hyeon Chung (KOR)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) vs Pedro Martinez Portero (ESP)/ Jaume Antoni Munar Clar (ESP)

Solid win for Lee-Radek ... They dominated the match though some hiccup in the second set as Lee and Radek both lost their service games ... But still they managed to broke Bracciali twice and Dolgopolov once to win that set and match ... Next they r facing wild-card pair Yuki-Venus.

Sania-Cara dominated the second set after winning tight first set ... Next they r facing unseeded pairing of Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and Russian Vera Dushevina.

Rohan and Aisam needed three sets for a win ... After losing the first set they take control of the match and won next two sets comfortably ... Next they r facing tricky pair of Huey-Inglot.

Mahesh-Rajeev lost their match against 2nd seed Peya-Soares in two sets ... After losing the first set they managed to take the second set in tie-break ... In tie-break Mahesh-Rajeev were 3 match points down at 3-6 ... They saved all 3 match points and had a set point at 7-6 but Rajeev missed simple cross-court shot and then Peya-Soares converted 4th match point.

In MXD, Katarina-Rohan started with comfortable win against Huey-Kops-Jones ... Next they r facing local pair.

Sania-Horia Tecau needed comeback for winning this match in the match tie-break.

In juniors horrible start as our all players lost in their respective singles matches in straight sets ... Now they r only in the doubles draw.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

For 5th-8th Positions
India bt Germany 5-4 (1-3)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND), 18' 41' and 53', Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) PC 39', PC 70' and Oliver Korn (GER) 4', Thilo Stralkowski (GER) PC 6', Benjamin Wess (GER) 27', Martin Häner (GER) PC 55'

Before this tournament and after first 2 matches I write off this Indian hockey team but after that they really surprised me with their performance ... First we were very near for famous victory over Germans in last pool match ... Then we had superb start against Aussies but after that we were typically melt down ... So in this positional match I wasn't expected any great performance by our team against Germans ... But our team surprised me against current Olympic champion Germany and scored rare fighting comeback win against full strength German team ... And book 5th place match against Belgium.

German started with dominating style and scored 2 goals in two minutes to take 2-0 lead after first 6 minutes ... Slowly Indians started to found their footing in the match ... On one such counter-attack Mandeep scored but Germans regained their 2 goals lead when Wess scored ... Then Germany missed a Penalty stroke but still they were leading 3-1 at half-time ... After half-time our team came out all cylinders firing ... Rupinder converted penalty corner in 39th minute and then Mandeep scored his 2nd goal of the match to equalized, 3-all ... After that Indians kept pushing and Mandeep completed hat-trick when he converted another chance and first time in the match Indians were leading, 4-3 ... But within 2 minutes Häner equalized for Germans through penalty corners, 4-all ... In last 15 minutes both teams were trying hard to gain upper-hand but failed to score ... Indians earned penalty corner in dying moments and Rupinder converted for giving Indian team and fans for memorable win ... After ages we manages to win against world's top-4 team ... Belgium defeated Argentina in penalty shoot-off, so we r facing them for fifth place.

Badminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2014, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[QF] Srikanth K. (IND,38) l (4) Tommy Sugiarto (INA,4) 10-21 15-21

Tommy Sugiarto proved too strong for young Srikanth, who lost this match in 36 minutes ... In the first game from 3-all Tommy opened 6-3 lead which he kept increasing for winning it ... In the second game also Tommy opened couple of points lead from 2-3 to 5-3 ... When Tommy was leading 12-8 Srikanth reduced lead to 12-11 and then Srikanth caught Tommy at 15-all after winning 4 points in a row from 11-15 ... But after that Tommy won next 6 points for convincing victory ... Still creditable performance by young Srikanth to reached in quarter final of Superseries Premier tournament.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Lukas Rosol (CZE) 64 61

[R2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt (10) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 64 64

[R2] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)

Juniors
[R1] Snehadevi Reddy (IND,60) vs Ying Zhang (CHN,88)
[R1] Simran Kaur Sethi (IND,123) vs (14) Katrine Steffensen (USA,39)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,43) vs Harry Bourchier (AUS,29)

Yuki-Venus scored another upset win to enter in the third round, this time they defeated pair of experienced doubles players Rojer-Tecau in straight sets ... In this match only 2 break point chances were available and both chances won by Yuki-Venus ... Yuki-Venus won the first set with early break and they started the second set after breaking opponents in 1st game ... after that Yuki-Venus kept that advantage for winning this match.

Radek is playing despite neck pain ... He and Lee started with comfortable win against Czech pair Dlouhy-Rosol in the first round ... Next they r facing big serving pair of Dolgopolov-Bracciali.

Junior draw is out and only Snehadevi having favorable draw in the first round ... Simran Kaur is facing top-40 American and Sumit is facing top-30 local opponent.

Badminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2014, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,16) l (3) Jan O Jorgensen(DEN,3) 18-21 15-21
[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,47) bt Wan Ho Son (KOR,21) 11-21 21-19 21-19

[R2] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l Xue Yao (CHN,25) 21-16 10-21 19-21
[R2] P.V. Sindhu (IND,11) l (6) Ju Bae Yeon (KOR,6) 16-21 19-21

[QF] Srikanth K. (IND,38) vs (4) Tommy Sugiarto (INA,4)

Sindhu failed to overcome challenge of Ju Bae Yeon and lost in 45 minutes ... In the first game Sindhu was leading 6-3 but after that Yeon won next 7 points to take 10-6 lead ... Yeon kept her advantage for winning this game ... In the second game Sindhu opened 9-6 lead from 6-all ... At one time Sindhu was leading 19-15 but after that Yeon won next 6 points for winning this match in straight games.

Saina's disappointing run continues as she lost against lowly ranked Chinese Xue Yao after winning the first game in 56 minutes ... In the first game both players were exchanging lead till 12-all ... After that Saina opened couple of points lead which she increased to won this game ... In the second game Xue take control from the start and she kept increasing lead to won it comfortably ... In the decider from 2-3 Saina opened 5-3 lead ... From 8-10 Xue won next 4 points for taking 12-10 lead ... Xue was leading 18-14 but Saina managed to caught her at 19-all ... Xue won next 2 points and completed upset win.

Jan O Jorgensen scored straight games victory over Kashyap in 43 minutes ... In the first game Jan take 7-1 lead and then he was leading 13-5 and 16-9 ... Kashyap tried fightback and caught Jan at 17-all ... But Jan won 3 points in a row from 18-all to won this game ... In the second game Kashyap take 8-3 lead but Jan won next 6 points to lead 9-8 ... From 9-10 Jan take 14-10 lead which he kept increasing for straight games win.

Wan Ho Son proved too strong for Srikanth in the first game as Wan Ho take control from start for winning it ... In the second game Srikanth was 3-8 down but he fought back winning next 10 points to lead 13-8 ... Srikanth increased his lead to 18-10 but after that Wan Ho fightback to won next 7 points and he caught Srikanth at 19-all ... Srikanth kept his nerves and won next 2 points to take match in the decider ... In the final game Wan Ho opened 6-3 lead which he increased to 10-6 and 14-10 ... From 10-14 Srikanth won next 5 points to lead 15-14 ... Srikanth won 3 points in a row from 16-all to take crucial lead ... From 17-20 Wan Ho saved 2 match points but Srikanth converted 3rd match point for exciting win after 69 minutes ... In quarter final Srikanth is facing WR #4 Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Tammi Patterson (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 61 64
[R1] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 63 46 76(5)

[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Monica Niculescu (ROU)/ Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
[R2] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Colin Fleming (GBR)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR)

Today's AO schedule was hampered by heat wave ... Leander-Radek's match got cancelled but Sania and Rohan had winning start with their respective partners ... Sania-Cara started their AO campaign with comfortable straight sets win over Aussie wild-card pair ... Next they r facing Niculescu-Zakopalova.

Rohan-Aisam struggled in extreme head ... After winning the first set they lost the second set ... After that play was suspended for more than four hours ... When match resumed Rohan-Aisam needed tie-break for completing their victory ... Next they r facing tricky British pair.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

Quarter Finals
India l Australia 2-7 (2-3)
Goal Scorers - Birendra Lakra (IND) 6', Yuvraj Walmiki (IND) 11' and Nicholas Budgeon (AUS) PC 24', Jason Wilson (AUS) 29', Glenn Turner (AUS) 35', Russell Ford (AUS) 41' and 47', Simon Orchard (AUS) 45', Jacob Whetton (AUS) 65'

England bt Belgium 1-0 (0-0)
Netherlands bt Germany 2-1 (2-0)
New Zealand bt Argentina (1-0) (SO 2-2) (SD 2-1)

This was tough match against mighty Australians ... But Indians started positively and take 2-0 lead after 11 minutes but after that all Australian show ... I was avoiding saying this but in end it was THE truth ... After first 15 minutes Australian humiliated us ... They scored 7 goals in 46 minutes and literally toyed with Indian defenders.

Badminton News

Badminton News
At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2014, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,32) l Wang Zhengming (CHN,9) 12-21 11-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,16) bt Marc Zwiebler (GER,12) 21-19 21-13
[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,47) bt Hu Yun (HKG,11) 21-17 18-21 21-16
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,28) l Eric Pang (NED,31) 18-21 21-11 21-23

[R1] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Desi Hera (INA,38) 21-10 21-16
[R1] P.V. Sindhu (IND,11) bt Fanetri Lindaweni (INA,20) 21-17 21-18

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,16) vs (3) Jan O Jorgensen(DEN,3)
[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,47) vs Wan Ho Son (KOR,21)
[R2] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Xue Yao (CHN,30)
[R2] P.V. Sindhu (IND,11) vs (6) Ju Bae Yeon (KOR,6)

Winning start for Saina and Sindhu in contrasting style ... Saina won her match comfortably against her Indonesian opponent Hera in 36 minutes ... Next she is having her first Chinese test against Xue Yao ... Other hand Sindhu won two tight games against experienced Indonesian Fanetri Lindaweni in 43 minutes ... Next she is facing in-form WR #6 Korean Ju Bae Yeon.

In men's Guru had disappointing loss ... After losing the first game Guru made strong comeback winning the second game comfortably ... But he conceded lead in the third game and then missed 3 match points, 2 at 20-18 and 1 at 21-20 ... Pang converted 1st match point for win in 54 minutes.

Kashyap scored straight game victory over his higher ranked German opponent Zwiebler in 35 minutes ... After winning close first game Kashyap dominated the second ... Next he is facing WR #3 Danish player Jan O Jorgensen.

Young Srikanth scored big upset when he defeated WR #11 Hu Yun in 63 minutes ... In the first game Srikanth take early 2/3 points lead but Yun caught him at 17-all ... Srikanth won next 4 points for winning this game ... In the second game both players exchanged leads but this time from 18-all Yun won next 3 points to made one game all ... In the final game Srikanth started with 7-0 but Yun crawled back and caught him at 14-all ... From 15-16 Srikanth won next 6 points and completed exciting victory ... Next he is facing Korean Wan Ho Son.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 26 46
[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Daniel Gimeno Traver (ESP) 62 75
[R1] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL)/ Joao Sousa (POR) 46 63 64

[R2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs (10) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)
[R2] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)/ James Duckworth (AUS)
[R1] (8) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP)
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE)
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Treat Huey (PHI)

Winning debute for Yuki with his partner Venus in the grandslam men's doubles main-draw ... They scored straight sets win over more experienced Spanish pair ... After winning the first set easily Yuki-Venus stretched little by their Spanish opponents in the second ... But in end comfortable win for Yuki-Venus ... Next they r facing 10th seed pairing of Rojer-Tecau.

Divij-Lu had really tough match against in-form and current Chennai open champions Brunstrom-Nielsen ... In this match Brunstrom-Nielsen proved too strong for Divij-Lu.

Mahesh-Rajeev made strong comeback after losing the first set ... They won the second set and then broke opponents in 5th game of the third set to take lead ... Mahesh-Rajeev saved couple of break points in 8th game before holding their serve ... After that they kept their one break advantage and completed victory ... Next they r facing 2nd seed Peya-Soares.

Interesting pairing in mixed doubles as Lee and Mahesh r in same draw ... Mahesh is partnering Lee's former partner Elena Vesnina and Lee is partnering Mahesh's former partner Daniela Hantuchova ... Sania is again partnering Horia Tecau ... Rohan is having very strong partner in Katarina Srebotnik and they r 2nd seed.

Athletic News

At the 2005 Monaco World Athletics Final,

Our long jumper Anju Bobby George became the first Indian track and field athlete to win a Gold medal in a major world event after the IAAF upgraded her Silver medal finish at the 2005 Monaco World Athletics Final to the top spot after a dope violation by a Russian competitor Tatyana Kotova.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,93) l (26) Feliciano Lopez (ESP,27) 46 46 67(2)

Match was tough but surprised to see that Buji didn't try to come near net to broke Lopez's rhythm and played baseline counter-punching game ... In the first set Buji was stretched to hold his service games but Lopez was holding comfortably ... Lopez take crucial break in 9th game to lead 5-4 ... In 10th game Buji had 2 break points which he failed to convert and Lopez converted 1st set point for winning this set ... In the second set also same pattern was repeated ... After 3-all Lopez broke Buji in 7th game to take 4-3 lead ... After that Lopez kept holding his service games for winning the second set ... In the third set Lopez broke Buji in 1st game but from 1-3 Buji made comeback ... He broke Lopez in 6th game converting 2nd break point, 3-all ... At 5-all Lopez broke Buji in 11th game to take 6-5 lead but Buji attacked Lopez when he was serving for the match ... Buji broke Lopez in 12th game to take the set in tie-break ... Tie-break proved one-sided as Buji won 1st point and then lost next 6 points including 2 points on his serve (4th and 5th) ... Buji saved one match point on his serve at 1-6 but lost next point to lose this match ...

Radek Stepanek has retired in his singles match so may be big blow for Leander's participation in this AO men's doubles.
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At Asia-Oceania Zone Group II - Fed Cup 2014, Astana, Kazakhstan (4th - 8th February)

Indian Team - Sania Mirza, Ankita Raina, Prarthana Thombre and Rishika Sunkara
Captain - Enrico Piperno
Coach - Shalini Thakur

AITA selected team as per current rankings of our players ... Missing addition of in-form player Sowjanya Bavisetti in the team.

Bandminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2014, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,32) vs Wang Zhengming (CHN,9)
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,16) vs Marc Zwiebler (GER,12)
[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,47) vs Hu Yun (HKG,11)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,28) vs Eric Pang (NED,31)

[R1] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Desi Hera (INA,38)
[R1] P.V. Sindhu (IND,11) vs Fanetri Lindaweni (INA,20)

This week in Malaysia our all top singles players r playing ... Saina, Sindhu and Kashyap r playing their first tournament of 2014 season.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

Pool A
India dw Germany 3-3 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Benedikt Fürk (GER) OG 19', Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) PC 33', Dharamvir Singh (IND) PC 52' and Oliver Korn (GER) 24', (IND) OG 41', Thilo Stralkowski (GER) 68'

England bt New Zealand 5-1 (1-0)

Despite good performance against German team Indians lost opportunity of winning this game ... But after two games without a goal, India scored 3 goals to record their first points and earn a 3-3 draw against Olympic champions Germany in the final Pool A match ... Indians take lead three times and Germans drew afterwards ... After taking 3-2 lead Raghunath received yellow card in 67th minute ... Germans take advantage of it and scored when Sardara missed easy clearance in the circle ... So as we finished on last place then facing mighty Australian in quarter final.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup - Asia/ Oceania Group I,

Indian Team - Somdev Devvarman (#93), Yuki Bhambri (#172), Rohan Bopanna (doubles #13) and Saketh Myneni (S #318 and D #309)
Reserve Players - Sanam Singh (#390), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (#314), Ramkumar Ramanathan (#407)
Non-playing captain - Anand Amritraj

Somdev and Rohan makes a comeback in Indian team which will strengthen India's Davis Cup squad for the opening Asia-Ocenia Group I tie against a tricky Chinese Taipei to be played in Indore ... Saketh is also selected as doubles partner to Rohan.
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At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Tammi Patterson (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS)
[R1] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)
[R1] (5) Leander Peas (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Lukas Rosol (CZE)
[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Michael Venus (NZL) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Daniel Gimeno Traver (ESP)
[R1] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)/ Joao Sousa (POR)

Sania-Cara r 6th seed and they r in top draw with top-seed Italian pair Errani-Vinci.

Rohan-Aisam r in top draw with top-seed Bryans ... Our other all pairs r in bottom draw ... Yuki-Venus having decent draw as they r facing unseeded Spanish pair ... Divij-Lu r facing tricky pair of Brunstrom-Nielsen ... Mahesh is also unseeded with Rajeev and they r facing Giraldo-Sousa in the first round ... Lee-Radek r 5th seed and facing Czech pair in the first round.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

Pool A
India l New Zealand 1-3 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) 68' and Shea McAleese (NZL) 1', Stephen Jenness (NZL) 41' and 51'

England bt Germany 2-1 (2-1)

Black Sticks opened account in the first minute and then Indians were did catching game ... Indians missed too many opportunities and Black Sticks converted their chances ... After every match I m really feeling down by our performance.

Tennis News

At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

Doubles Final
(3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 67(3) 67(3)

Rohan-Aisam lost the final against former WR #1 Nestor-Zimo in two tie-break ... In this 1 hour and 35 minutes match both pair failed to gain break but Nestor-Zimo proved strong in tie-breaks.
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At $10K Aurangabad ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Final
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (2) Prarthana G.THOMBARE (IND) 57 64 64

Sowjanya complete3d excellent run in this $10K ITF tournament with very hard fought win against 2nd seed Prarthana ... Prarthana started well and won the tight first set ... In the second set both players traded breaks and were matching eachother in every game ... Sowjanya take crucial break in 10th game for winning it ... After winning the second set Sowjanya kept initiative and won it with a single break ... So with that Sowjanya lifts her 2nd 10K ITF tournament's title and first in India.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

Pool A
India l England 0-2 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Adam Dixon (ENG) PC 28' and PC 45'

Germany bt New Zealand 6-1 (3-1)

Totally disappointing outing for Indian team against English team ... In this match England struggled to find their rhythm but Indians managed to perform poor from them ... For England Dixon converted one penalty corner in each half which helped them for victory ... Other hand Indians were looking disoriented in their game plan and were showing lack of urgency ... After watching our performance I feel India really need some miracle to to avoid last place in this tournament.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,93) vs (26) Feliciano Lopez (ESP,27)

Buji is having tough draw as he is facing seeded Lopez in the first round.
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At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[SF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Lukas Rosol (CZE)/ Joao Sousa (POR) 61 62

[F] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Very convincing win for Rohan-Aisam in 44 minutes against Rosol-Sousa, who scored upset win over Bryans in previous round ... In this match Rohan-Asiam didn't face a single break point on their service games and they take couple of breaks in both sets on their opponents serve ... In the final they r facing former WR #1 and very experienced pairing of Nestor-Zimonjic.
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At $10K Aurangabad ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Semi Finals
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (6) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) 64 60
(2) Prarthana G.THOMBARE (IND) bt (8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) 76(4) 62

Sowjanya scored dominating upset win over higher ranked Prerna in the semis ... In the final she is facing 2nd seed Prarthana, who scored straight sets win over Nidhi.

Badminton News

At $600K Victor Korea Open 2014, Seoul (Superseries)

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (3) Ye Na Jang (KOR)/ So Young Kim (KOR) 18-21 12-21
[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (7) Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Birgit Michels (GER) 10-21 15-21

Jwala-Ashwini stretched their top-10 opponents in the first game but after losing the first game they failed to produce challenge in the second game ... Jwala-Tarun struggled on international level continues ... Their performance wasn't convincing and they lost against German pair.

Tennis News

At $10K Aurangabad ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Quarter Finals
(6) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt (1) Ankita RAINA (IND) 46 62 63
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND) 64 75
(8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt (3) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 63 63
(2) Prarthana G.THOMBARE (IND) bt (7) Natasha PALHA (IND) 62 67(4) 60

Ankita's awful form continues and Prerna take full advantage of it ... Prerna scored comeback win over Ankita ... She will face Sowjanya in the semis, who defeated Rutuja in straight sets ... Nidhi scored comfortable win over higher ranked Rishika ... She will face 2nd seed Prarthana, who defeated Natash in three sets.

Hockey News

At Hero Hockey World League Final 2014, New Delhi, India

Indian Team
GoalKeepers - PR Sreejesh (Vice-Captain), Harjot Singh
Defenders - Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, V R Raghunath, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Amit Rohidas
Midfielders - Sardar Singh (Captain), S K Uthappa, Dharamvir Singh, Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, M B Aiyappa
Forwards - Nikkin Thimmaiah, S V Sunil, Mandeep Singh, Affan Yousuf, Yuvraj Walmiki

Pool A
WR #1 Germany, WR #4 England, WR #7 New Zealand and WR #10 India

Indian team is playing in Hockey World League Final and declared strong team for the tournament ... We r playing with young forwards ... Hoping that our team improve ranking with their performance.

Squash News

At $5K Men's Open du Gard 2014 (Challenger 5), Nimes, France (3-5 January 2014)

Final
(3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,82) bt (1) Greg Lobban (SCO,82) 3-1 (9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5) (64m)

[SF] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,82) bt (2) Ammar Altamimi (KUW,85) 3-0 (11-9, 11-2, 11-0) (28m)
[QF] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,82) bt Youssef Abdalla (ENG,178) 3-1 (11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5) (54m)
[R1] (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,82) bt (Q) Ollie Holland (ENG,185) 1-0 (11-4 retd.)

The Indian teenager Mahesh Mangaonkar claimed the first Tour title of the year when he defeated top-seeded Scot Greg Lobban in the final of the Open du Gard, the PSA Challenger 5 squash tournament ... Overall his 3rd title on PSA tour ... Mahesh scored 5 games final victory over Lobbann in the last month's Imet Open in Slovakia and here he gave more dominated performance in the final ... Before this in the semi-finals Mahesh crushed 2nd seeded Kuwaiti Ammar Altamimi in just 28 minutes.

Badminton News

At $600K Victor Korea Open 2014, Seoul (Superseries)

[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,47) l (5) Kenichi Tago (JPN,5) 10-21 11-21
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,28) l Takuma Ueda (JPN,15) 11-21 11-21

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Anna Rankin (NZL)/ Madeleine Stapleton (NZL) 21-10 21-7
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Johannes Schoettler (GER)/ Johanna Goliszewsk (GER) 22-20 21-17

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (3) Ye Na Jang (KOR)/ So Young Kim (KOR)
[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (7) Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Birgit Michels (GER)

Srikanth and Guru failed to produce any challenge to their respective Japanese opponents and lost their respective matches without much fight.

Jwala-Ashwini take advantage of weaker opponents and won their match in 19 minutes against New Zealand pair ... Next they r facing tough challenge of local favorite and WR #7 Korean pair of Ye Na Jang-So Young Kim.

Ashwini started with win in MXD with Tarun Kona ast they defeated German pair in the first round ... Ashwini-Tarun started well and take early 8-2 lead but from 13-17 German pair won next 5 points to lead 18-17 ... Tarun-Ashwini had 2 game points at 20-18 but they missed those before converting 3rd game point ... In the second game Ashwini-Tarun were down 9-11 before winning next 4 points to lead 13-11 ... After that they kept their advantage and completed victory in 34 minutes ... Next they r facing another German pair but this time 7th seed Fuchs-Michels.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,172) l (28) Potito Starace (ITA,153) 36 61 26

I m disappointed with this loss ... Though Starace was former top-30 player and very experienced but still Yuki had tools to overcame the challenge ... In this match also his service game was let him down ... In the first set Yuki broke Starace in 1st game but failed to hold his serve in next game, 1-all ... Yuki missed break point chances in 7th game and Starace broke him in 8th game ... Starace hold in next game for winning this set ... In the second set Yuki broke Starace in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... Yuki again broke Starace in 6th game, 5-1, and then hold his service game for winning this set comfortably ... In the decider Yuki struggled with his service games and lost his services thrice and managed to convert only a single break point from four to lose this match ... Missed big opportunity.
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At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (2) Leander Peas (IND) / Radek Stepanek (CZE) l Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger Vasselin (FRA) 46 46

[QF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 67(3) 76(5) 10-3

[SF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE)/ Joao Sousa (POR)

Bad start for 2014 season for Lee-Radek as they lost in straight sets against French pair ... With a single break French pair won the first set ... In the second set also French pair take a single break when they broke Lee in 7th game and our pair failed to convert 3 break points ... So with a single break in both sets helped French pair to complete the victory.

Rohan-Aisam needed another match tie-break for completing victory in 1 hour and 33 minutes against tricky pairing of Treat Huey-Dominic Inglot ... In the first round also Rohan-Aisam won their match in similar situation ... Here they lost the first set in tie-break and then fought back to won close the second set tie-break ... This time also they dominated match tie-break ... In the semis they r facing unseeded Lukas Rosol-Joao Sousa, who scored upset win over top-seed Bryans in tight match tie-break.
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At $10K Aurangabad ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Second Round
(1) Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Damini SHARMA (IND) 62 75
(6) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Akshara ISKA (IND) 62 60
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (4) Emi MUTAGUCHI (JPN) 46 62 61
(WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND) bt (5) Shweta RANA (IND) 61 06 76(6)
(8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt Bhuvana KALVA (IND) 76(5) 64
(3) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (Q) Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) 62 62
(7) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (Q) Srishti SLARIA (IND) 62 60
(2) Parthana G.THOMBARE (IND) bt Chihiro NUNOME (JPN) 67(5) 62 76(1)

Sowjanya make all-Indian quarterfinals with upset win over 4th seed Japanese Mutaguchi in comeback match ... Prarthana also needed to dig deep to beat her Japanese opponent Nunome ... Rutuja scored upset win over higher ranked Shweta Rana after winning final tie-break in extra points.

Badminton News

At $600K Victor Korea Open 2014, Seoul (Superseries)

[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,47) vs (5) Kenichi Tago (JPN,5)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V (IND,28) vs Takuma Ueda (JPN,15)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Anna Rankin (NZL)/ Madeleine Stapleton (NZL)
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Johannes Schoettler (GER)/ Johanna Goliszewsk (GER)

Tough draw for our singles players ... Guru and Srikanth their last matches against respective Japanese opponents.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2014, Melbourne

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,172) vs (28) Potito Starace (ITA,153)

Yuki is having decent draw in the first qualifying round, he is facing experienced and former top-30 Italian Potito Starace ... They r in the draw with WR #122 Canadian Frank Dancevic.
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At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Jean Julien Roger(NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROM) 76(5) 67(2) 10-3

[QF] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR)

Rohan-Aisam scored really hard fought win against Jean Julien Roger-Horia Tecau in match tie-break ... Much needed such match for Rohan-Aisam before AO ... The first set Rohan-Aisam won in tie-break before losing the second set in tie-break but they dominated match tie-break ... Next they r facing tricky and in-form pairing of Huey-Inglot.
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At $10K Aurangabad ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles First Round
(1) Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (Q) Theiviya SELVARAJOO (MAS) 62 62
Damini SHARMA (IND) bt (Q) Sahan SHETTY (IND) 63 63
(Q) Akshara ISKA (IND) bt (Q) Vaibhavi TRIVEDI (IND) 61 64
(6) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt (Q) Aashima GARG (IND) 60 61
(4) Emi MUTAGUCHI (JPN) bt Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) 63 62
Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) bt (Q) Riya BHATIA (IND) 63 62
(WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND) bt Anushka BHARGAVA (IND) 64 61
(5) Shweta RANA (IND) bt (WC) Teertha ISKA (IND) 46 61 60
(8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt Eetee MAHETA (IND) 57 62 60
Bhuvana KALVA (IND) bt (WC) Mahrukh KOKNI (IND) 62 60
(Q) Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) bt (WC) Isha BUDWAL (IND) 62 60
(3) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Vaniya DANGWAL (IND) 61 64
(7) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Sharon Sanchana PAUL (IND) 63 64
(Q) Srishti SLARIA (IND) bt Sanya MADAN (IND) 61 62
Chihiro NUNOME (JPN) bt Sharmada BALU (IND) 61 64
(2) Parthana G.THOMBARE (IND) bt Jeni PATEL (IND) 61 62

Overall expected results in the first round.

Tennis News

At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) l Jan-Lennard Struff (GER,107) 62 26 36

Buji lost in the second qualifying rund after winning the first set ... Buji won the first set with double break but lost next two sets losing his serve twice in both sets ... In the final set Stuff broke him in 5th and 9th games for convincing win ... So bad start for 2014 season for Buji, who lost two matches from three he played so far.
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At $710K APIA International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (WC) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Alia Tomljanovic (AUS) 36 26

Ouch, Sania-Cara having terrible start for 2014 season as they lost against Aussie wild-card pair without giving much fight.

Tennis News

At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) bt Niels Desein (BEL,199) 62 26 64

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER,107)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jean Julien Roger(NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROM)
[R1] (2) Leander Peas (IND) / Radek Stepanek (Cze) vs. Julien Benneteau (FRA) / Edouard Roger Vasselin ( FRA)

Buji started well as he broke Niels in 1st game ... With another break on Niels's serve in 5th game helped Buji for winning the first set comfortably ... In the second set Niels made strong comeback ... He won the set with double break ... In the third set both players twice traded breaks before Buji got important break in 9th game ... Buji hold his serve and completed his first win of 2014 season ... In the second round he is facing German Jan-Lennard Struff, who scored upset win over top-seed Kukuskin.

In the doubles Lee-Radek r starting their preparation for AO 2014 and they r 2nd seed ... Rohan-Aisam r 3rd seed and they r in top-draw with Bryans.
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At $710K APIA International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (WC) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Alia Tomljanovic (AUS)

Sania and Cara starting their 2014 season from Sydney tournament ... They r 3rd seed in this WTA premier tournament.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[QF] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) l (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,32) 36 36

Doubles
[QF] (WC) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 36 36

[SF] (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) l (4) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 46 36

Croatian pair proved too strong for Bala-RamK as Croatian pair broke them twice to won the first set ... In the second set also they were break up at 5-3 but RamK-Bala had 3 break points in 9th game when Croatian pair was serving for the match ... RamK-Bala missed all 3 chances and they lost 4 points in a row to lose match in 58 minutes.

Pospisil's powerful forehands worked for him in this match and other hand Yuki struggled with his services ... Pospisil take early break, 1-4 and kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set also Pospisil broke Yuki is 1st game and then take another break in 9th game for comfortable win ... But overall good Chennai open for Yuki as he became only third Indian player, who reached the quarter-final after Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman ... This performance will help Yuki to improve his ranking ... He will be in top-175 and mostly climb to his new career best singles ranking.

Saketh-Karen lotst their doubles semifinal against 4th seed Brunstrom-Nielsen in straight sets ... So with that Indian challenge got over in Chennai open 2014.
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At $512K APIA International Sydney, Australia

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,90) vs Niels Desein (BEL,199)

In last minute Buji decided to play at Sydney qualifying ... In the first round he is facing Belgian Niels Desein.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

[R2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) bt (3) Fabio Fognini (ITA,16) 61 5-5 retd. (Fognini left leg strain)
[R2] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,519) l (6) Marcel Granollers (ESP,38) 26 46

[QF] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,195) vs (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,32)

Doubles
[QF] (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 75 26 12-10
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) l (4) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 46 46

[SF] (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (4) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)

Yuki scored upset win over world top-20 Fabio Fognini when he retired in the second set ... Had a very positive start for Yuki against top-20 Fognini though Fognini was looking injured ... Yuki broke Fognini's serve twice to won the first set comfortably inside 30 minutes ... In the second set Yuki broke Fognini in 5th game to lead 3-2 but this time Fognini immediately broke back to made it 3-all ... Yuki missed break point opportunity in 7th game ... After 10th game Fognini decided to retired from the match ... Yuki next meeting 5th seed Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

RamK gave creditable performance against top-40 Granollers in this loss ... After losing the first set RamK was 1-4 down with double break ... Then RamK played some excellent tennis and broke Granollers's serve twice to made it 4-all ... But in 9th game RamK failed to hold his service game and then Granollers hold his serve for completing the victory.

Purav-Dudi started with early break in 2nd game to lead 2-0 but they failed to kept the advantage and 4th seed pair caught them at 4-all ... Brunstrom-Nielsen take crucial break in 9th game and then hold their service game for winning the first set ... In the second set also Dudi-Purav broke opponent in 2nd game to lead 3-0 but again lost their serve in 5th game to brought the set on serve ... Again Brunstrom-Nielsen take break in 9th game and then hold their serve for a victory.

Wild-card pairing of Saketh-Karen scored upset win over top-seed Rohan-Aisam in the quarter final ... In the first set Rohan-Aisam take break in 1st game but Saketh-Karen take break back in 4th game to made it 2-all ... After that Saeth-Karen take crucial break in 12th game for winning the first set ... The second set dominated by Aisam-Rohan, who won it with double break ... Saketh-Karen fought back in match tie-break, which including they saved 4 match points, from 6-9 and then at 9-10, before completing victory in extra points ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed pair of Brunstrom-Nielsen.

Tennis News

At $400K Aircel Chennai Open 2014, India

Doubles
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Frank Moser (GER) 76(4) 61
[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 2-1 retd. (Lu right thigh strain))
[R1] (WC) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 75 63
[R1] (2) Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) w/o (Fognini thigh injury)

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (WC) Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Saketh Myneni (IND)
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) vs (4) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)
[QF] (WC) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Bala-RamK scored huge upset win over very experienced American pairing of Ram-Lipsky in straight sets ... Next they r facing 4th seed Brunstrom-Nielsen.

Raja-Sela also started with win against another experienced pairing of Monroe-Moser ... They dominated the second set after winning the first set in tie-break ... Next they r facing Croatian pair, who received walkover from 2nd seed.

Divij-Lu retired from the match due to tigh strain to Lu ... Tough luck for Divij.