Snooker News

At Asian Snooker Championships 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R32] Pankaj Advani (IND) bye
[R32] Kamal Chawla (IND) bt Ang Boon Chin (SIN) 4-3 (12-63, 17-61, 87-36, 00-77, 70-66, 68-12, 78-40)
[R32] Varun Madan (IND) bt Afshin Abdolmohammadi (IRI) 4-2 (78-16, 59-00, 49-60, 47-64, 65-26, 59-15)
[R32] Shahram Changezi (PAK) bt Manan Chandra (IND) 4-3 (08-53, 44-71, 65-13, 07-57, 98-34, 72-13, 75-20)

[R16] Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (THA) 4-3 (79-00, 00-75, 51-83, 69-65, 34-81, 83-50, 72-16)
[R16] Kamal Chawla (IND) bt Gebby Adi Wibawa Putra (INA) 4-1 (116-01, 98-22, 58-35, 44-84, 102-13)
[R16] Varun Madan (IND) bt Ehsan Heydarinezhad (IRI) 4-0 (72-41, 83-39, 74-34, 61-36)

[QF] Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Kamal Chawla (IND) 5-2 (73-26, 91-01, 135(135)-00, 11-76, 60-36, 00-136(136), 78-04)
[QF] Mohammed Reza (MAS) bt Varun Madan (IND) 5-1 (73-21, 64-33, 82-01, 91-44, 22-65, 62-29)

[SF] Pankaj Advani (IND) bt Zhang Yong (CHN) 6-0 (68-12, 63-39, 63-05, 80-13, 115(115)-01, 76-45)

[F] Pankaj Advani (IND) vs Hamza Akbar (PAK)

Pankaj is in the final of Asian snooker beating convincingly his Chinese opponent Zhang Yong in the semis ... Before that he defeated compatriot Kamal Chawla in the quarters and in round of 16 Thai opponent stretched him to seven games ... In the final he is facing Pakistani Hamza Akbar.

Before this at Asian Billiards Pankaj Advani lost the final against compatriot Dhruv Sitwala.

Tennis News

At €439K TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, Istanbul, Turkey

[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Alexander Bury (BLR)/ Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 26 36

Shocking one-sided loss for Purav-Fabrice.

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At €439K BMW Open, Munich, Germany

[R1] Radek Strepanek (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)/ Dominic Thiem (AUT) 61 67(3) 10-5

[QF] Radek Strepanek (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (1) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Lee-Radek start with a win, though in match tie-break ... After winning first set Lee-Radek failed to keep momentum ... And lost the second set in tie-break but our pair recovered to win match tie-break ... Next they r facing top-seed Peya and Soares.

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At $75K+H Taipei Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] (4) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (WC) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) 36 06

The fourth seed RamK-Ti Chen fail to give any challenge to wild-card local pair.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA


[R2] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) l Emilio Gomez (ECU,402) 46 75 46

Doubles
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Darian King (BAR)/ Matt Seeberger (USA) 63 46 10-6

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Facundo Arguello (ITA)/ Andrea Collarini (ITA)

I was hoping comfortable win but instead Buji was in dog fight ... He again show his inconsistency after losing to below top-400 unheard player ... After losing the first set Buji needed to dig deep for winning the second but he failed to keep momentum ... And lost the third set after exchanging early breaks.

In the doubles Buji-Sanam score win in match tie-breaks ... Next they r facing Italian pair.

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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (red clay)

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) l James Duckworth (AUS)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) 36 67(4)
[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) bt (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Mark Vervoort (NED) 63 64

KU and his Aussie partner in the quarters with upset win over 4th seed pair in straight sets ... Other hand really shocking loss of top-seed Divij with his Dutch partner ... I feel Divij needs to introspect his selection of doubles partner.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Taipei Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,228) l (8) Jimmy Wang (TPE,136) 62 36 67(4)

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,216) vs (8) Jimmy Wang (TPE,136)

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Yuya Kibi (JPN)/ Takuto Niki (JPN) 63 26 10-7

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Ramk fails to overcome fighter Jimmy Wang and lose match in third set tie-break ... RamK started well winning first set and at that time he was serving well ... With a single break Wang won the second set ... In the third RamK broke him early to lead 2-0 but he failed to hold and came back on serve ... In end Wang's tenacity helped him to win tie-break and match ... In the second round he is facing another Indian challenge, Yuki Bhambri.

In the doubles Yuki-Saki start with win in match tie-break against Japanese pair ... In quarter final they r facing 2nd seed Ratiwatana twins.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) bt Kevin King (USA,287) 76(3) 62

[R2] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) vs Emilio Gomez (ECU,402)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (2) Kevin King (USA)/ Dean O'Brien (RSA) 63 62

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Darian King (BAR)/ Matt Seeberger (USA)

Winning start for Buji in the singles and doubles ... After winning first set in tie-break Buji dominated in the second set against Kevin King ... Next he is facing lowly ranked Emilio Gomez.

In the doubles Buji-Sanam score upset win over second seed ... They scored comfortable win and next facing Darian King-Matt Seeberger.

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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (red clay)

[R1] (Q) Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) bt (WC) Wei Qiang Zheng (CHN,1025) 36 75 76(2)
[R1] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,777) bt (8) David Perez Sanz (ESP,344) 67(4) 64 64
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,397) l (5) Tsung Hua Yang (TPE,271) 76(4) 26 46

[R2] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,777) vs Duckhee Lee (KOR,391)
[R2] (Q) Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) vs Yan Bai (CHN,423)

Doubles
[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) bt Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS) 76(5) 62

[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) vs (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Mark Vervoort (NED)

What a day for Indians at An-Ning challenger ... KU score excellent comeback win over top-350 David Perez Sanz ... After losing first set in tie-break KU won last two sets with a break ... Next he is facing talented 16 yrs old in-form Korean Duckhee Lee ... In the doubles also KU with his Aussie partner start with straight sets win ... Next they r facing 4th seed pair.

Divij continues with excellent run and today score comeback tight win over his local wild-card player Zheng ... After losing the first set Divij dug deep to win next tight two sets ... Next he is having tough challenge of top-500 Chinese player Yan Bai.

Only VSP fails to all Indian day at An-Ning challenger ... He started well after winning first set in tie-break but after that he failed to keep momentum and lost next two sets.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Taipei Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,216) bt (Q) Yuya Kibi (JPN,421) 61 46 63
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,244) l Hiroki Moriya (JPN,157) 2-5 retd.

Surprisingly tough match for Yuki against Japanese qualifier ... After winning the first set easily Yuki stretched by Kibi in next two sets.

Saki retire from his match against Moriya ... As per score sheet Saki retired due to ' Upset stomach' ... So hopefully nothing serious.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[Q2] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,378) l Mico Santiago (USA,835) 16 36

[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) vs Kevin King (USA,287)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (2) Kevin King (USA)/ Dean O'Brien (RSA)
[R1] (2) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs

Again Sanam shows inconsistency in his game in this one-sided loss ... Buji is 7th seed but these days difficult to judge his performance ... In the doubles Buji-Sanam r facing 2nd seed pair.

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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (red clay)

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) bt Takashi Saito (JPN)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN) 64 36 18-16
[R1] Alexandre Folie (BEL)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l (2) Toni Androic (CRO)/ Franko Skugor (CRO) 46 26

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) vs James Duckworth (AUS)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP)

Divij-Boy require to save five match points before completing win in 34 points long match tie-break.

Chess News

At The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2015, Shamkir, Azerbaijan

Round Nine
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754) ½-½ Adams Michael (ENG,2746)
Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802) ½-½ Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791)
Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863) 1-0 Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651)
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762) ½-½ So Wesley (USA,2788)
Giri Anish (NED,2790) ½-½ Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783)

Final Standing
1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2863) 7 pts
2. Viswanathan Anand (IND,2791) 6 pts
3. Wesley So (USA,2788) 5 pts
4. Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2802) 5 pts
5. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2783) 4 pts
6. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE,2754) 4 pts
7. Michael Adams (ENG,2746) 3½ pts
8. Anish Giri (NED,2790) 3½ pts
9. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2762) 3½ pts
10. Rauf Mamedov (AZE,2651) 3½ pts

In the final round as expected draw between Anand and Caruana ... In this round only Carlsen score victory against lowly rated Rauf with White and capture title in style with full point lead ... Anand also finish on the second with full point lead over third place Wesley So.

With this performance Anand is re-entering into 2800+ rating club and also becoming WR #2 in ranking.

Athletics News

At International Discuss Throw tournament 2015, San Diego, USA

Vikas Gowda qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, winning the men's discus throw in a competition at the Olympic training centre in San Diego, USA. Vikas threw his seasons best of 65.25m to qualify, bettering the qualification mark of 65m.

Tennis News

At €439K TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, Istanbul, Turkey

[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alexander Bury (BLR)/ Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)

This week Purav is gatting opportunity of playing on ATP tour at Turkey.

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At €439K BMW Open, Munich, Germany

[R1] Radek Strepanek (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)/ Dominic Thiem (AUT)

Good to see Lee is back with his old partner Radek ... This week hoping for better result.

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At $75K+H Taipei Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,226) vs (8) Jimmy Wang (TPE,136)
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,218) vs (Q) Yuya Kibi (JPN,421)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,231) vs Hiroki Moriya (JPN,157)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (WC) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE)
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Yuya Kibi (JPN)/ Takuto Niki (JPN)

Draw is out and Yuki is facing Japanese qualifier ... RamK and Saki r facing higher rankled opponents but still I feel winnable matches for them on carpet.

In the doubles Yuki-Saki r playing together and facing Japanese pair ... RamK is playing with Ti Chen and they r fourth seed facing local wild-card pair.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[Q1] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,378) bt (WC) Max Wennakeski (FIN,UNR) 63 61

[Q2] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,378) vs Mico Santiago (USA,835)

Expected comfortable win against unranked player and in the final qualifying round Sanam is facing lowly ranked American ... Good opportunity for qualifying for main-draw in another US challenger.

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At $50K+H An-Ning Challenger, China (red clay)

[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) bye
[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) bt (2) Bumpei Sato (JPN,904) 63 62

[Q3] Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) bt Xi Qi (CHN,1967) 76(3) 63

[R1] (Q) Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) vs (WC) Wei Qiang Zheng (CHN,1025)
[R1] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,775) vs (8) David Perez Sanz (ESP,344)
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,392) vs (5) Tsung Hua Yang (TPE,271)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) vs Takashi Saito (JPN)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN)
[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)/ Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS)
[R1] Alexandre Folie (BEL)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs (2) Toni Androic (CRO)/ Franko Skugor (CRO)

Divij qualify for main-draw with couple of good wins and this outing definitely going to help him for the doubles ... He is facing local wild-card playing in the first round ... KU and Vijay Sundar r facing seeded players in the first round.

In the double Divij is top-seed with Dutch player Boy ... KU and Vijay Sundar having tough matches in the doubles.

Chess News

At The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2015, Shamkir, Azerbaijan

Round Eight
Adams Michael (ENG,2746) 1-0 Giri Anish (NED,2790)
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783) 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762)
So Wesley (USA,2788) ½-½ Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863)
Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651) ½-½ Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802)
Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791) 1-0 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754)

Anand score another win with White in 43 moves, this time also exchange sacrifice from Anand! With this win Anand regains the second place in the World, at least in the live rating lists ... He surpasses Fabiano Caruana, who drew his game against Rauf Mamedov ... In last round Anand is facing Caruana.

Chess News

At The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2015, Shamkir, Azerbaijan
Round Seven
Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791) 1-0 Adams Michael (ENG,2746)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754) ½-½ Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651)
Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802) 1-0 So Wesley (USA,2788)
Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863) 1-0 Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783)
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762) ½-½ Giri Anish (NED,2790)

Anand score impressive win over Adams with White and move to second place with 4.5 points but Magnus is leading by full point.

Badminton News

At $200K Badminton Asia Championships 2015, Wuhan, China

[QF] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) l (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,3) 21-11 19-21 8-21
[QF] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) l (5) Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,5) 21-16 13-21 18-21

Our both players loses their matches after winning first game ... Really disappointing losses, still Sindhu's loss was not such shocking as she was playing her first tournament after long injury layoff ... She dominated Xuerui Li in first game and were neck to neck with Li in the second game till 13-all ... After that Li took control though Sindhu tried and saved 3 game points but Li converted fourth ... In the third game Sindhu was tired and Li took full advantage of it.

Saina's loss was shocking as she was playing as WR #1 ... She also started well and won the first game ... From the second game she made too many unforced errors and Tai took advantage of it winning the second game comfortably ... In the third game Tai took 5-1 early lead and after that Saina was playing catching game ... She managed to caught her at 17-all but Saina failed to stop her from winning.

Tennis News

At €494K BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2015, Bucharest, Romania

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea(ROU) l (WC) Marius Copil (ROU)/ Adrian Ungur (ROU) 46 67(6)

With this loss of Rohan-Florin against local wild-card pair our dismal show on European clay is completed for this week.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA

[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,378) l (5) Gastao Elias (POR,134) 67(6) 46

Sanam give fighting performance his loss against seeded Gastao Elias ... In the first set Sanam played well and took it to tie-break but after losing close tie-break Sanam failed to stop Gustao in the second.

Chess News

At The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2015, Shamkir, Azerbaijan
Round Six
Adams Michael (ENG,2746) ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762)
Giri Anish (NED,2790) ½-½ Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863)
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783) 0-1 Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802)
So Wesley (USA,2788) ½-½ Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754)
Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651) ½-½ Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791)

In sixth round only Caruana score win with Black over Kramnik ... All other matched end in draw but I was hoping win for Anand against Rauf ... So Anand is maintaining sole 3rd position with 3.5 pts behind Carlsen and So.

Badminton News

At $200K Badminton Asia Championships 2015, Wuhan, China

[R3] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,14) l (7) Zhengming Wang (CHN,9) 23-21 17-21 8-21
[R2] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bt Teng Iok U (MAC,571) 21-8 21-9
[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) bt Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,10) 21-14 10-21 21-10

[R2] Manu Attri Arya Pankaryanira (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l (3) Xiaolong Liu (CHN)/ Zihan Qiu (CHN) 10-21 13-21
[R2] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l Kai Lu (CHN)/ Yaqiong Huang (CHN) 13-21 5-21

[QF] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) vs (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,3)
[QF] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) vs (5) Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,5)

Saina needs three games for completing win against WR #10 Japanese Nozomi Okuhara ... After winning first game comfortably Saina lost her rhythm in the second ... Nozomi Okuhara took advantage for winning it comfortably but Saina recovered in the third and completed win with dominating the third ... Saina is facing Taipie's Tzu Ying Tai, against whom Saina always get into trouble ... Saina is leading 5-4 win-loss record.

Sindhu score another expected comfortably win against lowly ranked Macau girl ... Sindhu having real test against WR #3 Chinese Xuerui Li.

Kashyap lose in three games against Zhengming ... Kashyap won the first game in extra points but after losing close second game Kashyap failed to match Zhengming in the third.

Our remaining both pairs fail to challenge their opponent Chinese pairs.

Tennis News

At €2.26M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2015, Spain

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP) 57 26

Though this was tricky match against Spanish pair on clay but still this wasn't expected loss ... Somehow Nestor and Lee pair is not clicking and I m really hoping sooner Raven will be back for his partnership with Lee..

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At €494K BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2015, Bucharest, Romania

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea(ROU) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) w/o

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea(ROU) vs Marius Copil (ROU)/ Adrian Ungur (ROU)

Rohan-Florin win their match without playing a ball as their opponents withdraw ... Next they r facing local wild-card pair.

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At $731K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l Petra Martic (CRO)/ Stephanie Vogt (LIE) 36 36

Sania-Hingis receive their first loss after three titles and fourteen matches winning streak ... They loss in the first round of Porsche tournament against unheard pairing of Matic-Vogt ... Our pair was never in the match and lost it convincingly.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l James Cerretani (USA)/ Frank Dancevic (CAN) 67(2) 67(5)
[R1] (2) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Julio Peralta (CHI) 57 46

Disappointing losses for our pairs in the doubles ... 2nd seed Purav-Fabrice lose in straight sets against unknown pair ... And Sanam-Buji also lose in two sets but in tie-breaks against Cerretani-Dancevic..

Badminton News

At $200K Badminton Asia Championships 2015, Wuhan, China

[R1] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,14) bt Zi Liang Derek Wong (SIN,48) 21-17 21-13
[R1] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bye
[R1] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) bye

[R1] Manu Attri Arya Pankaryanira (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) bt Ahmad Shekib Iqbal (AFG)/ Ahmad Faheem Yari (AFG) w/o
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Jerry Pranaav (IND) l (4) Hiroyuki Endo (JPN)/ Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) 15-21 17-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Ya Ching Hsu (TPE)/ Yu Po Pai (TPE) 17-21 21-15 15-21
[R1] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) bt Setiawan Heri (BAH)/ Rehana Sunder (BAH) w/o

[R2] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,14) bt Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,25) 15-21 21-18 21-19
[R2] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) bt Anait Khurshudyan (UZB,417) 21-6 21-6
[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) bt Mariya Anghela Sevilla (PHI,614) w/o

[R3] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,14) vs (7) Zhengming Wang (CHN,9)
[R3] (8) P V Sindhu (IND,12) vs Teng Iok U (MAC,571)
[R3] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) vs Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,10)

[R2] Manu Attri Arya Pankaryanira (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) vs (3) Xiaolong Liu (CHN)/ Zihan Qiu (CHN)
[R2] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) vs Kai Lu (CHN)/ Yaqiong Huang (CHN)

Srikanth and Prannoy skip this tournament so only Kashyap is playing in men's singles ... He started with comfortable win against top-50 Singaporean Wong but in the second round he needs to use his all experience for scoring comeback win over Taiwani Jen Hao Hsu ... After losing first game Kshayp needed to dig deep for winning next two tight games ... In the thirs round he is facing tough challenge of local player Zhengming Wang.

In women's singles Sindhu is making comeback after long injury layoff ... She start with dominating win over lowly ranked Uzbek girl ... Next she is facing another lowly ranked player Macau's Teng Iok U.

Saina is playing as WR #1 and receive second round walkover but having tough third round against top-10 Japanese player Nozomi Okuhara.

In the doubles we have disappointing day as two teams recieve walkover and other two teams who play they lose their matches.

Tennis News

At €2.26M Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2015, Spain

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP)

Lee and Nestor r 3rd seed in Barcelona tournament ans they r facing Spanish pair in the first round.

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At €494K BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy 2015, Bucharest, Romania

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea(ROU) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)

Rohan and Florin r playing in Romania and they r 2nd seed ... They r facing veteran players Baghdatis and Youzhny.

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At $731K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Petra Martic (CRO)/ Stephanie Vogt (LIE)

Sania is playing her first tournament after becoming WR #1 in the doubles at Stuttgart.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,378) bt (WC) Rhyne Williams (USA,351) 63 62
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,168) l (5) Gastao Elias (POR,134) 16 62 16

[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,378) vs (5) Gastao Elias (POR,134)

As expected Sanam score upset win against former top-100 Rhyne ... But really surprised by such dominating scoreline ... Next he is facing Gastao Elias, who beats Buji in three sets ... Buji lose his match in three sets but not as such close match ... All three sets were win comfortably by each player.

Chess News

At The Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2015, Shamkir, Azerbaijan

Round Five
Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651) ½-½ Adams Michael (ENG,2746)
Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791) 1-0 So Wesley (USA,2788)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754) 1-0 Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783)
Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802) ½-½ Giri Anish (NED,2790)
Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863) 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762)

Round Four
Adams Michael (ENG,2746) ½-½ Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863)
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762) ½-½ Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802)
Giri Anish (NED,2790) ½-½ Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754)
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783) ½-½ Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791)
So Wesley (USA,2788) 1-0 Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651)

Round Three
So Wesley (USA,2788) 1-0 Adams Michael (ENG,2746)
Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651) ½-½ Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783)
Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791) ½-½ Giri Anish (NED,2790)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754) ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762)
Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802) 0-1 Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863)

Round Two
Adams Michael (ENG,2746) ½-½ Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802)
Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863) 1-0 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754)
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762) ½-½ Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791)
Giri Anish (NED,2790) ½-½ Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651)
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783) ½-½ So Wesley (USA,2788)

Round One
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS,2783) 1-0 Adams Michael (ENG,2746)
So Wesley (USA,2788) 1-0 Giri Anish (NED,2790)
Mamedov Rauf (AZE,2651) ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA,2762)
Anand Viswanathan (IND,2791) ½-½ Carlsen Magnus (NOR,2863)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2754) ½-½ Caruana Fabiano (ITA,2802)

The tournament consists of some of the strongest players in the World: reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, former World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Michael Adams, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov.

Anand score his first victory of tournament against in-form American Wesley So after drawing first 4 games against Carlsen, Maxime, Giri and Kramnik ... He is currently on third position with 3 points.

Athletics News

At the IAAF Race Walking Challenge 2015, Rio Maior, Portugal

Three Indian walkers - Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar - qualified for next year's Rio Olympics after creditable performances.

National women's 20km walk record holder Khushbir Kaur clocked 1:33:58, better than Rio 2016 qualification time of 1:35, though she finished 13th in the race.

In the men's 20km race walk, Manish Rawat logged a personal best performance to finish in top 10 with a timing of 1:22:50, well above Rio Games qualification time of 1:24.

National 50km race walk record holder Sandeep Kumar also qualified for Rio Games with a 14th-place finish in 1:23:32.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

Doubles Final
Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) l Facundo Arguello (ARG)/ Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 63 26 11-13

Heart breaking loss for Divij-Chung against in-form Argentine pair ... Our pair missed four match points in match tie-break before Argentine pair converted their first match point.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Georgia, USA

[Q1] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,381) bye
[Q2] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,381) bt Luke Bambridge (GBR,631) 26 76(3) 63

[Q3] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,381) bt Greg Ouellette (USA,752) 63 64

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) vs (5) Gastao Elias (POR,125)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Frank Dancevic (CAN)
[R1] (2) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Julio Peralta (CHI)

Sanam qualify for main-draw ... He had tough win in the second round against British player but Sanam score dominating win in the final qualifying ... Buji is having tough match against top-125 Portugal player.

Golf News

At $2.5M Shenzhen International, Genzon, China

T52 ShivKapur 69 74 70 76 €9,268

Shiv Kapur fails to finish inside top 20 as he manages 4 over round.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[SF] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Facundo Arguello (ARG)/ Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 46 46

[F] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs Facundo Arguello (ARG)/ Facundo Bagnis (ARG)

Argentine pair prove better for Purav-Fabrice ... So with that no final between Divij and Purav with their respective partners.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

Doubles Final
Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) vs (2) Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 75 36 4-10

RamK-Ghedin fail to lift title after winning first set against second seed ... After winning first set RamK-Ghedin failed to keep momentum as Venus-Pavic managed to put extra pressure on them ... RamK-Ghedin didn't recover and lost match tie-break easily.

Squash News

At $70K Men's Grasshopper Cup 2015, (International 70), Zurich, Switzerland

[QF] (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) l (5) Simon Rösner (GER,10) 1-3 (11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11) (71m)

Saurav again fail to produce back to back wins against top-10 players ... He lose close match against German Rösner in 71 minutes ... After winning first game Saurav was keeping pressure on Rösner but failing to win crucial points in end cost him this game ... After that Rösner kept pressure on Saurav and took advantage of Saurav's mistakes.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) bt (WC) Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 62 64

Divij-Chung are in the final with convincing win over American wild-card pair ... Now they r waiting for their opponents in the final, hopefully Purav and his partner join them.

Squash News

At $70K Men's Grasshopper Cup 2015, (International 70), Zurich, Switzerland

[R1] (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) bt (4) Tarek Momen (EGY,7) 3-1 (11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 11-6) (66m)

[QF] (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) vs (5) Simon Rösner (GER,10)

Saurav again score win over Tarek Momen showing his last win against him at El Gouna International Open wasn't fluke ... There he needed five games for completing the win but here Saurav was in more control ... After losing the second game he played excellent squash for completing victory in four games ... Next he is facing WR #10 German opponent Simon Rösner.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (LL) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (WC) Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 46 46

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) bt (1) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) 67(6) 10 retd.
[QF] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Johan Brunstorm (SWE)/ Michal Prezysiezny (POL) 76(6) 76(8)

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs (WC) Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA)
[SF] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Facundo Arguello (ARG)/ Facundo Bagnis (ARG)

Divij-Chung receive break as their top-seed opponents retired after winning first set ... In the semis they r facing American wild card pair who defeats Buji-Sanam in the first round.

Fabrice-Purav score another excellent win over experienced doubles pair in two tight tie-breaks ... Next they r facing Argentine pair.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) bt (1) Nicolas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 64 64

[F] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) vs (2) Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

RamK-Ghedin score impressive win over top-seed pair in straight sets ... In the final they r facing 2nd seed Croatian-New Zealand pair.

Squash News

At $70K Men's Grasshopper Cup 2015, (International 70), Zurich, Switzerland

[Q1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) bt Tom Ford (ENG,79) 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-4) (43m)
[Q2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN,34) 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3) (46m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) vs (4) Tarek Momen (EGY,7)

Saurav qualify for Zurich tournament with comfortable wins but in the first round he is facing top-10 Egyptian challenge of Tarek Momen.

Tennis News

At €3.6M Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2015, Monaco

[R2] (6) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (WC) Stan Wawrinka (SUI)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 46 67(4)

And Lee-Nestor also fail to overcome challenge of wild-card pair Wawrinka-Paire.
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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) l (2) Fredrico Delbonis (ARG,88) 06 57

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) bt Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ James Cerretani (USA) 75 76(3)
[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 76(3) 36 11-9

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs (1) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Scot Lipsky (USA)
[QF] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Johan Brunstorm (SWE)/ Michal Prezysiezny (POL)

Buji loss his match against top-100 player, this was expected considering his recent form ... In the first set Delbonis didn't give him chance and won the set without losing a single game ... In the second set Buji tried to fightback and was up with break at 4-2 ... But he missed chance while serving for the set at 5-4 and Delbonis won next three games breaking Buji twice for winning the set and match.

In the doubles, Purav-Fabrice score excellent upset win over 2nd seed in very tight match ... They won the first set in tie-break but 2nd seed American pair fought back to win the second ... Our pair recovered in match tie-break and won it in extra points ... Next they r facing another experienced doubles payers.

Divij-Chung also score tight two sets win over good pair ... Next they r having tough match against top-seed and regular ATP pair of Huey-Lipsky.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,790) l (3) Karen Khachanov (RUS,278) 26 retd.

Vishnu again fails to complete match due to injury ... After losing the first set he retired from the match.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) bt (Q) Mischa Zverev (GER,673) 75 76(4)

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) vs (2) Fredrico Delbonis (ARG,88)

Doubles
[R1] (LL) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (WC) Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA)

Buji score really good win against in-form Mischa ... Both sets were closely fought ... In the first set he broke to lead 5-4 but failed to hold while serving for the set ... Buji immediately broke him in 11th game to lead 6-5 and hold his serve for winning the first set ... In the second set Buji started well broke Mischa in 1st and 3rd game to lead 3-0 but Mischa fought back and broke Buji in 4th and 6th games to brought score to 3-all ... This set went to tie-break and again Buji prevailed ... Next he is having tough match against top-100 Argentine player Delbonis.

Buji-Sanam get lucky and playing as lucky loser ... They r facing local wild-card pair.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) bt (3) Martin Emmorich (GER)/ Andrea Siljestorm (SWE) 26 76(3) 10-7

RamK and Ghedin score upset comeback win over 3rd seed German-Swedish pair ... After losing first set easily RamK-Ghedin dug deep for winning second set in tie-break and then kept momentum to win match tie-break.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,790) bt (WC) Azizbek Lukmanov (UZB,UNR) 61 64

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,790) vs (3) Karen Khachanov (RUS,278)

Vishnu score comfortable straight sets win over local wild-card player ... Next he is facing in-form young Russian Khachanov.

Tennis News

At €3.6M Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2015, Monaco

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea(ROU) l (WC) Stan Wawrinka (SUI)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 76(6) 46 7-10
[R1] (6) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bye

[R2] (6) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Stan Wawrinka (SUI)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)

Rohan-Florin lose their match against wild-card pair of Wawrinka-Paire after winning the first set ... Wawrinka-Paire next meeting 6th seed Nestor and Leander.
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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,169) vs (Q) Mischa Zverev (GER,673)

Doubles
[Q2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (1) Gastao Elias (POR)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX) 46 36

Buji having tricky match against Mischa ... In the doubles Buji-Sanam lose their final qualifying match against top-seed pair.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) bt Radu Albot (MDA)/ Mateo Viola (ITA) 26 75 10-6

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Ricardo Ghedin (ITA) vs.bt (3) Martin Emmorich (GER)/ Andrea Siljestorm (SWE)

Good to see RamK is winning doubles match with his Italian partner ... They scored comeback win over higher ranked opponents ... Next they r facing 3rd seed opponents.

Tennis News

At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[Q1] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (WC) Christian Alshon (USA)/ Russell Benkaim (USA) 61 61

[Q2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (1) Gastao Elias (POR)/ Cesar Ramirez (MEX)

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)/ James Cerretani (USA)
[R1] Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)

Buji will face qualifier in the singles first round.

In the doubles Divij is playing with another new partner, this time talented young Korean Hyeon Chung and they r facing experienced doubles players ... Purav is playing with his partner Frenchman Fabrice but they r facing 2nd seed Rajeev Ram and Krajicek ... Buji and Sanam r playing in qualifying doubles and they start with a win ... Next they r facing top-seed pair.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[Q3] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) l Antonio Veic (CRO,250) 67(6) 36

RamK loses tough final qualifying match against clay court specialist Veic ... Still overall good performance by RamK.

Golf News

At $9M Masters Tournament, Augusta, USA

T49 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 75 74 72 +4 $25,600.00

Anirban manages only PAR and finished on tied for 49th position ... Still he earn $25K in prize money ... Good experience for him, which can be useful on future PGA tournaments.

Tennis News

At $731K Family Circle Cup 2015, Charleston, USA (WTA Premier)

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Danja Jurak (CRO) 60 64

Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won the Family Circle Cup, a victory that made history - Sania clinched the World No.1 doubles ranking, the first Indian woman to be No.1.

After stretching to match tie-break in last two matches and saving 1 match point in semis Sania-Hingis played almost perfect match ... They blanked opponents in first set and then were up with break in the second ... Though they missed couple of match points at 5-3 still they completed victory winning next game.

Sania Mirza - "It's a dream for every kid to be No.1 one day. I can't think of a better person to do it with. When we came here we had one thing in mind, to get No.1, and she really helped me get there. She helped me through some tough moments this week. She's just a great person and a great player. We also become the No.1 team in the world today with this. I hope we have many, many more tournaments and end the year on a high as well. (for Hingis) I don't want to make you feel old, but I did watch you as a kid! You were an idol to most young girls at the time. You made it when you were 15! No tournament has been as special to me as the Family Circle Cup, and no tournament will ever be as special to me, because I became No.1 here."
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[Q2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) bt Bastian Trinker (AUT,329) 64 26 60

[Q3] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) vs Antonio Veic (CRO,250)

Another good win by Ramk over clay court specialist ... After losing second set RamK overpowered Trinker in the final set ... Now qualifying for main-draw he is having really tough challenge of top-250 Croatian clay court specialist Antonio Veic, who already reached couple of clay court challenger finals.
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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[Q2] Sanam Singh (IND,381) l Mischa Zverev (GER,673) 06 36

This match was tough against former top-50 player but wasn't expected this one-sided loss.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

For Bronze medal
India bt Korea 2-2 (2-2) 4-1 PS
Goal Scorers - Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 10', Satbir Singh (IND) 21' and Hyosik You (KOR) 19' PC, Hyunwoo Nam (KOR) 28' PC

Indians win Bronze medal beating Korea in penalty shoot-out ... Really happy to see nthat our players managed to keep focus after big win against Australia ... In this match also our players started on positive note and scored first goal through Nitin ... Koreans immediately responded through penalty corner in second quarter ... Again Indians scored through Satbir but this time also Koreans equalized through penalty corner ... After that both teams tried but failed to score ... Koreans kept extra pressure as they earned seven penalty corners and converted two ... Other hand we failed to earn single penalty corner ... In penalty shoot-out Sreejesh stood like wall ... Sreejesh saved 2nd and 3rd penalty to give Indians thumping 4-1 victory in penalty shoot-out as our players converted all four penalties ... Sreejesh deserving declared man of the match for this tie.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol, Changwon, Korea

10m Air Pistol Men
Gold - Jongoh Jin (KOR) 206.0 pts FWR
Silver - Ye Tun Naung (MYA) 201.0 pts
Bronze - Jitu Rai (IND) 181.1 pts

50m Rifle Prone Men
6 Chain Singh 123.6 pts

Jitu Rai wins Bronze medal in 10m Air Pistol event and secure the third available RIO 2016 quota place in this 10m Air Pistol event ... His previous quota was in 50m Pistol Men in World championship last year ... In same event Korean Jongoh Jin scored 206.0 to create new Final World record ... Before this Jitu qualified for final on 8th position with 581 pts and Prakash Nanjappa finished on 18th position with 579 pts.

In men's 50m Rifle Prone event, Chain Singh entered into his first World cup final but manages to finish on sixth position ... He qualified for final on 7th position with 623.4 pts and Gagan Narang, who was tied on 2nd postion after two rounds, finished on 13th position due to poor target shooting in last few rounds with 622.0 pts.

Golf News

At $9M Masters Tournament, Augusta, USA

50 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 75 74 +4

In the third round Anirban manage 2 over PAR round and remains on 50th position ... Anirban played lot steadier round ... In this round he managed one double bogey on 7th hole, one bogey on 11th hole and one birdie on 12th hole.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol, Changwon, Korea

10M AIR RIFLE WOMEN
Snjezana Pejcic (CRO) 209.1 pts
Ivana Maksimovic (SRB) 207.7 pts
Apurvi Chandela (IND) 185.6 pts

Apurvi Chandela wins Bronze in 10m Air Rifle at Changwon World cup to secure Rio 2016 Quota Place ... This has been only second quota place capture by Indians ... This was also Apurvi Chandela's first final and first World cup medal.

Before that Apurvi qualified for the final after finishing 4th in qualification round with 418.4 pts.

Tennis News

At $731K Family Circle Cup 2015, Charleston, USA (WTA Premier)

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 64 16 10-7

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Danja Jurak (CRO)

Another hard fought win for Sania-Hingis in match tie-break against Russian pair ... After winning first set Sania-Hingis were outplayed by Russian in second ... Sania-Hingis recovered in match tie-break for completing win ... In the final they r facing unseeded pair of Dellacqua-Jurak ... Also Sania is now one win away from becoming WR #1 doubles player.
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At €494K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

Doubles Final
(1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) l Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 63 26 7-10

Fourth time doesn't turn as lucky for Rohan-Florin ... They lose the final in match tie-break ... Theis time they won first set but then failed to challenge Junaid-Shamasdin, who proved better pair.
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At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[SF] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) l (2) Dudi Sela (ISR,112) 46 36

Saki's run ended in the semis against experienced Dudi Sela ... Still overall good week for Saki but surprise to see he is skipping next week's on clay challenger.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

Singles Final
(2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) bt Dzimitry Zhyrmont (BLR,262) 62 64

Yuki lifts another futures title with convincing win over Bulgarian Zhyrmont ... After winning first set comfortably Yuki struggled in the second ... He exchanged couple of breaks with Zhyrmont but Yuki took crucial break in 9th game and then hold his serve for winning the title.

This title win gives him 27 ranking points so his ranking will be pushed inside top-225 ... Yuki also decide to skip next week's Uzbek futures.
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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[Q1] Sanam Singh (IND,381) bt (WC) Tommy Paul (USA,718) 64 76(3)

[Q2] Sanam Singh (IND,381) vs Mischa Zverev (GER,673)

Sanam score straight sets win over 17 yrs old talented Tommy Paul ... Next he is facing former top-50 German Mischa Zverev, who is coming out of injury.
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At $50K Mersin Challenger, Turkey (red clay)

[Q1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) bt Marek Michalicka(CZE,299) 62 63

[Q2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) vs Bastian Trinker (AUT,329)

Good start against top-300 European player on clay as RamK wins his match in straight sets ... Next he is facing Austrian player.
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At ITF Junior Fed Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Quarter Final
(3) India l New Zealand 1-2

MIHIKA YADAV l VALENTINA IVANOV 63 26 57
ZEEL DESAI bt NINA PARIPOVIC 62 75
JENNIFER LUIKHAM/ ZEEL DESAI l LAUREN ROSE ALTER/ VALENTINA IVANOV 61 46 16

Surprising loss of our higher ranked girls against New Zealand girls ... In that Mihika's loss was really shocking ... Other hand Zeel won her match but here also we failed to win doubles match.
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At ITF Junior Davis Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Quarter Final
(6) India l (3) Chinese Taipei 1-2

PARIKSHIT SOMANI l HUA-CHEN YU 62 46 64
NITIN KUMAR SINHA bt YU-HSIOU HSU 64 67(3) 62
PARIKSHIT SOMANI/ NITIN KUMAR SINHA l YU-HSIOU HSU/ HUA-CHEN YU 16 26

Our boys give fighting performance in singles against higher ranked Taipei boys ... Nitin won his match but in the doubles we lost one-sided match.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2015 2015, Singapore City (Superseries)

[SF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,15) l Yun HU (HKG,13) 22-20 11-21 14-21

Kashyap fails to keep momentum after winning first game and lose his match against Yun Hu in an hour ... Kashyap started well and won tight first game but afterwards his game went in total disarray ... He lost focus and made numerous unforced errors to lose next two games easily.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

India bt Australia 4-2 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - V.R. Raghunath (IND) 2' PC, Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 23', 32' and 60', Satbir Singh (IND) 49' and Daniel Beale (AUS) 14', Matt Godhes (AUS) 53'

Indians stunned Olympics and defending champion mighty Australia after excellent game of hockey ... From 1st minute our players were on attack ... They attacked well and importantly defending well ... Raghunath opened Indian account in 1st minute and then Nikkin, who scored hat-trick, was excellent inside D to deflect balls inside the net after receiving superb crosses by his other team members ... With this win we earn place for Bronze medal match.

Golf News

At $9M Masters Tournament, Augusta, USA

T50 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 75 +2

The second round turn to be very eventful round for Anirban ... He barely made the cut on last position after scoring three over round ... He scored a double bogey on 14th hole and also five bogeys on 3rd, 4th, 6th, 11th and 16th holes ... Managed eagle on 13th hole and couple of birdies on 8th and 15th holes ... Good to see he manages to make cut on his first Masters and now in next two days hopefully he will only rise in his standing.

Tennis News

At $731K Family Circle Cup 2015, Charleston, USA (WTA Premier)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 75 46 13-11

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

Another close match for Sania-Hingis on clay ... Here after winning first set they lost the second and after that both pairs played close match tie-break ... In closely fought tie-break our pair kept their nerve under pressure for winning it in extra points ... In the semis they r facing Russian pair.
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At €494K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Pablo Andujar (ESP)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 57 63 10-8

[F] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs. Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN)

Rohan-Florin r in the final with another comeback win in super tie-break ... After losing first set our pair fought back to win the second and then keeping their nerves won match tie-break ... In the final they r facing unseeded Aussie-Canadian pair.
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At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) bt Nikola Milojevic (SRB,378) 62 62

[SF] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) vs (2) Dudi Sela (ISR,112)

Saki score dominating win over former junior WR #1 Serbian Nikola Milojevic losing only four games ... In the semis he is facing former top-30 and experienced Israeli Dudi Sela.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS,275) 62 76(3)

[F] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) vs Dzimitry Zhyrmont (BLR,262)

Yuki score straight sets win over young Karen for entering into the final ... After winning first set comfortably Karen stretched Yuki in the second but Yuki kept his cool to win it in tie-break ... In the final he is facing Bulgarian Dzimitry Zhyrmont.
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At ITF Junior Fed Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group C<br /> (3) India bt Malaysia 3-0

MIHIKA YADAV bt LINDA TNG TING LIONG 60 60
ZEEL DESAI bt SARA ALISHA NAYAR 62 60
JENNIFER LUIKHAM / ZEEL DESAI bt LINDA TNG TING LIONG / UMA ANNIKKA NAYAR 62 61

Indian girls score dominating win over Malaysian girls losing only five games in the tie ... For qualifying to World group they r facing New Zealand girls.
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At ITF Junior Davis Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group B<br /> (6) India bt Pakistan 3-0

PARIKSHIT SOMANI bt MUHAMMAD RAZA SAWANI 61 60
NITIN KUMAR SINHA bt MUZAMMIL MURTAZA 61 61
SIDDHANT BANTHIA /NITIN KUMAR SINHA bt SYED NOFIL KALEEM / MUZAMMIL MURTAZA 63 64

Expected easy win for our boys ... In the quarters they r facing 3rd seed Chinese Taipei for qualifying to World group.

Golf News

At $9M Masters Tournament, Augusta, USA

T17 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 -1

Anirban Lahiri score under PAR round on his debut at Masters ... After front 9 he was on PAR with a bogey and birdie but he managed one under PAR after completing 18 holes ... This is good start and hopefully Anirban will continue with it in his next rounds.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2015 2015, Singapore City (Superseries)

[QF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,15) bt Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,32) 21-6 21-17
[QF] H. S. Prannoy (IND,14) l Kento MONOTA (JPN,10) walkover

[SF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,15) vs Yun HU (HKG,13)

Kashyap score comfortable straight games win over Frenchman Brice Leverdez ... In the semis he is facing Yun Hu.

Prannoy gives walkover to Japanese Kento Monota ... Not sure about his injury.

Tennis News

At $549K US Men's Clay Court Championship 2015, Houston

[R1] (Alt) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Donald Young (USA) 36 16

Somi-Sanam get chance as alternate pair but lose easily against Swedish-American pair.
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At €494K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 46 76(4) 10-4

[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Pablo Andujar (ESP)/ Oliver Marach (AUT)

Rohan-Florin need to dig deep for this comeback victory over tricky Spanish pair ... After losing first set our pair needed to win the second set tie-break but after that they dominated match tie-break with big serving ... In the semis they r facing unseeded Spanish Pablo Andujar and Austrian Oliver Marach.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,247) l (5) Radu Albot (MDA,145) 67(3) 57

Doubles
[QF] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) l Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL)/ Alexandar Lazov (BUL) 63 67(7) 7-10

Turn to be disappointing day for Indians as RamK lose his singles match and Saki and his partner lose in match tie-break against Bulgarian pair.

Tomorrow in the quarters Saki is facing 19 rls old and former junior WR #1 Serbian Nikola Milojevic.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) bt (5) Anton Zaitcev (RUS,365) 63 60

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS,275)

Yuki score dominating win over his Russian opponent ... Next he is playing challenger level match against top-300 young Karen Khachanov.
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At ITF Junior Fed Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group C
(3) India bt (7) Kazakhstan 2-1

MIHIKA YADAV bt AIGERIM SULEIMEN 62 61
ZEEL DESAI bt ZHIBEK KULAMBAYEVA 64 63
JENNIFER LUIKHAM / MIHIKA YADAV l DARYA DETKOVSKAYA/ZHIBEK KULAMBAYEVA 26 67(6)

Our girls win both singles comfortably for securing top spot in group.
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At ITF Junior Davis Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group B
(6) India l (2) Australia 0-3

PARIKSHIT SOMANI l BLAKE ELLIS 26 26
NITIN KUMAR SINHA l ALEX DE MINAUR 16 62
NITIN KUMAR SINHA / PARIKSHIT SOMANI l ALEX DE MINAUR / PARIKSHIT SOMANI 26 36

Australian kids prove too strong for our kids as they manage to win only 12 games in three matches.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2015 2015, Singapore City (Superseries)

[R2] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,15) bt (4) Wan Ho SON (Kor,5) 21-15 22-20
[R2] (3) K. Srikanth (IND,4) l Tanongsak SAENSOMBOONSUK (THA,19) 15-21 20-22
[R2] H. S. Prannoy (IND,14) bt (2) Jan O JORGENSEN (DEN,2) 21-16 21-8

[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l (3) Xiaoli WANG (CHN)/ Yang (F) YU (CHN) 22-24 18-21

[QF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,15) vs Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,32)
[QF] H. S. Prannoy (IND,14) vs Kento MOMOTA (JPN,10)

Two terrific upset win by Kashyap and young Prannoy over top five players ... Prannoy scored dominating win over WR #2 Danish Jan O Jorgensen ... After winning first game he lost only eight points to win the second game ... Prannoy is having tricky quarter final against top-10 Japanese Kento Momota, in their last two meetings Kento defeated Prannoy.

Kashyap also complete upset win over WR #5 Wan Ho Son ... After winning the first game Son stretched Kashyap but Kashyap prevailed to win it in extra points ... Next he is facing Frenchman Brice Leverdez.

Other hand Sri against show inconsistency and lose his match in two games against Thai ... In the doubles Jwala-Ashwini give terrific fighting performance against experienced Chinese pair of Xiaoli Wang and Yang (F) Yu in their loss.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Group A
India bt Canada 5-3 (1-0)
Goal Scorers - Rupinderpal Singh (IND) 13' PC, VR Raghunath (IND) 32' PC, Ramandeep Singh (IND) 46' and 47', Satbir Singh (IND) 49' and Oliver Scholfield (CAN) 43', Jagdish Gill (CAN) 48', David Jameson (CAN) 52'

Another horrible display by Indians ... In end they barely survive despite onslaught by Canadian in final 10 minutes ... Indians managed to convert only two penalty corners from eight corners ... In this match in ten minutes, 43rd to 52nd minutes, total six goals were scored ... Overall poor display in our defending.

Tennis News

At $731K Family Circle Cup 2015, Charleston, USA (WTA Premier) (clay)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 6-7(7) 63 10-5

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Hingis and Sania kept their perfect start going with a win over the Rodionova sisters but it was their toughest match yet, though ... After consecutive ten straight sets win they lost first set in tie-break ... Rodionova sisters won the first set after saving a set point ... But after losing the set they recovered and dominated the match ... In the quarters they r facing Spanish-Kazakh pair.
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At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) bt (3) Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,117) 5-1 retd.

[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) vs Nikola Milojevic (SRB,378)

Doubles
[QF] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) vs Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL)/ Alexandar Lazov (BUL)

Saketh in the quarters as Nedovyesov retired in the first set ... Next he is facing Serbian challenge for place in the semis.
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At $75K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) l (3) Roberto Maytin (VEN)/ Andres Molteni (ARG) 67(2) 67(2)

Divij-Adrian lose in two tie-breaks against 3rd seed South American pair.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[R2] (6) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,372) l Daniiar Duldaev (KGZ,849) 67(2) 62 26
[R2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) bt Vishnu Vardhan (IND,795) 64 62

[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) vs (5) Anton Zaitcev (RUS,365)

Yuki score comfortable win but surprising loss of Bala against Duldaev.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At ITF Junior Fed Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group C
(3) India bt Indonesia 3-0

MIHIKA YADAV bt FADONA TITALYANA KUSUMAWATI 63 64
JENNIFER LUIKHAM bt OXI GRAVITAS PUTRI 67(5) 64 62
ZEEL DESAI / MIHIKA YADAV bt FADONA TITALYANA KUSUMAWATI / NOVELA REZHA MILLENIA-PUTRI 75 61

Expected winning start for Indians as they r third seed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At ITF Junior Davis Cup u-16 - Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying, Shepparton, Australia (grass)

Group B
(6) India bt Vietnam 3-0

PARIKSHIT SOMANI bt TRI HENRY TU MINH 75 64
NITIN KUMAR SINHA bt DAC TIEN NGUYEN 62 62
SIDDHANT BANTHIA / PARIKSHIT SOMANI bt DAC TIEN NGUYEN / TRI HENRY TU MINH 60 76

Indians started with 3-0 win but here they r having tough challenge of 2nd seed and host Australian boys.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

India l Malaysia 2-3 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Rupinderpal Singh (IND) 20' PC and 51' PC and Faizal Saari (MAS) 17' PC, Haziq (MAS) 35', Shahrun Abdullah (MAS) 58'

Indians poor performance continue and today they lose against host Malaysia with another pathetic performance ... With this loss we are definitely out of final but I m worrying about third place match.

Badminton News

At $300K Singapore Open 2015 2015, Singapore City (Superseries)

[R1] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,17) bt Hyun Il LEE (KOR,26) 21-11 21-13
[R1] (Q) R. M. V. Gurusaidutt (IND,43) l (4) Wan Ho SON (Kor,5) 21-16 12-21 15-21
[R1] H. S. Prannoy (IND,14) bt Wing Ki Vincent WONG (HKG,24) 21-15 21-17
[R1] (3) K. Srikanth (IND,4) bt Tien Minh NGUYEN (VIE,24) 21-18 19-21 21-14
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) l (2) Jan O JORGENSEN (DEN,2) 11-21 18-21

[R1] P. C. Thulasi (IND,39) l Line KJAERSFELDT (DEN,37) 16-21 14-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ Akshay DEWALKAR (IND) l (1) Yong Dae LEE (KOR)/ Yeon Seong YOO (KOR) 21-23 11-21
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Ah Ra GO (KOR)/ Hae Won YOO (KOR) 21-12 21-16
[R1] Dhanya NAIR (IND)/ Mohita SAHDEV (IND) l Jongkonphan KITTIHARAKUL (THA)/ Rawinda PRAJONGJAI (THA) 8-21 8-21
[R1] Pradnya GADRE (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Pia Zebadiah BERNADETH (INA)/ Rizki Amelia PRADIPTA (INA) 17-21 13-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l Niclas NOHR (DEN)/ Sara THYGESEN (DEN) 17-21 14-21
[R1] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Pradnya GADRE (IND) l (8) Michael FUCHS (GER)/ Birgit MICHELS (GER) 12-21 17-21
[R1] Tarun KONA (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (5) KO Sung Hyun (KOR)/ Ha Na KIM (KOR) 15-21 17-21

[R2] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,17) vs (4) Wan Ho SON (Kor,5)
[R2] (3) K. Srikanth (IND,4) vs Tanongsak SAENSOMBOONSUK (THA,19)
[R2] H. S. Prannoy (IND,14) vs (2) Jan O JORGENSEN (DEN,2)

[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) vs (3) Xiaoli WANG (CHN)/ Yang (F) YU (CHN)

Only Kashyap, Prannoy and Srikanth start with wins ... And in the doubles only Jwala-Ashwini manage to win.

Squash News

At $150K Men's El Gouna International Open 2015, (World Series Platinum), Egypt

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) l Omar Mosaad (EGY,9) 4-11 3-11 11-9 8-11 (64m)

Saurav fails to continue with his upset win as he lose in the second round against another top-10 Egyptian Omar Mosaad ... After losing first 2 games easily Saurav tried fightback ... He managed to win tight third game but lost the fourth.

Tennis News

At $549K US Men's Clay Court Championship 2015, Houston

[Q3] Somdev Devvarman (IND,176) l Guilherme Clezar (BRA,196) 46 46

Disappointing loss for Buji as he had lot of chances of breaking Clezar which he failed to take.
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At €494K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP) 67(3) 62 10-6

Needs comeback win to complete their first win as pair in first tournament for Rohan and Florin.
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At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,247) bt (WC) Baris Erguden (TUR,598) 64 76(3)

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) vs (3) Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,117)
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,247) vs (5) Radu Albot (MDA,145)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sean Thornley (GBR) bt Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Tomislav Brkic (BIH) 63 61
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Tuna Altuna (TUR) l (3) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 67(5) 36

Expected win by RamK but in the second round our both players r playing against top-150 ranked seeded players.
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At $75K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs (3) Roberto Maytin (VEN)/ Andres Molteni (ARG)

Tough match on clay for Divij and his partner.
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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 Futures , Karshi

[R1] (6) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,372) bt Sanjar Fayziev (UZB,602) 76(5) 67(4) 62
[R1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) bt (Q) Vladyslav Chumak (UKR,1730) 60 64
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,795) bt (Q) Aliaksandr Halinko (BLR,2142) 64 61

[R2] (6) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,372) vs Daniiar Duldaev (KGZ,849)
[R2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,251) vs Vishnu Vardhan (IND,795)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) l Temur ISMAILOV (UZB)/ Timur KHABIBULIN (KAZ) 67(1) 75 8-10

Bala has tricky first round match against in-form Sanjar Fayziev but Bala survived in closely fought match ... Yuki and Vishnu start with comfortable wins ... In the second round Yuki is facing Vishnu.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

India l New Zealand 1-2 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Akashdeep (IND) 43' PC and Simon Child (NZL) 38', Andy Hayward (NZL) 55' PC

Indians lose tight match against Black sticks ... In the rain marred first half we managed to hold Black sticks but in the second half both teams played attacking hockey and Black sticks proved better.

Squash News

At $150K Men's El Gouna International Open 2015, (World Series Platinum), Egypt

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) bt (7) Tarek Momen (EGY,7) 3-2 (12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 12-14, 11-9) (85m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) vs Omar Mosaad (EGY,9)

Saurav score huge win of his career as he defeated WR #7 Tarek Momen in entertaining match ... After winning first 2 games Saurav struggled to close this match ... In the fourth game he missed four match balls before losing it but in the fifth he recovered to win this match ... Next he is facing another tough challenge of top-10 Egyptian.

Tennis News

At $5.38M Miami Open, USA

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (2) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 75 61

Two titles in first 2 tournaments, memorable start for Sania and Martina ... Before that they were in a lot of trouble early on, but Martina and Sania battled back to beat Makarova and Vesnina to win the Miami Open doubles title ... Sania took home the milestone 25th WTA doubles title of her career and this was Hingis's 43rd doubles titlwe matching similar number singles titles.

Makarova and Vesnina take 5-2 lead in first set but after that our pair made strong comeback to win next eight games, 75 3-0 ... And our pair completed win losing another single game.

Sania Mirza - "We just tried to keep telling each other to enjoy the struggle. Last week everything came very, very easily to us - we didn't lose more than four games in a set. Over here we were down, and we were panicking. It was like, 'Oh my God, we're not playing well.' We just weren't used to that. But it's good to fight through those matches and believe, and come out now and be like, 'At 5-3 I was gutsy to hit a big serve,' or she made a huge move at 5-4, if that makes sense. So it's good."

Martina Hingis - "The most important thing is that we never stopped believing we're a great team. They played a great set to get us to that position, 5-2 down. Then we just tried to stay in there and get our chances. We just built on every point, which is what we did well last week too."

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At $549K US Men's Clay Court Championship 2015, Houston

[Q2] Sanam Singh (IND,358) l Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA,343) 36 06
[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,176) bt Robby Ginepri (USA,255) 76(6) 63

[Q3] Somdev Devvarman (IND,176) vs Guilherme Clezar (BRA,196)

Buji score good win over former top-15 Robby Ginepri ... After winning tight first set in tie-break Buji was in control of second set ... Next he is facing Brazilian Guilherme Clezar for place in main-draw.
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At $731K Family Circle Cup 2015, Charleston, USA (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS)

This week they r playing in Family Circle cup and facing Rodionova sisters in first round.
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At €494K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP)

Rohan is going to play clay season with Romanian Florin Mergea and their first tournament is starting from Morocco.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) bt (Q) Aleksandre Metreveli (GEO,571) 62 63

Good to see Saki is taking advantage of weaker first round opponent.

Hockey News

At Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2015, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

India dw Korea 2-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 10', Raghunath (IND) 56' PC and Hyesung Hyun (KOR) 24' PC, Seunghoon Lee (KOR) 53'

In end we manage to hold Koreans in well fought match ... But frankly speaking we were better team on the field in the beginning but instead consolidating that we gave chance to Koreans for fight back ... Overall good result in the end.

Badminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2015, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) l (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,3) 21-13 17-21 20-22

Once again Xuerui beats Saina in topsy-turvy match to tell Saina that though she is WR #1 but still Xuerui is boss in their one to one match ... Saina started as WR#1 and from 5-6 she won next 6 points to lead 11-6 and after that Saina kept lead for winning first game ... In second game Xuerui take 13-10 lead from 9-10 ... Xuerui kept lead though Saina came near 16-17 then 17-18 but Xuerui won this game as Saina committed unforced errors ... In decider Xuerui took 4-1 lead but Saina caught her and then took 12-7 lead ... Xuerui won next 5 points to caught Saina at 12-all and I think that was turning point of the match ... After that both players were neck to neck ... Saina saved one match point at 19-20 but failed to save next one ... Saina still need to work on her mental state in late stages of match for such crunch match situation ... Overall seeing improvement Saina's game.

Tennis News

At $5.38M Miami Open, USA

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (7) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 62 64

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (2) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Sania-Martina are in the final with another straight sets victory over Babos-Mladenovic ... Again here they r facing Russian pair of Vesnina-Makarova for title match.
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At $549K US Men's Clay Court Championship 2015, Houston

[Q1] Sanam Singh (IND,358) bt Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS,421) 62 36 62
[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,176) bt Matt Reid (AUS,375) 63 61

[Q2] Sanam Singh (IND,358) vs Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA,343)
[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,176) vs Robby Ginepri (USA,255)

Buji and Sanam r playing in Houston championship qualifying ... And winning start for both of them ... Next they r facing veteran players, 31 yrs old Silva and 32 yrs old Ginepri.
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At $100K+H Le Gosier Challenger, Guadeloupe

[R1] (4) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Bjorn Fratangelo (USA)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) 64 67(5) 6-10

Purav-Fabrice lose their match after winning first set.
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At $50K+H San Luis Open, Mexico

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Marcus Daniell (NZL) vs (ALT) Ariel Behar (URU)/ Renzo Olivo (ARG) 36 57

Divij and his partner Marcus lose against alternate pairing in first round.
----------------------------------------------
At $50K Batman Cup, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,270) vs Qualifier
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,247) vs (WC) Baris Erguden (TUR,598)

RamKI and Saki r playing at Batman challenger and having winnable first round.

Badminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2015, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) l (1) Long Chen (CHN,1) 10-21 6-21
[R2] (4) Srikanth Kidambi (IND,4) l Houwei Tian (CHN,16) 14-21 18-21
[R2] H. S. Prannoy (IND,17) l (5) Lin Dan (CHN,3) 15-21 14-21
[R2] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) bt Xue Yao (CHN,74) 21-13 21-9

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (6) Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA)/ Greysia Polii (INA) 23-21 8-21 17-21

[QF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) vs Yu Sun (CHN,15)

Turn to be poor day for Indians as only Saina manages to win against Chinese opponent ... Saina beats Xue Yao comfortably to celebrate her official WR #1 ranking ... In quarter she is facing another Chinese test, this time top-15 Yu Sun.

Other hand our all men's players lose comfortably their respective matches against Chinese opponents ... Srikanth also fail to challenge young Tian.

Ashwini-Jwala start well after winning tight first game but then fail to keep momentum and lose last two games.

Badminton News

At $500K Maybank Malaysia Open 2015, Kuala Lumpur (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) bt Dong Keun Lee (KOR,30) 21-15 11-21 21-14
[R1] (4) Srikanth Kidambi (IND,4) bt Rajiv Ouseph (ENG,20) 21-10 15-21 24-22
[R1] H. S. Prannoy (IND,17) bt Scott Evans (IRL,25) 22-20 21-18
[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) bt Maria Febe Kusumastuti (INA,47) 21-13 21-16

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l Andrei Adistia (INA)/ Hendra Aprida Gunawan (INA) 11-21 17-21
[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Keshya Nurvita Hanadia (INA)/ Devi Tika Permatasari (INA) 21-14 18-21 21-16

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) vs (1) Long Chen (CHN,1)
[R1] (4) Srikanth Kidambi (IND,4) vs Houwei Tian (CHN,16)
[R1] H. S. Prannoy (IND,17) vs (5) Lin Dan (CHN,3)
[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) vs Xue Yao (CHN,74)

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (6) Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA)/ Greysia Polii (INA)

Turn to be terrific day for Indians as only our men's doubles pair Manu-Sumeet lost their matches.

Saina score comfortable straight games victory ... Prannoy score tight two games win over Evans ... Kashyap needs three games for winning against his Korean opponent ... Jwala-Ashwin also begin with win against Indonesian pair.

Srikanth need to save two match points for completing win in three games ... Rajiv tried fighting comeback but once again Srikanth kept his nerve for winning in extra points ... Next in the singles our all players having tough matches against their respective Chinese opponents.