Tennis News

At $937K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) 57 61 4-10

Lee-Grigor lose their match in the match tie-break ... This is again showing importance of regular partner on the tour, hopefully Lee is already short-listed probable candidates for next season.

Tennis News

At $2.5M Wuhan Women's Open, China (WTA Premier 5)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)

Sania-Martina r facing Polish-Aussie challenge in the second round.

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At $937K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,216) l Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ,48) 26 26

RamK gets outperformed by Kukushkin in this match ... Very tough lesson for RamK from top-50 player in this one-sided loss.

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At $50K+H Agri Challenger, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) bt Matija Pecotic (CRO,267) 75 61
[R1] (WC) Divij Sharan(IND,881) l Dennis Novak (AUT,257) 36 26

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) vs (Q) Fedor Chervyakov (RUS,975)

Saki take revenge of his last week's loss against Pecotic ... After winning the tight first set Saki dominated the second taking 5-0 lead ... In next round he is facing Russian qualifier Fedor Chervyakov ... These r important wins for Saki as he is defending chunk of points ... Other hand expected loss of Divij against top-250 type player.

Squash News

At $35K Men's JSW Kolkata RC International 2015, India

[R1] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (Q) Nathan Lake (ENG,116) 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 (47m)
[R1] (7) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,52) bt Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,56) 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (75m)
[R1] (5) Zahed Mohamed (EGY,36) bt (Q) Kush Kumar (IND,115) 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (38m)

[QF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (7) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,52) 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (35m)

[SF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (2) Stephen Coppinger (RSA,15) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 (45m)

Singles Final
(3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (1) Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY,12) 11-7, 11-2, 11-7 (43m)

Saurav Ghosal lifts $35K International title in his hometown with very convincing win over top-seed Egyptian Marwan Elshorbagy ... Before that in the semis Saurav scored dominating win over 2nd seed South African Stephen Coppinger ... Saurav wins this tournament without losing a single game ... Before this last week in Mumbai he was runner-up at $35K CCI International ... There he lost to top-seed Spanish opponent Borja Golan in four games, 6-11, 4-11, 12-10, 5-11 (68m) ... These performances will going to help him to push his ranking upwards in coming weeks.

Billiards News

At the 2015 IBSF World Billiards Championship, Adelaide, Australia

The 2015 IBSF World Billiards Championship was completed with the final of the Timed event where Pankaj Advani won his 14th World title defeating Peter Gilchrist (Singapore) 2408-1240 by 1168 points difference.

Peter Glichrist had already won the 150Up defeating Pankaj earlier in the week, so sweet revenge for Pankaj to defend his Timed title.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

Singles Final

(4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) l (2) Hyeon Chung (KOR,73) 57 46

Despite good shot-making Yuki lose in the final against Korean wonder kid Hyeon Chung ... Chung played terrific defensive game while beating Yuki ... Yuki started well and broke Chung in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... Yuki was up 5-2 and had 2 set points on Chung's serve but from here Chung turned table on Yuki ... From here Chung played amazing solid defensive game, he was returning everything Yuki was throwing at him ... First few games Yuki was coming on the net regularly but surprisingly he didn't repeat the same afterwards ... Chung broke Yuki in 9th and 11th games for completing superb comeback for winning this set ... In the second set till 4-all both players hold their respective service games ... Chung broke Yuki in 9th game and then hold for completing victory ... This is Chung's 4th challenger title of the year.

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At $50K+H Agri Challenger, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) vs Matija Pecotic (CRO,267)
[R1] (WC) Divij Sharan(IND,881) vs Dennis Novak (AUT,257)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Matt Seeberger (USA) vs (WC) Petru-Alexandru Luncanu (ROU)/ Yahor Yatsyk (BLR)
[R1] (2) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Aslan Karatsev (RUS)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH)

Rematch for Saki against Pecotic, hoping for better performance in the singles after his doubles title win this week ... Surprisingly Divij manages to get wild-card and facing Austrian Dennis Novak.

In the doubles Saki and Divij r 2nd seeds ... Jeevan is playing in the doubles with his American partner Matt Seeberger and they r 3rd seeds.

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At $15K Canada F11 Futures, Ontario

Singles Final
(2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) bt (1) Frank DANCEVIC (CAN,220) 64 62

Sanam score impressive win over top-seed Frank Dancevic for lifting $15K futures title ... This also means 3rd time lucky for Sanam against Dancevic as he lost in previous two meetings against Dancevic ... After winning the first set Sanam dominated the second to break Dancevic's 19 matches winning streak ... This win will push Sanam's ranking 260s to his career best ... This is also Sanam's 2nd title of the year and both his titles come in tough North American futures.

Tennis News

At $250K Guangzhou Women's Open, China

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Shilin Xu (CHN)/ Xiaodi You (CHN) 63 61

Expected dominating win by Sania and Martina in the final against local Chinese pair losing only four games ... This is Sania and Martina's 6th title of 2015 as a pair ... They've now won six of 13 events they've played since joining forces in March - Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, the US Open and now Guangzhou ... They're an incredible 42-7 together.

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At $2.5M Wuhan Women's Open, China (WTA Premier 5)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bye

In the first round Sania and Martina having bye.

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At $937K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,216) vs Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ,48)

Doubles
[R1] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR)

RamK receive wild-card for Malaysian open but having tough challenge against top-50 Kazakh player Mikhail Kukushkin.

In the doubles Lee partnering Sharapova's ex-boyfriend big serving Grigor Dimitrov.

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At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[SF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) bt (1) Jiri Vesely (CZE,40) 76(2) 60

[F] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs (2) Hyeon Chung (KOR,73)

Doubles

[SF] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) l Cheng-Peng Hsish (TPE)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) 26 36
[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) l (2) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 46 46

Yuki score one of best win of his career against WR #40 Jiri Vesely in straight sets ... Last week in the Davis cup he lost against Jiri in straight sets but he manage to take revenge here at Kaohsiung ... In 5th game of the first set Yuki saved 3 break points on his serve from 0-40 but after that both players hold their respective service games to take the set in tie-break ... From tie-break Yuki raised his game few notches and was triple breaks up 5-0 to win tie-break comfortably ... In the second set Yuki was playing smart tennis and used his shots smartly ... He bageled top-40 player in the second set breaking Jiri in 1st, 3rd and 5th games ... Yuki won the match with ace ... In the final he is facing talented young Korean Hyeon Chung ... Other hand Yuki is only one win away from entering first time into top-100 as currently he is #102 in live ranking.

In the doubles our both pairs lose their matches in straight sets.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

Doubles Final
(3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 76(5) 46 9-8 retd.

Good to see Divij and Saki lift the title ... Divij needs this title as he is outside of top-150 but with this title our both players will move into top-150 ... Saki will be first time inside top-50 for the doubles ... Saki-Divij faced big pressure on their serve through out the match by their opponents but they stood up to the challenge ... They saved 11 break points before giving break in 10th game of the second set ... In match tie-break opponents took medical break on match point for our pair, 9-8 and conceded the match due to retirement ... Ridiculous to see retirement on the match point.

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At $10K India F15 Futures, Madurai

[R1] (4) Sumit NAGAL (IND,602) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND,1085) 76(3) 62
[R2] (4) Sumit NAGAL (IND,602) bt Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND,1055) 75 36 61
[QF] (4) Sumit NAGAL (IND,602) bt (6) Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,596) 64 62
[SF] (4) Sumit NAGAL (IND,602) bt (1) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,364) 67(4) 63 64

Singles Final
(4) Sumit NAGAL (IND,602)bt (2) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,513) 76(5) 76(4)

Sumit lifts his third ITF futures title of his career and year in hsi third ITF futures final ... He beats big serving Vishnu Vardhan in the final winning both sets in tight tie-breaks ... In the final both players didn't face a single break point on their serve, Vishnu hit 24 aces and Sumit hit 5 ... Also in the semis Sumit scored upset win over Vijay Sundar after his two losses against him ... Last week Sumit lost against Vijay Sundar in F14 futures but this week he managed to turned table on him ... This title win help Sumit to push his ranking first time inside top-500.

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At $15K Canada F11 Futures, Ontario

[SF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) bt (7) Jared HILTZIK (USA,616) 76(3) 62

[F] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) vs (1) Frank DANCEVIC (CAN,220)

Sanam scores expected straight sets win over Hiltzik ... Again in the final he is facing Frank Dancevic ... Dancevic is aiming for the fourth title in a row.

Tennis News

At $250K Guangzhou Women's Open, China

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bye
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 62 63

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Julia Glushko (ISR)/ Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 63 64

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Shilin Xu (CHN)/ Xiaodi You (CHN)

Sania-Martina r in the final of Guangzhou open with straight sets win ... This is Sania-Martina's first tournament after US open triumph ... In the final they r facing unseeded Chinese pair, who scored upset win over 2nd and 3rd seed pairs en-route to the final.

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At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[QF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) bt Jimmy Wang (TPE,283) 64 62

[SF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs (1) Jiri Vesely (CZE,40)

Doubles
[QF] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) bt Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/ Marco Trungelliti (ARG) w/o
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) bt Ti Chen (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 60 57 10-7

[SF] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) vs Cheng-Peng Hsish (TPE)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)
[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) vs (2) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)

Yuki scores impressive straight sets win over Jimmy for entering into the semi-final ... In the first set Yuki was down early break, 0-3 ... After that he made strong comeback and won next five games in a row breaking Jimmy in 5th and 7th games to lead 5-3 ... Yuki kept break advantage for winning the set ... In the second set Yuki broke Jimmy in 2nd and 4th games to take 4-0 lead and after that hold that lead for comfortable win ... In the semis he is facing top-40 Czech player Jiri Vesely ... Against the same player Yuki lost last week in Davis cup.

In the doubles also Yuki is in the semis with his partner Yi ... After bagelled opponents on the first set Yuki-Yi lost the second set but they recovered well to win the match tie-break ... Buji-Jeevan receive walkover from their South American opponents.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) l (4) Lukas Lacko (SVK,112) 36 57

Doubles
[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Gero Kretschmer (GER)/ Alexander Satschko (GER) 63 36 11-9

[F] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (4) Malek Jaziri (TUN)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR)

RamK gives fighting performance in his loss against Lacko ... In this match RamK started tentatively to get broken in 1st game of the match ... Lacko kept advantage and again broke Ramk when he was serving for staying in the set in 9th game for winning this set ... In the second set RamK raised his game and matched with his top-100 caliber opponent despite struggling with his backhand ... In 12th game RamK saved a match point before losing to 2nd match point ... Overall pleasing performance in the second from RamK.

Divij-Saki score upset win over top-seed German pair, who r in top-100 doubles rankings, in very tight match tie-break ... After winning the first set our pair lost the second set but they fought hard to recover for winning match tie-break in extra points ... In the final they r facing 4th seed Jaziri and Molchanov.

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At $15K Canada F11 Futures, Ontario

[QF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) bt (WC) Alejandro TABILO (CAN,1985)

[SF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) vs (7) Jared HILTZIK (USA,616)

Expected win for Sanam against local wild-card player Tabilo ... Next he is facing 7th seed American Hiltzik.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[R2] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) bt Peter Gojowczyk (GER,140) 64 63

[QF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs Jimmy Wang (TPE,283)

Another good straight sets win by Yuki against in-form German Peter Gojowczyk ... In the first set both players exchanged early breaks but Yuki took crucial break in 7th game to lead 4-3 ... Yuki kept that lead for winning the set ... In the second set Yuki broke Peter in 3rd game to lead 2-1 and then saved couple of break points for keeping the lead 3-1 ... Yuki again broke Peter in 9th game when he was serving for staying in the match and completed victory ... In the quarter he is facing local Jimmy Wang.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Matteo Volante (ITA) 75 61

[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Gero Kretschmer (GER)/ Alexander Satschko (GER)

Divij-Saki score straight sets win over Dustov-Volante ... In the semis they r facing top-seed German pair.

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At $15K Canada F11 Futures, Ontario

[R1] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) bt Quinton VEGA (USA,1452) 75 64
[R2] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) bt Gary KUSHNIROVICH (USA,1561) 61 61

[QF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,329) vs (WC) Alejandro TABILO (CAN,1985)

Tight straight sets win for Sanam on indoor court in the first round ... But he shows dominating performance in his second round win ... In the quarters he is facing local wild-card player.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) bt Wei-De Lin (TPE)/ Cing-Yang Meng (TPE) 36 60 10-7
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) bt Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Jurgen Zopp (EST) 26 63 10-7

[QF] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) vs Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/ Marco Trungelliti (ARG)
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)

Winning start for for our players in the doubles ... Both wins were comeback wins after losing the first set ... In the quarters Buji-Jeev r facing South American pair and Yuki-Yi r facing local favorite pair.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) bt (Q) Daniel Masur (GER,367) 46 76(4) 76(3)

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) vs (4) Lukas Lacko (SVK,112)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 63 64

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Matteo Volante (ITA)

Excellent tight win by RamK after losing the first set against his German opponent ... Masur broke RamK in 5th game to lead 2-3 and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the second set RamK saved 4 break points on his serve in 7th game and then had 2 set points on Masur's serve which he failed to convert ... RamK took control in tie-break for winning it ... In the third set RamK missed total five break points but other hand he was serving well ... Again he dominated tie-break for completing important win ... Next he is facing WR #112 and former top-50 Lukas Lacko.

In the doubles Saki-Divij start with comfortable straight sets victory against RamK and his local partner Tuna Altuna ... Next they r facing Uzbek-Italian pair.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) bt Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) 76(5) 60

[R2] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER,140)

Yuki scores his first win over Buji after two losses earlier this year ... After winning the first set in tie-break he bagelled Buji in the second ... In the first set Buji broke Yuki in 6th game to lead 4-2 ... In 7th game Buji was leading 40-15 but from here he lost the plot ... Yuki broke him in 7th game to bring the set on serve ... After taking the set in tie-break Yuki won it ... In the second set Yuki dominated or we should say Buji gave up ... Yuki broke Buji in 2nd, 4th and 6th game for straight sets victory ... Next Yuki is facing German Peter Gojowczyk, who won last week's Nanchang challenger.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,195) l Matija Pecotic (ROU,295) 57 46
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) bt (6) Elias Ymer (SWE,132) 67(3) 63 75

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) vs (Q) Daniel Masur (GER,367)

Saki missed chance as he was in early control in the match ... Saki broke Pecotic in 4th game to lead 4-1 but Pecotic broke Saki in 7th game ... Then Pecotic took crucial break in 11th game for winning the first set ... After losing first set Saki failed to raise his game ... He was break don at 3-4 and Pecotic kept that lead for completing upset victory ... Last few months Saki is struggling on challenger level and fail to give some good results.

RamK scores huge comeback win against in-form Swedish man Elias Ymer ... RamK lost the first set in tie-break ... Ymer broke RamK in 5th game but RamK immediately broke back him in the next ... In tie-break Ymer took control from the start to lead 1-6 and converted 3rd set point ... In the second set RamK broke Ymer in 1st game and again broke him in 9th game for winning this set ... In the final set Ymer broke RamK in 3rd game but RamK immediately broke back, 2-all ... RamK saved break points and in 12th game gave himself 2 match points on Ymer's serve, 15-40 ... Ymer saved both but RamK converted fourth match point for big win ... next he is facing German qualifier Daniel Masur.

Football News

At u-16 AFC Qualifying, Iran

Group E
India bt Bahrain 5-0
India l Iran 0-3
India bt Lebanon 6-0

Impressive show by Indian colts against west Asian countries ... Beating Bahrain and Lebanon boys comfortably and lose to host Iran due to their bad playing ... Our boys r really making noise under their German coach Nicolai Adam and progressing in right direction ... We r preparing well for u-17 World cup.

Golf News

At $1M Small Business Connection Championship, Davidson, North Carolina, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

T16 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 70 67 71 -8 $15,000

Not a great final round as Anirban managed only one under in the final round ... After two weeks his earning is $49,750 ... So he is almost secure his conditional PGA tour card ... Now Anirban is thinking of skipping next week's Web.com tour tournament in preparation for President Cup.

Tennis News

At Davis cup 2015 - World Group Play-Off, New Delhi, India

India l Czech Republic 1-3

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) l Lukas Rosol (CZE,85) 16 36 57
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE,40) 76(3) 64 63

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Adam Pavlasek (CZE)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) 57 26 26

Day Three
[R4] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) l Jiri Vesely (CZE,40) 36 57 26
[R5] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE,85)

I was hoping different Yuki in this match but again Yuki struggled with his game in the match ... In the first set Yuki got broken early and Jiri kept that advantage for winning it ... In the second set Yuki tried hard but in this set he missed multiple break point chances ... Jiri took crucial break in 11th game for winning this set ... In the third set also Yuki's erratic game cost him first game on his serve ... Jiri again broke Yuki in third game to lead 4-0 ... Jiri kept that lead for competing victory and also giving tie to Czech Republic.

Here is sum of Yuki's performance in this tie - Lack of consistency in his game, poor backhand, poor return of serve, unintelligent shots selection, poor own serve in crucial juncture and going for finishing point early ... Also our shocking loss in the doubles against Czech pair was frustrating.

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At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger, Taiwan

[R1] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs Somdev Devvarman (IND,164)

Doubles

[R1] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) vs Wei-De Lin (TPE)/ Cing-Yang Meng (TPE)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) vs Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Jurgen Zopp (EST)

Yuki and Buji facing each other in the first round in taiwan.

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At $75K Izmir Challenger, Turkey

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,195) vs Matija Pecotic (ROU,295)
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,218) vs (6) Elias Ymer (SWE,132)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)

Saki and RamK r playing in Turkey challenger ... RamK having tough match against Ymer ... In the doubles Saki-Divij r facing RamK and his Turkish partner.

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At $15K Canada F10 Futures, Toranto

Singles Final
(2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) l (1) Frank DANCEVIC (CAN,249) 36 26

Frank Dancevic proved too strong for Sanam in the final ... This is Frank's third title in a row in Canadian futures.

Badminton News

At $600K Victor Korea Open 2015, Seoul

Men's Singles Final
Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) l (1) Chen Long (CHN,1) 14-21 13-21

As expected straight games loss for Ajay against WR #1 Chen Long ... In this match Ajay played some smart game but his inconsistency in shots making cost him dearly ... Still creditable performance for Ajay as after three years he crossed quarter final hurdle in SuperSeries.

Golf News

At $1M Small Business Connection Championship, Davidson, North Carolina, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

T20 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 70 67 -7

Anirban started well in the third round and scored five birdies in first 8 holes but he failed to repeat same in the final nine ... Managed a birdie on 15th and bogey on the final 18th hole ... Still five under round helps him to climb in top 20 with seven under.

Tennis News

At Davis cup 2015 - World Group Play-Off, New Delhi, India

India vs Czech Republic 1-2

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) l Lukas Rosol (CZE,85) 16 36 57
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE,40) 76(3) 64 63

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Adam Pavlasek (CZE)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) 57 26 26

Before this tie begins everyone was convinced that Indian pair definitely going to win this rubber considering our top two doubles players Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna ... Other hand Czech had Radek Stepanek and inexperienced Adam Pavlasek ... But in the end Adam Pavlasek turned to be trump card for Czech team.

Czech pair scores comfortable straight sets win over fancied Indian pair in straight sets ... Our pair failed to raise their game in front of home crowd and lost tamely ... Only in the first set we were troubling them ... Czech pair broke Bops in 5th game but our pair fought back to break back ... In 11th game Czech pair took crucial break on Lee;s serve and then hold for winning the set ... In the second set they broke Lee twice for winning it ... In the third they broke Bops and Lee to take 5-1 lead ... At that time our pair broke Adam Pavlasek in 8th game but immediately they broke Lee's serve for completing excellent victory.

In press conference Lee summarized really well saying, there were three great doubles players and one rookie and the rookie made the show ... Undoubtedly 20 yrs old young Adam Pavlasek was star of the match ... He played above his current ranking #268 to outperform these all legends.

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At $15K Canada F10 Futures, Toranto

[SF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) bt Filip PELIWO (CAN,494) 26 63 76(1)

[F] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) vs (1) Frank DANCEVIC (CAN,249)

Excellent comeback and hard fought win by Sanam over former JR WR #1 Canadian player Filip Peltw for entering into the final ... In the final Sanam is facing top-seed and top-250 Canadian Frank Dancevic.

Badminton News

At $600K Victor Korea Open 2015, Seoul (SuperSeries)

[R1] (8) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) l Wei Nan (HKG,18) 21-17 16-21 18-21
[R1] (4) Kadambi Srikanth (IND,5) l Tian Houwei (CHN,10) 21-12 13-21 17-21
[R1] H.S. Prannoy (IND,15) l (7) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7) 21-18 19-21 17-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) bt (6) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,6) 21-15 21-15

[R1] P.V. Sindhu (IND,13) bt (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,6) 21-19 21-23 21-13

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) bt Wong Wing Ki Vincent (HKG,30) 17-21 21-15 21-15
[R2] P.V. Sindhu (IND,13) l Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,16)16-21 13-21

[QF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) bt Sho Sasaki (JPN,26) 21-19 16-21 21-16

[SF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) bt (7) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7) 21-19 21-15

[F] Ajay Jayaram (IND,32) vs (1) Chen Long (CHN,1)

Turn to be terrific Korean SuperSeries for Ajay ... After three years of injury affected years he manages to cross quarter-final hurdles in SuperSeries ... He score two top-10 wins over last week's finalist Danish Viktor Axelsen and Taipei's Chou Tien Chen ... He is in the final with comfortable straight games win over Chou Tien Chen ... In the final he is facing WR #1 Chinese Chen Long.

Golf News

At $1M Small Business Connection Championship, Davidson, North Carolina, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

T44 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 70 -2

Anirban is struggling in the second Web.com Tour final at River side in pursuit of securing his PGA tour card ... He manages to make cut after 2 under round as first day he struggled with 3 birdies and same numbers of bogeys ... Hoping for better last two rounds for top 10 finish.

Tennis News

At Davis cup 2015 - World Group Play-Off, New Delhi, India

India vs Czech Republic 1-1

courtesy to Florian Buechting

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) l Lukas Rosol (CZE,85) 26 16 57
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE,40) 76(3) 64 63

Buji pleasently surprise us with his straight sets win over WR #40 Jiri Vesely after Yuki's one-sided loss ... Frankly this win wasn't expected and this win definetely give us fighting chance in this tie for upsetting WR #1 Czech Republic ... Now tomorrow's doubles tie is crucial for both team.

Buji looked in sublime form and kept his unbeaten streak in Delhi ... Buji took full advantage of Jiri's struggle in the heat and played within his limit ... He kept ball in the play and played patient game, when opportunity came he hit winners ... In the first set both players hold their respective service games till tie-break ... In tie-break at 2-all Buji took a mini-break and kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set Jiri broke Buji in 1st game to lead 2-0 but Buji broke him in 6th game to made it 3-all ... Buji kept pressure on Jiri and broke him in 10th game when he was serving for staying in the set ... In the final set Jiri was looking visibly tired and Buji took full advantage of it ... He broke Jiri in 4th game and then hold his service games for completing famous win in 2 hours and 41 minutes converting 2nd match point.

Rosol played attacking tennis against Yuki ... Yuki failed to challenge him and lost first 2 sets inside an hour without giving much fight ... In the third set Yuki broke Rosol in 3rd game to lead 3-1 but Rosol broke back in 6th game for 3-all ... Yuki had break point chances in 11th game which he failed to convert and Rosol broke him in 12th game for sealing first rubber point for Czech.

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At $15K Canada F10 Futures, Toranto

[QF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) bt Justin S. SHANE (USA,854) 63 61

[SF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) vs Filip PELIWO (CAN,494)

Comfortable win for Sanam ... Next he is facing former WR #1 junior Canadian player for place in the final.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Championship Shotgun, Lonato, Italy

Skeet Men
6 Mairaj Ahmad Khan (IND) 122

Mairaj Ahmad Khan wins first ever Olympics quota place in Skeet for India ... He is qualify for the final on 6th place and he grabs quota place as other shooters already secured their quota place ... So with that our 8 shooters book their quota places for Rio Olympics 2016.

Athletics News

At the 55th National Open Athletics Championships, Kolkata, India

Manpreet Kaur threw the shot put to a distance of 17.96m on her second attempt in the final, which was enough to achieve the quota place for the Rio Games, qualification mark was 17.80m. And in doing so, she rewrote a long-standing national record, set by Harbans Kaur way back in 1997.

Tennis News

At Davis cup 2015 - World Group Play-Off, New Delhi, India

India vs Czech Republic

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE,85)
[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE,40)

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Adam Pavlasek (CZE)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE)

Day Three
[R4] Yuki Bhambri (IND,125) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE,40)
[R5] Somdev Devvarman (IND,164) vs Lukas Rosol (CZE,85)

Overall good draw for us as yuki is playing first match without much pressure ... Also Buji is prefer playing hot and humid condition against Jiri Vesely ... Hoping for some upset from our players.

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At $50K+H Nanchang Challenger, China

[R2] (Q) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND,448) l (5) Peter Gojowczyk (GER,170) 46 06

Expected loss of Jeevan.

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At $15K Canada F10 Futures, Toranto

[R1] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) bt (Q) Dane WEBB (USA,UNR) 63 61
[R2] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) bt (Q) Nathan PASHA (USA,1252) 62 64

[QF] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) vs Justin S. SHANE (USA,854)

Sanam start with comfortable wins against qualifiers ... Next he is facing American Justin Shane.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Nanchang Challenger, China

[R1] (Q) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND,448) bt Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS,315) 61 46 63
[R1] (Q) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) l Nicolas Barrientos (COL,258) 26 62 16

[R2] (Q) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND,448) vs (5) Peter Gojowczyk (GER,170)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Hiroki Moriya (JPN) l (3) Ti Chen (TPE)/ Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) 36 64 8-10

Jeevan and Bala qualified for main-draw ... In the first round Bala lose his match in three sets against Barrientos ... Other hand Jeevan score upset win over top-320 Aussie player Peperzeel in three ets ... In the second round he is facing top-175 German Gojowczyk.

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At $15K Canada F10 Futures, Toranto

[R1] (2) Sanam SINGH (IND,334) vs (Q) Dane WEBB (USA,UNR)

This week on hard court so hoping for better result for Sanam.

Golf News

At $1M Hotel Fitness Championship, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

T6 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 65 70 71 -13 $34,750

Disappointing to see Anirban finishes outside top 5 after remaining in 2nd position for last two rounds ... On the last day Anirban struggled on the course ... He hit 4 birdies and 3 bogeys in this round ... till 12th hole he was 2 over for the day but then managed to hit three birdies on 13th, 15th and importantly the 18th to finish inside top-10.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Women's Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (4) Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 63 63

Sania and Martina lift their second grand slam title as a pair after winning US open comfortably ... This is Sania's 2nd Women's doubles grand slam and overall 5th grand slam title ... Other hand after Wimbledon Martina once again wins double crown ... Interestingly she wins women's doubles and mixed doubles title with same Indian partners, Sania Mirza and Leander Paes ... ;-)

In the final they played superb tennis and won it without much trouble ... After winning the first set comfortably they were up with early break in the second ... At 5-2 Hingis was serving for the championship but failed to hold her service game ... Sania-Martina immediately broke Shvedova in 9th game for completing the victory.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

Singles Final
(4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) bt Di Wu (CHN,247) 36 60 76(3)

Yuki scores excellent comeback win over Di Wu to lift his fourth challenger title of his career and this title comes after 2013 Chennai challenger title ... This title win will push him inside #125 for the first time in his career.

In the first set Di Wu broke Yuki in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and kept that advantage for winning this set ... Yuki raised his game in the second set ... He broke Di Wu in 2nd, 4th and 6th games to give bagel ... In the final set Yuki missed 3 break points in 2nd game ... Yuki took break in 8th game to lead 5-3 but failed to hold while serving for the match ... In 10th game Yuki missed six match points on Di Wu's serve and one of that was an overhead smash ... Yuki recovered and won the tie-break comfortably for completing victory.

Wrestling News

At 2015 World Wrestling Championships, Las Vegas, USA

Men's freestyle 74 kg
Gold - Jordan Burroughs (USA)
Silver - Pürevjavyn Önörbat (MGL)
Bronze - Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) and Aniuar Geduev (RUS)

Bronze Medal match
Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) bt Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA) 8F-12 (won by fall)

[SF] Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) l Pürevjavyn Önörbat (MGL) 4-4

[QF] Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) bt Liván López (CUB) 16-5
[R16] Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) bt Soner Demirtaş (TUR) 4-3
[R32] Narsingh Pancham Yadav (IND) bt Hanoch Rachamin (ISR) 14-2

Only Narsingh Pancham Yadav manages to win Rio 2016 Quota Place for India from this World Wrestling Championships after winning Bronze medal ... Really happy for Narsingh to wins Bronze and taking full advantage of received opportunity in place of Sushil Kumar due to his injury ... He is definitely coming out of shadow of Sushil Kumar ... This will be big rivalry for place in Rio team.

In Bronze medal match, Narsingh Yadav was 4-12 down against French wrestler Zelimkhan Khadjiev with a less than a minute to go and at that points he overthrew Zelimkhan and pinned him down to win by fall ... Before that in the semis against Mongolian wrestler Pürevjavyn Önörbat, Narsingh was leading 4-3 but his Mongolian opponent won a point for 4-4 and then won the bout as he had won the last point .. In end very close loss for Narsingh.

Golf News

At $1M Hotel Fitness Championship, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

2 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 65 70 -12

Anirban must be disappointed with his third round ... He scored six birdies, two bogeys and double bogey on last 18th hole ... He is still on sole 2nd position but Anirban is three strokes behind leader D.H. Lee.

Tennis News

At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[SF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) bt (Q) Daniil Medvedev (RUS,409) 63 3-0 retd.

[F] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) vs Di Wu (CHN,247)

Yuki in the final of Shanghai challenger when his Russian opponent retired from the match ... At that time Yuki was one set up and break up in the second ... In the final he is facing local boy Di Wu ... Tricky match considering local support in the final for Di Wu.

Golf News

At $1M Hotel Fitness Championship, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA (Web.com Tour Finals)

2 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 65 -10

Anirban Lahiri is playing the Web.com Tour Finals in an effort to earn his PGA TOUR card for the first time ... Anirban plans on playing the first three events of the Finals, before foregoing the Web.com Tour Championship to prepare for his first Presidents Cup appearance in Korea, where he’ll become the first Indian player to compete ... That means Anirban has three weeks to secure his place inside the top 25 on the Finals money list.

After first round with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys Anirban was T16 with 3 under ... In the second round he start from back 9 and scored five birdies in first 6 holes ... He added 3 more birdies on front 9 but bogeyed on last hole to behind leader Jamie Lovemark by a stroke.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Mixed Doubles Final
(4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 64 36 10-7

Leander-Martina lift third grand slam title of the year after winning US Open in super tie-break, only they missed French open ... This is Leander's 9th mixed doubles grand slam title ... This win also established them the most dominant mixed doubles team of the last 45 years ... Lee and Martina are only the second mixed doubles team in the Open era (and the first since 1969) to win three Grand Slams in the same year ... They have already confirmed they will play together in 2016.

Early in the match Martina was superb but she struggled in the second ... Other hand Lee played solid game near the net ... In match tie-break's last three points from 7-all Lee was exceptional ... After winning the set Lee-Martina lost the second set ... In match tie-break Lee-Martina were down 1-4 but from here they made excellent comeback to win another title as pair.

Leander Paes - “I don’t believe that I have the technique or caliber of talent that [Hingis] has. What I do have is the guts. I will go for it. In any partnership, there's got to be one person who brings the energy to the team, who takes all the pressure on their shoulder and drives the team forward. I know if I can keep Martina happy and relaxed, I don’t even have to worry about the tennis.”

“When we go out there and play for an hour, we are generally getting in a block of four or five hours of quality in that one hour. I have a reputation of not wanting to practice so much, but it's because the quality of practice is so good I don't have to do the same number of hours as others.”

Martina Hingis - “The understanding we have for the game and each other is amazing. Even if one thing doesn’t work, we come up with a plan B or C like we did today. I just feel like we’re almost invincible going on court.”

“We don't have the biggest serves or returns, but we are stable and we do the basics as well as anybody. Our solid base is just so high that our opponents have to overperform to win. We have a little bit of this aura and they have to come up with their best game to beat us.”

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[QF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS,195) 62 62

[SF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) vs (Q) Daniil Medvedev (RUS,409)

Another solid win by Yuki against in-form Thompson ... Yuki dominated this match, he didn't face a single break point on his serve and broke opponents four times in the match ... Next he is facing Russian teenager qualifier Daniil Medvedev for place in the final.

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At $15K Canada F9 Futures, Toranto (clay)

[QF] (3) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) l (Q) Nathan PASHA (USA,1267) 36 46

Sanam's inconsistent performance continues ... Another unneeded loss against qualifier.

Badminton News

At $275K Yonex Open Japan 2015, Tokyo

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) l (6) Chou Tien-chen (TPE,7) 14-21 18-21

Indian challenge get over at Japan open with loss of Kashyap in straight games against Chou Tien-chen ... Turn to be disappointing tournament for us despite higher rankings of our players.

Badminton News

At $275K Yonex Open Japan 2015, Tokyo

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) bt (3) Kadambi Srikanth (IND,4) 21-11 21-19
[R2] H.S. Prannoy (IND,12) l (Q) Lee Dong-keun (KOR,33) 9-21 16-21

[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) l Minatsu Mitani (JPN,18) 13-21 16-21

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) vs (6) Chou Tien-chen (TPE,7)

Turn to be terrible day for Indian players as only Kashayp score dominating win over compatriot Srikanth ... This loss shows current terrible form of Srikanth but happy for Kashyap, who takes advantage of it with his game ... In the quarters he is facing 6th seed Chou Tien-chen.

I was worried about Saina's match against Mitani and Mitani does not give much chance to Saina in her straight games win ... Prannoy also fails to challenge his Korean opponent in straight games loss.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (11) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 64 61
[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 67(2) 36

Mixed Doubles
[SF] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) 62 75

[F] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Juniors
[R3] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) l (2) Dalma Gálfi (HUN,2) 46 67(3)

Martina Hingis is again in position for double crown ... In women's doubles semi-final Sania and Martina score comfortable win against Italian pair for entering in the final ... Then in MXD semi-final Martina and Leander score straight sets win over 2nd seed Rohan and Chan for entering their third MXD final of the year ... In the final they r facing American pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey.

Rohan-Florin miss opportunity of winning their first grand slam ... They were highest seeded pair remaining in the draw before this match but against Inglot-Lindstedt they failed to play their natural game ... After losing the first set in tie-break Rohan-Florin failed to raise their game in the second also.

Karman lose in straight sets against junior WR #2 Dalma Gálfi but Karman gives fighting performance in her loss ... After losing the first set Karman stretched Dalma to tie-break in the second ... We can hope good performances in future from Karman, she needs to work on her physic and her backhand.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[R2] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) bt Ze Zhang (CHN,217) 75 63
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) l Jordan Thompson (AUS,195) 63 36 26

[QF] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS,195)

Doubles
[QF] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) l Peter Gojowczyk (GER)/ Jurgen Zopp (EST) 16 16

Good win by Yuki against Chinese #1 Ze Zhang in straight sets on Chinese soil ... In the first set Yuki was up and serving for the set in 10th game at 5-4 but lost his serve due to poor service game ... Yuki immediately broke Ze in 11th game and then hold for winning the set ... In the second set Yuki broke Ze twice for winning it.

Saki lose his match tamely after winning the first set against Thompson ... Saki won the first set but failed to keep momentum ... Thompson is meeting Yuki in the quarters ... Saki and Bala also lose their doubles match poorly.

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At $15K Canada F9 Futures, Toranto (clay)

[R1] (3) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) bt David VOLFSON (CAN,955) 63 26 62
[R2] (3) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) bt (Q) Damon Gooch (RSA,1145) 63 60

[QF] (3) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) vs (Q) Nathan PASHA (USA,1267)

Sanam start with tight win against local player but then score comfortable win in the second round ... In the quarters he is facing American qualifier.

Badminton News

At $275K Yonex Open Japan 2015, Tokyo

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) bt Takuma Ueda (JPN,23) 3-2 retd.
[R1] (3) Kadambi Srikanth (IND,4) bt Scott Evans (IRL,34) 21-18 21-15
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,31) l (7) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,6) 10-21 10-21
[R1] H.S. Prannoy (IND,12) bt Wong Wing Ki Vincent (HKG,29) 23-21 22-20
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,32) l (Q) Lee Dong-keun (KOR,33) 21-23 10-21

[R1] P.V. Sindhu (IND,14) l Minatsu Mitani (JPN,18) 13-21 21-17 11-21
[R1] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) bt Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,17) 21-14 22-20

[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (1) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 6-21 17-21
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (8) Zhao Yunlei (CHN)/ Tian Qianxin (CHN) 20-22 21-18 13-21

[R2] (3) Kadambi Srikanth (IND,4) vs Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8)
[R2] H.S. Prannoy (IND,12) vs (Q) Lee Dong-keun (KOR,33)

[R2] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) vs Minatsu Mitani (JPN,18)

Till now expected results ... Kashyap's Japanese opponent Ueda retire from the match ... Ajay lose one-sided match against Axelsen ... Surprising loss of Sindhu but Mitani always trouble our players ... So tricky second round match for Saina.

Sai get stretched by Wong Wing Ki Vincent in both games but still he wins both games in extra points ... Srikanth score straight games win over Evans.

Jwala-Ashwini trouble Chinese pair in first 2 games ... But failed to keep same tempo in the third.

Football News

At World Cup Qualification 2018, Bengaluru, India

Group D
India l Iran 0-3 (0-1)
Goal Scored - Sardar Azmoun (IRI) 29′, Andranik Teymourian (IRI) 47′ and Mehdi Taremi (IRI)49′

Iran outperform us in this one-sided match ... In this match different between two teams were vastly seen as Iran is #40 in FIFA ranking and we r #155 ... In the first hal we were trying hard and giving little fighting performance but in the second half our performance was totally flat ... Iran missed many chances so score remained 0-3. half

Tennis News

At Davis Cup World Group Play-off 2015, New Delhi, India

Czech Republic Team
#48 Jiri Vesely, #87 Lukas Rosol, #149 Adam Pavlasek and Radek Stepanek
Non-playing Captain - Jaroslav Navratil

Czech Republic announce team for their Davis cup tie against India ... WR #6 Tomas Berdych is opted out so Indians having little opening in this match but still very tough match for us considering poor form of Buji and lack of chemistry between Lee and Rohan in the doubles.

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At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (9) Chan Hao-ching (TPE)/ Chan Yung-jan (TPE) 76(5) 61

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (11) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

Juniors
[R2] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) bt Evgeniya Levashova (RUS,28) 62 46 63

[R3] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) vs (2) Dalma Gálfi (HUN,2)

[R1] Jéssica Hinojosa (MEX)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) l Tornado Alicia Black (USA)/ Ingrid Neel (USA) 16 06

Sania-Martina score straight sets win over Taipei pair for entering into the semis ... They were stretched by Taipei pair in the first set to tie-break but after that they dominated the second set ... In the semis they r facing Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta.

Karman score another upset win over top-30 Russian girl Evgeniya Levashova in three sets ... After winning the first set comfortably Karman faced challenge from Evgeniya ... Russian girl fought back to win the second set but Karman recovered to win the third set and the match ... In the third round Karman is facing real challenge of 2nd seed Hungarian girl Dalma Gálfi.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) bt (Q) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) 64 63

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS,195)

Expected straight sets win by Saki over Bala ... Next he is facing in-form Aussie Jordan Thompson, who won couple of futures title in Thailand and also reached the semis of last week's Bangkok challenger.

Badminton News

At $275K Yonex Open Japan 2015, Tokyo

[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) l Kanta Tsuneyama (JPN,UNR) 20-22 18-21

[Q1] (1) Kona Tarun (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Yuta Watanabe (JPN)/ Arisa Higashino (JPN) 9-21 21-13 19-21

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,8) vs Takuma Ueda (JPN,23)
[R1] (3) Kadambi Srikanth (IND,4) vs Scott Evans (RL,34)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,31) vs (7) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,6)
[R1] H.S. Prannoy (IND,12) vs Wong Wing Ki Vincent (HKG,29)
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,32) vs (Q) Lee Dong-keun (KOR,)

[R1] P.V. Sindhu (IND,14) vs Minatsu Mitani (JPN,18)
[R1] (2) Saina Nehwal (IND,1) vs Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,17)

[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (1) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (8) Zhao Yunlei (CHN)/ Tian Qianxin (CHN)

Interestingly our all five male players r in same draw and start meeting each other from the second round ... Saina and Sindhu are also same draw and can face each other in the second round ... Our both doubles teams having tough first round matches against seeded pairs.

In qualifying poor results for our players as all lose their respective matches against lowly ranked local players.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt (9) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 67(4) 64 63

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE)

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Simona Halep (ROU)/ Horia Tecău (ROU) w/o
[QF] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Henri Kontinen (FIN) 76 (9) 57 13-11

[SF] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND)

Juniors
[R1] (15) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,19) l (Q) Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE,1090) 67(1) 36
[R1] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) bt (16) Katharina Hobgarski (GER,20) 63 76(3)

[R1] Eleni Christofi (GRE)/ Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) l Kimberly Birrell (AUS)/ Maddison Inglis (AUS) 36 57

[R2] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) vs Evgeniya Levashova (RUS,28)

Karman score huge upset win over JR# 20 and a 18 year old German who reached French open QF and is also ranked around top-500 in WTA singles rankings ... Though Katharina Hobgarski is clay court specialist still this is special win for Karman on her first junior grand slam match ... After winning the first set Karman was break down at 0-2 and then won five games in a row to lead 5-2 ... And she served two times for the match at 5-2 and then 5-4 but both time failed to hold ... In tie-break Karman recovered and completes the win ... Next she is facing junior top-30 and WTA top-900 Russian player Evgeniya Levashova ... In the doubles Karman with her partner Christofi lose in the first round against Aussie pair.

Pranjala lose in straight sets against WTA WR #438 Grammatikopoulou in straight sets ... This was tough match for Pranjala as Grammatikopoulou already wins 5 ITF titles on the tour ... Pranjala fought hard in the first set but Grammatikopoulou won tie-break comfortably ... In the second set Grammatikopoulou didn't gave much chance to Pranjala.

Rohan-Florin complete comeback win over Nestor and Roger-Vasselin ... After losing the first set in tie-break they fought back to win next two for entering into the quarters.

Lee-Martina receive another walkover, this time from Romanian pair for entering into the semis ... In the semis they r facing Rohan-Chan. who score hard fought win against Kontinen-Hsieh ... Rohan-Chan won the first set in extra points of tie-break but Kontinen-Hsieh won the second set ... Again in match tie-break both pairs were neck to neck in that Rohan-Chan prevailed in 24 points long match tie-break.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[Q3] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,574) 75 64

[R1] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) bt (WC) Zhizhen Zhang (CHN,593) 62 62
[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) l Nicolas Barrientos (COL,258) 46 62 46
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) vs (Q) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432)

[R2] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) vs Ze Zhang (CHN,217)

Doubles
[R1] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Zhe Li (CHN)/ Hiroki Moriya (JPN) 26 62 10-6

[QF] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER)/ Jurgen Zopp (EST)

Bala qualify for the main-draw with straight sets win but facing compatriot Saki in the first round ... Yuki starts with comfortable win against 18 yrs old Chinese Zhizhen Zhang ... In the both sets Yuki won five games in a row from 1-2.

Buji lose against Colombian opponent in three sets as I was worrying about Buji's recent patchy performance ... After losing the first set Buji made strong comeback but again failed to keep momentum in the third ... Bad preparation before Davis cup tie.

In the doubles Saki and Bala start with good comeback victory against Chinese-Japanese pair after losing the first set.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (13) Michaella Krajicek (NED)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) 63 60

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (9) Chan Hao-ching (TPE)/ Chan Yung-jan (TPE)

Juniors
[R1] (15) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,19) vs (Q) Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE,1090)
[R1] (SE) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,80) vs (16) Katharina Hobgarski (GER,20)

[R1] Jéssica Hinojosa (MEX)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs Tornado Alicia Black (USA)/ Ingrid Neel (USA)
[R1] Eleni Christofi (GRE)/ Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) vs Kimberly Birrell (AUS)/ Maddison Inglis (AUS)

Another dominating win by Sania-Martina pair against 13th seed opponents ... In the quarters they r facing 9th seed Taiwani pair.

Junior draw is our as expected Karman receive special exemption after excellent show in last week's Canadian G1 tournament ... So she and Pranjala r only Indian challenge in juniors.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[R1] (4) Yuki Bhambri (IND,145) vs (WC) Zhizhen Zhang (CHN,593)
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) vs Qualifier
[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs Nicolas Barrientos (COL,258)

Doubles
[R1] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Zhe Li (CHN)/ Hiroki Moriya (JPN)

Yuki is facing 18 yrs Chinese wild-card player in the first round ... Saki is facing qualifier ... Buji is facing Colombian top-250 type Nicolas Barrientos and I think this is tricky match considering Buji's recent patchy performance.

In the doubles only Saki and Bala r playing and they r 4th seed.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)/ Chuang Chia-jung (TPE) 61 61
[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Santiago González (MEX) 63 76(4)

[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (13) Michaella Krajicek (NED)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE)
[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (9) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS) w/o
[R2] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 36 63 10-8

[QF] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Simona Halep (ROU)/ Horia Tecău (ROU)
[QF] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Henri Kontinen (FIN)

Dominating win by Sania and Martina against Bacsinszky and Chia-jung losing only two games.

Rohan also enter into the third round of men's doubles with his partner Florin with straight sets win over Fyrstenberg and González.

In MXD, Rohan-Chan score comeback win over Peya-Kudryavtseva after losing the first set ... After winning the second set Rohan-Chan faced resistance from Peya-Kudryavtseva but they kept their composure for winning tight match tie-break ... In the quarters they r facing Su-Wei Hsieh and Henri Kontinen ... Lee and Martina also join them in the quarters as they receive walkover by their opponents Eugenie Bouchard and Nick Kyrgios due to Bouchard's injury.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, China

[Q2] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) bt Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,817) 75 26 62

[Q3] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) vs Finn Tearney (NZL,574)

Bala need three sets for entering into the final qualifying ... He is facing below top-550 ranked New Zealand player Finn Tearney for place in main-draw.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Final Rifle / Pistol, Gabala, Azerbaijan

10m Air Rifle Women
Gold - Elaheh Ahmadi (IRI) 207.5 pts
Silver - Apurvi Chandela (IND) 206.9 pts
Bronze - Andrea Arsovic (SRB) 186.4 pts

In ongoing World cup Final India manages to win medal through Apurvi Chandela in 10m Air Rifle Women ... In World cup Final only medal winners from this year's world cups r participating ... Our four shooters qualified for this event - Gagan Narang in 50m rifle prone, Apurvi Chandela in womens 10m air rifle, Jitu Rai in 10M air pistol and Gurpreet Singh in 25m rapid fire pistol ... Our all four shooters qualified for the final in their respective events ... Gagan Narang finished on 8th position in 50m rifle prone ... Gurpreet Singh finished on 6th position in 25m rapid fire pistol ... Jitu Rai finished on 5th position in 10M air pistol.

Apurvi qualified for the final on fith position in nine shooters ... In the final Apurvi shoot really well ... Elaheh Ahmadi scored 207.5 points for securing the gold medal with just 0.6 points of advantage on Apurvi Chandela, who finished in second place with 206.9 points.

Squash News

At $100K Men's China Open 2015, Shanghai, China

[Q1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,19) bt Junjie Wang (CHN,UNR) 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 (20m)
[Q2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,19) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY,31) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)

[R1] (Q) Saurav Ghosal (IND,19) l (2) Gregory Gaultier (FRA,3) 9-11 8-11 7-11 (45m)

Saurav gives fighting performance against WR #3 Gregory Gaultier in his first round loss after qualifying for China open ... In newly updated rankings he is re-climb on #15 with his recent consistent performance.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R2] Fernando Verdasco (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Steve Johnson (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 57 64 36

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) l Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL) 36 36
[R1] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 64 64

[R2] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
[R2] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Alexander Peya (AUT)

Junior Girls
[Q1] (9) Mihika Yadav (IND) l (WC) Natasha Subhash (USA) 46 26

Another early exit for Lee with his another irregular partner in US open ... Big serving American pair broke Lee-Verdasco in 12th game for winning the first set .. Our pair tried hard and made comeback winning the second set ... But they failed to keep momentum in the third with American pair won comfortably ... As per report Lee struggled in this match as lost his serve four times.

Rohan start with straight sets win over Bencic and Verdasco in MXD with Chan ... Other hand in shocking result defending champion Sania and Soares lose comfortably in the first round against Kubot-Hlavackova.

Expected loss of Mihika against America's current #1 in u16 and u14 Indian origin Natasha Subhash in two sets.

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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[QF] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs (6) Ti Chen (TPE,196) 60 57 36

I am speechless and really don't know, how the hell he lose this match ... After dominating first set Buji was leading 4-2 in the second ... After that everything changed and Buji completed one of the biggest chocking of the year.

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At $50K Shanghai Challenger, Thailand

[Q1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,427) bt Aoxiong Wang (CHN,1099) 63 62

[Q2] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,432) vs Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,817)

Expected winning start for Bala.

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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Calgary

[QF] (6) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) l (3) Frank DANCEVIC (CAN,277) 67(2) 36

Sanam lose in straight sets against top-300 Canadian Frank Dancevic.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (WC) Kaitlyn Christian (USA)/ Sabrina Santamaria (USA) 61 62
[R1] Fernando Verdasco (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (PR) Florian Mayer (GER)/ Frank Moser (GER) 62 63

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)/ Chuang Chia-jung (TPE)
[R2] Fernando Verdasco (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Steve Johnson (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Sania-Martina start with rather one-sided win against American wild-card pair ... Next they r facing Chia-jung and Bacsinszky.

Lee-Verdasco pair also start with comfortable win against German pair ... Next they r facing big serving tricky American opponents Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, who upset top-seed Bryans in the first round.

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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Calgary

[R2] (6) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) bt (Q) Raleigh SMITH (USA,1172) 61 64

Sanam in the quarter with another straight sets win.

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Doubles
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Nicholas Monroe (USA) 63 64

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Santiago González (MEX)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Claire Liu (USA)/ Taylor Harry Fritz (USA) 62 62

Comfortable winning start for Rohan-Florin against American pair ... Now doubles draw is open as top-seed Bryans and 2nd seed Dodig-Melo lose their first round matches ... Hopefully Indian players take advantage of it with their respective partners.

In MXD, American wild-card pair fail to challenge Lee and Martina in the first round.

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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) bt (Q) Andrew Whittington (AUS,484) 75 4-2 retd.
[R2] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,427) vs Benjamin Mitchell (AUS,353) 76(4) 26 36

[QF] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs (6) Ti Chen (TPE,196)

Doubles
[R1] James Cluskey (IRL)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Dane Propoggia (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) 46 67(9)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) l Yan Bai (CHN)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) 46 36

Buji is in the quarters as his Aussie opponent retired in the second set ... In the first set Buji was stretched by Aussie qualifier Andrew Whittington but Buji prevailed and when he was break up in the second set Andrew retired due to heat stroke ... In the quarters he is facing Ti Chen.

Bala lose in three sets despite starting with winning first set ... In the first set Bala was 2-4 down and he made comeback to win the set in tie-break but after that it was all Benjamin's show.

In the doubles Bala-Divij withdrew but our other two pairs lose their matches in the first round.<

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At $15K Canada F8 Futures, Calgary

[R1] (6) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) bt Luis PATINO (MEX,707) 75 64

[R2] (6) Sanam SINGH (IND,312) vs (Q) Raleigh SMITH (USA,1172)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Kevin KING (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) bt Jared HILTZIK (USA)/ Aleksandar VUKIC (AUS) 62 62

[QF] (1) Kevin KING (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) l Damon GOOCH (RSA)/ Wil SPENCER (USA) 61 67(4) 8-10

This week Sanma is playing in Canadian futures ... He starts with straight sets win in the singles but lose in the doubles quarter final as top-seed with Kevin King.

Chess News

At The 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015, Saint Louis, USA

Round 9 - 01.09.2015
Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2814) - Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2771) 1-0
Viswanathan Anand (IND,2816) - Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) ½-½
Veselin Topalov (BUL,2816) - Levon Aronian (ARM,2765) ½-½
Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2808) - Wesley So (USA,2779) ½-½
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2731) - Anish Giri (NED,2793)

Anand manages expected draw with Carlsen and with that Anand ends this tournament without a single win ... With 3½ pts he finishes on 9th position ... Levon Aronian wins this strongest tournament with one point lead.

Final Standing
1. Levon Aronian (ARM,2765) 6 pts
2. Magnus Carlsen (NOR,2876) 5 pts
3. Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2814) 5 pts
4. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA,2731) 5 pts
5. Anish Giri (NED,2793) 5 pts
6. Alexander Grischuk (RUS,2771) 4½ pts
7. Veselin Topalov (BUL,2816) 4½ pts
8. Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2808) 3½ pts
9. Viswanathan Anand (IND,2816) 3½ pts
10. Wesley So (USA,2779) 3 pts

Tennis News

At US Open 2015, New York

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL)
[R1] (4) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Claire Liu (USA)/ Taylor Harry Fritz (USA)
[R1] (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Three of top four MXD seeded pairs having one Indian player ... Hopefully this time Rohan also go deep in MXD with Lee and Sania.

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At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,427) bt Nicolas Meister (USA,378) 64 16 64
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,226) l Ze Zhang (CHN,217) 36 06

[R2] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,152) vs (Q) Andrew Whittington (AUS,484)
[R2] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,427) vs Benjamin Mitchell (AUS,353)

Bala scores three sets win over higher ranked American Meister in three sets ... After winning the first set Bala lost the second convincingly ... Bala recovered to win the third and match ... In the second round he is facing Aussie player Benjamin Mitchell.

In other match RamK lose nine games in a row from 3-all and faced one-sided loss ... In this match he struggled with his serve as he managed to hold only once.