Hockey News

At Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014, Netherlands

Group A
India l Belgium 2-3 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) 45', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 50' and Florent van Aubel (BEL) 34', Simon Gougnard (BEL) PC 56', John-John Dohmen (BEL) 70'

For me Raghunath's lack of discipline cost us this match ... When 25 seconds were remaining he failed to clear cross on top of the D which converted in a goal by Dohmen ... And 2 minutes before that Raghunath failed to convert penalty corner due to wayward hitting ... After terrible first half our players recovered in the second half ... And take lead scoring two goals in 5 minutes but after that our defenders let us down ... In this match our opponent scored two goals in last minute of end of time in both halfs ... Bad sigh for us.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL) 61 62

[R3] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) l Timea Babos (HUN)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 61 46 7-10
[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Cara Black (ZIM)/ Robert Farah (COL) 63 36 10-7

[QF] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (8) Julia Goerges (GER)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Sania-Cara score dominating win over Dabrowski-Rosolska losing only three games ... Next they r facing Jankovic-Kleybanova for the place in the quarter-final ... But Sania fails to keep her winning momentum in mixed doubles ... Sania-Horia lose their match 5n the match tie-break after winning the first set comfortably against Babos-Butorac.

Rohan-Katarina score huge win against tricky and experienced pair of Cara-Farah in match tie-break ... After winning the first set Rohan-Katarina loses the second set but they recover to win close match tie-break ... In the quarters they r facing 8th seed Goerges-Zimo.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326) 46 63 5-0 retd.

[F] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (7) Lin Zhu (CHN,462)

After losing the first set Ankita keep fighting which help her for winning the second set ... In the final set when Ankita was leading 5-0 Miyabi retire from the match ... In the final Ankita is facing 7th seed Chinese Lin Zhu.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt (3) Yuuya Kibi (JPN,539) 61 57 75

[F] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs (2) Takuto Niki (JPN,507)

After winning the first set easily Jeevan get stretched by Yuuya Kibi in next two sets ... Jeevan managed to win and in the final he is facing another Japanese opponent 2nd seed Takuto Niki.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Marc Lopez (ESP) 76(3) 75

[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Cara Black (ZIM)/ Robert Farah (COL)

Rohan-Katarina wins tricky match against clay court specialists Hlavackova-Lopez ... Rohan-Katarina needed to dig deep to win the first set in tie-break and then in the second set also they were stretched to 12th game by Hlavackova-Lopez ... Next they r facing Cara-Farah.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,344) 62 64

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) l (1) Varatchaya Wongteanchai (THA)/ Varunya Wongteanchai (THA) 75 16 3-10

Ankita easily dispatch top-350 Lertpitaksinchai in the quarter-final losing only 6 games ... Next she is facing 3rd seed and top-325 type Miyabi Inoue.

In the doubles Ankita-Sharmadaa lose after winning the first game ... After losing the first set top-seed Thai girls dominated the match.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt Gengo Kikuchi (JPN,904) 76(3) 63

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs (3) Yuuya Kibi (JPN,539)

Despite lower ranked opponents Jeevan is keeping his focus to win these matches ... In the semis he is facing top-550 Japanese Kibi.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 36 46

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Shahar Peer (ISR) 63 63

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt (4) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 46 63 10-7]

Juniors
[Q1] Ojasvinee Singh (IND,97) l (11) Elena Gabriela Ruse (ROU,69) 67(2) 06

Rohan-Aisam fail to lift their game against Erlich-Melo and lose their match easily in the second round.

Sania-Cara start with comfortable straight sets win over experienced Hantuchova-Peers ... Next they r facing Canadian-Polish pair of Dabrowski-Rosolska.

Sania score comeback win with Tecau against 4th seed Peschke-Matkowski in mixed doubles ... This is a really good win in match tie-break against better clay court specialist pair.

Ojasvinee give fighting performance in the first set before blown away by Romanian girl Elena Gabriela Ruse in first qualifying round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt Mai Minokoshi (JPN,602) 64 3-0 retd.
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,522) l (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326) 26 16
[R2] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) l (4) Barbara Bonic (SRB,342) 26 26

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,344)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Tomoko Dokei (JPN)/ Ayaka Okuno (JPN) 61 61

[SF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs (1) Varatchaya Wongteanchai (THA)/ Varunya Wongteanchai (THA)

As expected Ankita win her match but Natasha and Sneha overpowered by top-350 ranked opponents ... Next she is facing her real first test against top-350 Thai girl Lertpitaksinchai.

In the doubles also Ankita win her match with Sharmadaa very easily ... Next they r facing top-seed Thai Wongteanchai sisters.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (ALT) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS) 75 67(4) 75

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Divij enter in main-draw with Rameez as alternate pair but they were unlucky to face Rohan-Aisam in the first round ... They had titanic battle and Rohan-Aisam used their experience in the final set ... Take important break in 11th game before holding their serve from 0-30 and completed the victory.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Vicenza Challenger, Italy (clay)

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) l Martin Alund (ARG)/ Guido Pella (ARG) 67(3) 76(3) 7-10

Another very close loss for Purav ... Playing with different partner every week is not helping Purav.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R1] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt Sharmadaa Baluu (IND,651) 75 62
[R1] Shweta Rana (IND,577) l (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,345) 16 16
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,522) bt (Q) Abbie Myers (AUS,1004) 62 63
[R1] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) bt (Q) Leah Daw (AUS,1210) 63 16 64

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs Mai Minokoshi (JPN,602)
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,522) vs (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326)
[R2] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) vs Barbara Bonic (SRB,342)

Expected wins for Ankita and Natasha but impressive performance by 16 yrs old Sneha ... In the second round Natasha and Sneha having tough matches.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R2] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt Thomas Shubert (USA,1646) 64 75
[R2] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) l (8) Woong-Sun Jun (KOR,970) 46 26

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs Gengo Kikuchi (JPN,904)

Tougher win than expected for Jeevan.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) l Pruchya Isarow (THA,812) 57 26

Doubles
[QF] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) l Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Wishaya TRONGCHAROENCHAIKUL (THA) 46 46<)

Shocking loss of Jeevn against lowly ranked Thai player ... In the doubles also he and Agar loses against Ratiwatana and his partner.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K South Africa F1 Futures , Sun City

[R2] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) l (6) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,754) 26 26

Expected loss of Ronak against Roelofse.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs (4) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL)
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Marc Lopez (ESP)

Mixed doubles draw is out and our both pairs having tricky matches on the clay.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R1] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs Sharmadaa Baluu (IND,651)
[R1] Shweta Rana (IND,577) vs (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,345)
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,522) vs (Q) Abbie Myers (AUS,1004)
[R1] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) vs (Q) Leah Daw (AUS,1210)

Doubles
[R1] Leah Daw (AUS)/ Shweta Rana (IND) l Xiaorong Dong (CHN)/ Boyan Wang (CHN) 26 16
[R1] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Miyabi Inque (JPN)/ Mai Minokoshi (JPN) 64 63
[R1] (4) Natasha Palha (IND)/ Zuzana Zlochova (SVK) l Yihong Li (CHN)/ Lin Zhu (CHN) 26 67(5)

[QF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs Tomoko Dokei (JPN)/ Ayaka Okuno (JPN)

In the doubles Ankita start with win partnering Baluu against Japanese pair ... In the quarters also they r facing another Japanese pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) bt David Sofaer (HKG,929) 62 62
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,992) l (WC) Phassawit Burapharitta (THA,2075) 64 67(4) 36
[R1] (2) Karunuday Singh (IND,409) l (Q) Andre Dome (USA,1348) 0-1 retd.

[R2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) vs Pruchya Isarow (THA,812)

Doubles
[R1] Shotaro GOTO (JPN)/ Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) l Xin GAO (CHN)/ Bowen OUYANG (CHN) 26 61 7-10
[R1] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Yuichi ITO (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 61 63

[QF] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Wishaya TRONGCHAROENCHAIKUL (THA)

Only RamK start with comfortable win but KU retires from his match due to ongoing injury ... Kaza's poor run continues.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R1] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt (Q) Koichi Sano (JPN,UNR) 62 64
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) bt (WC) Daniel Llarenas (GUM,UNR) 75 64

[R2] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs Thomas Shubert (USA,1646)
[R2] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) vs (8) Woong-Sun Jun (KOR,970)

Winning start for Jeevan and Neeraj ... Tough match for Neraj in the second round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K South Africa F1 Futures , Sun City

[R1] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) bt Joshua LUCK (RSA,UNR) 76(0) 62
[R1] Akash WAGH (IND,1033) l Juan Cruz ESTEVARENA (ARG,1628) 67(5) 26
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND,1698) l Tuki JACOBS (NAM,UNR) 36 26

[R2] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) vs (6) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,754)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) l Brandon LAUBSER (RSA)/ Tucker VORSTER (RSA) 67(3) 16
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Stefan MERUNKA (CRO) l Francois KELLERMAN (RSA)/ Okkie KELLERMAN (RSA) 36 46

Poor outing for Indians as only Ronak win his match ... In the doubles also Ronak-Akash lose against local pair.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,95) l Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,99) 75 36 67(4) 36

Doubles
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)
[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Shahar Peer (ISR)

I m disappointed by Buji's loss against similar ranked Nedovyesov ... Buji won the first set but afterwards he lost the plot ... After that Nedovyesov controlled rallies and bring out errors from Buji ... Buji was defending 70 points so this loss bring him down towards #120. After almost 20 years Lee and Mahesh r missing French open ... Only Rohan and Sania r in the doubles ... Rohan-Aisam r in the bottom draw ... Sania-cara in top draw.

Tennis News

At Open de Nice Cote d'Azur, Nice, France (Red clay)

Doubles Final
(1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Martin Klizan (SVK)/ Philip Oswald (AUT) 26 06

Shocking one-sided loss of Rohan-Aisam against unseeded pair ... This was good opportunity for them lifting title but after two days break they were no match to Klizan-Oswald.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At Roland Garros (French Open) 2014, Paris, France

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,95) vs Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,99)

Winnable first rounb for Buji against Nedovyesov, who is also struggling through out year ... In the second round if Buji win then meet Tomas Berdych.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Uber Cup - Semi Finals
India l Japan 2-3
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Minatsu Mitani (JPN,12) 21-12 21-13
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,13) 19-21 21-18 26-24
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 12-21 22-20 16-21
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) l Eriko Hirose (JPN,16) 14-21 15-21
[WD2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ P V Sindhu (IND) l Miyuki Maeda (JPN)/ Reika Kakiwa (JPN) 14-21 11-21

Saina gives really good start against Minatsu Mitani ... Saina won comfortably against her tricky opponent in 42 minutes ... In the second match Sindhu faced Sayaka Takahashi, against whome Sindhu lost in her only meeting ... Here also Sayaka started confidently winning first tight game ... Sindhu kept fighting hard and managed to win the second ... In the final game both players had few points lead but still leads kept changing ... Sayaka had a match point at 20-19 but Sindhu saved it ... After that Sindhu missed three match points before she converted 4th match point for this 72 minutes long match ... At this time Indian women were leading 2-0 but still this tie was tough as Japan's having two top-5 doubles pairs and another very experienced top-20 singles player ... Indians real hope for finishing this tie on Jwala-Ashwini but WR #4 Japanese pair had different idea ... They dominated the first game for winning it comfortably ... Jwala-Ashwini really fought hard on crowd support and won the close second game despite Japanese pair saving four game points ... In the final game Indians take 7-4 lead but Japanese pair take control from 8-all ... After that they opened couple of point lead and kept that through out the match for important win for Japanese team ... After that it was all Japanese show ... Hirose scored comfortable win over Thulasi without losing sweat ... And then for the final math our coach Gopichand made desperate change and decided to play Saina-Sindhu ... In this match Sindhu was looking very tired and Japanese WR #5 pair take full advantage of it winning this match and tie for Japan ... Still creditable performance by Indian women as they win their first medal, Bronze, in Uber cup.

Tennis News

At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) l (5) Chase Buchanan (USA,263) 46 46

Dream run of Jeevan ends in the semi-final against Buchanan but overall satisfactory performance by Jeevan ... In the first set Chase broke Jeevan early and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the second set also Chase kept pressure on Jeevan's serve and take important break in 9th game for winning this set and match.
----------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[QF] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) l (Q) Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN,854) 46 57

Doubles
[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt (4) Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE)/ Chen Liang (CHN) 62 62

[F] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) l (3) Chang Liu (CHN)/ Ran Tian (CHN) 46 57

I was hoping win for Ankita in the singles but Chinese qualifier Yang prove better player ... Yang defeated Ankita in tight two sets ... After that Ankita played her doubles semi-final ... She won it comfortably against 4th seed pair with Fatma ... Surprisingly organizers decided to play final today only ... In the final our pair faced 3rd seed Chinese pair ... Ankita-Fatma fought hard but must be tired of playing 3rd match of the day and they lost in close match.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New Delhi

Uber Cup - Quarter Finals
India bt Indonesia 3-0
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Lidaweni Fanetri (INA,23) 21-17 21-10
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Bellaetrix Manuputty (INA,24) 21-16 10-21 25-23
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Greysia Poli (INA)/ Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) 21-18 21-18

Korea bt Thailand 3-1
Japan bt Denmark 3-0
China bt England 3-0

Indian women enter into their first semi-final of Uber cup beating Indonesian women ... In the semis they r facing tricky Japanese women, as our players struggle against them ... Today Saina gave terrific start beating Lidaweni Fanetri comfortably though in their last meeting Lidaweni defeated her ... Sindhu also lost against Bellaetrix in their last meeting but here Sindhu started confidently winning the first game ... From the second game Bellaetrix changed tactics as she attacked more on Sindhu's serve and played long rallies ... That really helped as Bellaetrix won the second game comfortably ... In the final game Bellaetrix had momentum and she take 5-2 lead but after that Sindhu recovered and take 10-7 lead from 5-7 down ... Bellaetrix made it 10-all but Sindhu again take 13-10 and 15-12 lead ... This time also Bellaetrix caught her at 15-all ... Sindhu again take 19-17 lead but Bellaetrix got her 1st match point winning next 3 points ... Sindhu saved that but Bellaetrix got another at 21-20 ... This time also Sindhu saved it and after that Sindhu wasted 2 match points before converting third match point for really important win after 84 minutes ... In third match our in-form pair Jwala-Ashwini played another excellent match ... They defeated WR #9 Indonesian pair of Greysia Poli and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari in straight game for winning this tie for India.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (3) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 46 76(2) 10-8

Rohan-Aisam pull excellent but hard fought comeback win against French pair ... After losing the first set our pair was break down ... From 4-5 in the second set Rohan-Aisam broke them to take the set in tie-break ... Our pair dominated tie-break and kept that momentum for winning tight match tie-break.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt (Q) Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS,881) 63 62
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) l Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,294) 16 26

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (5) Chase Buchanan (USA,263)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) l Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Alexander Bury (BLR) 46 46
[SF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 36 36

Only Jeevan enter into the semis with dominating win against former top-150 Russian Mikhail Ledovskikh ... In this match Jeevan was never under pressure as he served amazingly ... He served 17 aces and managed to put extra pressure on Mikhail's serve, whom he broke thrice in the match ... Other hand Saki struggles with his serve and managed only 2 aces ... Saki failed to give any fight and lost inside 49 minutes.

In the doubles also our both pairs lost easily against their respective opponents ... Overall disappointing day for Indians but silver line is this is Jeevan's first challenger semi-final and he is in still race for qualifying for Wimbledon qualifying.
----------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R2] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) bt Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,399) 46 64 61

[QF] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs (Q) Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN,854)

In their last meeting Ankita lost her match against Zhang at Asian Australian qualifying tournament ... Here also Zhang started well and won the first set ... Ankita raised her game from the second set which she won with a single break ... In the final Ankita broke Zhang in 1st game and from 2-1 she won next four games to complete excellent comeback win ... Next she is facing another Chinese player, this time qualifier Yang who upset 8th seed player in the first round.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India bt Germany 3-2
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) bt Marc Zwiebler (GER,13) 21-18 18-21 21-18
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Johannes Schoettler (GER) 15-21 6-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,21) l Dieter Domke (GER,59) 21-23 21-14 14-21
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) bt Peter Kaesbauer (GER)/ Josche Zurwonne (GER) 21-9 17-21 21-19
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Lukas Schmidt (GER,80) 21-14 19-21 21-19

This was crucial match for both teams to avoid wooden spoon in the group ... Srikanth started with upset win over top-10 Marc Zwiebler but in 3rd match Kashyap lost against lowly ranked Dieter Domke ... This put extra pressure on our doubles team and Guru ... Akshay-Pranaav started well after winning the first game comfortably but after that German pair fought back and won the second game ... Akshay-Pranaav pulled of tight third game to make score 2-all in the tie ... In the final match Guru also started well after winning first game comfortably ... But after that Guru take extra pressure and choked up to lose the second game ... In the final game he kept his cool at crucial points and completed victory for Indians.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 57 76(5) 10-5

Rohan-Aisam really need to dig deep for this comeback victory over Bracciali-Marach ... After losing the first set they needed tie-break for winning the second before winning the match tie-break.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt (3) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS,242) 63 26 64
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED,318) 76(4) 62

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (Q) Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS,881)
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,294)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) bt Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) 76(5) 63
[QF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) 62 75
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 36 64 6-10

[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Alexander Bury (BLR)
[SF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)

Jeevan score huge upset win over 3rd seed Konstantin Kravchuk ... Jeevan started well and won the first set but in the second set from 2-3 he lost his serve twice for losing it ... In the final set Jeevan broke Kravchuk in 1st game and kept that advantage for winning this match ... Next he is facing former top-150 Russian player Mikhail Ledovskikh for place in the semis.

Saketh score straight sets win over Dutch player Antal Van Der Duim ... After winning the first set in tie-break Saki dominated the second set ... Next he is facing Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili ... Saki is in the doubles semi-final ... He defeated Jeevan-Buchanan in straight sets with Clusky ... In the semis they r facing Belarusean pair.

Divij-Huang wins their match in straight sets ... In the semis they r facing conquerors of Bala-Chen.
----------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (WC) Yan Wang (CHN,799) 61 61

[R2] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,399)

Doubles
[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt (2) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Aleksandrina Nayedenova (BUL) 64 62

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs (4) Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE)/ Chen Liang (CHN)

Expected comfortable win for Ankita ... Next she is having tricky match against former top-250 Yuxuan Zhang.

In the doubles Ankita-Fatma score dominating upset win over 2nd seed pair ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed Chinese-Taiwani pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) l Pedro Brenardi (BRA)/ Guilherme Hadlich (BRA) w/o

Disappointing Mexican futures for Sanam.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Thailand F4 Futures, Kutching, Malaysia

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) l Jacob GRILLS (AUS,735) 16 36

Marquis run end in the second round against Grills.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Thailand 3-2
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 22-20 21-14
[WS3] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,9) 21-19 21-14
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Savitree Amitrapa (THA) 21-16 21-13
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) l Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,17) 15-21 10-21
[WD2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ P V Sindhu (IND) l Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA)/ Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) 12-21 21-18 15-21

Indians women wins the group with upset win over higher seeded Thai girls and mostly face England in the quarters ... In the singles Saina and Sindhu scored straight games upset win over #4 Intanon and #9 Buranaprasertsuk respectively ... After that Jwala-Ashwini upset Thai #1 pair ... In 2nd doubles Saina-Sindhu played may be Indian coaches r practicing different options before big ties.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Mathew Ebden(AUS)/ Dimitry Tursunov (RUS) 64 64
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Carlos Berlocq (ARG)/ Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 26 46

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Oliver Marach (AUT)

Rohan-Aisam start with straight sets win over against tricky pairing of Ebden and Dima ... Next they r facing Bracciali-Marach ... Other hand Buji-Purav pairing fails to give challenge to Argentine pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt Dzmitry Zhyrmont (BLR,335) 75 61
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,323) l Boy Westerhof (NED,286) 36 46
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) bt Artem Smirnov (UKR,285) 76(1) 76(5)

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (3) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS,242)
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED,318)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Alexander Lokov (RUS)/ Valery Rudnev (RUS) 63 61

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)
[QF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED)/ Boy Westerhof (NED)
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)

Saki score excellent win against in form Artem Smirnov ... In the first set Saki was break up but failed to hold his serve when serving for the set at 5-4 ... In tie-break Saki dominated to win it ... In the second set Saki got broke in 1st game but Saki fought back to broke Artem in 8th game ... Again in tie-break Saki's huge serve helped him to finish it off ... Next he is facing Dutch player who defeats 2nd seed Canadian..

Jeevan score dominating win against Zhyrmont ... After winning close the first set Jeevan dominated the second ... Next he is facing 3rd seed Russian.
Divij start with comfortable win with his partner Huang ... Next they r facing Dutch pair.

----------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt Siyu Chen (CHN)/ Xu Liu Sun (CHN) 62 63

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs (2) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Aleksandrina Nayedenova (BUL)

Ankita-Fatma start with comfortable win against young Chinese pair ... Next they r facing 2nd seed pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,376) l Tyler Hochwalt (USA,508) 46 16

Another poor outing for Sanam.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Thailand F4 Futures, Kutching, Malaysia

[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,923) l Jonathon COOPER (AUS,881) 63 26 26
[R1] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) bt David SOFAER (AUS,932) 46 75 60

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) vs Jacob GRILLS (AUS,735)

Christopher score superb comeback upset win over Aussie Sofaer in the first round ... Next he is facing another Aussie Jacob Grills ... Other hand Kaza lose after winning the first set.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India l Korea 2-3
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) l Wan Ho Son (KOR,9) 21-17 12-21 18-21
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Yeon Seong Yoo (KOR)/ Yong Dae Lee (KOR) 18-21 17-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,27) bt Dong Keun Lee (KOR,32) 21-17 21-14
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) l Sa Rang Kim (KOR)/ Ki Jung Kim (KOR) 16-21 16-21
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Hwang Jong Soo (KOR,102) 24-22 21-13

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Hong Kong 4-1
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Pui Yin Yip (HKG,21) 21-9 21-10
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Hoi Wah Chau (HKG)/ Lok Yan Poon (HKG) 21-17 21-13
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Ying Mei Cheung (HKG,434) 21-8 21-10
[WD2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) l Tsz Ka Chan (HKG)/ Ying Suet Tse (HKG) 14-21 11-21
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) bt Hung Yung Chan (HKG,603) 19-21 21-16 21-7

Indian men lost their second match in the group against Korea ... Srikanth failed to win his singles again Wan Ho Son ... Before this Srikanth had perfect 2-0 win-loss record against him ... This loss cost tie for India as Koreans won their both doubles for the victory .. So with this loss Indian men's chances of reaching quarter-finals r over.

Other hand Indian women score expected comfortable win over Hong Kong girls in another easy win ... Saina and Sindhu lose only 19 and 18 points in their respective matches ... Ashwini-Jwala score comfortable win giving tie to India ... Pradnya-Siki lose their match before Thulasi needs comeback win against lowly ranked Chan.

Tennis News

At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) bt (WC) mad Boboqulov (UZB)/ Mikhail Esipov (UZB) 61 61
[R1] Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) bt (PR) James Cerretani (USA)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) 75 46 10-3
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Artem Smirnov (UKR) 76(5) 64

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)

Winning start for our pairs in the doubles ... In that really good win by Jeevan with Buchanan against experienced doubles players.
----------------------------------------------
At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs (WC) Yan Wang (CHN,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs Siyu Chen (CHN)/ Xu Liu Sun (CHN)

This week Ankita in 3rd seed and facing unranked local player ... I m hoping at least she perform as per her seeding.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,376) vs Tyler Hochwalt (USA,508)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) vs Pedro Brenardi (BRA)/ Guilherme Hadlich (BRA)

Again tough match for Sanam, who lost in their last meeting in October.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India l Malaysia 1-4
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) l Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 19-21 12-21
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Boon Heong Tan (MAS)/ Thien How Hoon (MAS) 14-21 11-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,27) l Wei Feng Chong (MAS,21) 13-21 6-21
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) l V Shem Goh (MAS)/ Wee Kiong Tan (MAS) 17-21 21-14 14-21
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Daren Liew (MAS,66) 21-18 13-21 21-19

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Canada 5-0
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Joycelyn Ko (CAN,218) 21-4 21-12
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Rachael Honderich (CAN,339) 21-16 21-3
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Bruce Alex (CAN)/ Phyllis Chan (CAN) 21-111 21-12
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) bt Brittney Tam (CAN,UNR) 21-11 21-13
[WD2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) bt Grace Gao (CAN)/ Rachael Honderich (CAN) 20-22 21-18 21-16

Malaysian men team prove too strong for Indian men ... In that shocking one-sided loss was of Kashyap ... Only Guru managed to win his match and Akshay-Pranaav gave fighting performance against Goh-Tan.

Indian women start with expected comfortable win against Canadian women ... Only Pradnya-Siki lose a game against Canadian pair in the final rubber.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Mathew Ebden(AUS)/ Dimitry Tursunov (RUS)
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Carlos Berlocq (ARG)/ Leonardo Mayer (ARG)

Rohan-Aisam r top-seed but they r facing tricky pair of Tursunov-Ebden ... Buji is received wild-card with Purav and they r facing tough challenge of Argentine pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,345) vs Dzmitry Zhyrmont (BLR,339)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,322) vs Boy Westerhof (NED,331)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,297) vs Artem Smirnov (UKR,287)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs (WC) mad Boboqulov (UZB)/ Mikhail Esipov (UZB)
[R1] Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) vs (PR) James Cerretani (USA)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA)
[R1] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Alexander Lokov (RUS)/ Valery Rudnev (RUS)
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Artem Smirnov (UKR)

This week Jeevan, Bala and Saketh r in the singles ... In the doubles Divij is playing with Huang ... Jeevan is playing with Buchanan ... And Bala is playing with Ti Chen ... Saketh is sticking with Clusky.

Tennis News

At Open de Nice Cote d'Azur, France (Red clay)

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,95) l Lucas Pouille (FRA,187) 26 76(5) 36

In this match Buji struggle with his service game and Pouille took full advantage of it ... After losing the first set Buji fightback to win the second in tie-break but again his serve cost him the third ... So with erratic form Buji is getting ready for French open.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[SF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) l (5) Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP,575) 36 36

In last four weeks RamK played so many matches in the singles and doubles ... That cost him this semi-final due to tiredness against his Spanish opponent.

Tennis News

At €2.1M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[QF] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (2) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 26 36

Sara-Roberta prove too strong for Cara-Sania, who managed to win only 5 games in this match.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[QF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) bt Kirill Dmitriev (RUS,887) 61 62

[SF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) vs (5) Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP,575)

Doubles
[SF] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (1) Vladzimir KRUK (BLR)/ Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ) 63 76(2)

[F] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) l Dimitar KUZMANOV (BUL)/ Ricardo RODRIGUEZ (VEN) w/o

RamK wins his match against Russian very comfortably and in the semis he is facing 5th seed Spanish opponent.

In the doubles he and Hugo defeated top-seed pair in straight sets before giving walkover to their unseeded opponents ... Hopefully no injury issue with RamK.

Squash News

At $100K Women's Allam British Open 2014, Hull, England (World Series Platinum)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) l (4) Joelle King (NZL,4) 1-3 (6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 1-11) (43m)

Joshana gives creditable fighting performance in first 3 games against King and in that she won 3rd game before getting overpowered in the fourth.

Hockey News

At World Cup 2014, Netherlands

Indian Team
Goalkeepers - PR Sreejesh and Harjot Singh
Defenders - Gurbaj Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, VR Raghunath, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam and Manpreet Singh
Midfielders - SK Uthappa, Dharamvir Singh, Jasjit Singh and Chinglensana Singh
Forwards - SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah,Mandeep Singh

Indian team announce for World cup ... Surprisingly Walmiki brothers r missing from the list.

Tennis News

At €3.45M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay)

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (1) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA) 57 16

Bryans dominate Rohan-Aisam in their straight sets victory.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, Kurume, Japan (Grass)

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Samantha Murray (GBR) l (1) Jamila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 46 36

Ankita-Samantha lose against top-seed pair in straight sets.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F4 futures , Morelia

[R2] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,377) l (PR) Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX,570) 76(15) 46 36

Sanam need to win these matches against experienced player ... After winning the tight first set in long tie-break Sanam lost next two sets against Reyes-Varela.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) bt (Q) Hugo Grenier (FRA,1615) 75 57 62

[QF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) vs Kirill Dmitriev (RUS,887)

Doubles
[QF] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (3) Hiroyasu EHARA (JPN)/ Sho KATAYAMA (JPN) 63 46 10-8
[QF} Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Jaime PULGAR-GARCIA (ESP) l Alex BLUMENBERG (BRA)/ Tiago FERNANDES (BRA) 67(12) 46

[SF] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs (1) Vladzimir KRUK (BLR)/ Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ)

Surprisingly tough match for RamK against his doubles French partner ... Next he is facing Russian opponent ... In the doubles they defeats 3rd seed Japanese pair ... In the semis they r facing top-seed.

Squash News

At $100K Women's Allam British Open 2014, Hull, England (World Series Platinum)

[R1] (12) Dipika Pallikal (IND,10) l (Q) Tesni Evans (WAL,32) 2-3 (11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-4, 11-13) (65m)
[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt (15) Rachael Grinham (AUS,15) 3-2 (7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6) (44m)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) vs (4) Joelle King (NZL,4)

Joshna shows her last win over Rachael Grinham wasn't fluke ... In this big Platinum tournament Joshana defeated Rachel from 1-2 down ... In last two games Rachel struggled to keep pace with Joshana ... Next she is facing in-form WR #4 New Zealand's Joelle King.

Other hand Dipika face shocking defeat in hands of Wales qualifier Tesni Evans ... After winning the first game Dipika failed to keep momentum ... She lost the second game in extra points and then again lost third game ... In the fourth game Dipika again found her touch which she won it comfortably ... In the fifth Dipika had her chances ... She missed match balls before losing it in extra points ... Bad loss for Dipika.
----------------------------------------------
At $150K Men's Allam British Open 2014, Hull, England (World Series Platinum)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l Daryl Selby (ENG,10) 1-3 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 6-11) (65m)

Saurav lose his match against Selby in four games ... After winning the first game Saurav failed to capitalize ... I was expecting better performance from him after his recent good matches.

Tennis News

At €2.1M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 63 64

Comfortable straight sets victory for Sania-Cara in the second round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €35K+H Heilbronn Challenger, Germany

[R1] Dustin Brown (GER)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Benjamin Balleret (MON)/ Alessandro Motti (ITA) 64 46 7-10

Changing partner doesn't help Purav ... He and Brown lost in match tie-break after winning the first set.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F4 futures , Morelia

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) l (1) Cesar Ramirez (MEX)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) 46 67(4)

Sanam-Shabaz lose their first round doubles match against local favorite pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2207) l (1) Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN,318) 16 06

Doubles
[R1] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (WC) Bruno AGOSTINELLI (CAN)/ David VOLFSON (CAN) 62 75
[R1} Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Jaime PULGAR-GARCIA (ESP) bt (4) Kirill DMITRIEV (RUS)/ Mats MORAING (GER) 63 36 10-6

[QF] Hugo GRENIER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs (3) Hiroyasu EHARA (JPN)/ Sho KATAYAMA (JPN)
[QF} Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Jaime PULGAR-GARCIA (ESP) vs Alex BLUMENBERG (BRA)/ Tiago FERNANDES (BRA)

As expected Ricardo Rodriguez prove too strong for Neeraj.

In the doubles winning start for our both players against their respective partners.

Tennis News

At €3.45M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay)

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 36 63 11-9

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (1) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA)

Rohan-Aisam need to dig deep for this comeback victory ... After losing the first set they won the second set comfortably but faced challenge in match tie-break before winning it in extra points ... Next they r facing Bryans.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €2.1M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sabine Lisicki (GER) 64 26 10-8

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

This is really good win for Sania-Cara as they previously lost against same pair and Sania always had trouble in her meeting with Hingis ... After losing the second set easily Sania-Cara recovered to win the match tie-break ... Next they r facing Hantuchova-Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan (clay)

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,297) l (Q) Alexander Lobkov (RUS,323) 63 26 06
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,345) l Borna Coric (CRO,246) 46 63 67(2)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Adrian Sikora (SVK) 57 46

After winning the first set Saki fail to capitalize and bundle in next two sets against Russian qualifier ... In the doubles also Saki and James lose their match in straight sets against unseeded pair.

Jeeevan miss big chance of huge upset over talented Borna Coric ... After losing the first set he made strong comeback for winning the second ... In the final set he was break up at 6-5 and had 2 match points on his serve which he failed to convert ... Borna proved too strong in tie-break.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, Kurume, Japan (Grass)

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,290) l Qiang Wang (CHN,282) 26 64 57

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Samantha Murray (GBR) bt (WC) Shizuka Hisamitsu (JPN)/ Yukiho Yasuda (JPN) 63 75

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Samantha Murray (GBR) vs (1) Jamila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS)

In the singles Ankita gives creditable fighting performance against similar ranked Chinese opponent but now she need to win these matches to show progress in her career.

In the doubles expected winning start for Ankita and Samantha ... Next they r having real tough match against former top-50 and former top-100 doubles Aussie players.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F4 futures , Morelia

[R1] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,377) bt (WC) Alan Nunez Aguilera (MEX,1679) 63 75

[R2] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,377) vs (PR) Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX,570)

Sanam's lack of match practice showing in his struggle against local wild-card player ... Next he is facing experienced local player Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) bt Sho Katayama (JPN,804) 62 60

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) vs (Q) Hugo Grenier (FRA,1615)

Really dominating win by RamK against Katayama ... Next he is facing French qualifier.

Squash News

At $100K Women's Allam British Open 2014, Hull, England (World Series Platinum)

[R1] (12) Dipika Pallikal (IND,10) vs Qualifier
[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) vs (15) Rachael Grinham (AUS,15)

Interesting match for Joshana against Grinham ... Dipika is facing qualifier.
----------------------------------------------
At $150K Men's Allam British Open 2014, Hull, England (World Series Platinum)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) vs Daryl Selby (ENG,10)

Saurav is facing top-10 Selby in the first round.

Tennis News

At €3.45M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay)

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Rohan-Aisam r unseeded and they can face Bryans in the second round if they win the first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €2.1M Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sabine Lisicki (GER)

Really tough match for Sania-Cara against Hingis-Lisicki.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan (clay)

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,297) vs (Q) Alexander Lobkov (RUS,323)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,345) vs Borna Coric (CRO,246)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,322) l Aslan Karatsev (RUS,287) 26 26

Doubles
[R1] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Adrian Sikora (SVK)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) l (WC) Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev (UZB)/ Vaja Uzakov (UZB) 62 67(6) 9-11

Aslan Karatsev prove too strong for Bala on clay ... Jeevan having very tough match against former junior WR #1 and junior US open champion 17 yrs old Croatian Borna Coric ... Saki will be most probably having winnable match against qualifier though his Russian opponent having experience of playing three matches on this court.

In the doubles Saki is top-sed with Irish James Clusky ... Bala-Jeevan lose their match against local wild-card pair ... After winning the first set they were up 4-1 in the second set before losing the plot ... So disappoint by their result.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K ITF Women's Tournament, Kurume, Japan (Grass)

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs Qiang Wang (CHN,294)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Samantha Murray (GBR) vs (WC) Shizuka Hisamitsu (JPN)/ Yukiho Yasuda (JPN)

Good to see that Ankita is trying tough tournament, which will definitely going to help her progress.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Mexico F4 futures , Morelia

[R1] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,377) vs (WC) Alan Nunez Aguilera (MEX,1679)

Doubles
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) vs (1) Cesar Ramirez (MEX)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX)

This week Sanam is playing in Mexico ... I m really hoping good performance from him in the singles ... In the doubles he is partnering his ex-UVa mate Shabaz but they r facing local favorite top-seed pair in the first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F16 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[Q1] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,3353) bye
[Q1] (8) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2207) bye

[Q2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) bt Batuhan Cakmak (TUR,UNR) 62 62
[Q2] (8) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2207) bt Gabriel Carneiro Torres Goncalves (BRA,UNR) 62 61

[Q3] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) bt Ivan Liutarevich (BLR,UNR) 62 60
[Q3] (8) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2207) bt (9) Tinotenda Chanakira (ZIM,2222) 62 36 63

[R1] (Q) Neeraj Elangovan (IND,2207) vs (1) Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN,318)
[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,353) vs Sho Katayama (JPN,804)

Doubles
[R1] Hugo GRENER (FRA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs (WC) Bruno AGOSTINELLI (CAN)/ David VOLFSON (CAN)
[R!} Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Jaime PULGAR-GARCIA (ESP) vs (4) Kirill DMITRIEV (RUS)/ Mats MORAING (GER)

This week RamK is playing qualifying ... He comfortably qualify for the main-draw with Neeraj ... RamK is 2nd seed but Neeraj having crap draw as he is facing top-seed Venezuelean Ricardo Rodriguez.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Hyderabad, India

Singles Final
(1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 67 64 63

[SF] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) 76(5) 75
[SF] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (6) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) 61 60

As expected Prarthana take advantage of weak draw and lifted her third ITF title in six months.

Tennis News

At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay)

[QF] (8) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (4) David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 67(5) 67(6)

Rohan-aisam lose their match against Spanish pair in two tie-breaks ... Our pair is playing well but still not able to deliver it through upset.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Turkey F15 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[QF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,388) l (Q) Mats Moraing (GER,994) 57 57

RamK loses his math against lower ranked German opponent ... He is already played three weeks, need to took break but instead he is playing qualies in next week's Turkey futures.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Hyderabad, India

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) 60 62
(3) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (7) Eetee MAHETA (IND) 26 63 75
(4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (8) Bhuvana KALVA (IND) 63 61
(6) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt (2) Shweta RANA (IND) 75 60

Only upset is from Nidhi against higher ranked Shweta.

Tennis News

At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay)

[R2] (8) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Milos Raonic (CAN)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) w/o

[QF] (8) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (4) David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Rohan-Aisam r in the quarters without hitting a single ball as their opponents gave walkover ... Hoping for proper match for them in the quarters against 4th seed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[QF] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (1) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) 75 16 8-10

This time also Sania-Cara fail to overcome challenge of Hsieh-Peng and lose another close match ... After wining the first set they had poor second set ... In the match tie-break they tried but Hsieh-Peng proved better of them.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Tukey F15 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,388) bt (Q) Ricardo Chile-Fonte (CUB,1721) 60 61

Very dominating win by RamK against Chilean Ricardo Chile-Fonte.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Hyderabad, India

Singles Second Round
(1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Damini SHARMA (IND) 67(4) 63 60
Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) bt (5) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND) 06 64 62
(3) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Sharon Sanchana PAUL (IND) 61 64
(7) Eetee MAHETA (IND) bt Rishika RAVINDRAN (IND) 60 62
(8) Bhuvana KALVA (IND) bt Manya NAGPAL 64 75
(4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Reshma GANAPATHY (IND) 60 61
(6) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) 60 60
(2) Shweta RANA (IND) bt Arthi MUNIYAN (IND) 62 63

Only upset of the day is from Amrita Mukharjee.

Tennis News

At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 64 61

Sania-Cara score comfortable win over Chan-Scheepers for entering in the quarters of Madrid Open.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €42K+H Rome Challenger, Italy

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Malek Jaziri (TUN)/ Lamine Ouahab (MAR) 62 46 6-10

This year so many matches lose by Divij-Purav after winning the opening set ... Inconsistent.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Tukey F15 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,388) bt (Q) Lukas Weinhandl (AUT,1331) 61 76()

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,388) vs (Q) Ricardo Chile-Fonte (CUB,1721)

Winning start for RamK against Austrian qualifier ... Next he is facing another qualifier.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Hyderabad, India

Singles First Round
(1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Srishti SLARIA (IND) 61 61
Damini SHARMA (IND) bt Preethi UJJINI (IND) 36 76(6) 60
Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) bt Preethi SRINIVASAN (IND) 62 60
(5) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND) bt Jeni PATEL (IND) 63 46 61
(3) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Sahan SHETTY (IND) 61 60
Sharon Sanchana PAUL (IND) bt Vanshika SAWHNEY (IND) 36 61 64
Rishika RAVINDRAN (IND) bt Tanvee BOSE (IND) 62 61
(7) Eetee MAHETA (IND) bt Sneha PADAMATA (IND) 57 61 62
(8) Bhuvana KALVA (IND) bt Arushi BHASIN (IND) 75 64
Manya NAGPAL (IND) bt Neharika RAMA (IND) 61 46 64
Reshma GANAPATHY (IND) bt Sindhu JANAGAM (IND) 61 64
(4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND) 62 67(4) 62
(6) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) bt Sansriti RANJAN (IND) 60 60
Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) bt Arantxa ANDRADY (IND) 26 75 61
Arthi MUNIYAN (IND) bt Nithya Raj BABU RAJ (IND) 64 61
(2) Shweta RANA (IND) bt Vaidehi CHAUDHARI (IND) 67(3) 62 63

It is all Indian affair.

Tennis News

At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicija Rosolska (POL) 61 57 10-7

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Sania-Cara start win tight match ... Though they stretched to the match tie-break, importantly they r winning these matches ... Next they r facing Chan-Scheepers.

Tennis News

At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay)

[R1] (8) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bye

Only Rohan-Aisam r playing in this Madrid Masters.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At €3.7M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain (Red clay) (WTA Premier Mandatory)

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicija Rosolska (POL)

Sania-Cara r hoping for continuing their good form.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At 2014 u-16 Girls JFC Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying, Kutching, Malaysia

(3) India bt New Zeland 3-0
KARMAN KAUR THANDI bt ASHLEIGH BRYN HARVEY 46 63 63
PRANJALA YADLAPALLI bt ROSIE CHENG 61 67(4) 75
PRANJALA YADLAPALLI/ KARMAN KAUR THANDI bt ROSIE CHENG/ NINA PARIPOVIC 60 60

Surprisingly tougher match for 3rd seed Indian girls against New Zealand girls.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT u-14 Girls 2014, New Delhi, India

Third place playoff
(7) India l (1) Australia 0-2

SHIVANI INGLE l BAIJING LIN 06 36
SATHWIKA SAMA l DESTANEE AIAVA 06 26

[SF] (7) India l (2) Chinese Taipei 0-3

SHIVANI INGLE l PEI-HSUAN CHEN 06 06
SATHWIKA SAMA l I-HSUAN CHO 26 16

[QF] (7) India bt (8) Kazakhstan 3-0

SHIVANI INGLE bt DARYA DETKOVSKAYA 60 60
SATHWIKA SAMA bt AINUR SULEIMENOVA 46 63 61
AARJA CHAKRABORTY/ SATHWIKA SAMA bt DARYA DETKOVSKAYA/ AINUR SULEIMENOVA 26 62 63

(7) India bt (4) Japan 2-1

SHIVANI INGLE bt YUKI ANDO 64 36 75
SATHWIKA SAMA bt ELIZA ASKAROVA 64 64

(7) India bt Kyrgyzstan 3-0

SHIVANI INGLE bt ERMEKA NURGAZIEVA 61 62
SATHWIKA SAMA bt ELIZA ASKAROVA 46 63 76(4)
AARJA CHAKRABORTY/ SATHWIKA SAMA bt FITRIANI SABATINI/ FAIZA SALSALIBA NURHIDAYATI 61 62

(7) India bt Indonesia 2-1

SHIVANI INGLE bt FITRIANI SABATINI 64 64
SATHWIKA SAMA bt SHEVITA AULANA 76(2) 61
AARJA CHAKRABORTY/ SHIVANI INGLE l FITRIANI SABATINI/ FAIZA SALSALIBA NURHIDAYATI 26 26

Indians u-14 girls qualify for World group with upset win over 4th seed Japanese girls in the group stage ... In last two matches top 2 seeds teams proved too strong for them but still very creditable performance from them.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying JDC u-16 Boys 2014, Kutching, Malaysia

[QF] (5) India l (2) Chinese Taipei 1-2

PARAMVEER SINGH BAJWA l CING YANG MENG 16 63 36
ALEX SOLANKI l TUNG LIN WU 16 06
ALEX SOLANKI/ NIKSHEP B R bt CHIEN HSUN LO/ TUNG LIN WU 61 62

(5) India l (3) Australia 0-3

PARAMVEER SINGH BAJWA l MAX PURCELL 06 06
ALEX SOLANKI l OLIVER ANDERSON 46 26
PARAMVEER SINGH BAJWA/ NIKSHEP B R l OLIVER ANDERSON/ ALEX DEMINAUR 16 26

(5) India bt Thailand 2-0

PARAMVEER SINGH BAJWA bt SIRAWIT DAOSAENGSAWANG 61 62
ALEX SOLANKI bt NAWAKARN KHUNJAN 57 62 76(3)

(5) India bt Singapore 3-0

PARAMVEER SINGH BAJWA bt SHAHEED ALAM 61 75
ALEX SOLANKI bt SHERWIN FOO 62 60
ALEX SOLANKI/ NIKSHEP B R bt SHERWIN FOO/ D GIRITHARAN DEVENDIRAN 63 64

But our u-14 boys fail to cross quarter final stage.

Tennis News

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


Double Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Eva Hrdinova (CZE)/ Valeria Solovyeva (RUS) 64 63

Sania-Cara lifts their first title of 2014 ... In the final they beat unseeded pair of Hrdinova-Solovyeva in comfortable style ... Good confidence boosting title win bfore French open.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

Singles Final
(1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt (2) Anton ZAITSEV (RUS,404) 67(6) 60 62

RamK lifts deserving another futures title beating 2nd seed Russian Zaitsev ... In the final after losing the first set RamK dominated the match and won next two sets losing only 2 games.

Tennis News

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

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (3) Liezel Huber (USA)/ Lisa Raymond (USA) 64 63

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Eva Hrdinova (CZE)/ Valeria Solovyeva (RUS)

Sania-Cara score comfortable win over experienced pair of Huber-Raymond ... In the final they r facing unseeded Czech-Russian pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Andijan

[SF] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) l Richard Muzaev (RUS,787) 67(1) 64 57

Vishnu lose his semi-final after giving fighting performance ... Though he lose his match against lower ranked Russian opponent but overall he must be happy with hsi performance.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[QF] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt (Q) Simeon ROSSIER (SUI,1471) 61 64

[SF] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt (4) Peter HELLER (GER,656) 64 64

[F] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs (2) Anton ZAITSEV (RUS,404)

Doubles
[SF] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (3) Patrick GRIGORIU (ROU)/ Matteo MARFIA (ITA) 46 64 10-8

[F] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) l (2) Sho KATAYAMA (JPN)/ Bumpei SATO (JPN) 36 16

Good to see RamK playing as per his ranking ... He is in the final with comfortable wins ... In the final he is facing similar ranked Russian Zaitsev.

In the doubles he and his partner Ciumac ended as runner-up behind Japanese pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Iran F7 futures , Kish

Doubles Final
Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) l (2) Marko TEPAVAC (SRB)/ Mark VERVOORT (NED) 67(5) 64 1-10

Surprising meltdown in the match tie-break by Ronak-Akash though overall creditable performance ... They win a title and runner-up in two weeks.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[SF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) l (7) Michika OZEKI (JPN,630) 26 46

Natasha fails to cross Ozeki hurdle and lose the semi-final.

Tennis News

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

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,102) l Tomáš Berdych (CZE,6) 36 26

Doubles
[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ David Marrero (ESP) 26 26

Frankly speaking no expectations from Buji in his match against Berdych ... Berdych won the first set with a single break in 4th game ... Buji also had chances as he missed three break point chances in 3rd, 7th and 9th game ... After winning the first set Berdych put extra pressure on Buji's serve ... He broke Buji two times and didn't face a single break point on his serve ... Berdych completed victory in 76 minutes.

Divij-Purav also fail to lift their game against top-seed pair ... Cuevas-Marrero scored dominating win losing only 4 games.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $250K Portugal Open, Oeiras (Red clay)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)/ Shuai Zhang (CHN) 63 64

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (3) Liezel Huber (USA)/ Lisa Raymond (USA)

Comfortable straight sets win for Sania-Cara in the quarters ... In the semis they r having interesting match between very experienced pair of Lisa Raymond and Liezel Huber.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (clay)

[QF] Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)/ Richard Becker (GER) l Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO) 76(3) 46 8-10

Jeevan-Becker lose in match tie-break ... After winning the first set in tie-break they failed to keep momentum.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, USA

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


-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Uzbekistan F2 Futures, Andijan

[QF] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) bt (Q) Evgeny Elistratov (RUS,1108) 75 61

[SF] (5) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,574) vs Richard Muzaev (RUS,787)

Doubles
[SF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) l (4) Daniiar Duldaev (KGZ)/ Vladimir Uzhylovsky (UKR) 63 26 7-10

Vishnu score straight sets win over Russian qualifier Evgeny ... In the semis he is facing another unseeded Russian Muzaev.

Bala-Ranjeet fails to took advantage of winning the first set and lose their match in match tie-break against 4th seed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Bangkok, Thailand

[QF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) bt Mandy WAGEMAKER (NED,753) 57 64 64

[SF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND,553) vs (7) Michika OZEKI (JPN,630)

Nice comeback win by Natasha against Dutch girl Wagemaker ... Natasha lost the first set but after that she fought back to win next two sets ... In the semis she is facing 7th seed Japanese girl Ozeki.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Namangan, Uzbekistan

[QF] (3) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) l Polina Monova (RUS,876) 16 16

Monova prove too strong for Prarthana.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Tukey F14 Futures, Antalya - Belconti

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) bt Sergei BUBKA (UKR,UNR) 67(5) 64 64

[QF] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,388) vs (Q) Simeon ROSSIER (SUI,1471)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Alexander JHUN (GBR)/ Yusuke WATANUKI (JPN) 64 63

[SF] (1) Andrei CIUMAC (MDA)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs (3) Patrick GRIGORIU (ROU)/ Matteo MARFIA (ITA)

Ramk Score really good comeback win against former top-200 player Sergei Bubka, who is coming out of life threatening injury ... Next he is facing Swiss qualifier.

RamK-Andrei r in the semis with straight sets win over Jhun-Watanuki ... In the semis they r facing 3rd seed pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Iran F7 futures , Kish

[SF] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) bt Maximilian MANN (AUT)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT) 62 62

[F] Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) vs Marko TEPAVAC (SRB)/ Mark VERVOORT (NED)

Akash-Ronak continue with their good run ... They r in their second final in two weeks after scoring very convincing win over Austrian pair ... In the final they r facing 2nd seed Serbian-Dutch pair.