Tennis News

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Badminton News

2014 Year-end rankings of Indian Players

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

At Chennai Open 2015, India

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

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

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

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

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

Golf News

At $500K Dubai Open, UAE

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

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

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

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

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

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

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

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

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

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

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

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

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

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

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

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

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

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

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

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

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

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

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

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

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

Squash News

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

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

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

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

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

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

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

Squash News

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Squash News

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

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

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

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

Golf News

At $1M Thailand Golf Championship, Thailand

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

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

Hockey News

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

Chess News

At London Chess Classic 2014, England

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

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

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

Hockey News

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

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

Germany bt Australia 3-2 (2-0)

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

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

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

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

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

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

Hockey News

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Hockey News

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

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

Argentina bt Germany 3-0 (2-0)

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

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

Hockey News

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

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

Netherlands bt Germany 4-1 (3-0)

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

Hockey News

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

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

Netherlands bt Argentina 3-0 (2-0)

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

Tennis News

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

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

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

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

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

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