Hockey News

At Men's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool A
India l Australia 2-6 (0-3)
Goal Scorers - Birendra Lakra (IND) 34' PC, Ramandeep Singh (IND) 51' and Aran Zalewski (AUS) 8', Jamie Dwyer (AUS) 14', Chistopher Ciriello (AUS) 26' PC, 33' PC and 44' PC, Kieran Govers (AUS) 42'

Australia score dominating win over Indian side ... Aussie scored early soft goal after defending mistake by Birendra Lakra and that set tone for the match ... Our defending inside and outside the circle was pathetic as we conceded five penalty corners and Chris converted three of them ... Other hand we struggled to penetrate Aussie circle ... Australia hit 26 shots on goal and we managed only 8, this stat gives us real picture of the match ... With this loss we finishes 2nd in the pool behind mighty Aussie.

Hockey News

At Women's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool B
India l Australia 2-4 (1-2)
Goal Scorers - Vandana Katariya (IND) 5', Poonam Rani (IND) 33' PC and Jodie Kenny (AUS) 2' PC, 6' PC, 33' PC and 44' PS

This score doesn't reflecting our girls game ... We played extremely good match against Aussie ... Some doubtful refereeing against us but still our penalty corner defending was poor ... Reason is Jodie Kenny scored all three penalty corner goals at same side ... Other hand our girls were matching Aussie girls and played some excellent passing ... We still need to work on our fitness and speed but it looks we are moving in right direction under Mathias Ahrens ... With fourth finish in the Pool we r facing mighty Dutch side in the quarters.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2015, London, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] (9) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Tim Smyczek (USA)/ Jiri Vesely (CZE)
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupath (IND)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) vs Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
[R1] (11) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)
[R1] (Q) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Jonathan Marray (GBR)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Zarina Diyas (KAZ)/ Saisai Zheng (CHN)

Purav-Fabrice having tough match against 2012 winner Marray-Nielsen ... Overall tricky matches for our pairs in the first round.

Hockey News

At Men's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool A
India dw Pakistan 2-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Ramandeep Singh (IND) 13'and 39' , Muhammad Imran (PAK) 23' PS and 37' PC

Indians were lucky to hold Pakistan ... Ramandeep scored brace for Indian and Imran for Pakistan but we played very physical game ... Almost 20 mins our only 10 players were on the field ... They need to avoid such stupid mistakes against superior teams ... Next we are having tough game against mighty Aussie.

Tennis News

At $731K Eastbourne Open, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l (4) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 57 46

Not a great preparation for Wimbledon for Sania and Martina as they lose the semi-final in straight sets.

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At $15K Thailand F5 Future, Bangkok

[F] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) / Karunuday SINGH (IND) l (3) Pruchya ISAROW (THA)/ Nuttanon KADCHAPANAN (THA) 26 06

KU and Sekiguchi lose one-sided final against Thai pair.

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Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 9 - 25.06.2015
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) ½-½ Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781)
Levon Aronian (ARM,2780) 0-1 Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802)
Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677) 1-0 Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876)
Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798) ½-½ Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804)
Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805) ½-½ Anish Giri (NED,2773)

Anand and Topalov decide to play safe and agree draw after mere 18 moves ... That gives Topalov the title with ½ point lead over Anand ... Anand also secure second position on better tie-break than Nakamura ... In another shocking match Carlsen lose his match against his countryman Jon Ludvig Hammer.

In this tournament Anand, Nakamura and Giri remain unbeaten.

Final Standing
1. Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798) 6½ pts
2. Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) 6 pts
3. Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) 6 pts
4. Anish Giri (NED,2773) 5½ pts
5. Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805) 4 pts
6. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) 4 pts
7. Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) 3½ pts
8. Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781) 3½ pts
9. Levon Aronian (ARM,2780) 3 pts
10. Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677) 3 pts

Tennis News

At €589K Nottingham Open, Great Britain

[QF] (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Andre Sa (BRA) 46 63 7-10

Lee fail to make memorable tournament with his 100th partner as he and Granollers lose against Guccione and Sa in match tie-break.

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At $15K Thailand F5 Future, Bangkok

[QF] (3) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) l (6) Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN,566) 06 26

Doubles
[SF] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) / Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (1) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA) / Sonchat RATIWATANA (THA) 62 61

[F] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) / Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (3) Pruchya ISAROW (THA)/ Nuttanon KADCHAPANAN (THA)

Shuichi Sekiguchi looks in terrific form as after destroying KU in the singles he partner KU in the doubles to beat experienced Ratiwatana brothers convincingly ... In the final they r facing another 3rd seed Thai pair.

Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 8 - 24.06.2015
Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781) ½-½ Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805)
Anish Giri (NED,2773) 1-0 Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798)
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) 1-0 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677)
Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) 1-0 Levon Aronian (ARM,2780)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) ½-½ Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723)

Anand continues with his dominance with white pieces ... He defeated Jon Ludvig Hammer after 36 moves in well constructed game ... Importantly Veselin Topalov lost to Anish Giri allowing Anand to move within half a point with a round to go ... In the final round Topalov has white against Anand.

So after 8 rounds standing is - Topalov 6 pts, Anand 5½ pts, Giri and Nakamura 5 pts, Caruana, Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave 3½ pts, Aronian and Grischuk 3 pts, Hammer 2 pts,

Hockey News

At Women's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool B
India bt Poland 3-1 (0-2)
Goal Scorers - Rani (IND) 20' PC and 29', Vandana Katariya (IND) 54' and Natalia Wisniewska (POL) 49'

India claims their first victory in group B at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Antwerp, Belgium ... They defeated Poland women 3-1 in well played match ... In this match Indian women were looking as a unit but we still require to improve on the fitness ... With this win we secure our place in quarter-final but playing in-form Dutch side.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2015, London, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,203) l Kenny de Schepper (FRA,158) 67(5) 63 7-9

Doubles
[Q2] (8) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) bt Divij Sharan (IND)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) 36 63 64

Saki lose close match against grass court specialist and 2013 pre-quarter finalist Kenny de Schepper ... In the first set Saki missed 2 break points in 11th game at 5-all ... Saki lost tile break ... In the second set Saki broke oKenny in 4th game to lead 4-1 and kept that lead for winning the second set ... In the final set Kenny broke Saki in 2nd game to lead 3-0 but Saki broke back in 5th game to brought the set on serve ... But after that Saki failed to make road on Kenny's serve and in 16th game after saving two match points he failed to save third match point on his serve ... Fighting performance but in end fail to cross the line.

Purav-Fabrice qualify for Wimbledon main-draw after comeback win over Divij and his Mexican partner ... After losing the first set Purav-Fabrice made strong comeback and won next two sets comfortably ... So with that Purav qualify for Wimbledon for third time in a row.

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At $731K Eastbourne Open, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 46 63 10-6

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (4) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

Sania-Martina complete comeback win over Chan-Pennetta after losing the first set ... They made strong comeback to win the second and match tie-break ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed pair of Srebotnik and Garcia.

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At €589K Nottingham Open, Great Britain

[R1] (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 36 62 11-9

[QF] (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Andre Sa (BRA)

Lee-Marcel needs to dig deep for comeback win over Treat-Scott ... Lee-Marcel lost the first set with doubles break of the serves ... They fought back to win the second set with double break to take this match in match tie-break ... And in closely fought match tie-break they won it on extra points ... Next they r facing Chris Guccione and Andre Sa.

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At $15K Thailand F5 Future, Bangkok

[R2] (3) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) bt Kazuma Kawachi (JPN,2210) 63 64

[QF] (3) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) vs (6) Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN,566)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Chaleechan TANASUGARN (THA)/ Warot UDOMSUK (THA) 64 64
[QF] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) / Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Warit SORNBUTNARK (THA) / Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA) 61 64

[SF] (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) / Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (1) Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA) / Sonchat RATIWATANA (THA)

KU score comfortable wins in the singles and the doubles ... But next he is having tough matches, in the singles he is facing former top-260 Japanese player and in the doubles Ratiwatana brothers.

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At $15K USA F19 Futures, Tulsa

[R1] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,356) l Noah Rubin (USA,1018) 46 46

Sanam's inconsistency continues with loss against former top-10 junior player./span>

Hockey News

At Men's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool A
India bt Poland 3-0 (1-0)
Goal Scorers - Yuvraj Walmiki (IND) 23', Sardar Singh (IND) 42', Devindar Walmiki (IND) 52'

Indians score another fighting win over Polish team ... In this match Walmiki brothers score a goal each and after long time we see goal from Sardar Singh ... So after two matches we are with two wins ... Next we are facing big match against Pakistan.

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At Women's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool B
India l New Zealand 0-5 (0-2)
Goal Scorers - Gemma Flynn (NZL) 10' and 40', Olivia Merry (NZL) 18', Kirsten Pearce (NZL) 52' and 56'

Other hand our ladies lose their match against Black sticks ... New Zealand proved too strong for our women.

Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 7 - 23.06.2015
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) ½-½ Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) ½-½ Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876)
Levon Aronian (ARM,2780) ½-½ Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804)
Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677) ½-½ Anish Giri (NED,2773)
Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798) ½-½ Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805)

Anand plays safe with black pieces and agree draw after mere 20 moves against Aronian ... Other hand Carlsen also agree draws after 17 moves with Vachier-Lagrave ... Topalov keep control with 1½ pts lead with only two rounds remaining.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2015, London, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,172) l Inigo Cervantes (ESP,144) 75 46 26

Doubles
[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) bt (4) Andreas Siljeström (SWE)/ Martin Emmrich (GER) 64 64
[Q1] (8) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) bt Alessandro Motti (ITA)/ Stephane Robert (FRA) 63 62

[Q2] (8) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Divij Sharan (IND)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX)

Buji's match resumed but he fails to capitalize ... He lost his serve early and then lose match with double break.

Purav-Fabrice start with comfortable win over their French-Italian opponents ... Next they r facing Divij and his Mexican partner.

Divij and Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela score huge win against 4th seed Siljeström-Emmrich in straight sets.

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At $731K Eastbourne Open, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Michaella Krajicek (NED)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 60 62

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

Dominating winning start for Sania-Martina ... Next they r facing Chan-Pennetta.

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At $50K Milan Challenger, Italy

[R1] (7) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,208) l (Q) Rogério Dutra Silva (BRA,472) 26 26

As I was worrying this match turn nightmare for RamK ... Rogério Dutra Silva showed his expertise on the grass to beat RamK convincingly.

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Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 6 - 22.06.2015
Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781) 0-1 Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798)
Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805) ½-½ Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677)
Anish Giri (NED,2773) ½-½ Levon Aronian (ARM,2780)
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) 1-0 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723)
Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) ½-½ Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802)

Anand showed that he is as sharp as ever, and in a difficult Najdorf he annihilated Vachier-Lagrave ... With this Anand moves to 4 points and currently tied for the 2nd position but other hand Topalov's purple patch is continue ... He score fifth win in his sixth match and gain 1½ points lead.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2015, London, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,172) vs Inigo Cervantes (ESP,144) 75 46 (match stopped due to rain)
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,203) bt Peter Gojowczyk (GER,159) 76(6) 64
[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l Matteo Donati (ITA,220) 67(5) 62 26

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,203) vs Kenny de Schepper (FRA,158)

Saki score his first win of grand slam as he beats in-form German opponent Peter Gojowczyk in straight sets ... After exchanging early breaks first set went into tie-break ... With mini-break Saki had 3 set points at 6-3 ... Gojowczyk saved all 3 set points but Saki converted 4th set point for winning this set ... In the second set Saki broke Gojowczyk in 3rd game to lead 2-1 ... After that he kept holding his service games and converted 1st match point for exciting win.

Other hand India's #1 Yuki lose his first round match against Italian opponent ... After losing early in the first set Yuki was down 0-3 but he broke Matteo in 7th game and take set in tie-break ... Yuki failed to win tie-break ... In the second set Yuki took early break and dominated to win ... In the final set Matteo took early to lead 1-2 but Yuki immediately broke back to 2-all ... And after that surprisingly Yuki struggled and lost 4 games in a row to lose this match.

Buji is having tricky match against Spanish player, who can play on the grass ... Buji took early lead with a break but lost his serve while serving for the set at 5-3 ... Still he recovered and broke Inigo in 12th game for winning this set ... In the second set Inigo broke Buji early and hold that lead for winning the set ... At that time match is postponed for tomorrow.

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At $50K Milan Challenger, Italy

[R1] (7) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,208) vs (Q) Rogério Dutra Silva (BRA,472)

Tough match for RamK against former top-100 and clay-court specialist Brazilian.

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At $15K Thailand F5 Future, Bangkok

[R1] (3) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) bt Shotaro GOTO (JPN,912) 61 63

KU score comfortable win over his Japanese opponent in the first round.

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At $15K USA F19 Futures, Tulsa

[R1] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,356) vs Noah Rubin (USA,1018)

Sanam is facing former junior WR #6 Rubin.

Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 5 - 21.06.2015
Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) 1-0 Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) ½-½ Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) ½-½ Anish Giri (NED,2773)
Levon Aronian (ARM,2780) 1-0 Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805)
Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677) 0-1 Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798)

Anand hold Nakamura playing with black pieces after 45 moves ... With this Anand moves to 3 pts and remain on tied 3rd position with Giri ... Other hand Topalov is in form of his life ... He keeps winning way and take a full point lead ... Carlsen and Aronian score their first win of the tournament.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2015, London, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,172) vs Inigo Cervantes (ESP,144)
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,203) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER,159)
[Q1] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) vs Matteo Donati (ITA,220)

[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs (4) Andreas Siljeström (SWE)/ Martin Emmrich (GER)
[Q1] (8) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Alessandro Motti (ITA)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)

Qualifying draw is out ... On paper Yuki having winnable match and Buji's Spanish opponent reached Wimbledon second round in 2012.

In the doubles qualifying Purav and Divij r playing and they can meet in the final qualifying if they win their first qualifying matches.

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At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

Doubles Final
(2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) l Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Raaven Klaasen (RSA) 67(5) 26

Rohan-Florin fail to lift their second title in two weeks on the grass ... Rajeev-Raven pair prove strong for them as they lose this match in straight sets.

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At €1.6M Queen's Open, London, Great Britain

[SF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (2) Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 36 67(8)

Lee-Daniel lose in straight sets against 2nd seed Zimo-Marcin ... In the second set our pair tried hard but failed to win 18 points long tie-break.

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At $731K Eastbourne Open, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Michaella Krajicek (NED)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

This week Sania is back with Martina in preparation for Wimbledon at Eastbourne.

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At €589K Nottingham Open, Great Britain

[R1] (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)

Next weel Lee is pairing with Spanish Marcel Granollers in Nottingham tournament and they r top-seed.

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At $50K Milan Challenger, Italy

[R1] (7) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,208) vs Qualifier

RamK is 7th seed at Milan challenger and facing qualifier in the first round.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[F] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,675) l (5) Xiaodi YOU (CHN,637) 57 36

Sowjanya fail to continue with her good run and lose final to another Chinese player ... Still creditable performance by Sowjanya in China.

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At $15K Thailand F5 Future, Bangkok

[R1] (3) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) vs Shotaro GOTO (JPN,912)

Doubles
[R1] Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs Chaleechan TANASUGARN (THA)/ Warot UDOMSUK (THA)

This week hoping better performance by KU in Thai futures.

Chess News

At The 3rd Norway Chess tournament 2015, Stavanger

Round 1 - 16.06.2015
Anish Giri (NED,2773) 1-0 Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781)
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) ½-½ Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805)
Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) 0-1 Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) 1-0 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) 1-0 Levon Aronian (ARM,2780)

Round 2 - 17.06.2015
Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781) ½-½ Levon Aronian (ARM,2780)
Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677) ½-½ Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723)
Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798) ½-½ Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802)
Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805) 1-0 Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876)
Anish Giri (NED,2773) ½-½ Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804)

Round 3 - 18.06.2015
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) ½-½ Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781)
Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) ½-½ Anish Giri (NED,2773)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802) 1-0 Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723) 0-1 Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798)
Levon Aronian (ARM,2780) ½-½ Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677)

Round 4 - 19.06.2015
Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2781) 1-0 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR,2677)
Veselin Topalov (BUL,2798) 1-0 Levon Aronian (ARM,2780)
Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2805) ½-½ Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2723)
Anish Giri (NED,2773) ½-½ Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2802)
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2804) 1-0 Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876)

This is not only one of the strongest tournaments in the World, Norway 2015 is also part of the 2015 Grand Chess Tour, which includes the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic later this year.

Nice summary on ChessBase about Carlsen - Perhaps it is the Norway Curse. Perhaps it is the psychological destabilization from his first round loss. Perhaps he is sick. Perhaps Armageddon is upon us. Whatever the reason is, Carlsen, the obvious #1 player in the World and the reigning World Champion, lost again, today to Anand, and sits with only 0.5/4.

After drawing first 3 games Anand faced current world champion and WR #1 Magnus Carlsen in the fourth ... Anand played fantastic game taking full advantage of Carlsen's subpar performance ... Game started with Ruy Lopez defense which Anand turned to Breyer System of the Closed Spanish ... Anand was in control from the start and he kept pressure on black King after 20th move ... Carlsen tried hard with variations and defending but failed to save the game ... He resigned after 47 moves ... So after fourth round Topalov leading with 3½ pts, Nakamura on 2nd position with 3 pts and Anand is tied 3rd with Giri at 2½ pts ... But shockingly Calsen is on last position with only ½ point.

Hockey News

At Men's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool A
India bt France 3-2 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Manpreet Singh (IND) 27' PC, Devindar Walmiki (IND) 29', Ramandeep Singh (IND) 59' and Olivier Sanchez (FRA) 3', Simon Martin-Brisac (FRA) 43'

Our men were lucky to win this match as French team stretched them to fullest ... France stunned us scoring goal in 3rd minute and afterwards we were struggling due to poor passing and bad collection inside the D ... In second quarter we raised our game and scored two goals in two minutes ... French team kept attacking managed equalizer in 43rd minute ... In fourth quarter French team were dominating and our team was struggling on the field ... In dying moments Saradar Singh created amazing opportunity through his solo game which superbly scored by Ramandeep as poacher ... Our team need improvement to finish in top-2 to avoid tough teams in the quarter.

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At Women's Hockey World League - Semi Finals 2015, Antwerp, Belgium

Pool B
India l Belgium 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Lieselotte van Lindt (BEL) 35' PC

Not a good start for our women as they lose their first match to Belgium ... Overall disappointing performance as they failed to put decent performance on the field ... Passes were poor and were losing possession at any given time ... Couple of moves were good but at that time Belgian defense stood strong ... Need too much improvement.

Tennis News

At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Eric Butorac (USA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 76(10) 46 13-11

[F] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Raaven Klaasen (RSA)

What a fighting win for Rohan-Florin ... They won the first set in long 22 points tie-break before losing the second ... They win match tie-break after dog-fight, again 24 points long tie-break ... In the final they r facing Rajeev- Raven.

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AAt $10K India F8 Futures, Hyderabad

[R1] Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) 62 64
[R2] Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt (5) Hugo GRENIER (FRA) 76(3) 64
[QF] Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND) 63
[SF] Sumit NAGAL (IND,1055) bt Alexandre MULLER (FRA,1289) 67(1) 61 76(3)

Singles Final
Sumit NAGAL (IND,1055) bt (8) Gustavo VELLBACH (ARG,801) 62 60

Doubles Final
(3) Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt (1) Juan Ignacio GALARZA (ARG)/ Alan KOHEN (ARG) 26 64 10-4

Sumit Nagal lifts his first futures title and his second title in two weeks from two continents ... Last week he won Grade 1 junior title on clay in Germany ... This week he defeated two Frenchmen and a Argentine in the final ... Sumit comfortably won the final losing only 2 games but in the semis he showed tremendous fighting spirit as in the final set he was 0-5 down and from here he took the set in tie-break for winning it ... So in last two Indian futures we are having two 18 yrs old winners.

Sood brothers win their second back to back futures title ... Here they score comeback win over top-seed Argentine pair.

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At $10K India F7 Futures, Jassowal

[R1] (1) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (WC) Dalwinder SINGH (IND) 63 62
[R2] (1) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt Digvijay SINGH MEHTA (IND) 63 61
[QF] (1) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (8) Lakshit SOOD (IND) 61 61
[SF] (1) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (4) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) 36 62 75

Singles Final
(1) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (5) Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 64 63

Doubles Final
(2) Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt (1) Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) 61 64

18 yrs old Sasi took full advantage of weak field to lift his first futures title in Indian F7 futures ... With this he moves on WR #607 in ranking ... This year he is eligible for junior tournaments ... With his improved ATP ranking he is qualify for US open junior grand slam ... So hopefully he will take this opportunity to participate in that ... Hopefully someone give this message to Sasi and his team.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[SF] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,675) bt (7) Jia-Qi KANG (CHN,708) 61 76(6)

[F] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,675) vs (5) Xiaodi YOU (CHN,637)

Sowjanya continues with her terrific run in China ... She beats 7th seed Chinese girl in straight sets and facing another Chinese girl Xiaodi You for the title.

Golf News

At $9M U.S. Open, University Place, Washington

T85 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 75 72 +7
T107 Shiv Kapur (IND) 72 77 +9

Anirban struggle on US soil continues ... In US open he and Shiv Kapur missed the cut with long margin ... Anirban's first round was disastrous and he never recovered from that ... Other hand Shiv had decent first round but he failed to keep same performance in the second round.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[QF] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) l (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,175) 26 16

Nathasha fails to provide any challenge to top-200 Kuwata ... But Natasha is in the double final with her partner and playing against Sharrmadaa with her partner.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[R1] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,763) bt Helen DE CASARE (THA,1118) 62 76(5)
[R2] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,763) bt Yixuan LI (CHN,814) 62 60
[QF] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,675) bt (1) Xinyu GAO (CHN,468) 62 36 63

[SF] (6) Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,675) vs (7) Jia-Qi KANG (CHN,708)

Sowjanya is playing in China ... And she produce excellent comeback upset win against top-seed and top-500 local player ... Next she is having another tricky match against local player.

Tennis News

At $731K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[R1] (1) Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 46 26

Fail to click this one-off pairing with Aussie girl Dellacqua.

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At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Henri Kntinen (FIN) 76(4) 76(3)

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Eric Butorac (USA)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)

Rohan-Florin need two tie-breaks for winning their match against Croatian-Finnish pair ... In the semis they r facing American pair of Butorac and Lipsky.

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At €1.6M Queen's Open, London, Great Britain

[QF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Marc Lopez (ESP)/ Rafael Nadal (ESP) 76(3) 64

[SF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (2) Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Really good win by Lee-Daniel against Rafa and Lopez in straight sets ... Our pair needed tie-break for winning the first set but they won the second set more comfortably ... Next they r facing 2nd seed Matkowski and Zimo.

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain

[R2] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l (WC) Joshua Milton (GBR,302) 67(5) 64 36

Yuki loses close match against Joshua in three sets ... After losing first set in close tie-break Yuki made excellent fight back from 3-4 to win this set winning next 3 games ... But in the final set Yuki got broken in 1st game and failed to comeback ... Joshua won the match breaking him again in 9th game ... Frankly speaking our Indian players require big slice of luck in Wimbledon qualifying draw for qualify.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) l Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Marco Tepavac (SRB) 26 46

Jeevan-Ti fail to put fight against Serbian team.

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At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R2] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,619) l (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,175) 67(5) 26
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) bt Ksenia LYKINA (RUS,416) 26 64 76(3)
[R2] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,732) l (6) Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS,294) 36 57

[QF] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) vs (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,175)

Natasha scores another upset win over former top-200 Russian player Lykina ... After losing the first set Natasha put hell of a fight ... He won the second set with a break and then dug deep to win the final set in tie-break ... Next she is facing top-seed Japanese girl Kuwata, who beats another Indian girl Sharrmadaa in the second round.

Tennis News

At $731K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[R1] (1) Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 3-4 (30-30)

Our pair is break down when rain stopped the game.

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At €1.6M Queen's Open, London, Great Britain

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 76(3) 36 10-7

[QF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Marc Lopez (ESP)/ Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Winning start for Lee-Daniel ... They stretched by Agut-Troicki to fullest ... Our pair needed tie-break for winning the first set but lost the second set with a break ... Lee-Daniel recovered in match tie-break for winning it ... In the quarters they r facing tricky Spanish pair of Rafa-Marc Lopez.

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) l Johann Brunstrom (SWE)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 64 36 4-10

Buji-Treat fail to keep momentum after winning the first set ... They lose next two sets easily.

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At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,619) bt (Q) Tamara CUROVIC (SRB,612) 64 64
[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) bt (8) Anna MORGINA (RUS,358) 60 57 61

[R2] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,619) vs (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,175)
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) vs Ksenia LYKINA (RUS,416)
[R2] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,732) vs (6) Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS,294)

Natasha score huge upset win over 8th seed Morgina in three sets ... Score was weird as Natasha won the first set comfortably and but lost close second set ... In the third set again Natasha dominated to win this match ... Next she is facing former top-200 Russian Lykina.

Sharrmadaa score straight sets win over similar ranked Serbian opponent ... Next she is facing top-seed and top-200 Japanese Kuwata.

Football News

At World Cup Qualification 2016, Hagåtña, Guam

Group D
Guam bt India 2-1 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Brandon McDonald (GUA) 37', Travis Nicklaw (GUA) 62' and Sunil Chhetri (IND) 90+'

A late Sunil Chhetri goal was only positive for India as the underdogs Guam scalped yet another important win in their World Cup Group D qualifier to lead the group ... Other hand with this poor loss Indians are bottom of the group.

Tennis News

At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt (Q) Lukas Rosol (CZE)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 26 63 10-8

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Henri Kntinen (FIN)

Good comeback win by Rohan-Florin against qualifiers ... Next they r facing Croatian-Finnish pair.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,420) l (1) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS,56) 26 46

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) bt (WC) Rizo Saidokojaeve (UZB)/ Diyou Uldashev (UZB) 60 60

Expected loss in the singles but still decent performance by Jeevan ... In the doubles he and Ti Chen win without losing much sweat.

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At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,619) vs (Q) Tamara CUROVIC (SRB,612)
[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,643) vs (8) Anna MORGINA (RUS,358)
[R1] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,732) bt (Q) Alexandra RILEY (USA,787) 60 63

Good to see Nidhi and Sharrmadaa qualify for main-draw ... Good easy win by Nidhi against similar ranked American qualifier.

Tennis News

At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs (Q) Lukas Rosol (CZE)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

Rohan-Florin r playing qualifiers Rosol-Stakhovsky.

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) l Alex Bolt (AUS,263) 36 46

[R1] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) bt (WC) Cameron Norrie (GBR,854) 61 60

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Johann Brunstrom (SWE)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED)
[R1] Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Blaz Rola (SLO) 26 36
[R1] (4) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Sean Thornley (GBR)/ Darren Walsh (GBR) 46 67(6)

Yuki score very dominating win on the grass as he won his match in 38 minutes losing single game.

Turn to be terrible day for doubles to Indians at Ilkley ... Our both pairs lose their matches in straight sets.

In the qualifying Buji fails to fightback but overall expected loss against Bolt.

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At $15K Thailand F4 Future, Bangkok

[R1] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) l Jung-Woong NA (KOR,892) 26 36

Bad loss for KU against lowly ranked Korean.

Tennis News

At €642K Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

Doubles Final
(4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt (3) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 57 63 10-7

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt (2) Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 63 67(6) 10-7

Rohan-Florin lift second title as pair in their third final on the tour after capturing the MercedesCup doubles title ... Other hand this is Rohan's fourth ATP tour title of the year and this is turning as most successful year on ATP tour.

After losing the first set Rohan-Florin made strong comeback ... Rohan-Florin took control early in the second set and afterwards never lost the control of the match ... So good start of grass season for Rohan-Florin.

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At €1.6M Queen's Open, London, Great Britain

[Q1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) bt (2) Pablo Andujar (ESP)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 75 63

[Q2] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) l (1) Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Andre Sa (BRA) 64 36 5-10

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)

In Queen's open, Daniel-Lee r third seed and facing Agut-Troicki in the first round.

Mahesh played in the doubles qualifying with Colombian Cabal ... They started with upset win over 2nd seed Aisam-Pablo in straight sets... But in the final qualifying after winning the first set they failed to capitalize ... In match tie-break from 5-3 they lose next seven point to lose the match.

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At €1.6M Halle Open, Germany (Grass)

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Qualifier

In Halle, 2nd seed Rohan-Florin r facing qualifiers in the first round.

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At $731K Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain (Grass) - WTA Premier

[R1] (1) Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)

This week Martina Hingis is not playing so Sania is partnering Australian Casey Dellacqua at Aegon Classic

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) bt Daniel Cox (GBR,292) 76(0) 64

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) vs Alex Bolt (AUS,263) 36 1-2

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) vs (WC) Cameron Norrie (GBR,854)

This week only Yuki is in main-draw and facing lowly ranked British wild-card player.

Saki is skipping this tournament due to niggling injury but Somi is playing in qualifying ... He started with straights sets win over top-300 British player but struggling against top-275 Aussie player in the second qualifying.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,420) vs (1) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS,56)

Jeevan in facing top-60 Russian Gabashvili in the first round.

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At $15K USA F16B Futures, Charlottesville

[QF] (4) Sanam SINGH (IND,360) l (8) Ernesto ESCOBEDO (USA,536) 36 46

And Sanam's inconsistent performance continues with his loss against young American opponent.

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At $15K Thailand F4 Future, Bangkok

[R1] (4) Karunuday SINGH (IND,483) vs Jung-Woong NA (KOR,892)

Good to see KU is skipping easier Indian futures and playing more tougher Thai futures.

Squash News

At $10K Men's Christchurch International Open 2015,,New Zealand

[F] (3) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,61) l (4) Declan James (ENG,64) 1-3 (11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 6-11) (67m)

[SF] (3) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,61) bt (1) Raphael Kandra (GER,50) 3-1 (12-10, 6-11, 15-13, 11-7) (63m)
[QF] (3) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,61) bt (6) James Huang (TPE,91) 3-2 (14-12, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9) (73m)
[R1] (3) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,61) bt (Q) Evan Williams (NZL,114) 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-8) (41m)

Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu finishes runner-up after losing final to similar ranked Britisher Declan James in four games ... He was favourite for the final after upsetting top-seed and top-50 German Raphael Kandra in the semis ... Still good result for Harinder.

Tennis News

At[ Davis Cup - Asia / Oceania Group I 2015 - 2nd Round,

Indian Team - Yuki Bhambri, Somdev Devvarman, Saketh Myneni and Rohan Bopanna
Coach - Zeeshan Ali
Reserve player - Ramkumar Ramanathan

New Zealand Team - Rubin Statham, Michael Venus, Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak

Indian team for important New Zealand tie is announced ... Leander declared that he is not available for this tie so Rohan will play with Saki in the doubles ... As per their current ranking Yuki and Buji are selected fr singles tie ... RamK will be going to New Zealand as reserve player ... New Zealand is tough customer in their own country and currently their three players are in top-100 doubles ranking so not easy tie for us.

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At $15K USA F16B Futures, Charlottesville

[R1] (4) Sanam SINGH (IND,360) bt (WC) Luca CORINTELI (USA,UNR) 63 63
[R2] (4) Sanam SINGH (IND,360) bt (Q) Gonzales AUSTIN (USA,1538) 62 26 63

[QF] (4) Sanam SINGH (IND,360) vs (8) Ernesto ESCOBEDO (USA,536)

Sanam is playing in his home town futures as matches r playing inside UVa complex ... Sanam is still not in his form s he struggled in the second round against qualifier ... In the quarters he is facing in-form 18 yrs old Escobedo, looks tricky match.

Football News

At World Cup Qualification 2016, Banglore, India

Group D
India l Oman 1-2 (1-2)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 26' and Qasim Said (OMA) 1', Emad Al Hosani (OMA) 40' P

Despite valiant efforts our boys lose their match due to conceding silly goals ... Conceding goal in 1st minute and then needless penalty cost this match for Indians.

Tennis News

At €642K Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 76(5) 62

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs (2) Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Rohan-Florin continue with their winning ways as they score straight sets win in the quarters ... In the semis they r facing 2nd seed Zimo and Matkowski.

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At €604K Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

[QF] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 46 67(7)

Lee-Daniel poor run as pair continue ... Another loss in the quarters.

Tennis News

At €642K Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Frank Moser (GER) 63 76(10)

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

Really good win by Rohan-Florin against big serving Cilic and Moser in two sets ... Next they r facing Pavic and Venus.

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At €604K Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

[QF] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

Tricky French pair for Lee-Daniel in the quarters.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) l (1) Eric Butorac (USA)/ Colin Fleming (GBR) 46 67(3)
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) l Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 16 46

Our both pairs lose in quarters but in that Yuki-Divij gives fighting performance against top-seed British-American pair.

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

[R2] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) l Anna MORGINA (RUS,366) 57 46

Doubles
[QF] (4) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) l Anastasiya KOMARDINA (RUS)/ Julia TERZIYSKA (BUL) 26 16
[QF] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) l (2) Justyna JEGIOLKA (POL)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) 26 46

Ankita's loss is disappointing one, she needs to win such matches if want to inside top-200.

Tennis News

At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l John-Patrick Smith (AUS,162) 36 26

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Mao-Xin Gong (CHN) l Thomas Fabbiano (ITA)/ Luca Vanni (ITA) 26 57
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) bt (WC) Sean Thornley (GBR)/ Darren Walsh (GBR) 64 36 10-5

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) vs Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR)

Yuki fails to provide any fight against John-Patrick Smith ... He scumbled to one-sided loss.

In the doubles Somi-Wang start with a win against local wild-card pair in match tie-break ... Next they r facing another British pair Skupsk bros.

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

[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (IND,587) l (5) Nadiia KICHENOK (RUS,223) 46 26
[R1] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,673) l Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR,346) 16 36

Doubles
[QF] Alexandra GRINCHISHINA (KAZ)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) l (3) Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS)/ Ksenia LYKINA (RUS) 26 46

So no surprising results as our players lose their matches against much higher ranked opponents.

Tennis News

At €604K Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

[R1] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 64 63

Winning start for Lee-Nestor on their grass court season opener against Spanish pair.

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At €642K Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Frank Moser (GER)

Rohan-Florin r playing in Mercedes cup and facing Marin-Moser.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,205) l (WC) David Rice (GBR,423) 57 63 36

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt (WC) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Liam Broady (GBR) 76(5) 64
[R1] (4) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ James Ward (GBR) 75 46 6-10

Saki's first match on grass was tough one against local player ... Saki lose this match in three sets ... He lost first set when he failed to hold his serve in 11th game but fought back to win the second ... Saki failed to keep momentum in the third and lose this match.

In the doubles Divij-Yuki start with tight win over local wild-card pair ... Other hand Purav-Fabrice lose in match tie-break after winning the first set ... Ebden-Ward were tricky pair on the grass and that proved in the match.

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

[R1] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) bt Vlada ESHKIBAROVA (UZB,515) 64 75
[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,717) l (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,174) 63 36 36

[R2] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) vs Anna MORGINA (RUS,366)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (WC) Arina FOLTS (UZB)/ Guzal YUSUPOVA (UZB) 60 76(5)
[R1] Alexandra GRINCHISHINA (KAZ)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (WC) Gulchekhra MUKHAMMADSIDIKOVA (UZB)/ Shakhsiya TUKHTAMATOVA (UZB) 62 62
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) bt Ekaterina KLYUEVA (KAZ)/ Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ) 64 62

Fighting performance against top-175 Japanese girl Kuwata by Sharrmadaa in her loss ... Sharrmadaa surprised Kuwata after winning first set but Kuwata fought back to win next two sets ... Other hand expected straight sets win for Ankita, though she stretched in both sets ... In the second round Ankita is facing Russian girl Anna Morgina.

In the doubles our all pairs win their respective first round matches.

Tennis News

At €604K Topshelf Open, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

[R1] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)

Hoping better performance on grass by this pair ... Winnable first round against clay court specialists.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,203) vs (WC) David Rice (GBR,382)
[R1] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,156) vs John-Patrick Smith (AUS,162)

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs (WC) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Liam Broady (GBR)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Mao-Xin Gong (CHN) vs Thomas Fabbiano (ITA)/ Luca Vanni (ITA)
[R1] (4) Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ James Ward (GBR)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) vs (WC) Sean Thornley (GBR)/ Darren Walsh (GBR)

Yuki and Saki having tricky grass court season openers ... Yuki is facing similar ranked Aussie player and Saki is facing local wild-card player.

In the doubles after long time Divij and Yuki r playing together ... Interestingly Buji is also playing in the doubles.

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

[R1] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) vs Vlada ESHKIBAROVA (UZB,515)
[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,717) vs (1) Hiroko KUWATA (JPN,174)
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (IND,587) vs (5) Nadiia KICHENOK (RUS,223)
[R1] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,673) vs Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR,346)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) vs (WC) Arina FOLTS (UZB)/ Guzal YUSUPOVA (UZB)
[R1] Alexandra GRINCHISHINA (KAZ)/ Natasha PALHA vs (WC) Gulchekhra MUKHAMMADSIDIKOVA (UZB)/ Shakhsiya TUKHTAMATOVA (UZB)
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna MORGINA (RUS) vs Ekaterina KLYUEVA (KAZ)/ Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ)

Our three players qualify for main-draw but facing tough opponents in the first round ... On paper only Ankita having winnable match in the singles.

Athletic News

At the Asian Athletics Championships, Wuhan, China


Women's 3,000m Steeple Chase
Gold - Lalita Babar (IND) 9 minutes, 34.13s (NR)
Silver - Li Zenzhu (CHN) 9:41.43s
Bronze - Zhang Xinyan (CHN) 9:46.82s

Lalita Babar wins Gold medal with her personal best timing and with that she also qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics as her effort went past the qualifying standard of 9:45.00.

India finishes on fourth position in medal tally at Asian Athletics Championships with four Gold, five Silver and four Bronze medals.

Badminton News

At $800K Indonesian open 2015, Jakarta (Superseries Premier)

[QF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,12) bt (1) Long CHEN (CHN,1) 14-21 21-17 21-14
[QF] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,3) l Shixian WANG (CHN,7) 21-16 12-21 18-21

[SF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,12) l (8) Kento MOMOTA (JPN,9) 21-12 17-21 19-21

Kashyap lose in the semis after winning the first game against Japanese Kento Momota in 76 minutes ... After winning the first game easily Kashyap failed to keep momentum in the second ... In the second game Kashyap caught Kento at 17-all but lose next 4 points to lose this game ... In the final game from 10-all Kashyap opened couple of point lead which he extended to 17-13 ... But from 16-19 again Kento won five points in a row for winning this match ... Missed opportunity for Kashyap after his excellent win over WR #1 Long Chen in previous round.

Before this in the quarters Kashyap defeated current WR #1 Long Chen after losing the first game ... After losing the first game Kashyap took couple of points lead from 7-all and kept that lead to win the second game ... In the final game he opened 9-3 lead and Long failed to catch with Kashyap after that ... Which helped Kashyap to score his second win over Long ... In 2012 Kashyap defeated Long in same tournament.

Saina again failed to overcome challenge of Shixian Wang ... Saina won the first game but in the second from 6-all Shixian took control for winning it comfortably ... In the third game Saina was leading 13-8 and then 15-10 but again failed to capitalize ... Shixian caught her at 15-all and won two points in row from 19-all for completing another victory.

Tennis News

At €642K Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[Q1] Somdev DEVVARMAN (IND,169) l (4) Matthias BACHINGER (GER,124) 26 57
[Q1] N Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,401) l (6) Michal PRZYSIEZNY (POL,138) 36 26

Expected losses for our players in their grass season opener ... In the second set after 0-3 down Buji tried fightback but which wasn't proved enough.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain

[Q1] Purav Raja (IND,1194) l (8) Stefan Kozlov (USA,373) 62 46 26
[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND,872) bt Alexis Canter (GBR,UNR) 62 62

[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,872) l (5) Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL,293) 36 36

Divij won his first qualifying match against unranked player before losing to top-300 Bulgarian opponent ... Purav stretched his top-400 American opponent to three sets in his loss.

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At $50K Gimcheon Challenger, South Korea

[SF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Ti CHEN (TPE) l (3) Dean O'BRIEN (RSA)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA) 16 36

One-sided loss against third seed pair.

Badminton News

At $750K Indonesian open 2015, Jakarta (Superseries)

[R1] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,12) bt Tanongsak SAENSOMBOONSUK (THA,17) 21-17 21-7
[R1] (4) K. Srikanth (IND,4) bt Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,15) 11-21 21-14 24-22
[R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,14) l HSU Ya Ching (TPE,26) 21-16 15-21 14-21
[R1] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,1) bt Nichaon JINDAPON (THA,27)
[R1] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ Akshay DEWALKAR (IND) bt Adrian LIU (CAN)/ Derrick NG (CAN) 21-17 22-20
[R1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (4) Sheng Mu LEE (TPE)/ Chia Hsin TSAI (TPE) 21-17 22-20
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Ya Ching HSU (TPE)/ Yu Po PAI (TPE) 21-17 19-21 21-11

[R2] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,12) bt Wan Ho SON (KOR,5) 21-11 21-14
[R2] (4) K. Srikanth (IND,4) l (Q) Ginting ANTHONY (INA,167) 21-14 20-22 13-21
[R2] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,1) bt Ya Ching HSU (TPE,26) 21-13 21-15
[R2] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ Akshay DEWALKAR (IND) l (5) Biao CHAI (CHN)/ Wei HONG (CHN) 13-21 11-21
[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l (7) Yang YU (CHN)/ Qianxin ZHONG (CHN) 8-21 18-21

[QF] Kashyap PARUPALLI (IND,12) vs (1) Long CHEN (CHN,1)
[QF] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,3) vs Shixian WANG (CHN,7)

Srikanth lose his second round match against local qualifier after winning hte first game ... Other hand Kashyap score good upset win over top-5 Korean in convincing way ... Saina also score comfortable win over Taipei player ... Next both having tough matches against their Chinese nemesis.

Tennis News

At French Open 2015, Roland Garros, Paris

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE) 57 26

Juniors Doubles
[QF] (7) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND)/ Wushuang Zheng (CHN) l Jil Teichmann (SUI)/ Shilin Xu (CHN) 16 36

With Sania-Martina's loss in the doubles quarter final ends Indian challenge in on-going French open ... Against Mattek-Sands and Safarnova proved throne in their path in this straight sets loss.

Pranjala Yadlapallilose into quarters of junior doubles.

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At $50K Gimcheon Challenger, South Korea

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,403) l (1) Go Soeda (JPN,92) 46 26
[R1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,258) bt Kento Takeuchi (JPN,420) 62 62
[R1] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,630) bt (WC) Sun Wu Kwan (KOR,1988) 64 46 64

[R2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,258) l Ji Sung Nam (KOR,523) 63 26 36
[R2] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,630) l Connor Smith (USA,271) 36 64 46

Doubles
[R1] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Ti CHEN (TPE) bt David PEREZ SANZ (ESP)/ Marko TEPAVAC (SRB) 61 64
[QF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Ti CHEN (TPE) bt Hiroyasu EHARA (JPN)/ Yusuke WATANUKI (JPN) 26 63 12-10

[SF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Ti CHEN (TPE) vs (3) Dean O'BRIEN (RSA)/ Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA)

RamK and KU started with a win but both players lose their second round matches ... RamK get shocked by lowly ranked local player.

In the doubles Jeevan with Ti Chen r in the semis.

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

[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,587) l (7) Barbora STEFKOVA (CZE,330) 26 46
[R2] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) bt Basak ERAYDIN (TUR,563) 46 62 61

[QF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) l Ksenia Lykina (RUS,470)

Doubles
[QF] Alexandra GRINCHISHINA (KAZ)/ Natasha PALHA l (3) Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS)/ Ksenia LYKINA (RUS) 36 36
[QF] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Ekaterina KLYUEVA (KAZ) l (2) Justyna JEGIOLKA (POL)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) 16 16

Ankita lose in the quarters after winning her second round ... In the quarters her opponent was former top-200 player but still Ankita should start to win these matches.

Tennis News

At French Open 2015, Roland Garros, Paris

Juniors
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,32) bt Yosuke Watanuki (JPN,48) 63 75

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,32) l (8) Yunseong Chung (KOR,9) 62 36 46

Juniors Doubles
[R1] (7) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND)/ Wushuang Zheng (CHN) bt Cindy Castille (FRA)/ Carla Hassaine (FRA) 60 61
[R2] (7) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND)/ Wushuang Zheng (CHN) bt Anastasia Gasanova (RUS)/ Maia Lumsden (GBR) 75 64

[QF] (7) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND)/ Wushuang Zheng (CHN) vs Jil Teichmann (SUI)/ Shilin Xu (CHN)

Sumit's valiant efforts against top-10 Korean fails to win this match ... After winning the first set Sumit failed to keep monetum ... Before this against his Japanese opponent in the first round he struggled.

In doubles Pranjala is in quarters with her Chinese partner Zheng.

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

[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,557) bt Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,620) 61 63
[R1] (Q) Sharrmadaa BALUU (IND,717) l Anastasiya KOMARDINA (RUS,516) 46 26
[R1] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) bt Vlada ESHKIBAROVA (UZB,515) 63 63

[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,587) vs (7) Barbora STEFKOVA (CZE,330)
[R2] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,229) vs Basak ERAYDIN (TUR,563)

Doubles
[R1] Alexandra GRINCHISHINA (KAZ)/ Natasha PALHA (IND)bt Jamilya SADYKZHANOVA (UZB)/ Sarvinoz SAIDHUJAEVA (UZB) 63 36 10-4 [R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Ekaterina KLYUEVA (KAZ) bt Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB)/ Daria LODIKOVA (RUS) 64 36 10-4

Expected winning start for Ankita and Natasha in the singles ... In the doubles also our pairs start with wins.