Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (6) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) 63 64

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) vs (6) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND)

Junior
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,56) vs (Q) Viktor Durasovic (NOR,60)

Rohan-Katarina score straight sets win over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Raven Klaasen ... In the quarters they r facing top-seed Sania-Bruno.

This year Sumit is playing in junior US open and having favorable first draw as he is facing similar ranked Norwegian.
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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[Q1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) bt Fajing Sun (CHN,1859) 63 64
[Q1] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,396) bt Luyao Wang (CHN,1639) 63 63

[Q2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) vs (4) Keto Takeuchi (JPN,432)
[Q2] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,396) vs Congsup Concar (THA,2067)

[R1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,143) vs Qualifier
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,156) vs Ti Chen (TPE,252)

Buji and Yuki r playing in Shanghai challenger in preparation for 12th September Davis cup tie against Serbia ... Yuki is facing Taipei's experienced player Ti Chen and Buji is facing qualifier in the first round ... In qualifying Sanam is top-seed and he stat with comfortable win ... Next he is facing lower ranked Thai opponent ... Sasi is also win his match comfortably against local player but hext he is facing top-500 Japanese opponent.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

Singles Final
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) l (3) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,379) 76(4) 46 36

Bala fail to lift another futures title but still overall encouraging performance by him ... In the final he won the first set in tie-break but after that failed to keep momentum and Russian take advantage of it with wining next two sets.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF World Championships 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark

[SF] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) l (9) Carolina Marin (ESP,10) 17-21 15-21

Second year in a row Sindhu fail to cross semi-final hurdle and remain happy on Bronze ... Still she becomes first Indian player to win 2 medals at World championship ... In this match Sindhu was loking tired due to her last two matches were stretched to fullest and played almost one and half hours ... Sindhu tried hard but Marin played smart game and make sure that she played long rallies with Sindhu ... Despite matching Marin in both game Sindhu failed to turn table and lost this match due to tiredness after 48 minutes.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

Doubles
[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 61 62

[R3] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Klara Koukalova (CZE)
[R3] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (11) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Marc Lopez (ESP)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Jamie Murray (GBR) 62 76(8)
[R2] (3) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 61 46 10-4

[QF] (3) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Abigail Spears (USA)/ Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)

In their previous meeting before US open Sania-Cara lost their match against Garcia-Niculescu at New Haven ... But here Sania-Cara dominate the match and score really convincing win losing only three games ... In the thrid round they r facing unseeded pair of Jelena Jankovic and Klara Koukalova.

In mixed doubles Sania and Lee r in the quarters with their respective partners ... Sania-Bruno won the first set comfortably against Casey-Jamie but in the second set British-Australian pair stretched Sania-Bruno to extra points in tie-break ... Lee-Cara also started dominating fashion and won the first set losing only single game ... Aisam-Alla turned table in the second set and won it with a single break but Cara-Lee recovered in match tie-break and won it comfortably ... In the quarters they r facing unseeded American-Mexican pair of Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) bt (4) Takuto NIKI (JPN,383) 46 64 76(2)

[F] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) vs (3) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,379)

Bala score hard fought win over Takuto Niki in more than three hours long match ... After losing the first set Bala was break down before he made superb comeback for a win ... Next he is facing 3rd seed Russian Karen Khachanov.
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At $15K Gabon F2 Futures , Libreville

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) l (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,591) 67(4) 36

Doubles Final
(1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA) 76(5) 63

So another loss in the singles semi-final for Jeevan, this time against Ruan ... After losing the first set in tie-break Jeevan failed to raise his game in the second against Ruan.

In the doubles Jeevan lifts another title with Sam, this is their second title in two weeks.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF World Championships 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark

[QF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) l (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,1) 15-21 15-21
[QF] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bt (2) Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 19-21 21-19 21-15

[SF] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) vs (9) Carolina Marin (ESP,10)

Sindhu shows super fitness to beat WR #2 Shixian Wang in comeback win after 86 minutes match ... In the first game Sindhu take 11-4 lead but with better net game Shixian caught her at 15-all ... From 17-18 Shixian won next 3 points and converted 2nd game point to win this game ... In the second game Shixian was leading 6-3 and then 16-12 ... She was 5 points away from a win when Sindhu won 8 points in a row and had 4 game points at 20-16 ... Shixian saved 3 game points but Sindhu converted 4th game point for taking match in the decider ... In the third game Sindhu was leading 5-2 before Shixian made it 5-all ... After that both players were neck to neck till 15-all and from here Sindhu won 6 points in a row to complete memorable win ... With that Sindhu become first Indian player to win 2 World championships medals ... In the semis Sindhu is facing Spanish girl Carolina Marin, Marin defeated Sindhu comfortably in their previous meeting in June 2014.

Other hand Saina fail to raise her game against WR #1 Xuerui Li, who defeated Saina convincingly in 46 minutes.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

Doubles
[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU)
[R2] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jiri Vesely (CZE) 76(3) 63

Junior
[Q1] (14) Ojasvinee Singh (IND) l Alexandra Sanford (USA) 36 26

Lee-Radek score straight sets win over Lu-Vesely to enter in the third round.

Ojasvinee Singh lose convincingly her first qualifying round against lower ranked American Sanford.
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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[SF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l Pruchya Isarow (THA)/ Nuttanon Kadchapanan (THA) 62 46 9-11

Divij fail to capitalize on weaker opponents and lose in tight match tie-break with Uchiyama ... They started confidently and won the first set with doubles break ... After that unseeded local pair fought back and won the second set and local pair managed to keep momentum in match tie-break which they won on extra points.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) bt Yecong HE (CHN,2131) 75 61

[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) vs (4) Takuto NIKI (JPN,383)

Doubles
[SF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) l (4) Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE)/ Chu-Huan YI (TPE) 46 16

Bala enter into the semis with straight sets win over his Chinese opponent ... Next he is facing top-400 Japanese Takuto Niki ... In the doubles Bala-Ranjeet face surprising straight sets loss against local pir.
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At $15K Gabon F2 Futures , Libreville

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt (6) Sander Gille (BEL,1053) 63 62

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,591)

Doubles
[SF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (3) Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)/ Arthur SURREAUX (FRA) 60 60

[F] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA)

Jeevan score comfortable win over Belgian Gille ... Next he is facing South African former top-400 player Roelofse.

In the doubles Jeevan-Sam gives double bagel to their 3rd seed opponents ... In the final they r facing 2nd seed Fynn-Roelofse.
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At $10K Iran F9 Futures, Tehran

[QF] (6) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,884) l (2) Alexis MUSIALEK (FRA,451) 26 16

One sided loss for Vijay Sundar against top-500 Frenchman.

Squash News

At $150K Men's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) l (5) Peter Barker (ENG,8) 6-11 5-11 1-2 Retd.

After losing the first 2 games Saurav retire from the match in early of third game ... Hopefully nothing serious injury scare.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF World Championships 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark

[R3] Srikanth K. (IND,23) vs (2) Long Chen (CHN,2) 12-21
[R3] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt (13) Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,14) 14-21 21-18 21-12
[R3] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bt (6) Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,5) 19-21 22-20 25-23

[R3] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l (2) Yong Dae Lee (KOR)/ Yeon Seong Yoo (KOR) 12-21 17-21

[QF] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,1)
[QF] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) vs (2) Shixian Wang (CHN,2)

Saina and Sindhu score comeback win for entering into the quarters ... Saina lose the first game against Takahashi before recovering in the second game ... After winning the close second game Saina dominates final game ... Other hand Sindhu needs to dig deep for winning this match in 76 minutes ... After losing the first game Sindhu play catching game in the second game ... In the second game whenever she was falling behind she managed to catch Yeon ... From 18-20 Sindhu save 2 match points and win this game winning 4 points in a row ... In the final game Sindhu was falling behind but from 16-17 she won next 4 points and had 3 match points ... Yeon saved all those and then she saved 2 more at 21-20 and 22-21 ... Sindhu saved third match point at 22-23 ... Sindhu converted 6th match point for memorable win ... Next Saina and Sindhu r facing WR #1 Xuerui Li and WR #2 Shixian Wang.

Manu-Sumeeth give decent performance against WR #2 Korean pair.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (6) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Lauren Davis (USA)/ Nicholas Monroe (USA) 36 62 10-0
[R1] (3) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) 63 46 10-8

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Jamie Murray (GBR)
[R2] (6) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA)
[R2] (3) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Lee-Cara passes tough challenge of Groenefeld-Rojer in close super tie-break ... Next they r facing another tricky pair of Kudryavtseva and Aisam. Rohan-Katarina started slowly but after losing first set they steamrolled their opponent ... They win match tie-break without losing a single point ... Next they r facing Garrigues-Klaasen.
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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP) l (2) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Hsien-Yu Peng (TPE) 63 26 6-10

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt (WC) Chaleechan Tanasugarn (THA)/ Warot Udomsuk (THA) 60 61

[SF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Pruchya Isarow (THA)/ Nuttanon Kadchapanan (THA)

RamK-Jamie lose their first round match ... Divij-Yasutaka score comfortable win against local wild-card pair losing a single game ... In the semis they r facing another unseeded Thai pair.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1663) l (1) Tsung-Hua YANG (TPE,247) 46 26
[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) l (5) Andrew WHITTINGTON (AUS,428) 63 36 57
[R2] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) bt Cheng-Yu YU (TPE,903) 46 75 63

Doubles
[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ Chih-Jen HO (TPE) 64 61

[SF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs (4) Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE)/ Chu-Huan YI (TPE)

As expected Bala wins but need comeback win ... Ranjeet and Christopher give fighting performance against their higher seeded opponents.
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At $15K Gabon F2 Futures , Libreville

[R2] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1745) l (7) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1046) 16 63 36

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (WC) Herve ANTCHANDIE (FRA)/ Darvel Valency LOSSANGOYE (GAB) 60 63
[QF] Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Sagar AHUJA (IND) l (4) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Sander GILLE (BEL) 36 64 10-12

Fighting performance by Jatin in his loss ... In the doubles Jatin-Sagar give fighting performance against 4th seed pair.
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At $10K Iran F9 Futures, Tehran

[R2] (6) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,884) bt Omid SOURI (ISR,UNR) 63 60

[QF] (6) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,884) vs (2) Alexis MUSIALEK (FRA,451)

Comfortable win for Vijay Sundar ... Next he is facing top-500 Frenchman.

Squash News

At $70K Women's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[R1] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) l Nouran Gohar (EGY,29) 0-3 (8-11 4-11 7-11) (20m)

Joshana failed to raise her game against Egyptian current World Championship junior finalist Gohar and lose match in straight games.
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At $150K Men's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) bt (Q) Henrik Mustonen (FIN,38) 11-4 11-6 11-3 (28m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) vs (5) Peter Barker (ENG,8)

Expected comfortable winning start for Saurav against Finnish qualifier ... Next he is facing British top-10 and his nemesis Peter Barker.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF World Championships 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark

[R1] Srikanth K. (IND,23) bt Iztok Utrosa (SLO,114) 21-11 11-21 21-12
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,20) l Dieter Domke (GER) 24-26 21-13 18-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,89) bt (4) Kenichi Tago (JPN,4) w/o
[R1] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bye
[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bye

[R1] Manu Attri(IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) bt Nikita Khakimov (RUS)/ Vasily Kuznetsov (RUS) 21-19 21-23 21-19
[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) bt Yun Lung Chan (HKG)/ Chun Hei Lee (HKG) 21-19 16-21 22-20
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Heather Olver (ENG)/ Kate Robertshaw (ENG) w/o
[R1] Prajakta Sawant (IND)/ Arathi Sara Sunil (IND) l Puttita Supajirakul (THA)/ Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) w/o
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Anders Kristiansen (DEN)/ Julie Houmann (DEN)
[R1] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) bt Hugo Arthuso (BRA)/ Fabiana Silva (BRA) 21-12 21-14

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,89) l Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,21) 17-21 14-21
[R2] Srikanth K. (IND,23) bt Rajiv Ouseph (ENG,22) 21-18 21-13
[R2] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bt Olga Golovanova (RUS,65) 21-12 21-17
[R2] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) bt Natalia Perminova (RUS,44) 21-11 21-9

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) bt (15) Hirokatsu Hashimoto (JPN)/ Noriyasu Hirata (JPN) 21-19 21-19
[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) l (5) Ki Jung Kim (KOR)/ Sa Rang Kim (KOR) 15-21 17-21
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (5) Qing Tian (CHN)/ Yunlei Zhao (CHN) 16-21 8-21
[R2] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l (6) Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Birgit Michels (GER) 14-21 11-21

[R3] Srikanth K. (IND,23) vs (2) Long Chen (CHN,2)
[R3] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,7) vs (13) Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,14)
[R3] (11) P V Sindhu (IND,12) vs (6) Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,5)

[R3] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) vs (2) Yong Dae Lee (KOR)/ Yeon Seong Yoo (KOR)

Good to see one of our doubles pair Manu-Sumeeth are in pre-quarter finals with remaining singles players ... Kashyap's first round loss was shocking ... Other hand Srikanth scored good win against Rajiv in the second round but next facing WR #2 Chinese Long Chen ... Saina and Sindhu scored comfortable wins in first 2 rounds ... Saina is facing top-15 Japanese girl Sayaka Takahashi for place in the quarters ... Sindhu is facing WR #5 Korean Yeon Ju Bae ... Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy scored upset win over 15th seed Japanese pair but next they r facing WR #2 Korean pair.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

Doubles
[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 63 60
[R1] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA) 76(5) 62
[R1] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) 67(10) 64 67(5)

[R2] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jiri Vesely (CZE)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Tornado Alicia Black (USA)/ Ernesto Escobedo (USA) 62 36 10-5
[R1] (6) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Lauren Davis (USA)/ Nicholas Monroe (USA)
[R1] (3) Cara Black (ZIM)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)

Sania-Cara score comfortable win over Pliskova twins ... Other hand Rohan-Aisam lose against Italian pair in titanic battle of two and half hours ... In the first set Rohan-Aisam missed set points and that cost them this match ... Lee-Radek need tie-break for winning the first set ... But after winning the first set Lee-Radek dominated the second set and won it with double breaks.

In mixed doubles our all pairs r higher seeded, so hopefully they will perform as per their seeding ... Sania and Bruno stretch to match tie-break by young American pair of Black and Escobedo in the first round.
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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) bt (Q) Chaleechan Tanasugarn (THA,UNR) 36 62 61
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,298) l (3) Luca Vanni (ITA,170) 67(5) 67(4)

[R2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) l (3) Luca Vanni (ITA,170) 67(3) 26

Doubles
[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt Jason Jung (USA)/ Nicolas Meister (USA) 63 62
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP) vs (2) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Hsien-Yu Peng (TPE) 63 2-4 stopped due to rain

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs (WC) Chaleechan Tanasugarn (THA)/ Warot Udomsuk (THA)

Sasi score expected his first win of challenger level before losing to Vanni in the second round ... In the doubles Divij-Yasutaka start with a win but RamK-Jamie's match again interrupts due to rain.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R1] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1663) bt (Q) Shao-Yu YU (TPE,UNR) 63 63
[R1] (Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND,1639) l (3) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,381) 36 16
[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) bt Chih-Chun TANG (TPE,1202) 62 61
[R1] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) bt (WC) Wei-De LIN (TPE,UNR) 62 61

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1663) vs (1) Tsung-Hua YANG (TPE,247)
[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) vs (5) Andrew WHITTINGTON (AUS,428)
[R2] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,316) vs Cheng-Yu YU (TPE,903)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Masato SHIGA (JPN)/ Ko SUZUKI (JPN) 62 62
[R1] Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ Chih-Jen HO (TPE) bt Kuan-Yi LEE (TPE)/ Hao-Yang HU (TPE) 63 64
[R1] Sagar MANJANNA (IND)/ Suraj R PRABODH (IND) l Yecong HE (CHN)/ Yue ZHANG (CHN) 67(6) 36

[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ Chih-Jen HO (TPE)

Christopher joins Bala and Ranjeet in the second round ... In the doubles also our those three players in the quarters.
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At $15K Gabon F2 Futures , Libreville

[R1] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt Willy Lebendje (GAB,UNR) 60 64
[R1] (LL) Neishit Vakil (IND,UNR) l (7) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1046) 16 06
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1745) bt Joshua Rollins (USA,UNR) 62 61
[R1] (Q) Medhir Goyal (IND,UNR) l Karim Kadry (EGY,1402) 26 16
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1675) l Aaron Cortes Alcaraz (ESP,2143) 36 26
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1747) l (2) Sam Barry (IRL,337) 26 46

[R2] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt Herve Antchandie (FRA,UNR) 60 62
[R2] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1745) vs (7) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1046)

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs (6) Sander Gille (BEL,1053)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bye
[R1] Medhir Goyal (IND)/ Neishit Vakil (IND) l Joe COOPER (GBR)/ Stefan MERUNKA (CRO) 06 26
[R1] Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Sagar AHUJA (IND) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Karim KADRY (EGY) 63 62
[R1] Utsarg GROVER (IND)/ Florentin MEYNIE (FRA) l (4) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Sander GILLE (BEL) w/o

[QF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (WC) Herve ANTCHANDIE (FRA)/ Darvel Valency LOSSANGOYE (GAB)
[QF] Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Sagar AHUJA (IND) vs (4) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Sander GILLE (BEL)

With comfortable wins Jeevan is in the quarters ... Jatin having tough second round ... In the doubles Jeevan and Jatin r in the quarters with their respective partners.
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At $10K Iran F9 Futures, Tehran

[R1] Tejas CHAUKULKAR (IND,UNR) l (7) Arkadiusz KOCYLA (POL,888) 36 46
[R1] Akash WAGH (IND,1047) l Gokberk ERGENEMAN (TUR,1684) 26 26
[R1] Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1268) l (4) Markos KALOVELONIS (GRE,794) 64 67(5) 26
[R1] (6) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,884) bt Berk ILIESCU (TUR,1730) 62 61
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) l (2) Alexis MUSIALEK (FRA,451) 46 46

[R2] (6) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,884) vs Omid SOURI (ISR,UNR)

Only Vijay Sundar manages to cross the first hurdle.

Squash News

At $150K Men's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,63) l Henrik Mustonen (FIN,38) 0-3 (9-11 10-12 8-11) (43m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) vs (Q) Henrik Mustonen (FIN,38)

Though Mahesh lose his match against Henrik Mustonen in three games still he gave valiant efforts against Mustonen ... Henrik Mustonen's next opponent is Saurav.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)
[R1] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA)
[R1] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Sania-Cara r third seed and again they r facing Pliskova twins.

Our both pairs r in bottom draw and can face in the quarters but in the first round our both pairs r facing Italian pairs.
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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) vs (Q) Chaleechan Tanasugarn (THA,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP) vs (2) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Hsien-Yu Peng (TPE) 63 1-0 stopped due to rain.

Sasi receive lucky break as he is facing un-ranked local player ... In the doubles RamK and Jamie start positively and win the first set comfortably before rain interruption.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F2 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R1] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1663) vs (Q) Shao-Yu YU (TPE,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND,1639) vs (3) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,381)
[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) vs Chih-Chun TANG (TPE,1202)
[R1] (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,316) vs (WC) Wei-De LIN (TPE,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs Masato SHIGA (JPN)/ Ko SUZUKI (JPN)
[R1] Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ Chih-Jen HO (TPE) vs Kuan-Yi LEE (TPE)/ Hao-Yang HU (TPE)
[R1] Sagar MANJANNA (IND)/ Suraj R PRABODH (IND) vs Yecong HE (CHN)/ Yue ZHANG (CHN)

Hoping for better week for Indians.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $15K Gabon F2 Futures , Libreville

[R1] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs Willy Lebendje (GAB,UNR)
[R1] (LL) Neishit Vakil (IND,UNR) vs (7) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1046)
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1745) vs Joshua Rollins (USA,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Medhir Goyal (IND,UNR) vs Karim Kadry (EGY,1402)
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1675) vs Aaron Cortes Alcaraz (ESP,2143)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1747) vs (2) Sam Barry (IRL,337)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (WC) Herve ANTCHANDIE (FRA)/ Darvel Valency LOSSANGOYE (GAB)
[R1] Medhir Goyal (IND)/ Neishit Vakil (IND) vs Joe COOPER (GBR)/ Stefan MERUNKA (CRO)
[R1] Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Karim KADRY (EGY) vs Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Sagar AHUJA (IND)
[R1] Utsarg GROVER (IND)/ Florentin MEYNIE (FRA) vs (4) Matias CASTRO (ARG)/ Sander GILLE (BEL)

Hoping for good performance by Jeevan and co.

Volleyball News

At 4th AVC Cup for Men 2014, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Final
India l South Korea 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 25-27)

Indian men lose in the final of Asian Cup Championship against South Korean men ... Though disappoint by our men's loss still creditable performance them as this was their first final ... In all three games our players were matching South Koreans but Koreans played better on important points ... So congrats Indian team for winning Silver medal in this Asian cup.

Squash News

At $70K Women's CIMB Malaysian Open 2014, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) bt Line Hansen (DEN,24) 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9) (50m)

[R2] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) l (1) Nicol David (MAS,1) 0-3 (4-11, 3-11, 8-11) (32m)

In the last week Joshana played at Malaysian Open ... In the first round she scored nice win over similar ranked Danish player Hansen before losing to WR #1 Nicol David in the second round.
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At $70K Women's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[R1] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,21) vs Nouran Gohar (EGY,29)

Joshana having tricky match against current junior World championship runner-up Nouran Gohar.
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At $150K Men's Hong Kong Open 2014, Hong Kong, China

[Q1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,63) bt (WC) Ling To Yu (HKG,UNR) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7

[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,63) vs Henrik Mustonen (FIN,38)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) vs Qualifier

Saurav is facing qualifier in the first round ... Other hand Mahesh is in qualifying ... In the first qualifying round local 16 yrs youngster stretch him in three games.

Tennis News

At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,1125) vs Qualifier
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,298) vs (3) Luca Vanni (ITA,170)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Jason Jung (USA)/ Nicolas Meister (USA)
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Jaime Pulgar-Garcia (ESP) vs (2) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Hsien-Yu Peng (TPE)

Tough matches for RamK in the singles and doubles ... In the singles he is facing top-175 Italian Nicolas Meister and in the doubles he is facing Taipei Davis cup pair Ti Chen-Peng partnering Spanish Jaime Pulgar-Garcia
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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Winnipeg

Doubles Final
(2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) bt (1) Philip BESTER (CAN)/ Marcus DANIELL (NZL) 75 75

Another doubles title for Saki on futures level, this time with Bulgarian partner Dimitar Kutrovsky ... They defeated top-seed Philip Bester and Marcu Daniell in tight two sets.

Volleyball News

At 4th AVC Cup for Men 2014, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Pool A
India bt Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-23 25-17 25-19)
India bt Japan 3-0 (25-11 27-25 25-23)
India l South Korea 1-3 (25–22 22–25 21–25 22–25)

[QF] India bt Thailand 3-0 (25–19 25–23 26–24)

[SF] India bt Iran 3-1 (20-25 29-27 31-29 27-25)

[F] India vs South Korea

In on going Asian Cup Championship Indians men r in the final ... In this tournament Iran, China and Japan participated with second string team ... Still creditable performance by our men's side ... In the group we lost against South Koreans ... In the semis we beat Iranian team and all three sets we won on extra points ... Really happy for our men's team as this is our first win over any Iranian side ... In the final we r facing South Korea for Gold medal.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Two -2014, Stadthalle, Fürth, Germany

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) bt (A) Jeff Cundy (ENG,UNR) 4-3 (53-67, 89(52)-5, 15-88, 86(73)-0, 56-42, 41--95(71), 83-62)-29)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) bt Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA,59) 4-3 (77(62)-45, 68-51, 2-61(55), 12-89, 46-82(63), 88(57)-21, 83(60)-12)

[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) l Stephen Maguire (SCO,13) 2-4 (1-67(65), 24-68, 147(147)-0, 69(68)-1, 57-63(62), 0-87)

Aditya becomes the first Indian to score maximum 147 in Professional Circuit ... In the third round match he scored this perfect score in third frame but he failed to convert his performance in win ... Before this he needed close wins for winning first 2 rounds as he stretched to 7 frames in both matches.

Tennis News

At $15K Gabon F1 Futures , Libreville

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) l (4) Arthur Surreaux (FRA,651) 57 75 57

Doubles Final
(1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA) 62 62

Surprising loss of Jeevan against 650 ranked Arthur Surreaux in close three sets.

But in the doubles Jeevan lifts title with Sam Barry ... They defeated 2nd seed Mark Fynn and Ruan Roelofse comfortably.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F1 Futures, Kaohsiung

[SF] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) l (1) Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE) 36 26

Pair of Ti Chen and Liang-Chi prove too strong for Bala and Ranjeet.
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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Winnipeg

[SF] (2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) bt (3) Rik DE VOEST (RSA)/ Matt SEEBERGER (USA) 64 76(9)

[F] (2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) vs (1) Philip BESTER (CAN)/ Marcus DANIELL (NZL)

Saki-Dimitar in the doubles final with straight sets win ... In the second set they won long tie-break for winning in two sets ... In the final they r facing top-seed pair of Canadian Philip Bester and New Zealander Marcus Daniell.
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At $10K Iran F8 Futures, Tehran

[QF] (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) l Shotaro GOTO (JPN,1303) 67(5) 26

Kaza lose his match against lower ranked Japanese opponent Goto.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

[Q2] (30) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) l James McGee (IRL,195) 75 26 57
[Q2] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,390) l (7) Andreas Beck (GER,115) 75 67(3) 36

Yuki fail to capitalized chances and lose his match against Irishman James McGee .. In the first set Yuki take only crucial break in 11th game for winning this set ... From the second set Yuki's game dipped and James take full advantage of it ... In this set Yuki lose hin ser in 2nd game to down 0-3 but he broke James in 5th game for 2-3 ... Afterwards James broke him in 6th and 8th games and won this set comfortably ... In the final set Yuki was up 4-2 and had couple of break points on James serve but failed to convert ... From 3-5 Yuki lost next four games to lose this match.

Sanam's valiant efforts wasted but he gives encouraging performance against Andreas Beck ... In the first two sets he stretched Beck to fullest ... After winning the first set Sanam missed opportunity of finishing match in two sets but I m happy for his performance.
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At $710K Connecticut Open, New Haven, USA (WTA Premier)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 67(2) 46

Another surprising loss of Sania-Cara against unseeded Garcia-Niculescu in two sets ... Not a great preparation for US open.
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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Winnipeg

[R2] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,429) l Blake Mott (AUS,585) 76(3) 67(2) 46

Doubles
[QF] (2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) bt (WC) Tony LARSON (USA)/ Wyatt MCCOY (USA) w/o

Saki is still struggling with full match fitness ... In the second round he lose against 600 type ranked Blake Mott in tight three sets ... After winning the first set in tie-break Saki failed to finish the match in second set tie-break ... In the third set Mott take advantage of Saki's lack of match fitness.

Saki-Dimitar in the doubles semis without playing a single ball.
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At $15K Gabon F1 Futures , Libreville

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt (Q) Kryce-Didier Momo-Kassa (GAB,UNR) 61 61
[QF] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) l (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,622) 46 46

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs (4) Arthur Surreaux (FRA,651)

Doubles
[SF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (4) Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)/ Arthur SURREAUX (FRA) 62 63

[F] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA)

Sagar gives decent performance against Ruan Roelofse ... Jeevan continue with his good form and completes win comfortably ... Next he is facing 4th seed Frenchman Arthur Surreaux ... In the doubles Jeevan-Sam r in the final with straight sets win and they r facing 2nd seed Mark Fynn-Ruan Roelofse.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F1 Futures, Kaohsiung

[QF] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Chih-Jen HO (TPE)/ Tsung-Hua YANG (TPE)

[SF] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs (1) Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE)

Bala and Ranjeet score comfortable win over local pair ... Next they r facing local top-seed pair, who regularly play Taipei's Davis cup tie together.
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At $10K Iran F8 Futures, Tehran

[R2] Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1268) l (5) Matteo MARFIA (ITA,1064) 76(4) 67(5) 57

Terrific fighting performance by Sidharth against Italian, though missed opportunity after winning the first set.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

[Q1] (30) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) bt Laurynas Grigelis (LTU,257) 64 61
[Q1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,390) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA,228) 61 76(3)

[Q2] (30) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) vs James McGee (IRL,195)
[Q2] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,390) vs (7) Andreas Beck (GER,115)

Yuki start with authoritative win against Laurynas Grigelis ... In the first set Yuki broke Laurynas in 3rd game to lead 2-1 but lost his service game in next game, 2-all ... Yuki again broke Laurynas in 7th game to lead 4-3 and then kept that advantage for wining the set ... In the second set Yuki broke Laurynas in 1st game to lead 2-0 ... After that Yuki broke him two more times in 5th and 7th games to win this set comfortably ... Next he is facing top-200 Irishman James McGee.

Sanam beat experienced and top-225 type Italian Flavio Cipolla for his first win at grand-slam level ... Sanam dominated the first set and won it losing a single game ... In the second set Sanam broke Flavio in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and then 4-1 ... Flavio broke him in 7th game but Sanam again broke him in 8th game to lead 5-3 ... Sanam failed to hole his serve and then at 5-all Sanam lost his service game but this time Flavio failed to hold when serving for the set ... In tie-break Flavio take early mini-break on 1st point to lead 1-0 but after that Sanam recovered and won 7 points from next 9 points to complete victory in two sets ... Next Sanam is facing another experienced and former top-35 German player Andreas Beck.
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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Winnipeg

[R1] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,429) bt (SE) Omar Jasika (AUS,890) 76(5) 76(3)

[R2] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,429) vs Blake Mott (AUS,585)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) bt Connor DAVIES (CAN)/ Ty DILELLO (CAN) 61 61

[QF] (2) Dimitar KUTROVSKY (BUL)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) vs (WC) Tony LARSON (USA)/ Wyatt MCCOY (USA)

In the first round Saki faces in-form and last week's futures semi-finalist Omar Jasika ... Saki wins this match in two tie-breaks so good match practice for Saki ... In the next round Saki is facing another Australian Blake Mott.

In the doubles also Saki and his Bulgarian partner Dimitar start with comfortable win against local pair ... Next they r facing American wild-card pair.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F1 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) l (Q) David Agung SUSANTO (INA,1645) 67(7) 75 16
[R1] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,316) l Yan BAI (CHN,494) 26 36

Doubles
[QF] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs Chih-Jen HO (TPE)/ Tsung-Hua YANG (TPE)

Terrible results for Indians in this Taipei futures.
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At $15K Gabon F1 Futures , Libreville

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1663) 63 64
[R2] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) bt Stefan Merunka (CRO,1739) 63 64

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs (Q) Kryce-Didier Momo-Kassa (GAB,UNR)
[QF] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) vs (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,622)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) 63 62
[QF] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Karim KADRY (EGY) l (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA) 26 06

[SF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (4) Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)/ Arthur SURREAUX (FRA)

Another good win by Sagar for entering into the quarters ... Next having tough match against 3rd seed Ruan Roelofse.

Expected win for Jeevan against Neeraj ... In the quarters he is facing local qualifier ... In the doubles also he beats Neeraj and Jatin with Sam ... Next they r facing 4th seed pair.
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At $10K Iran F8 Futures, Tehran

[R2] (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) bt Barkin YALCINKALE (TUR,1286) 60 63

[QF] (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) vs Shotaro GOTO (JPN,1303)

Another comfortable win for Vinayak and next he is facing Japanese Shotaro Goto, who upset 4th seed.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

[Q1] (24) Somdev Devvarman (IND,143) l Ernesto Escobedo (USA,509) 36 26

Shocking one-sided loss of Buji against 18 yrs old American Escobedo ... Frustrating game from Buji, he was spraying ground-strokes all over place ... I think it was complete lack of focus and concentration from him ... Totally unexplained how he lost this important match against futures level player.
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At $710K Connecticut Open, New Haven, USA (WTA Premier)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 67(3) 76(2) 10-7

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Turn to be surprisingly tough match for Sania-Cara against Pliskova twins ... After losing the first set in tie-break they needed to dig deep for winning the second tie-break ... This time they managed to keep momentum in match tie-break for completing the win ... In the quarters they r facing Garcia-Niculescu.
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At $598K Winston-Salem Open, USA
>
[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ David Marrero (ESP) l Sam Groth (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS) 67(5) Retd.

Turn to be disappointing day as Lee-Marrero retired from their match after losing the first set tie-break against Aussie pair.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F1 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R1] (Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND,1639) l Takashi SAITO (JPN,712) 36 26
[R1] (4) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,301) l Chih-Jen HO (TPE,1045) 64 57 Retd.

Doubles
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (WC) Liang Yu Richard LIN (TPE)/ Tung-lin WU (TPE) 62 63
[R1] Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ David Agung SUSANTO (INA) l Ting Yu CHUANG (TPE)/ Cheng-Yu YU (TPE) 26 16
[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Andrew WHITTINGTON (AUS) l Yuichi ITO (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 67(7) 36

RamK is injured and retired from the match after losing the second set ... He also lose his doubles match.
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At $15K Gabon F1 Futures , Libreville

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) bt (Q) Emiliano Franco Vecchia (ARG,UNR) 61 61
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1663) bt (LL) Jose-Maria Cortes-Gonzalez (ESP) 60 61
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1736) l (4) Arthur Surreaux (FRA,655) 46 36
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) bt (Q) Paterne Ogombe (GAB,UNR) 61 61
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,UNR) l (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,622) 06 06

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1663)
[R2] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) vs Stefan Merunka (CRO,1739)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Neishit VAKIL (IND)/ Emiliano Franco VECCHIA (ARG) 61 61
[R1] Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) bt Medhir GOYAL (IND)/ Paterne OGOMBE (GAB) 63 62
[R1] Utsarg GROVER (IND)/ Florentin MEYNIE (FRA) l (4) Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BRU)/ Arthur SURREAUX (FRA) 26 16
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Karim KADRY (EGY) bt Herve ANTCHANDIE (FRA)/ Darvel Valency LOSSANGOYE (GAB) 46 62 11-9

[QF] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)
[QF] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Karim KADRY (EGY) vs (2) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA)

Jeevan, Neeraj and Sagar r in the second round.
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At $10K Iran F8 Futures, Tehran

[R1] Tejas CHAUKULKAR (IND,UNR) l Shotaro GOTO (JPN,1303) 36 06
[R1] Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1268) bt Anoosha SHAHGHOLI (IRI,1570) 76(4) 67(2) 76(5)
[R1] (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) bt Muhammad-Ashaari BIN ZAINAL-ABIDIN (MAS,NR) 60 40 Retd

[R2] Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1268) vs (5) Matteo MARFIA (ITA,1064)
[R2] (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1083) vs Barkin YALCINKALE (TUR,1286)

Sidharth plays epic match against local player for a win and join Vinakay in the second round.

Tennis News

At US Open 2014, New York, USA

[Q1] (24) Somdev Devvarman (IND,143) vs Ernesto Escobedo (USA,509)
[Q1] (30) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) vs Laurynas Grigelis (LTU,257)
[Q1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,390) vs Flavio Cipolla (ITA,228)

Sanam receive wild-card of US open when yesterday he wins 'US Open National PlayOff - Qualifying Wild-Card' tournament beating American Jeff Dadamo, 62 62, in the final ... Buji and Yuki r having lower seedings so winnable first match in their first qualifying match ... Sanam also having opportunity as he is not facing seeded opponent in the first qualifying round.
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At $710K Connecticut Open, New Haven, USA (WTA Premier)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

Sania-Cara r playing at Connecticut and they r again playing Czech Pliskova twins.
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At $598K Winston-Salem Open, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ David Marrero (ESP) vs Sam Groth (AUS)/ Chris Guccione (AUS)
[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL) 67(2) 67(3)

Lee and Rohan r partnering different players and they r top 2 seeds but Rohan-Nestor lose in the first round against Colombian pair in two tie-breaks ... So bad preparation for Rohan for US open.
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At $15K Chinese Taipei F1 Futures, Kaohsiung

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,884) vs (Q) David Agung SUSANTO (INA,1645)
[R1] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,316) vs Yan BAI (CHN,494)
[R1] (Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND,1639) vs Takashi SAITO (JPN,712)
[R1] (4) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,301) vs Chih-Jen HO (TPE,1045)

Doubles
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs (WC) Liang Yu Richard LIN (TPE)/ Tung-lin WU (TPE)
[R1] Christopher MARQUIS (IND)/ David Agung SUSANTO (INA) vs Ting Yu CHUANG (TPE)/ Cheng-Yu YU (TPE)
[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Andrew WHITTINGTON (AUS) vs Yuichi ITO (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN)

Good opportunity for Bala and RamK to garner important ranking points.
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At $15K Gabon F1 Futures , Libreville

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,295) vs (Q) Emiliano Franco Vecchia (ARG,UNR)
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1736) vs (4) Arthur Surreaux (FRA,655)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1738) vs (Q) Paterne Ogombe (GAB,UNR)
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,UNR) vs (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA,622)
[R1] (Q) Utsarg Grover (IND,UNR) vs Sylvain Anibie (CIV,2175) 16 06

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs Neishit VAKIL (IND)/ Emiliano Franco VECCHIA (ARG)
[R1] Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) vs Medhir GOYAL (IND)/ Paterne OGOMBE (GAB)
[R1] Utsarg GROVER (IND)/ Florentin MEYNIE (FRA) vs (4) Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BRU)/ Arthur SURREAUX (FRA)

Lots of Indians r playing here but only real hope is Jeevan.

Squash News

At Men's WSF World Junior Championship 2014, Windhoek, Namibia

[SF] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) vs (1) Diego Elias (PER) 0-3 (5-11, 7-11, 4-11) (42')

Kush gives his best against top-seed Diego but in end that wasn't enough ... Overall promising performance by Kush in World Junior championship.

Snooker News

At €125K European Tour Event One 2014, Riga, Latvia

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) bt (A) Iosh Boileau (ENG,UNR) 10-4 (69-26, 73-42, 75-15, 69-60)
[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) bt Liam Highfield (ENG,75) 4-0 (58-46, 61-20, 54-21, 65-42)
[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) bt Michael White (WAL,25) 4-2 (97-36, 1-119(107), 49-57, 64(57)-51(50), 96(96)-0, 76-0)

[R4] Aditya Mehta (IND,49) l Mark Selby (ENG,1) 2-4 (15-66, 63-50, 64-1, 1-99(89), 37-68, 56(56)-63)

Aditya gives very encouraging performance in Euro Tour event ... He won the first three rounds convincingly and in fourth round he gave fighting performance against current WR #1 Mark Selby.
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At Shanghai Masters Qualifiers 2014, Barnsley, England

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,59) l Chris Wakelin (ENG,72) 4-5 (69(55)-23, 72-50(50), 14-60, 79-47, 22-59, 20-67, 63-29, 30-70(54), 17-60)

Aditya shows his inconsistency and lost his match after leading 4-3 frames.

Squash News

At Men's WSF World Junior Championship 2014, Windhoek, Namibia

[R1] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) bt bye
[R2] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) bt Luke Michael Mannion (ZIM) 11-0, 11-7, 11-4
[R3] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) bt Edmon Lopez Moller (ESP) 11-6, 11-4, 11-8
[R4] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) bt Darren Chan (MAS) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
[QF] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) bt (5/8) George Parker (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (40m)

[SF] (3/4) Kush Kumar (IND) vs (1) Diego Elias (PER)

Kush Kumar beat Britisher George Parker in straight games, 11-6 11-8 11-8, to becomes the first Indian boy to reach the semifinals of World Junior Championships ... In this tournament till now he doesn't lose a single game but next he is facing big challenge of the top seed and championship favourite Diego Elias of Peru, who is already in top-100 of world ranking.

Other hand in boys only Madhav Dhingra managed to reach in the third round and in girls section Harshit Kaur Jawanda managed to reach in the third round before losing to 2ns seed Egyptian Nouran Gohar, who is already in top-30 world ranking.

Tennis News

At $2.6M Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, USA

[R2] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 36 36

With this loss end of terrible week for Indian tennis players ... Sania-Cara fail to repeat their last week's Roger Cup's performance and lose in straight sets in the second round.
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At $15K Canada F7 Futures, Calgary

[R2] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,430) l Bjorn Fratangelo (USA,392) 57 63 36

Expected struggle for Saki against in-form Bjorn Fratangelo ... After losing the first set Saki fought back to win the second ... In the third Saki failed to keep momentum and lose the match.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup - World Group play-off 2014, Banglore, India

Indian Team
Somdev Devvarman, Yuki Bhambri, Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni
Reserve - Ramkumar Ramanathan and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan
Captain - Anand Amritraj
Coach - Zeeshan Ali

India selects expected team for this Davis cup tie ... Serbia are also expected to send weak team as WR #1 Novak Djokovic is planning to skip this tie ... Still Serbian side having strong team like WR #60 Dusan Lajovic, WR #110 Filip Krajinovic and WR #182 Ilija Bozoljac with doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic .. Other hand Yuki is coming out of almost 6 months heel injury ... Buji is struggling with his game and that is showing in his inconsistent results ... Rohan is struggling with his form and Saki is also coming out of couple of months injury break ... So Serbia will be favorite for this tie.
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At $3.1M Western & Southern Open - Cincinnati Masters, USA

[R2] (5) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) l Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA) 16 64 8-10

Current Wimbledon champion pair Sock-Pospisil beat Lee-Radek in match tie-break ... After losing the first set Lee-Radek fought back to win the second but failed to keep momentum in match tie-break ... So this week our both pairs, Rohan-Aisam and Lee-Radek, fail to overcome Pospisil-Sock.
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At $15K Canada F7 Futures, Calgary

[R1] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,430) bt Marcus Daniel (NZL,517) 60 62

[R2] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,430) vs Bjorn Fratangelo (USA,392)

Saki start with very confident win losing only two games against Daniel ... Next Saki is facing higher ranked American opponent Bjorn Fratangelo, who won US futures two weeks back ... So tough opponent, who win two futures titles in last one month.

Tennis News

At $3.1M Western & Southern Open - Cincinnati Masters, USA

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA) 57 26

[R2] (5) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA)

Current Wimbledon champions Pospisil-Sock prove better pair than Rohan-Aisam in their straight sets win ... Pospisil-Sock r facing Lee-Radek in the second round ... Tricky match for Lee-Radek.
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At $2.6M Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, USA

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bye

Here r also they r 4th seed and having bye in the first round.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Westende-Middelkerke, Belgium

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,277) l (3) Marina Melnikova (RUS,228) 26 26

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Jia-Jing Lu (CHN) l (3) Marina Melnikova (RUS)/ Evgeniva Rodina (RUS) 75 16 4-10

Tough matches were lined up for Ankita in the singles and doubles .. Ankita lose one-sided match in the singles against Marina Melnikova ... In the doubles Ankita-Lu were down 3-5 before winning next 4 games for winning the first set ... But afterwards Russian pair dominated the match ... They broke Raina-Lu thrice for winning the second set and then comfortably won match tie-break.
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At $15K Canada F7 Futures, Calgary

[R1] (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,430) vs Marcus Daniel (NZL,517)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) l Tyler Hochwalt (USA)/ Joshua Milton (GBR) 46 46

Interesting to see how Saki perform in the singles after his injury break.

Last week's futures title winning pair of Saki-Patrick lose their match in straight sets against Hochwalt-Milton.

Tennis News

At $3.1M Western & Southern Open - Cincinnati Masters, USA

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) l (14) Tim Smyczek (USA,104) 16 36

Doubles
[R1] (5) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bye
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA)

Buji played this match after long five and half hours flight and that reflected in his performance as he lost one-sided match against Tim Smyczek.

In the doubles Lee-Radek receive bye as seeded ... Next they r facing winner between Rohan-Aisam and Pospisil-Sock.
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At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

Doubles Final
(4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) l (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 67(4) 36

Sania-Cara lose in tight match against WR #1 Italian pair ... Sania-Cara had their chances in this match ... In the first set Sania-Cara were leading 5-4 and 30-all, but failed to win the set ... In the second set they broke Italian in 1st game to lead 2-0 and in 3rd game they had a break point to lead 3-0 ... But again they failed to convert and lose six games from next seven games.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

Doubles Final
(4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (WC) Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) 36 64 9-11

Wild-card pairing of Ruben Bemelmans and Laurynas Grigelis win the doubles title after beating Purav and Sanam in extra points match tie-break ... After losing the first set Purav-Sanam fought back to win the second set ... But they failed to keep momentum in match tie-break and lose close match tie-break.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

Singles Final
(1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) l Mitchell Frank (USA,606) 67(5) 26

Doubles Final
(2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) bt (1) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) 63 64

Yuki lose against current UVa top player and #2 NCAA ranked player Mitchell Frank in straight sets ... Till final Yuki had comfortable wins so expecting another win for Yuki ... But Mitchell showed his class and after winning the first set in tie-break he dominated the match.

Saketh lifts the doubles title with his partner Patrick Davidson beating top-seed American pair comfortably in straight sets.

Tennis News

At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[SF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (2) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) 76(3) 36 13-11

[F] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

Sania-Cara score huge win over 2nd seed Hsieh-Peng in extra points of match tie-break ... Sania-Cara overcoming a set point in a first set before pulled out in a tie-break against Hsieh-Peng ... Sania-Cara dropped the second set ... Sania-Cara had 3 match points at 9-6, but Hsieh-Peng rallied and actually held a match point at 11-10. However, from there Sania-Cara won three straight points for winning the match ... With this win Sania and Cara ended a three-match losing streak in their head-to-head with Hsieh and Peng ... In the final they r facing top-seed Italian pair.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (1) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 57 75 11-9

[F] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (WC) Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)

Sanam-Purav score superb comeback win over top-seed Krajicek-Smith in extra points of match tie-break ... After losing the first set Sanam-Purav fought back to win the second ... Sanam-Purav won 5 points in a row from 6-9 in match tie-break for winning the match ... In the final Indian pair is facing wild-card pair of Ruben Bemelmans and Laurynas Grigelis, who defeated 2nd seed Divij-Kevin in the quarters.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F11 Futures, Astana

Singles Final
(4) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,377) bt (3) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE,282) 63 62

Bala completes his excellent week after winning the title in Kazakh futures beating another top-300 Liang-Chi Huang in dominating win ... This is Bala's first title outside India.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[SF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) bt Martin Redlicki (USA,1162) 64 64

[F] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) vs Mitchell Frank (USA,606)

Yuki score comfortable win over 18 yrs old Martin Redlicki and enter into the final ... In the final he is facing another unseeded American Mitchell Frank.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Banglore

[R1] (2) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND)/ Eetee MAHETA (IND) 62 63
[QF] (2) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Vaniya DANGWAL (IND)/ Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) 76(2) 60
[SF] (2) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (4) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND)/ Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) 61 62
[F] (2) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (3) Ching-Wen HSU (TPE)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) 64 06 10-6

Sharrmadaa Baluu and Prarthana Thombare lifts doubles title beating Palha and Hsu in match tie-break ... In the singles only Prarthana Thombare and Rishika Sunkara reached in the semis.

Tennis News

At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[QF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (6) Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA) 62 61

[SF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (2) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)

Sania-Cara score very dominating win over 6th seed American pair Kops-Jones and Spears ... Next they r facing 2nd seed Hsieh and Peng.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[QF] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) l (1) Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ,55) 57 64 26

Doubles
[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Andrea Collarini (ARG)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX) 76(4) 62

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (1) KRAJICEK, Austin Krajicek (USA)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)

Buji gives fighting performance against top-seed and top-50 Mikhail Kukushkin in encouraging match ... After losing close first set Buji fought back to win the second set ... In the final set Buji failed to challenge Kukushkin though overall Buji shows improvement in his performance.

Purav-Sanam defeat South American pair in straight sets for entering in the semis .. In the semis they r facing top-seed
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Koksijde, Belgium

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,277) l Sofiya Kovalets (UKR,256) 26 75 57

Ankita gives another fighting performance in her loss against Ukrainian Sofiya Kovalets ... After losing the first set and break down in the second Ankita fought back to win the second ... But she failed to convert it in a victory and lose close third set.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F11 Futures, Astana

[SF] (4) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,377) bt (1) Denys Molchanov (UKR,191) 76(6) 75

[F] (4) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,377) vs (3) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE,282)

Doubles Final
(2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) l (1) Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Denis MATSUKEVITCH (RUS) 26 36

Bala score huge upset win over top-200 Ukrainian Denys Molchanov in tight two sets ... In the final he is facing 3rd seed Liang-Chi Huang ... But in the doubles he and Ranjeet lose against top-seed.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) bt Marcelo Arevalo-Gonzalez (ESA,462) 63 62

[SF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) vs Martin Redlicki (USA,1162)

Doubles
[F] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) vs (1) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA)

Yuki score another comfortable win over Arevalo-Gonzalez ... In the semis he is facing young American Martin Redlicki.

Tennis News

At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R2] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) bt Ze Zhang (CHN,186) 67(4) 76(6) 75

[QF] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) vs (1) Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ,55)

Doubles
[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Andrea Collarini (ARG)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX)
[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Kevin King (USA) l (WC) Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) 57 36

As I hoped this match turn into very interesting one ... Buji pulled a win despite Ze was more dominating in this match ... In the first set Buji was up with break at 4-3 and then at 6-5 but both times he failed to hold his serve ... Ze won the first set in tie-break ... In the second set Buji broke Ze in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and then 4-1 ... From here Ze tried fightback ... He broke Buji in 7th game to bring set on the serve, 4-all ... In tie-break Ze take mini-break on 1st point and kept that lead till 5-4 ... While serving for the match from 5-4 Ze lost next 2 points on his serve ... Buji failed to convert first set point at 6-5 on his serve but on 7-6 he take mini-break for converting the second set point ... In the final set Buji was early break down but he fought back and brought set on the serve at 3-all ... After that both players held their respective service games before Buji take crucial break in 11th game ... This time Buji hold his serve for excellent win for this three hours match ... Next Buji is facing top-seed and top-50 type Kazakh player Mikhail Kukushkin.

Divij's inconsistent performance continue and he lose his match with Kevin against wild-card pair in straight sets.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Koksijde, Belgium

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,277) bt Irina Ramialison (FRA,286) 76(3) 63

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,277) vs Sofiya Kovalets (UKR,256)

Ankita continue with her good run and beat French girl Irina Ramialison in straight sets ... After winning the first set in tie-break Ankita controlled the second set ... In the quarters she is facing top-250 type Ukrainian girl Sofiya Kovalets, who scored upset win over 4th seed in the first round.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F11 Futures, Astana

[QF] (4) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,377) bt (7) Andrey Rublev (RUS,461) 67(6) 75 64

[SF] (4) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,377) vs (1) Denys Molchanov (UKR,191)

Doubles
[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Sagadat AYAP (KAZ)/ Djurabeck KARIMOV (UZB) 60 62

[F] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs (1) Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Denis MATSUKEVITCH (RUS)

Huge comeback win for Bala against current JR WR #1 and current JR French open champion Andrey Rublev for entering into the semis ... Andrey won tight first set in extra points of tie-break ... After that Bala needed to dig deep for winning the second set and then he kept that momentum in third for fighting win ... Next he is facing top-200 Ukrainian Denys Molchanov.

Another dominating win by Bala-Ranjeet in the doubles only losing two games ... In the final they r facing top-seed Ti Chen and Russian Denis Matsukevitch.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) bt (Q) Tom Fawcett (USA,UNR) 63 64

Doubles
[SF] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) bt Hunter Reese (USA)/ Jack Schipanski (AUS) 76(2) 36 12-10

Another comfortable win for Yuki ... Other hand Saki and his British partner need to dig deep for their win over Reese-Schipanski ... Need extra points in match tie-break for this win.
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At World Junior Tennis Championship - Girls (G14), Prostejov, Czech Republic

India l Spain 0-3
Shivani Ingle l Marta Del Pino 60 16 36
Sathwika Sama l Carlota Molina Megias 26 46
Aarja Chakraborty/ Sathwika Sama l Marta Del Pino/ Laura Lopez Giese 46 16

So with this loss our girls poor outing ends in u14 WJT ... In this tie Shivani managed to win a set against her Spanish opponent but otherwise disappointing efforts.

Tennis News

At $3.1M Rogers Cup, Toronto, Canada

[R2] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) l Richard Gasquet (FRA)/ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 67(1) 46
[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (5) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Édouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 57 46

Both matches were tricky against French pairs but still wasn't expected losses in both matches ... Lee-Radek were 0-5 down in the first set but they crawled back winning next 5 games before losing this set in tie-break ... In the second set also French pair kept advantage and won it with a single break ... Rohan-Aisam tried hard against French open champions but failed to overcome challenge of Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin.
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At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[R2] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 64 76(1)

Sania-Cara start their campaign with straight sets win over Pliskova sisters ... In the second set Pliskova sis tried to match Sania-Cara but our pair won tie-break comfortably for completing victory.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) l Andrea Collarini (ARG)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX) 67(6) 64 9-11
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Rhyne Williams (USA) 62 61
[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Kevin King (USA) bt (Q) Emilio Gomez (ECU)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 63 64

Sanam-Purav start with dominating win over American pair losing only three games ... Divij-Kevin also start with win against qualifiers in straight sets ... Buji-Ante lose very close match, in that they lost two tie-breaks in extra points.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F11 Futures, Astana

[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,906) l (5) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,392) 16 16
[R2] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) bt Roman KHASSANOV (KAZ,952) 62 61

[QF] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs (7) Andrey RUBLEV (RUS,461)

Doubles
[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Oran REZNIK (ISR)/ Daniel SKRIPNIK (ISR) w/o

[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs Sagadat AYAP (KAZ)/ Djurabeck KARIMOV (UZB)

Bala score dominating win over his Kazakh opponent ... Next he is facing talented 16 yrs old and junior WR #1 Russian Andrey Rublev, who is already in top-500 ranking ... Tough match for Bala.

Ranjeet surrender easily against 5th seed Russian ... In the doubles Ranjeet-Bala r in the semis as they receive walkover.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[QF] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) bt Yuanfeng Li (CHN)/ Michael Riechmann (USA) 64 62

[SF] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) vs Hunter Reese (USA)/ Jack Schipanski (AUS)

Comfortable win for Saki and Patrick against Chinese-American pair ... Next they r facing another unseeded American-Australian pair.
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At World Junior Tennis Championship - Girls (G14), Prostějov, Czech Republic

Group A

India l (6) Russia 0-3
Shivani Ingle l Olesya Pervushina 06 36
Sathwika Sama l Anastasia Potapova 06 06
Aarja Chakraborty/ Sathwika Sama l Olesya Pervushina/ Anastasia Potapova 06 16

Our girls having terrible draw as they r in group with top-seed USA (we already lose against them), 6th seed Russia and Spain ... These all teams r good on clay so our players r struggling to cope with their opponents superiority on clay.

Tennis News

At $3.1M Rogers Cup, Toronto, Canada

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Eric Butorac (USA)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA) 26 63 10-4

[R2] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Richard Gasquet (FRA)/ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Édouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Nice comeback win by Rohan-Aisam against Butorac-Klaasen ... After losing the first set easily Rohan-Aisam made strong comeback ... They won the second set comfortably and then dominated match tie-break ... Next our both pairs r facing French pairs.
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At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[R2] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Karolina Pliskova (CZE)/ Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)

Sania-Cara r facing Pliskova sisters in the second round.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[R1] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) bt John-Patrick Smith (AUS,172) 76(5) 75
[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,402) l (3) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,110) 46 75 57

Sanam play really good match against top-100 type Donskoy but fail to convert in a win ... In the first set he was matching Donskoy but he struggled with his weak second serve ... Donskoy won the set with a single break advantage ... In the second set Donskoy was leading 2-4 but after that Sanam won 5 games from next 6 ... In that he broke Donskoy twice for winning this set ... In the final set both players hold their respective service games till 10 the game though Sanam was struggling to hold ... Donskoy take crucial break in 11th game and then hold for winning the match.

Buji need two tight sets to win his first round against John-Patrick Smith ... After winning the first set in tie-break Buji was leading 4-2 and from here Smith tried comeback ... He broke Buji in 7th game for 3-4 but Buji again broke him in 8th game to lead 5-3 ... Smith again broke Buji in 9th game for 4-5 but after that Buji broke Smith in 12th game for winning this match.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Koksijde, Belgium

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,277) bt (8) Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL,249) 61 26 64

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,277) vs Irina Ramialison (FRA,286)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Ganna Poznikhirenko (UKR) l (WC) Elyne Boeykens (BEL)/ Morgane Michiels (BEL) 46 26

Ankita start with upset win over local 8th seed in three sets but she fails to continue same performance in the doubles and lose match against local wild-card pair ... In the singles Ankita is facing similar ranked French girl Irina Ramialison.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F11 Futures, Astana

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,906) bt Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ,584) 61 64
[R1] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) bt Oran REZNIK (ISR,1495) 63 64

[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,906) vs (5) Karen KHACHANOV (RUS,392)
[R2] (4) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,377) vs Roman KHASSANOV (KAZ,952)

Doubles
[R1] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Kaysar BEKIMOV (KAZ)/ Roman KHASSANOV (KAZ) 61 62

[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) vs Oran REZNIK (ISR)/ Daniel SKRIPNIK (ISR)

Ranjeet score upset win over below 600 ranked Kazakh player in straight sets and joins Bala in the second round ... In the doubles also Ranjeet-Bala start with easy win.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) bt (LL) Hayden Sabatka (USA,UNR) 63 64

Doubles
[R1] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) bt (WC) Andrew G. Goodwin (USA)/ Stuart Kenyon (GBR) 63 36 11-9

So winning start for Yuki and Saki in contrasting manners after long injury break in their respective matches ... Good to see they r getting match practice.

Tennis News

At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[Q3] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,402) bt Richard Gabb (GBR,453) 63 63

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,402) vs (3) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,110)

Really good win for Sanama against in-form Gabb ... Two weeks back in their previous meeting Sanam lost against Gabb in three sets ... In maindraw Sanam is facing tough challenge of top-100 type Russian Evgeny Donskoy.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Koksijde, Belgium

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,277) vs (8) Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL,249)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Ganna Poznikhirenko (UKR) vs (WC) Elyne Boeykens (BEL)/ Morgane Michiels (BEL)

Ankita having tricky opening match against local seeded player.
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At $10K USA F23 Futures, Edwardsville

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,151) vs Eduardo Nava (USA,1147)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Patrick Davidson (GBR) vs (WC) Andrew G. Goodwin (USA)/ Stuart Kenyon (GBR)

Hoping for match fitness for Yuki and Saketh in their respective matches.
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At u14 World Junior Tennis Championship, Prostejov, Czech Republic

India l (1) USA 0-3
Shivani Ingle l Rachel Lim 26 26
Sathwika Sama l Claire Liu 06 26
Aarja Chakraborty/ Sathwika Sama l Elysia Bolton/ Claire Liu 26 16

Expected loss for our girls against top-seed American team.

Tennis News

At $1.65M Citi Open, Washington DC, USA

[F] Leander Paes (IND)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) l Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 57 46

Overall good performance by Lee-Groth as last minute scratch pair they managed to enter in the final ... In the final consistent pairing of Rojer-Tecau proved stronger in their straight sets victory.
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At $2.4M Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bye

Sania-Cara r 4th seed in this Premier tournament and having bye in the first round.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[Q2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,400) bt David Hsu (USA,UNR) w/o

[Q3] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,400) vs Richard Gabb (GBR,429)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) vs Andrea Collarini (ARG)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX)
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Rhyne Williams (USA)
[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Kevin King (USA) vs Qualifier

Sanam receive walkover in the second round and in the final qualifying he is facing Britisher Richard Gabb, who scored upset win over top-seed. In the doubles our 3 pairs r playing ... Divij is partnering American Kevin King and they r 2nd seed ... Purav is partnering Sanam and they r 4th seed ... Buji is playing with Pavic and they r facing South American pair in the first round ... I m hoping our pair play as per their seedings.

Tennis News

At $1.65M Citi Open, Washington DC, USA

[SF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) bt (WC) Steve Johnson (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 46 63 10-8

[F] Leander Paes (IND)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) vs Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Lee-Groth produce excellent comeback win against American pair ... After losing the first set Lee-Groth fought back to win the second ... American pair tried hard in the match tie-break but our pair kept momentum for winning it ... In the final they r facing Dutch-Romanian pair of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
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At $3.1M Rogers Cup, Toronto, Canada

[R1] (6) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bye
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Eric Butorac (USA)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA)

Lee-Radek r sixth seed and having first round bye ... They r in top-draw with Bryans.

Rohan-Aisam r unseeded and facing Butorac-Klaasen in the first round.
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At $100K Aptos Challenger, USA

[Q1] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,400) bt Clay Thompson (USA,2183) 76(6) 63

[Q2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,400) vs David Hsu (USA,UNR)

[R1] (5) Somdev Devvarman (IND,132) vs John-Patrick Smith (AUS,172)

Buji is back on pro tour after a month break for WTT and facing Australian John-Patrick Smith.

Sanam is playing in qualifying ... After winning the first round he is facing unseeded Hsu.
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At $15K Kazakhstan F10 Futures, Astana

Doubles Final
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (2) Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE) / Denis MATSUKEVITCH (RUS) 62 64

Bala-Ranjeet comfortably win the title in Kazakh futures beating 2nd seed Huang-Denis.