Tennis News

At €485,760 Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL)/ Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) w/o

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ David Marrero (ESP)

Lucky break for Divij-Purav but next they r facing top-seed pair ... this match is important for them French open qualification.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Andijan

[R2] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) bt Aliaksandr Halinko (BLR,1949) 62 60

[QF] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) vs (Q) Evgeny Elistratov (RUS,1108)

Doubles
[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt (WC) Roman Safiullin (RUS)/ Alexander Vasilenko (RUS) 46 63 10-6

[SF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs (4) Daniiar Duldaev (KGZ)/ Vladimir Uzhylovsky (UKR)

Good easy win for Vishnu ... Next he is facing Russian qualifier, who beats 4th seed player in previous round.

In the doubles Bala-Ranjeet need comeback win after losing the first set against Russian wild-card pair ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed pair.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R2] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,579) l Ashling SUMNER (AUS,914) 16 57
[R2] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) bt Shiho HISAMATSU (JPN,1145) 64 63
[R2] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,705) l Emma FLOOD (NOR,740) 57 57

[QF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) vs Mandy WAGEMAKER (NED,753)

Only Natasha manages to win ... Next she is facing Dutch girl.
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At $10K Iran F7 futures , Kish

[R2] Akash Wagh (IND,1138) l Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1162) 16 26
[R2] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2183) l (2) Marko Tepavac (SRB,629) 36 26

Doubles
[QF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt (4) Vadim ALEKSEENKO (UKR)/ Alexandr KUSHAKOV (UKR) 75 26 11-9
[QF] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Anvit BENDRE (IND) l (2) Marko TEPAVAC (SRB)/ Mark VERVOORT (NED) 57 26

[SF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) vs Maximilian MANN (AUT)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT)

In the singles our both players lose their match without much fight ... But in the doubles Akash-Ronak r in the semis with another tight win.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan, Uzbekistan

[R2] (3) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) bt Madina Khatamova (UZB,UNR) 61 60
[R2] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,685) l Polina Monova (RUS,876) 16 06

[QF] (3) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) vs Polina Monova (RUS,876)

Prarthana is looking in good touch ... Next she is facing Monova, who upset Balu.
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At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R1] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Peter HELLER (GER)/ David PEL (NED) 63 64

[QF] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs Alexander JHUN (GBR)/ Yusuke WATANUKI (JPN)

RamK and Ciumac r top-seed and have winning start against German pair.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,102) bt Mathew Ebden (AUS,62) 62 63

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,102) vs Tomáš Berdych (CZE,6)

Buji score comfortable win over Aussie Ebden in straight sets without losing much sweat ... This was his first win on the tour after Dubai open ... Next he is facing top-seed Berdych but I m hoping for decent fighting performance from Buji.
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At $250K Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Maria Irigoyen (ARG) 46 62 10-5

After losing the first set Cara-Sania make superb comeback and won next two sets comfortably.
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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (clay)

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,269) l Andrew Whittington (AUS,394) 63 36 36

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) l (WC) Peng Xion Gong (CHN)/ Xio Gong (CHN) 67(0) 64 13-15
[R1] Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)/ Richard Becker (GER) bt (4) Hsin-Han Lee (TPE)/ Mat Reid (AUS) 64 76(3)

[QF] Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)/ Richard Becker (GER) vs Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO)

Saki fails to took advantage of good start against lower ranked Aussie player ... In the doubles very suspicious loss of Saki-Clusky in extra points of super tie-break against local wild-card pair ... Jeeven-Becker score upset win over 4th seed.
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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, USA

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,368) l (6) Gerald Melzer (AUT,148) 26 06

Doubles
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND)/ Takanyi Garanganga (ZIM) vs (4) Sekou Bangoura (USA)/ Evan King (USA)

Melzer punishes Sanam on the clay.
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At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, Aning, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,291) l (1) Jovana Jaksic (SRB,106) 16 46

Decent fight in the second by Ankita.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Andijan

[R1] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) bt (Q) Pavel Tsoy (UZB,UNR) 63 63
[R1] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,642) l (Q) Fedor Chervyakov (RUS,1044) 57 0-2 retd.

[R2] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) vs Aliaksandr Halinko (BLR,1949)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Remi Boutillier (FRA) l Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Temur Ismailov (UZB) 36 64 8-10

Only Vishnu is remaining in the singles as Ranjeet retired after losing the first set ... In the doubles Vishnu lose with his new French partner ... Vishnu will face Belarus's Aliaksandr Halinko.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan, Uzbekistan

[R2] (3) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) bt Aleksandra Stakhanova (UZB,UNR) 61 62
[R1] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,685) bt (Q) Feruzabonu Saidova (UZB,UNR) 61 63

[R2] (7) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) vs Madina Khatamova (UZB,UNR)
[R2] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,685) vs Polina Monova (RUS,876)

Really good win by Prarthana and Sharrmadaa against unranked players ... But in next round Sharrmadaa having tough match.
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At $10K Iran F7 futures , Kish

[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1362) l (1) Vadim Alekseenko (UKR,536) 16 26
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1267) l (WC) Amirvala Madanchi (IRI,UNR) 46 57
[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2183) bt (WC) Leo Julien Sebaoun (JPN,UNR) 63 63

Doubles
[R1] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt Hamed ESMAIL YAZDI (IRI)/ Hesam ESMAIL YAZDI (IRI) 62 62
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Anvit BENDRE (IND) bt Joel KINCAID (USA)/ Goran MARKOVIC (SRB) w/o

Only Neeraj is the second round with Akash.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,579) bt Ho Ching WU (HKG,871) 64 64

[R2] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,579) vs Ashling SUMNER (AUS,914)
[R2] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) vs Shiho HISAMATSU (JPN,1145)
[R2] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,705) vs Emma FLOOD (NOR,740)

Good win by Rishika against Wu ... Nidhi having tougher match against similar ranked opponent.
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At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt (LL) Aoran WANG (CHN,1940) 61 62

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs Sergei BUBKA (UKR,UNR)

Expected win but tough match against former top-200 player Bubka, who is coming out of life threatening injury (fall from 4th floor).

Tennis News

At $250K Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Maria Irigoyen (ARG)

Surprising entry of Sania-Cara in Portugal open.
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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (clay)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,328) l Jordan Thompson (AUS,325) 26 36

Poor loss of Jeevan against similar ranked player.
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At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, Aning, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,291) vs (1) Jovana Jaksic (SRB,106)

Doubles
[R1] Cindy BURGER (NED)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) l Yihong LI (CHN)/ Lin ZHU (CHN) 63 36 8-10

Ankita decide to play in tougher tournament and facing top-100 type Serbian Jaksic in the first round ... In the doubles she and her Dutch partner Burger failed to took advantage of good start and lost in match tie-break.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Andijan

[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,333) l Richard Muzaev (RUS,786) 57 36
[R1] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) vs (Q) Pavel Tsoy (UZB,UNR)
[R1] (7) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,642) vs (Q) Fedor Chervyakov (RUS,1044)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Evgeny Elistratov (RUS)/ Vitaly Kozyukov (RUS) 64 64
[R1] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Remi Boutillier (FRA) vs Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Temur Ismailov (UZB)

[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs (WC) Roman Safiullin (RUS)/ Alexander Vasilenko (RUS)

Shocking loss of Bala in the singles.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,705) bt (2) Shweta RANA (IND,547) 61 5-0 retd.
[R1] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) bt (Q) Chompoothip JANDAKATE (THA,UNR) 63 75

Impressive start by Nidhi and winning start for Natasha.
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At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs (LL) Aoran WANG (CHN,1940)

RamK need to perform as per his seedings.
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At $10K Iran F7 futures , Kish

[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1362) l (1) Vadim Alekseenko (UKR,536) 16 26
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1267) vs (WC) Amirvala Madanchi (IRI,UNR)
[R1] Anvit Bendre (IND,1456) l Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1162) 16 26
[R1] Akash Wagh (IND,1138) bt (7) Marko Danis (SVK,835) 06 76(8) 64
[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2183) vs (WC) Leo Julien Sebaoun (JPN,UNR)

Impressive win by Akash ... After losing the first set easily Akash saved few match points in the second set before winning the match.

Golf News

At $750K Indonesian Masters, Jakarta - Final Scoreboard



1. Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 70 69 64 68 -17 $135,000.00
T5 S.S.P CHOWRASIA (IND) 71 66 69 68 -14 $23,868.75
9 Rashid KHAN (IND) 70 70 64 71 -13 $16,050.00
T13 Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 72 68 67 70 -11 $10,863.00
T22 Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 70 70 72 70 -6 $7,612.50
T39 Arjun ATWAL (IND) 70 74 73 69 -2 $4,522.80
66 Sujjan SINGH (IND) 68 74 80 75 +9 $1,950.00

Anirban Lahiri won his fourth Asian Tour title and first outside of India with a spectacular 20 foots eagle putt on the last hole to win the Indonesian Masters ... This title win help him to push his world ranking to career best #67 ... This is the best ranking occupy by Indian golfer after Jeev's top-50 ranking.

Tennis News

At $710K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier) (Red clay)

[F] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 26 36

So another loss for Sania-Cara against to-seed Italian ... Overall they perform as per their seedings but need to find trick of beating Italian pair.
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At €485,760 Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,100) vs Mathew Ebden (AUS,62)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)/ Alejandro Gonzalez (COL)

Buji having good chance of winning his first match on European clay against Edben ... Divij-Purav r also getting chance of playing on ATP tour.
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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (clay)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,328) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS,325)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,269) vs Andrew Whittington (AUS,394)

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs (WC) Peng Xion Gong (CHN)/ Xio Gong (CHN)
[R1] Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)/ Richard Becker (GER) vs (4) Hsin-Han Lee (TPE)/ Mat Reid (AUS)

So our players r playing on Asian clay this week.
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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger,

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,368) vs (6) Gerald Melzer (AUT,148)

Tough match for Sanam on the clay.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] (2) Shweta RANA (IND,547) vs Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,705)
[R1] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) vs (Q) Chompoothip JANDAKATE (THA,UNR)
[R1] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,579) vs Ho Ching WU (HKG,871)

Not sure about our girls performance.

Tennis News

At $710K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier) (Red clay)

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (ALT) Antonia Lottner (GER)/ Anna Zaja (GER) 62 26 10-4

[F] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

In the semis Sania-Cara needs the match tie-break to beat unseeded German pair ... Cara-Sania won the first set comfortably but inconsistency costed the second set ... In the match tie-break Cara-Sania recovered and won it comfortably ... In the final they r facing top-seed Italian pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

Badminton News

At $200K Asia Championships 2014, Gimcheon, Korea

[SF] P V Sindhu (IND,10) l (2) Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-15 20-22 12-21
[SF] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Ying Luo (CHN)/ Yu Luo (CHN) 12-21 7-21

So in end our all players who faced Chinese opponents lose their respective matches ... Ashwini-Jwala fail to produce much challenge to Luo sisters in their loss.

Other hand Sindhu lose big opportunity of winning against Shixian Wang in 78 minutes long match ... Sindhu started confidently to win the first game ... In the second game Sindhu had her chances but she failed to capitalize and lost that game in extra points ... After that it was Shixian Wang's show as she dominated the final game.

Badminton News

At $200K Asia Championships 2014, Gimcheon, Korea

[QF] R M V Gurusaidutt (IND,40) l (Q) Kai Liu (CHN,259) 24-22 9-21 13-21
[QF] P V Sindhu (IND,10) bt Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,18) 14-21 21-13 21-10
[QF] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Amelia Alicia Anscelly (MAS)/ Fie Cho Soong (MAS) 21-12 21-12

[SF] P V Sindhu (IND,10) vs (2) Shixian Wang (CHN,2)
[SF] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Ying Luo (CHN)/ Yu Luo (CHN)

Again slow start for Sindhu but this time also after losing the first game she win next two games comfortable against her Thai opponent ... In the final she is facing in-form to-seed and WR #2 Shixian Wang.

Ashwini-Jwala score very dominating win over Malaysian pair showing their last round win over WR #12 Thai pair wasn't fluke ... In the semis they r facing Chinese Luo sisters.

Guru fails to overcome young Chinese challenge Kai Liu ... Guru matched Liu in the first game and won it in extra points but after that he was blown away by Liu's game.

Tennis News

At €2.1M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Spain (Red clay)

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (5) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 76(6) 57 7-10

Rohan-Aisam lose in very close match against multiple grand slam winners Nestor-Zimo in match tie-break ... Rohan-Aisam won the first set in extra points tie-break but after they failed to keep momentum ... Nestor-Zimo won next set with single break and kept their advantage for winning the match tie-break.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Namangan

[SF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) l Vladimir Uzhylovsky (UKR,827) 67(4) 26

I m surprise by this loss of Bala ... Though Uzhylovsky was former top-500 players but he is more like journeyman on the futures ... This was winnable match which Bala lost it.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[SF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) l Ashling SUMNER (AUS,912) 63 67(3) 26

Natasha miss big opportunity of entering $10K tournament final outside India ... Natasha started well and won the first set then in the second set she had couple of match points at 6-5 and she was also leading 3-0 in the tie-break ...Ashling won the tie-break and after that she didn't gave much chance to Natasha.
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At $10K Iran F6 futures , Kish

Doubles Final
Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt (4) Jerome INZERILLO (FRA)/ Martin VAISSE (FRA) 26 61 11-9

Ronak-Akash completes their excellent week with the doubles title when they produce amazing comeback ... After losing the first set cheaply Ronak-Akash responded strongly and won this set with ease ... In the match tie-break both pairs tried hard but our pair prevailed in extra points ... Great win!

Badminton News

At $200K Asia Championships 2014, Gimcheon, Korea

[R2] R M V Gurusaidutt (IND,40) bt Tzu Wei Wang (TPE,59) 17-21 21-13 21-19
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,19) l Hsu Jen Hao (TPE,27) 23-25 17-21
[R2] P V Sindhu (IND,10) bt Eriko Hirose (JPN,16) 14-21 21-13 21-18
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (3) Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA) 21-11 21-18

[QF] R M V Gurusaidutt (IND,40) vs (Q) Kai Liu (CHN,259)
[QF] P V Sindhu (IND,10) vs Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,18)
[QF] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Amelia Alicia Anscelly (MAS)/ Fie Cho Soong (MAS)

Sindhu score huge win of her career against experienced Japanese Eriko Hirose in 73 mins match ... In their all three previous meeting Hirose defeated Sindhu and in this match also Hirose started in same fashion as she won the first game ... Sindhu fought back and won the second game comfortably and kept that momentum for winning the third game ... Next in the quarters she is facing Thai girl Busanan.

Guru also joins Sindhu in the quarters ... He also needed fightback after losing the first game ... Next he is facing tricky opponent in Chinese qualifier Kai Liu ... Kashyap wasn't so lucky and lost in straight games against another Taipei player.

Ashwini-Jwala score biggest victory after Jwala's comeback ... They scored convincing win over 3rd seed and WR #12 Thai pair ... In the quarters they r facing unseeded Malaysian pair.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT Boys 2014, Delhi, India

[QF] (3) India l (7) New Zealand 0-2
Vikash Singh l Macsen Sisam 62 46 36
Siddhant Banthia l Finn Reynolds 26 67(1)

Our top player Adil Kalyanpur is injured but still bad loss for Indian boys, who r playing on home soil ... With this loss our boys miss opportunity of qualifying for World group.
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At €2.1M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Spain (Red clay)

Doubles
[QF] (LL) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) l (LL) Jesse Huta Galung (NED)/ Stephane Robert (FRA) 64 36 5-10

Buji-Pavic started well but after winning the first set they failed to keep momentum ... And lost the match after losing the match tie-break easily.
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At $710K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier) (Red clay)

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Kristina Barrois (GER)/ Annika Beck (GER) 63 26 10-8

This young German pair stretched Sania-Cara to match tie-break ... After winning the first set Cara-Sania lost momentum to lose the second set easily ... But they recovered to win tight match tie-break.
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At $50K+H Shenzhen Challenger, China

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,260) l (1) Yen Hsun Lu (TPE,49) 26 57

Doubles
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) l Dominik Meffert (GER)/ Tim Puetz (GER) 36 67(6)

Saki lose both matches ... In the singles after losing the first set Saki was up 5-2 with a break but after that Lu used his experience and won next 5 games in that broke Saki in 9th and 11th games.

In the doubles Saki and Peng failed to capitalize on upset first round win ... In this match also after losing the first set Saki-Peng was break down ... They tried fightback and take the set in tie-break but failed to win it.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Namangan

[QF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) bt (Q) Vitaly Kozyukov (RUS,1697) 67(4) 64 63

[SF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) vs Vladimir Uzhylovsky (UKR,827)

Doubles
[SF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Markos KALOVELONIS (GRE)/ Alexander VASILENKO (RUS) 75 63
[SF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) bt Mikhail FUFYGIN (RUS)/ Shonigmatjon SHOFAYZIYEV (UZB) 63 75

Doubles Final
(1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) 63 61

Bala score comeback win over Russian qualifier ... After losing the first set in tie-break Bala showed consistency in his game to win next two sets ... In the semis he is facing former top 500 Ukrainian Uzhylovsky.

Bala play three matches in the day as the doubles semi-final and final played today only ... Top two seeds pairs won their respective semi-final matches in straight sets ... In the final Bala-Ranjeet score dominating win over Vishnu-Piots losing only four games.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[QF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) bt (7) Michika OZEKI (JPN,632) 63 64

[SF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) vs Ashling SUMNER (AUS,912)

Convincing win by Natasha against her Japanese opponent Ozeki ... In the semis she is facing unseeded Australian Ashling Sumner.
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At $10K Tukey F13 Futures, Antalya

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) l Franjo RASPUDIC (CRO,855) 46 16

RamK lose in the second round against 850+ ranked Croatian ... Mostly lack of match practice is the reason for this poor performance ... Hopefully he will be play as per his potential.
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At $10K Iran F6 futures , Kish

[SF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt (1) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Cristian RODRIGUEZ (COL) 76(2) 62

[F] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) vs (4) Jerome INZERILLO (FRA)/ Martin VAISSE (FRA)

Akash-Ronak score huge upset win over top-seed South American pair in straight sets ... In the final they r facing 4th seed French pair.

Badminton News

At $200K Asia Championships 2014, Gimcheon, Korea

[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,16) l Dan Lin (CHN,104) 7-21 14-21
[R1] R M V Gurusaidutt (IND,40) bt Khosit Phetpradab (THA,111) 22-20 23-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,19) bt Soon Huat Goh (MAS,147) 21-14 21-17
[R1] P V Sindhu (IND,10) bt Ngan Yi Cheung (HKG,147) 21-15 15-21 21-18

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Juan Shen Low (MAS)/ Nelson Wei Keat Heg (MAS) 21-16 13-21 20-22
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) l Wen Zhang (CHN)/ Yilv Wang (CHN) 18-21 19-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Mingtian Fu (SIN)/ Yu Yan Vanessa Neo (SIN) 21-18 21-15

[R2] R M V Gurusaidutt (IND,40) vs Tzu Wei Wang (TPE,59)
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,19) vs Hsu Jen Hao (TPE,27)
[R2] P V Sindhu (IND,10) vs Eriko Hirose (JPN,16)
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (3) Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA)
Surprisingly these matches prove tough for our players against these 100 above ranked players ... Kashyap wins comfortably but Guru stretch to extra points in both games ... Sindhu also lose the second game before winning the decider ... Srikanth was unlucky as he faced truly legend Dan Lin in the first round ... Dan Lin wins this match comfortably.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT Boys 2014, Delhi, India

Group C
(3) India bt (5) Japan 2-1
ADIL KALYANPUR bt KAI KAWANO 76(3) 64
SIDDHANT BANTHIA bt NAOKI TAJIMA 62 76(2)
ADIL KALYANPUR/ VIKASH SINGH l KAZUMA AOKI/ KAI KAWANO 26 30 retd.

(3) India bt Singapore 3-0
VIKASH SINGH bt GABRIEL CHUM 61 60
SIDDHANT BANTHIA bt SHAWN NG 60 60
ADIL KALYANPUR/ VIKASH SINGH bt GABRIEL CHUM/ Jing Xu MAX YEO 60 61

(3) India bt Hong Kong 3-0
ADIL KALYANPUR bt CHING HO YUE 26 61 62
SIDDHANT BANTHIA bt ZHENG QI JONATHAN ZHANG 64 63
ADIL KALYANPUR/ VIKASH SINGH bt KA WAI ARTHUR L CHAU/ ZHENG QI JONATHAN ZHANG 64 64

Indians boys r in the quarter final with three straight wins and in the quarters they r facing 7th seed New Zealand.
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At €2.1M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Spain (Red clay)

Doubles
[R1] (LL) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) bt (WC) Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP)/ Albert Montanes (ESP) 64 64

[QF] (LL) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) vs (LL) Jesse Huta Galung (NED)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)

Lucky break for Buji and his Croatian partner Pavic ... Due to couple of withdrawals they entered into main-draw as 2nd lucky loser ... In the first round they faced Spanish wild-card pair and won this match in straight sets ... In the quarter final they r facing another lucky loser pair, who defeated 4th seed Spanish pair in the first round.
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At $50K+H Shenzhen Challenger, China

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) bt (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 67(5) 76(6) 12-10

[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) vs Dominik Meffert (GER)/ Tim Puetz (GER)

Terrific upset win by Saki and his partner Peng against seasoned pairing of 2nd seed Ratiwatanas ... This match was very close and Saketh-Peng needed to save couple of match points after losing the first set ... Such win shows Saki's doubles mastery and his improved confidence after Davis cup doubles wins.
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At €42.5K Vercelli Challenger, Italy

[R1] (1) Mateusz Kowalczyk (POL)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Stephan Fransen (NED)/ Wesley Koolhof (NED) 26 46

This new partnership doesn't work for Raja and they lose easily against Dutch pair.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan, Uzbekistan

[R2] (Q) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) l (3) Naomi Broady (GBR,218) 26 16

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR) 61 75

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l (2) Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB)/ Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR) 67(3) 36

Broady prove too strong to Prarthana.

Ankita-Prarthana won the first round but lost the quarter final against 2nd seed pair.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Namangan

[R2] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) bt Alexander Vasilenko (RUS,882) 61 62
[R2] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) l Djurabeck Karmiov (UZB,UNR) 36 26

[QF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) vs (Q) Vitaly Kozyukov (RUS,1697)

Doubles
[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Stanislav Korshunov (RUS)/ Sergey Shipilov (UZB) 61 61
[QF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) bt Kaysar Bekimov (KAZ)/ Fedor Chervyakov (RUS) 61 76(5)

[SF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs Markos KALOVELONIS (GRE)/ Alexander VASILENKO (RUS)
[SF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) vs Mikhail FUFYGIN (RUS)/ Shonigmatjon SHOFAYZIYEV (UZB)

This 15 yrs old Karmiov looks really good player ... After beating Ranjeet in the first round he easily beat Vishnu in the second ... Other hand expected win for Bala against Russian and next he is facing another Russian in the quarter.

In the doubles our top-seed pairs win their respective matches and enter into the semi-final.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R2] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) bt (Q) Maria SMITH (USA,UNR) 63 60
[R2] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,586) l (WC) Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA,UNR) 16 61 46

[QF] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) vs (7) Michika OZEKI (JPN,632)

Comfortable win for Natasha but Rishika lose her match against unranked Thai opponent.
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At $10K Tukey F13 Futures, Antalya

[R1] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt (Q) Yvo PANAK (CZE,1949) 75 64

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs Franjo RASPUDIC (CRO,855)

Due to rustiness after long break RamK struggle in the first round against qualifier.
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At $10K Iran F6 futures , Kish

[QF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt (3) Alexis MUSIALEK (FRA)/ Francois-Arthur VIBERT (FRA) 62 62

[SF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt (1) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Cristian RODRIGUEZ (COL)

Ronak-Akash score dominating win against 3rd seed French pair ... In the semis they r facing top-seed South American pair.

Tennis News

At €2.1M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Spain (Red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,100) l Martin Klizan (SVK,102) 26 46

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 61 64

Playing his first match on European clay against European player was tough task ... Buji gives his best but Klizan prove better player in the end.

In their last meeting Rohan-Aisam lost against Huey-Inglot at AO ... But this time Rohan-Aisam shows superiority over them with dominating win.
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At $710K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier) (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Angelique Kerber (GER)/ Andrea Petkovic (GER) 46 62 10-7

Sania-Cara scores really good comeback win over local pair ... After losing the first set they dominated the second and then kept same momentum in the match tie-break.
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At $50K+H Shenzhen Challenger, China

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,260) bt (Q) Jason Jung (USA,322) 63 62

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,260) vs (1) Yen Hsun Lu (TPE,49)

Confident start for Saketh ... In the first set Saketh take important break in 8th game for winning it ... But he dominated the second set and won it comfortably ... Next Saki having real test against top-50 Yen Hsun Lu.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,404) bt bt (Q) Alena Tarasova (RUS,465) 64 75
[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,689) l (Q) Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR,430) 63 26 57
[R1] (6) Ankita Raina (IND,295) l Sabina Sharipova (UZB,332) 36 67(4)

[R2] (Q) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) vs (3) Naomi Broady (GBR,218)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)

Only Prarthana manages to win in her first round match ... Next she is facing top-225 ranked British player.

This is second loss for Ankita against Sharipova in their two meetings ... Ankita need to start win such matches to show progress in her career ... Sharrmadaa started well winning the first set against top-425 type player but she fails to convert that advantage and lose next two sets.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Namangan

[R1] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) bt Remi Boutillier (FRA,605) 64 63
[R1] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) bt Evgeny Elistratov (RUS,1068) 57 63 62
[R1] Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,642) l Djurabeck Karmiov (UZB,UNR) 46 06

[R2] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) vs Alexander Vasilenko (RUS,882)
[R2] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) vs Djurabeck Karmiov (UZB,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Kuatbek Abiyev (KAZ)/ Sagadat Avap (KAZ) 61 64
[R1] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) bt Mikhail Esipov (UZB)/ Khumoun Sultanov (UZB) 63 76(4)

[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs Stanislav Korshunov (RUS)/ Sergey Shipilov (UZB)
[QF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) vs Kaysar Bekimov (KAZ)/ Fedor Chervyakov (RUS)

Other than Ranjeet's loss our players win their respective matches though Vishnu needs comeback after losing the first set.
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At $10K Iran F6 futures , Kish

[R1] Anvit Bendre (IND,1456) l Kevin Kaczynski (GER,833) 26 16
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1362) l (Q) Luca Pancaldi (ITA,1655) 36 06
[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2183) l Alexandr Kushakov (UKR,907) 26 36
[R1] Akash Wagh (IND,1138) l (7) Matias Sborowitz (CHI,792) 67 36
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1267) l (2) Martin Vaisse (FRA,338) 16 26

Doubles
[R1] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt Kevin KACZYNSKI (GER)/ Christian PLATTES (GER) 76(3) 16 10-8
[R1] Matias Franco DESCOTTE (ARG)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) l (4) Jerome INZERILLO (FRA)/ Martin VAISSE (FRA) 46 36
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Anvit BENDRE (IND) l Toni ANDROIC (CRO)/ Hamid Reza NADAF (IRI) 36 16

[QF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) vs (3) Alexis MUSIALEK (FRA)/ Francois-Arthur VIBERT (FRA)

Akash and Ronak lose their respective matches against seeded opponents but others lose with similar ranked players.

In the doubles only Akash-Ronak r in the quarters after tight win.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] (2) Shweta RANA (IND,551) l Fang Ying XUN (CHN,787) 16 06
[R1] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) bt (Q) Deeon MLADIN (AUS,UNR) 36 63 61
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,727) l Chihiro NUNOME (JPN,889) 06 06

[R2] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) vs (Q) Maria SMITH (USA,UNR)
[R2] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,586) vs (WC) Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA,NR)

Natasha needs three sets against unranked Australian qualifier but more shocking one-sided losses of Nidhi and Shweta against their Japanese and Chinese opponents.
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At $10K Tukey F13 Futures, Antalya

[R1] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs (Q) Yvo PANAK (CZE,1949)

RamK is top-seed in this Turkish futures.

Tennis News

At At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA (clay)

[Q2] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,365) l Jean-Yves Aubone (USA,668) 67(5) 26

Another missed opportunity for Sanam due to his inconsistency on the court.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan , Uzbekistan

[Q2] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,404) bt Angelina Kholikulova (RUS,UNR) 60 60
[Q2] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,689) bt (11) Yana Khon (UZB,1042) 63 64

[R1] (Q) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,404) vs (Q) Alena Tarasova (RUS,465)
[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,689) vs (Q) Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR,430)

As expected Prarthana and Sharrmadaa qualify for main-draw with comfortable wins ... They r facing fellow qualifiers in the first round.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Namangan

[R1] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,329) vs Remi Boutillier (FRA,605)
[R1] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,563) vs Evgeny Elistratov (RUS,1068)
[R1] Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,642) vs Djurabeck Karmiov (UZB,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bye
[R1] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Piotr Gadomski (POL) vs Mikhail Esipov (UZB)/ Khumoun Sultanov (UZB)

Winnable matches for our players.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[R1] (2) Shweta RANA (IND,551) vs Fang Ying XUN (CHN,787)
[R1] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND,580) vs (Q) Deeon MLADIN (AUS,UNR)
[R1] (5) Rishika SUNKARA (IND,586) bt Emma FLOOD (NOR,732) 62 36 62
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,727) vs Chihiro NUNOME (JPN,889)

Winnable matches for our players but anything can happen ... Rishika needs three sets for win..

Squash News

At $10K Women's Richmond Open 2014,, Virginia, USA (Tour 10)


Final
(2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt (1) Rachael Grinham (AUS,16) 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9) (40m)

[SF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt (3) Latasha Khan (USA,32) 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-5) (27m)
[QF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt Catalina Pelaez (COL,166) 3-1 (11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7)
[R1] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt Fernanda Rocha (ARG,129) 3-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-6)

Joshana Chinappa won the 9th WSA Tour title at Richmond Open in her 16th Tour final and her second this year ... With this win Joshana ended a career-long losing run to Australia's former world champion Rachael Grinham, whon was playing her 65th Tour final.

In the final Grinham take 6-2 lead but Joshana fought back to 6-all and then won tight first game ... In the second game Joshana take 6-1 lead and kept that advantage for winning this game ... In the third game also Joshana take 8-2 lead but then she lost her concentration and Grinham take full advantage of it ... Grinham caught Joshana at 8-all after winning 6 points in a row ... Joshana recovered to won next 3 points for winning the match in 40 minutes.

Tennis News

At €2.1M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Spain (Red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,89) vs Martin Klizan (SVK,102)

Doubles
[Q1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) l Teymuraz Gabashvili (GEO)/ Mikhail Kukuskin (KAZ) 26 36

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR)

In the doubles qualifying Buji-Pavic lose easily ... In the singles Buji is facing Slovakian Klizan in the first round ... Rohan-Aisam r facing tricky pairing of Huey-Inglot in the first round.
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At $710K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier) (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Angelique Kerber (GER)/ Andrea Petkovic (GER)

Sania-Cara starting their clay season from Porsche open ... Tough local pair of Kerber-Petkovic in the first round.
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At At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA (clay)

[Q1] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,365) bt Joel Link (GER,UNR) 61 61

[Q2] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,365) vs Jean-Yves Aubone (USA,668)

Easy win for Sanam ... Next match is also winnable for Sanam.
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At $50K+H Shenzhen Challenger, China

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,260) vs Qualifier

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) vs (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Yuki withdrew so only Saketh is playing in this Chinese challenger.
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At €42.5K Vercelli Challenger, Italy

[R1] (1) Mateusz Kowalczyk (POL)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Stephan Fransen (NED)/ Wesley Koolhof (NED)

This week Purav is playing with Polish partner, Mateusz Kowalczyk and they r top-seed.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan , Uzbekistan

[Q1] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,404) bye
[Q1] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,689) bt Mubina Vahobova (UZB,UNR) 60 61

[Q2] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,404) vs Angelina Kholikulova (RUS,UNR)
[Q2] (7) Sharrmadaa Balu (IND,689) vs (11) Yana Khon (UZB,1042)

[R1] (6) Ankita Raina (IND,295) vs Sabina Sharipova (UZB,332)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)

Prarthana and Sharrmadaa having good chance of qualifying for main-draw ... Ankita is having tricky match against local player Sabina Sharipova.
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At $10K Iran F6 futures , Kish

[R1] Anvit Bendre (IND,1456) vs Kevin Kaczynski (GER,833)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1362) vs (Q) Luca Pancaldi (ITA,1655)
[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2183) vs Alexandr Kushakov (UKR,907)
[R1] Akash Wagh (IND,1138) vs (7) Matias Sborowitz (CHI,792)
[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1267) vs (2) Martin Vaisse (FRA,338)

Doubles
[R1] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) vs Kevin KACZYNSKI (GER)/ Christian PLATTES (GER)
[R1] Matias Franco DESCOTTE (ARG)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) vs (4) Jerome INZERILLO (FRA)/ Martin VAISSE (FRA)
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Anvit BENDRE (IND) vs Toni ANDROIC (CRO)/ Hamid Reza NADAF (IRI)

Neeraj qualify for main-draw and joins Anvit, Sagar, Akash and Ronak ... Akash and Ronak r facing seeded opponents in the first round.

Tennis News

At €2.9M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (3) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 67(4) 57

Rohan-Aisam fight hard but fails to overcome 3rd seed Dodig-Melo in two tight sets but encouraging start for our pair in start of clay season.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[SF] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,295) l (6) Nigina Abduraimova (UZB,228) 26 46

Ankita gives decent performance in her loss against young Nigina ... Overall good performance by Ankita.

Tennis News

At €2.9M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (7) LUkasz Kubot (POL)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 63 60

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (3) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Dominating performance by Rohan-Aisam against 7th seed ... They lost only three games in the match ... In the quarters they r facing 3rd seed Dodig-Melo.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[QF] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,295) bt Yana Sizikova (RUS,362) 75 64

[SF] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,295) vs (6) Nigina Abduraimova (UZB,228)

Another good win by Ankita against Russian girl Sizikova in tight two sets ... Next she is facing in-form talented local girl Nigina Abduraimova.
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At $10K Iran F5 futures , Kish

[QF] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1138) l (5) Colin VAN BEEM (NED,671) 36 26

Akash fail to continue with his good run and lost in straight sets against Colin Van Beem.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,295) bt (Q) Polina MONOVA (RUS,1006) 62 75

[QF] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,295) vs Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS,362)

Doubles
[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) 46 61 6-10

Ankita score straight sets win over Russian qualifier ... Next she is facing another Russian player Sizikova, who score upset win over 2nd seed player.
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At $10K Iran F5 futures , Kish

[Q1] (2) Akash WAGH (IND) bt Hesam ESMAIL YAZDI (IRI) 62 60
[Q1] Kshitij KAMAL (IND) bt Abbas DEHGHANI (IRI) 63 61

[Q2] (2) Akash WAGH (IND) bt James ALLEMBY (GBR) 62 63
[Q2] Leo Julien SEBAOUN (JPN) bt Kshitij KAMAL (IND) 60 60

[R1] Ronak Manuja (IND,1215) l (7) Marko Danis (SVK,828) 64 16 0-1 retd.
[R1] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1138) bt (LL) Kianosh FAKHARZADEH (IRI,UNR) 62 60

[R2] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1138) bt (4) Vadim ALEKSEENKO (UKR,552) 63 63

[QF] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1138) vs (5) Colin VAN BEEM (NED,671)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) l Bart BEKS (NED)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) 36 64 7-10

Akash qualify for main-draw and score huge upset win in 2nd round when he defeated 550 ranked Ukrainian Vadim convincingly ... Next he is facing good clay court top-700 Dutch player, Colin Van Beem.

Tennis News

At €2.9M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 76(2) 64

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (7) LUkasz Kubot (POL)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE)

Rohan-Aisam had tougher match than they expected against Knowle-Pospisil ... But still winning start and next they r facing 7th seed Kubot-Lindstedt.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R1] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,295) bt Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,404) 64 61

[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,295) vs (Q) Polina MONOVA (RUS,1006)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (ALT) Amina MUKHAMETSHINA (UZB)/ Sarvinoz SAIDHUJAEVA (UZB) 61 62

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS)/ Eva WACANNO (NED)

Expected winning start for Ankita against Prarthana ... Next she is facing Russian qualifier, another winnable match.

In the doubles also Ankita-Prarthana took advantage of weak draw and started with win.

Squash News

At $115K Men's El Gouna International Open 2014, El Gouna Marina, El Gouna, Egypt (World Series Gold)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l (1) Gregory Gaultier (FRA,1) 2-3 (9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 8-11) (102M)

What a match played by Saurav against WR #1 Frenchman Gregory Gaultier ... After losing the first game Saurav fought back and won next two tight games ... But Gregory used his experience of big matches and dominated the fourth game ... After that in the decider Gregory played smartly and completed comeback victory but creditable performance by Saurav.
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At $50K Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open 2014,, Houston, USA (Gold 50)

[F] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) l (Q) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,13) 1-3 (7-11 11-5 7-11 8-11) (48m)

18 yrs old Nour El Sherbini climbing quickly on WSA ladder and Dipika fails to break hold of her as this is her third loss against Nour El Sherbini ... This was Dipika's first $50K (Gold 50) tournament final but it is ended on losing side ... In this loss Dipika gave encouraging performance as after losing first game Dipika fought back to win the second game ... After losing the second game tamely Nour El Sherbini raised level of game from the third game ... Dipika almost matched her but lost next two games after close fight.
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At $10K Men's IG Open de Paris 2014, France (Challenger 10)

[R1] (5) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,74) bt (WC) Johan Bouquet (FRA,109) 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5) (73m)

[QF] (5) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,74) l (2) Ivan Yuen (MAS,71) 6-11 10-11 retd.

Mahesh played in $10K challenger tournament at Paris but got injured in the quarter-final against Malaysian opponent ... Hoping for quick and complete recovery for Mahesh.

Snooker News

At Dafabet World Championship Qualifiers 2014, Sheffield, England

[QR3] Pankaj Advani (IND,62) l Robbie Williams (ENG,68) 7-10 (23-80, 78(78)-0, 58-66, 74-35, 31-84(51), 77(73)-22, 59(50)-15, 51-33, 72-51, 80-49, 66-21, 0-80(62), 35-65, 51-62(56), 21-100(67), 40-81, 29-68(56))

Robbie and Pankaj were neck to neck in first 8 frames, 4-all ... After that Pankaj won next four frames and and take 7-4 lead ... At that time momentum was with Pankaj but suddenly he lost concentration and struggled to score big break ... Robbie Williams take full advantage of it and won shockingly next six games with little ease for upset win.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open 2014,, Houston, USA (Gold 50)

[SF] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) bt (2) Madeline Perry (IRL,8) 3-2 (11-7, 11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4) (75m)

[F] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) vs (Q) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,13)

Dipika in the final beating 2nd seed and top-10 Irish player Madeline Perry in long tight match ... Dipika started well and won the first game without much trouble ... Next two games were closely fought as both players were tried hard ... These two games shared by each player in extra points ... In the fourth game Dipika was dominating rallies and had three match balls at 10-7 ... Suddenly Dipika lost her focus and made numerous mistakes to lose next five points ... Dipika recovered immediately and take control of the decider taking 6-1 lead ... Dipika kept her advantage and comfortably won this game and the match ... In the final she is having challenge of 18 yrs old young talented Egyptian Nour El Sherbini ... Last month Nour El Sherbini become the youngest player in history to reach the WSA World Championship final, she scored a series of upsets in Malaysia including beating WR#1 Nicol David ... Dipika is having 0-2 win-loss record against Sherbini.

Tennis News

At €2.9M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN)

Only Rohan is playing at Monte_Carlo Masters ... He and Aisam r unseeded and facing Knowle-Pospisil in the first round.
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At At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA (clay)

[Q1] (6) Sanam Singh (IND,374) l Costin Paval (ROU,764) 63 26 67(3)

Sanam showing inconsistency regularly.

Snooker News

At Dafabet World Championship Qualifiers 2014, Sheffield, England

[QR3] Aditya Mehta (IND,59) l Jamie Jones (WAL,47) 5-10 (4-108(108), 62-46, 38-67, 66-27, 25-108(68), 71-40, 55-73, 38-89(50), 27-64, 30-80, 75-24, 92-34, 0-82(65), 47-54, 47-59)

Aditya lose in the third qualifying round of World championship in decent match against Jamie Jones ... First 6 frames were shared by both players, 3-all ... In seventh frame Aditya was leading 51-10 before losing it ... Aditya lost concentration and lost next four frames, 3-7 ... Aditya won 11th and 12th frames before losing 13th frame. 5-8 ... In 9th frame also Aditya failed to finish it ... He was leading 47-1 before missing his shot and then Jamie Jones fought back and won this frame by mere 7 points ... And same repeated in 15th frame as Aditya was leading 47-28 before missing his shot ... Jamie scored 31 points break for winning this frame by 12 points ... So Aditya had opportunities but he struggled on the table as he failed to score single fifty plus break in this match.

Shooting News

At the 2014 ISSF World Cup Stage - Shotgun, Tucson, AZ, USA



Trap Men
Gold - Manavjit Singh Sandhu (IND)
Silver - Michael Diamond (AUS)
Bronze - Alexey Alipov (RUS)

Gold Medal match
Manavjit Singh Sandhu (IND) bt Michael Diamond (AUS) 13-9

Competition Stage - Semi Final
1. Michael Diamond (AUS) 15 QG
2. Manavjit Singh Sandhu (IND) 14 Shoot-off: 6, QG
3. Alexey Alipov (RUS) 14 Shoot-off: 5, QB
4. Aaron Heading (GBR) 14 Shoot-off: 2, QB
5. Derek Burnett (IRL) 13
6. Rodrigo Bastos (BRA) 12

The 2006 World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu won Trap Men finals at Tucson, before this Manavjit Singh Sandhu had won his last world cup stage four years ago, back in 2010.

Manavjit Singh Sandhu beat Australia's two-time Olympic Champion Michael Diamond in the Gold medal match by 13 to 9 hits, after scoring 14 out of 15 targets in the semi-final ... The 2004 Olympic Champion Alexey Alipov finished in third place beating Great Britain's 26-year old Aaron Heading by 12 to 10 hits in the Bronze medal match ... Before that Manavjit Singh Sandhu qualified for the final on tied 2nd place with 121 hits from 125 shots.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open 2014,, Houston, USA (Gold 50)

[QF] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) bt Nicolette Fernandes (GUY,19) 3-2 (11-4, 11-6, 10-12, 10-12, 11-5) (64m)

[SF] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) vs (2) Madeline Perry (IRL,8)

Surprisingly tough match for Dipika against Nicolette ... Shen started well and won first 2 games comfortably but from third game Nicolette take advantage of Dipika's mistakes ... Nicolette won next two games on extra points ... Dipika regained her focus and improved her level of game for winning the final game convincingly ... In the semi-final she is facing top-10 experienced Irish girl Madeline Perry.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2014, (Superseries)

[SF] Srikanth K. (IND,25) l Lee Chong Wei (MAS,1) 19-21 18-21

Srikanth gives creditable fighting performance against WR #1 Lee Chong Wei ... But I would say Srikanth missed opportunity as in the first game both players exchanged leads ... Srikanth was leading 19-16 but failed to win it as Lee won next 5 points for winning this game ... In the second game Lee take 11-6 lead and then Srikanth did catching game ... Lee maanged to keep lead and completed victory in two games.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open 2014,, Houston, USA (Gold 50)

[Q1] Daksha Pathak (IND,UNR) l Victoria Lust (ENG,37) 0-3 (4-11, 3-11, 1-11)

[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) l (8) Rachael Grinham (AUS,16) 0-3 (8-11, 5-11, 5-11) (24m)
[R1] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) bt (Q) Donna Urquhart (AUS,26) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-5) (36m)

[QF] (4) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) vs Nicolette Fernandes (GUY,19)

I was expecting better fighting performance from Joshna in this match ... But she lose this one-sided match in 25 minutes ... Other hand Dipika started confidently in her match though Urquhart stertched her in first 2 games ... Next she is facing Nicolette Fernandes ... In qualifier 14 yrs old Daksha Pathak played, may be she is from local academy.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2014, (Superseries)

[QF] Srikanth K. (IND,25) bt Yun Hu (HKG,14) 17-21 21-14 21-19
[QF] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,45) l (5) Pengyu Du (CHN,9) 15-21 15-21
[QF] (8) P.V. Sindhu (IND,10) l (2) Yihan Wang (CHN,2) 19-21 15-21

[SF] Srikanth K. (IND,25) vs Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1)

Srikanth score another comeback win over top-15 player and enter into the semis of Singapore Superseries ... After losing the first game Srikanth made strong comeback for winning second game comfortably ... In the decider both players matches other's game but in end Srikanth prevailed ... In the semis he is facing WR #1 Malaysian Chong Wei Lee.

Sindhu gave fighting performance against Yihan Wang but that wasn't enough and she lost in straight games ... Pengyu Du proved too strong for Sai.

Tennis News

At $540K U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, Houston, USA

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS) 26 46

Divij-Purav fails to built on their first round win against third seed ... Hewitt and Guccione defeats them comfortably in straight sets ... Our pair managed to broke them 2 times but Aussies broke them 5 times in this match ... Still good week but they needs some solid performance in coming weeks to improve their ranking in top-50.

Snooker News

At Dafabet World Championship Qualifiers 2014, Sheffield, England

[QR2] Pankaj Advani (IND,62) bt Li Hang (CHN,93) 10-9 (60-27, 58(52)-70, 2-100(67), 62-25, 0-140(116), 56(55)-67(67), 28-70(52), 62-51, 1-128(120), 72-42, 72-59, 7-68(61), 1-100(85), 78-54, 87-0, 73(67)-1, 20-82, 73-12, 64-1)

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,59) bt (a) Christopher Keogan (ENG) 10-4 (90(53)-13, 85-22, 64-44, 10-80, 33-70, 90(70)-0, 7-61, 97(81)-4, 103-12, 94-6, 54-70, 111(72)-2, 83-9, 74-20)

[QR3] Pankaj Advani (IND,62) vs Robbie Williams (ENG,68)
[QR3] Aditya Mehta (IND,59) vs Jamie Jones (WAL,47)

Aditya and Pankaj r first time playing in World championship of pro tour ... As per their current ranking they received first qualifying round bye ... In the second qualifying round Aditya faced British amateur player Christopher Keogan, who scored upset win over #92 ranked Scottish player in the first round ... Keogan troubled Aditya and early but from 4-3 frames Aditya won 6 out of next 7 frames for victory in this best of 19 frames match ... His third qualifying round opponent is top-50 Wales player Jamie Jones.

Pankaj faced Chinese opponent Li Hang and he really needed to dig deep for this hard fought win ... On the break Pankaj was down 3-5 frames ... Hang was scoring big breaks in this match, he scored two hundred plus and five fifty plus breaks in 8 frames ... On 6th frame Pankaj was leading 56-0 but Hang scored 67 points break and won this frame 67-56 ... Match continues with see-saw but each time Hang takes lead and Pankaj tried to catch him ... Hang take 8-5 frames lead but this time Pankaj won next 3 frames to make it 8-all ... Hang again won 17th frame to lead 8-9 but this time also Pankaj fought back and won next two frames for exciting win ... Next he is facing similar ranked British player.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2014, (Superseries)

[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,25) bt (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,8) 18-21 21-15 21-8
[R2] Prannoy H. S (IND,44) l (5) Pengyu Du (CHN,9) 17-21 21-18 12-21
[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,45) bt Zi Liang Derek Wong (SIN,47) 24-22 21-19
[R2] (8) P.V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Shizuka Uchida (JPN,123) 21-17 17-21 21-16
[R2] Thulasi P. C. (IND,68) l (2) Yihan Wang (CHN,2) 19-21 7-21
[R2] Alwin Francis (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l (1) Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA) 17-21 22-24

Indian players dominance over Tien Minh Nguyen continue ... Today Srikanth beats him in three games after losing the first game ... After losing the first game Srikanth dominates next two games ... In the quarters he is facing Hong Kong's Yun Hu.

Sai joins him in the quarters with tight straight sets win over similar ranked local player Wong ... In the quarters he is facing Chinese top-10 player Pengyu Du, who defeated Prannoy in three games.

Sindhu struggle against her top-150 ranked Japanese girl Shizuka Uchida ... She needs three games for victory and next she is facing WR #2 Yihan Wang, who beat Thulasi in the second round.

Young Arun Vishnu and Alwin Francis gives creditable fighting performance against WR #1 Indonesian pair ... So they show that their win over top-25 Taiwani pair was,'t fluke.

Tennis News

At $540K U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, Houston, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) l (6) Juan Monaco (ARG,42) 67(4) 26

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 75 62

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS)

After losing the first set in tie-break Buji was outplayed by Monaco ... In the first set both players were on serve till 6th game but Monaco broke Buji in 7th game to lead 4-3 ... While serving for the set at 5-4 Monaco got broken but he controlled tie-break from beginning for winning it without much hiccup ... Monaco started the second set more aggressive manner and broke Buji in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... He again broke Buji 6th game to lead 5-1 but this time also he failed to hold his serve while serving for the match, 2-5 ... Monaco again broke Buji in 8th game and completed victory.

Divij-Purav started confidently and take 4-1 early lead ... They missed couple of break points in 6th game and lost their serve in 7th game, 4-all ... Divij-Purav take crucial break in 12th game for winning the first set ... After winning the first set they dominated the second set ... They won it with double break ... So with that really good upset win by Divij-Purav against 3rd seed Santiago Gonzalez-Scott Lipsky ... In the quarters they r facing Aussie Davis cup pair of Hewitt-Guccione..

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2014, (Superseries)

[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,34) l Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (INA,19) 10-21 15-21
[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,25) bt Takuma Ueda (JPN,20) 23-21 21-15
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,23) l Dong Keun Lee (KOR,35) 21-16 15-21 20-22
[R1] Prannoy H. S (IND,44) bt (Q) Thammasin Sitthikom (THA,110) 21-17 14-21 21-11
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,45) bt (Q) Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif (MAS,89) 21-13 21-15
[R1] Tanvi Lad (IND,59) l (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,1) 6-21 11-21
[R1] (6) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l Eriko Hirose (JPN,15) 21-16 15-21 11-21
[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,43) l Shizuka Uchida (JPN,123) 21-16 11-21 15-21
[R1] (8) P.V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Millicent Wiranto (INA,67) 21-9 19-21 22-20
[R1] Thulasi P. C. (IND,68) bt Anna Rankin (NZL,80) 21-13 21-16

[R1] Alwin Francis (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) bt Jui Wei Liang (TPE)/ Kuan Hao Liao (TPE) 21-15 16-21 22-20
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Ying Luo (CHN)/ Yu Luo (CHN) 15-21 16-21
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Danny Bawa Chrisnanta (SIN)/ Yu Yan Vanessa Neo (SIN) 15-21 10-21
[R1] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l Gideon Markus Fernaldi (INA)/ Rizki Amelia Pradipta (INA) 21-23 17-21

[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,25) vs (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,8)
[R2] Prannoy H. S (IND,44) vs (5) Pengyu Du (CHN,9)
[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,45) vs Zi Liang Derek Wong (SIN,47)
[R2] (8) P.V. Sindhu (IND,10) vs Shizuka Uchida (JPN,123)
[R2] Thulasi P. C. (IND,68) vs (2) Yihan Wang (CHN,2)
[R2] Alwin Francis (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) vs (1) Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA)

Turn to be really bad tournaments for the seniors as Saina and Kashyap lose their respective matches after winning the first game ... Other hand our youngsters perform better but only real upset was from Srikanth, who defeated top-20 Japanese opponent.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - World Group - Playoff, Houston, USA

This year's Davis cup World group Playoff's draw is out and we r having home tie ... But India is facing formidable opponent Serbia and possibility of chance facing #2 Novak Djokovic and former top-10 Janko Tipsarevic ... Serbia is currently top team in Davis cup ranking, so tough draw for Buji, Yuki and gang..

Tennis News

At $540K U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, Houston, USA

[Q1] Purav Raja (IND,1079) l Bjorn Franangelo (USA,426) 46 36
[Q1] (WC) Srikar Alla (IND,1929) bt (WC) Adam Gustavsson (SWE,UNR) 36 60 64

[Q2] (WC) Srikar Alla (IND,1929) l (6) Ruben Bemmelman (BEL,162) 26 26

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) vs (6) Juan Monaco (ARG,42)

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)

Tough matches for Buji and Divij-Purav on American clay.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - Asia/Oceania 2nd Round, Busan, Korea

India bt Korea 3-1


Day one
[M1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) bt Hyeon Chung (KOR,478) 76(4) 76(3) 64
[M2] Sanam Singh (IND,371) bt Young-Kyu Lim (KOR,300) 76(5) 64 64

Day Two
[M3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)/ Suk-Young Jeong (KOR) 76(4) 57 76(2) 63

Day Three
[M4] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) bt Young-Kyu Lim (KOR,300) 64 57 63 61

Indians create history as they beat Koreans in their own den for the first time and qualify for World Group-Playoff! ... Congratulation to Indian team - Somdev Devvarman, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna, Sanam Singh and non-playing captain Anand Amritraj - for this excellent achievement.

In the first reverse singles Buji defeats Korean top singles player Young-Kyu Lim in four sets ... Buji take early 2-0 lead but lost next four games and in that lost his serve twice in 4th and 6th games to be down 2-4 ... After that Buji won next four games and in that he broke Lim in 7th and 9th games for winning the first set ... In the second set both players exchanged breaks in first 2 games and after that both players hold their respective service games till 6-5 ... While staying in the set Buji served in 12th game but he had poor serving game and Lim take advantage of breaking Buji for winning this set ... From the third set Lim was looking tired as this was his third match in three days ... Buji again broke Lim early to take 1-3 lead ... Buji again broke Lim in 9th game when he was serving for staying in the set for take 2-1 sets lead ... At this time Lim was struggling with leg cramps and Buji take full advantage of it ... He won the set losing a single game and gives India unbeatable lead ... The fifth match is cancelled under new 'Dead Rubber' rule.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - Asia/Oceania 2nd Round, Busan, Korea

India vs Korea 2-1

Day one
[M1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) bt Hyeon Chung (KOR,478) 76(4) 76(3) 64
[M2] Sanam Singh (IND,371) l Young-Kyu Lim (KOR,300) 67(5) 46 46

Day Two
[M3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)/ Young-Kyu Lim (KOR) 76(4) 57 76(2) 63

Rohan and Saketh wins crucial doubles tie and give one match buffer for Indian team before the reverse singles ... This match was very tight in the first 3 sets ... Indians won two sets in tie-break on their big serves and better return game ... Koreans won the second set but in the fourth set Indians take early 4-1 lead and kept that advantage for winning this match ... So tomorrow Buji is having good opportunity of winning this tie for India when he face Korean top player, Young-Kyu Lim.

Before this yesterday both teams top singles player won their respective matches to share point ... Buji stretched by 17 yrs old Hyeon Chung as first 2 sets went tie-break and then Buji won the third set with a single break ... This match was lasted for three and half hours though only three sets played ... In the second match Korean top player Young-Kyu Lim take time to adjust Sanam's game ... After winning the first set tie-break Lim won next two sets comfortably.
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At $15K Malaysia F1 Futures,

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) l (4) Ivo KLEC (SVK,393) 46 46

KU lose against his experienced doubles partner in straight sets.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Manama, Bahrain2014

[QF] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) l (3) Katharina Lehnert (PHI,542) 06 76(10) 26

After losing the first set without winning a single game, Prerna tried fightback ... She win the second set long tie-break after saving match points but in the third set Lehnert prove too strong.

Snooker News

At £478K China Open 2014, Beijing

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,66) l Ricky Walden (ENG,11) 1-5 (8-81(81), 74-0, 25-83(69), 8-73, 10-72, 46-62)
[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,59) l Mark King (ENG,26) 4-5 (52-60, 57-52, 1-69(59), 79-49, 0-81(58), 62-48, 22-73, 62-40, 36-71)

Aditya and Pankaj lose their respective matches at China open ... Walden proved too strong for Pankaj but Aditya missed chance of an upset ... In the first frame Aditya was leading 52-1 before Mark King fought back and won it ... This missed opportunity proved crucial in end result as King won this close match 5-4.

Next our players r playing in qualifying of World Snooker Championship.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2014 - Asia/Oceania 2nd Round, Busan, Korea

India vs Korea

Day one
[M1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) vs Hyeon Chung (KOR,478)
[M2] Sanam Singh (IND,371) vs Young-Kyu Lim (KOR,300)

Day Two
[M3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)/ Suk-Young Jeong (KOR)

Day Three
[M4] Somdev Devvarman (IND,88) vs Young-Kyu Lim (KOR,300)
[M5] Sanam Singh (IND,371) vs Hyeon Chung (KOR,377)

Good to see Buji is playing first match but facing their top junior player, who was finalist at Wimbledon ... Anand is playing Sanam in the second singles ... This may be prove tactical master-stroke.
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At $40K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Richard Gabb (GBR)/ Nicolas Meister (USA) 62 57 12-14

Another bad loss for Divij-Purav against this lower ranked doubles pair ... They started well with winning the first set comfortably but after that they lost the plot ... In the match tie-break they missed match points also.
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At $15K Malaysia F1 Futures,

[R2] (LL) Christopher Marquis (IND,UNR) l (Q) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA) 36 46
[R2] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) bt Nam Hoang LY (VIE,2070) 36 76(4) 62

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) vs (4) Ivo KLEC (SVK,393)

Doubles
[SF] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Ivo KLEC (SVK) l (1) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Sonchat RATIWATANA (THA) 76(2) 26 7-10

Another tough match for KU as he needed comeback for winning against this lowly ranked Vietnamese ... Next he is facing his doubles partner Ivo Klec ... Other hand Christopher failed to repeat his first round performance.

In the doubles KU-Ivo gave their best but Ratiwatanas proved better than them.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Manama, Bahrain2014

[R2] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) bt (WC) Maria Siopacha (CYP,UNR) 63 60
[R2] Kalpaka Pradip (IND,UNR) bt (3) Katharina Lehnert (PHI,542) 60 60

[QF] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) vs (3) Katharina Lehnert (PHI,542)

Expected result for Prerna but next she is having real test against 3rd seed Lehnert.

Tennis News

At $40K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) l (2)(WC) Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS,94) 57 36

Fighting effort by Purav against top-100 Bogomolov jr.
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At $15K Malaysia F1 Futures,

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) bt Kelsey Stevenson (CAN,2167) 76(5) 76(3)
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2141) l (4) Ivo Klec (SVK,427) 46 46

[R2] (LL) Christopher Marquis (IND,UNR) vs (Q) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)
[R2] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) vs Nam Hoang LY (VIE,2070)

Doubles
[R1] Punn BODHIDATTA (THA)/ Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA) bt Marco Danielo GERONIMO (MAS)/ Tejas KAPOOR (IND) 60 61
[R1] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Ivo KLEC (SVK) bt Roy HOBBS (SIN)/ Christopher MARQUIS (IND) 75 62

[QF] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Ivo KLEC (SVK) bt Wisnu Adi NUGROHO (INA)/ Arief RAHMAN (INA) 60 60

[SF] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Ivo KLEC (SVK) vs (1) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Sonchat RATIWATANA (THA)

Surprisingly tough match for KU against 2000+ ranked Canadian opponent ... In the doubles KU-Ivo started with solid performance but next they r facing real challenge against former top-50 doubles pair of Ratiwatanas.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Manama, Bahrain2014

[R1] Kalpaka Pradip (IND,UNR) bt Angel Saleh (USA,UNR) 62 60

[R2] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) vs (WC) Maria Siopacha (CYP,UNR)
[R2] Kalpaka Pradip (IND,UNR) vs (3) Katharina Lehnert (PHI,542)

Good win by Kalpaka against American girl.

Tennis News

At $40K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND,1223) bt Alejandor Moreno Figueroa (MEX,UNR) 62 16 61
[Q1] Purav Raja (IND,1079) bt (WC) Christopher Lopex (MEX,UNR) 61 62

[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,1223) l (5) Eduardo Stuvay (COL,486) 57 46
[Q2] Purav Raja (IND,1079) bt (7) Chris Guccoine (AUS,520) 76(3) 64

[Q3] Purav Raja (IND,1079) bt (2) Richard Gabb (GBR,425) 63 26 62

[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND,1079) vs (2)(WC) Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS,94)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Richard Gabb (GBR)/ Nicolas Meister (USA)

Purav scored couple of solid wins against top-500 type players to qualify for main-draw but having super tough draw against top-100 Bogomolov jr. in the first round ... And I feel it is high time for Divij-Purav to play as per their potential or try their luck with different partners.
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At $15K Malaysia F1 Futures,

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,488) vs Kelsey Stevenson (CAN,2167)
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2141) vs (4) Ivo Klec (SVK,427)
[R1] (LL) Christopher Marquis (IND,UNR) bt (5) Ivo Minar (CZE,433) 64 76(5)

Really unexpected win for Christopher against former top-100 player Minar in straight sets.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Manama, Bahrain2014

[R1] (2) Rishika Sunkara (IND,534) l Harmony Tan (FRA,753) 75 67(3) 0-2 retd.
[R1] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) bt Teodora Sabjlarevic (SRB,UNR) 60 62
[R1] Sanjana Sudhir (IND,UNR) l Jasmin Jebawy (GER,1073) 46 46
[R1] Kalpaka Pradip (IND,UNR) vs Angel Saleh (USA,UNR)
[R1] Ashmitha Eashwaramurthi (IND,UNR) l Shiho Hisamatsu (JPN,1145) 06 06
[R1] Damini Sharma (IND,1241) l (4) Valeria Prosperi (ITA,583) 36 16
[R1] Rikeetha Pereira (IND,UNR) l (5) Xi-Yao Wang (CHN,637) 16 36

[R2] (6) Prerna Bhambri (IND,654) vs (WC) Maria Siopacha (CYP,UNR)

Only expected win for Prerna and Rishika retired in the third set after losing the second set in tie-break.