Tennis News

At € 520K Garanti Koza Sofia Open, Bulgaria

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,96) vs Qualifier

Yuki is playing at Bulgarian ATP tournament and facing qualifier in the first round.

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At $520K Ecuador Open 2016, Quito (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Guillermo Duran (ARG)

Purav is playing with Rajeev Ram at Ecuador open ... They r second seed but facing tricky first round match against clay court specialists on red clay.

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At € 520K Open Sud De France, Montpellier, France

[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) vs (PR) Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)

Mahesh's comeback bid continues ... This week he is playing in France with Jonathan Marray.

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At $75K Launceston Challenger, Australia

[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,169) vs (Q) Marc Polmans (AUS,837)

Doubles Final
[R1] (1) Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (WC) Harry Bourcher (AUS)/ Daniel Nolan (AUS)

Saki is returning back on the court after his small injury break after Australian open qualifying ... He is 3rd seed in the singles and facing local doubles specialist in the first round ... In the doubles he is top-seed with Golubev.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Women's Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (7) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 76(1) 63

Mixed Doubles
[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) l (5) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 57 67(4)

Sania-Martina lifts Australian open title in well fought match against Czech pair ... This is the third successive Grand Slam doubles title for Sania and Martina and their maiden Australian Open title as a pair adding to their Wimbledon and US Open title victories in 2015 ... Also Sania and Martina extended their unbeaten run to 36 with this title win.

In the first set from 1-all both pairs exchanged six breaks ... Czech pair broke Sania's serve in 9th game to lead 5-4 but this time also top-seed broke back for 5-all ... In tie-break Sania-Martina dominated for winning it losing a single point ... In the second set also Sania-Martina won 1st two games and then third-fourth for leading with double break, 4-1 ... Czech pair broke Saina in 6th game but again failed to lose their service game in the next, 5-2 ... Martina had a chance for finishing the match on her service game but our pair failed to hold ... In 9th game Czech pair saved 3 match points before Sania-Martina winning the match after breaking opponent's serve.

But in MXD, Sania fail to continue their winning momentum with Dodig ... They lose very close match against Sania's former [partners Vesnina and Soares.

Shooting News

At Asian Olympics qualifying tournament 2016, New Delhi, India

Womens 10m Air Rifle Women
Gold - Najmeh Khedmati (IRI) 205.9 pts (shoot-off 10.1)
Silver - Ayonika Paul (IND) 205.9 pts (shoot-off 9.9)
Bronze - Pooja Ghatkar (IND) 184.5 pts

Ayonika Paul wins Silver and grab Rio 2016 Quota Place ... So she becomes 11th shooter who win quota place.

After finishing tied with India’s Ayonika Paul, the Iranian athlete hit the best shot in the shoot-off for the Gold medal ... In the final till 17 shots Pooja was leading but disappointing 8.8 pts shots pushed her down from 1st to 3rd and bronze medal ... In the last series, then, Ayonika Paul closed the gap with Khedmati, tying their scores at 205.9 and forcing a tie-breaking shoot-off for the 1st place. There, the Indian shooter only marked a 9.9, while Khedmati hit a 10.1, finally claiming the Gold medal.

As Khedmati earned an Olympic quota during last year’s ISSF World Cup, the first slot available went to Paul, but as India already collected one with Apurvi Chandela, also during last year's World Cup, the second one went to Republic of Korea's Lee Eunseo, 4th with 163.1 points.

Cycling News

At Track Cycling World Championships 2016,

India's 20 yrs old young cycling sensation Deborah Herold created history by qualifying for the 2016 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships for the first time in India's history ... In December, Deborah had become the first Indian female cyclist to reach the heights of fourth place in the UCI individual world ranking.

Criteria for qualification at the Track Cycling World Championships is based on a cyclist's points tally at UCI organised events ... In October, she clinched five medals at the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic - a record gold in the women's elite sprint category - including a gold, three silver and a bronze ... Then in December she won three medals at the 2015 Track Asia Cup held in New Delhi, thus helping India's cycling contingent finish third with 11 medals.

Deborah's story is one of inspiration, for when the devastating 2004 tsunami hit Port Blair, a nine-year-old Deborah had to spend over a week stuck in a tree until help arrived.

Shooting News

At Asian Olympics qualifying tournament 2016, New Delhi, India

Young Kynan Chenai battled all odds to finish fourth and grab one of the four Rio 2016 Quota Place available in men's trap event ... But experienced Manavjit Singh Sandhu could not clear the qualification hurdle in men's trap.

Kynan qualified for the strong six-man finals field shooting a score of 120 (47/50 yesterday and 73/75 today) ... In the final rounds, Kynan tied with three others after the first 15 shots with a score of 12 to reach the semi-finals stage, thereby assuring the 10th quota for India from shooting ... Kynan lose 13-14 in the bronze medal shoot-off with Kuwait's Talal Al-Rashidi.

In the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event, Vijay saw his dreams of securing a quota for Rio fade away after having qualified for the finals with a top score of 576 in qualifying ... In the six-man final where he had to beat Qatari Oleg Engachev and one out of two Japanese shooters to ensure a quota, Vijay became the second shooter to be eliminated finishing fifth as a result.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) 76(1) 63

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs (5) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) [

In a real upset legendary Lee and Martina's pairing lose in straight sets against sania and Dodig ... In the semis they r facing 5th seed Vesnina and Soares.

Shooting News

At Asian Olympics qualifying tournament 2016, New Delhi, India

Womens 10M Air pistol
Gold - Heena Siddhu IND 199.4 pts
Silver - Tien Chia Chen TPE 198.1 pts
Bronze - Gim Yun Mi KOR 177.9 pts

Our number one Pistol shooter Heena Sidhu capture Rio 2016 Quota Place after winning the 10m Air Pistol Women Gold medal ... Heena had topped qualification with 387 points and then she absolutely controlled the 10m Air Pistol Women final, losing the top of the standings only for the first series of shots, claiming it back once and for all at the 6th shot mark and concluding with a final score of 199.4 points ... Overall this is our 9th quota place.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (13) Julia Goerges (GER)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 61 60

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (7) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Andreja Klepac (SLO)/ Treat Huey (PHI) 26 57

Juniors
[R3] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) l (8) Anastasia Potapova (RUS,16) 57 57
[R3] Karman Thandi (IND,40) l Sara Tomic (AUS,460) 63 57 57

[QF] (5) Karman Thandi (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) l Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Maddison Inglis (AUS) 67(3) 57

Sania and Martina r in devastating form to reach in the final at AO ... They won the semis in 54 minutes losing only a game ... They broke Goerges and Pliskova five times and saved all four break points on their service games ... In the final they r facing 7th seed Czech pair, who are two times grand slam winners; 2011 French Open and the 2013 US Open, also 2012 Olympics silver medalists in the doubles.

Rohan again fail to cross semi-final in MXD as he and his Taipei partner lose in straight sets against Huey and Klepac.

Pranjala and Karma's terrific run is ended in the third round of the singles and they also get upset by local pair in the quarters of the doubles ... Pranjala put good performance against talented Russian girl Potapova but lose both tight sets ... Karman started well against Sara Tomic after winning the first set but afterwards Sara kept fighting and took crucial breaks in both sets for winning the match.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (12) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 62 46 61

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (13) Julia Goerges (GER)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 75 62
[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Sloane Stephens (USA)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)) 61 62

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND)

Juniors
[R2] (5) Karman Thandi (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt Siqi Cao (CHN)/ Jia Ren (CHN) 64 46 10-2

Sania-Martina stretch to three sets by 12th seed Groenefeld and Vandeweghe ... After winning the first set comfortably Sania-Martina lost composure in the second for losing it ... But they recovered quickly for winning the third in dominating fashion ... In the semis they r facing 13th seed Goerges and Pliskova.

Lee and Martina scores dominating win in 50 minutes for entering in the quarters ... This match again displayed their class as a pair ... Next they r facing top-seed Sania and Dodig for place in the semis ... Sania-Dodig also score straight sets win over Aisam-Shvedova.

In the junior doubles Karman and Pranjala r in the quarters after topsy-turvy win over Chinese pair ... In this match our pair committed lot of unforced errors but they played solid match tie-break for the win.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 61 63

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (12) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Coco Vandeweghe (USA)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL) 46 63 10-6

[QF] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Andreja Klepac (SLO)/ Treat Huey (PHI)

Juniors
[R2] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) bt Mira Antonitsch (AUT,81) 76(5) 63
[R2] Karman Thandi (IND,40) bt Panna Udvardy (HUN,63) 64 62

[R1] (5) Karman Thandi (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt Petra Hule (AUS)/ Selina Turulja (AUS) 64 63

[R3] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) vs (8) Anastasia Potapova (RUS,16)
[R3] Karman Thandi (IND,40) vs Sara Tomic (AUS,460)

[R2] (5) Karman Thandi (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs Siqi Cao (CHN)/ Jia Ren (CHN)

Sania-Martina's terrific run continues with another dominating win against experienced players like Vinci and Kuznetsova ... In the quarters they r facing 12th seed Groenefeld and Vandeweghe.

Rohan and Yung-Jan score excellent comeback win over Kubot and Hlavackova ... In the quarters they r facing Huey and Klepac, this time I am hoping he will overcome challenge of Huey and his partner.

I think this is the first occasion that our two singles girls are in the third round of any grand slam at same time ... Karman and Pranjala score straight sets win over their respective opponents but for the third round their real test will start ... Pranjala is facing talented 14 yrs old Russian girl Potapova ... Karman is facing Sara Tomic, who is younger sister of Bernard Tomic and already top-450 type player on WTA tour.

In the doubles also Karman and Pranjala start with comfortable win against local pair ... Next they r facing Chinese pair.

Golf News

At $ 5.8M CareerBuilder Challenge 2016, La Quinta, California, USA (PGA Tour 2016)

T28 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 64 68 71 71 -14 $38,570.00

Anirban must be disappointed with this result as after first round he was sharing the lead and after the second round he was tied third ... But in last two rounds he only managed one under par which bring him down outside top-25 ... Hopefully Anirban use this experience as learning curve to perform better in coming weeks.

Badminton News

At , Penang (Grand Prix Gold)

Women's Singles Final
(3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) bt Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,20) 21-15 21-9

Sindhu scores dominating win over Kirsty in 32 minutes for lifting the title and starting 2016 on positive note ... In the first game from 5-2 Sindhu opened the lead to 18-10 and kept that advantage for winning it ... In the second game also from 5-all Sindhu took control and opened lead to 16-7 ... Sindhu kept he composure for excellent win.

Golf News

At $ 2.7M Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship 2016, UAE (European Tour 2016)

T11 Shiv Kapur (IND) 74 69 65 70 -10 € 42,362

Good performance by Shiv Kapur in this tough European tournament ... Shiv recovered after 2 over par round to finish on tied 11th position.

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At $ 5.8M CareerBuilder Challenge 2016, La Quinta, California, USA (PGA Tour 2016)

T19 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 64 68 71 -13

After remaining in top 5 in first 2 rounds Anirban slide to 19th position after three rounds ... Hoping for better last round for Anirban to finish top.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l (14) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 46 36

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 63 75
[R1] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Kimberly Birrell (AUS)/ John Millman (AUS) 75 61

[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Sloane Stephens (USA)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)
[R2] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL)

Juniors
[R1] Mihika Yadav (IND,125) l (15) Katherine Sebov (CAN,30) 06 26

[R1] Zhuoma Ni Ma (CHN)/ Mihika Yadav (IND) l (2) Anna Kalinskaya (RUS)/ Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) 36 06

Disappointing loss of Rohan-Florin against veteran Mirnyi and talented Huey in straight sets ... But in MXD Rohan start with a win against Aussie pair pairing his Taipei partner Yung-Jan Chan.

Lee and Martina start their new year campaign with straight sets with over Russian-British pair.

Mihika lose in the singles and doubles without much fight against her seeded oppoennts.

Badminton News

At $120K Malaysia Masters 2016, Penang (Grand Prix Gold)

[SF] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) l Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (MAS,51) 25-27 9-21
[SF] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) bt (1) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,8) 21-19 12-21 21-10

[F] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) vs Kirsty Gilmour (SCO,20)

Sindhu scores really good win over top-10 Korean in 70 minutes ... In the first game from 9-11 Sindhu opened 17-11 lead ... After that Sung tried to catch Sindhu but she kept her lead for winning this game ... In the second game Sung took early lead 7-2 which Sindhu reduced to one point, 10-11 ... Sung again opened big lead winning next 7 points, 10-18 and kept that advantage for taking match into the decider ... In the final game Sindhu opened 10-3 lead and kept that increasing for winning this match ... In the final she is facing Scottish girl Kirsty Gilmour, in one of their meeting in 2013 Sindhu lost against her in three games.

Very disappointing loss of Srikanth against lowly ranked local player Zainuddin ... In closely fought first game Srikanth missed 2 game points at 20-19 and 21-20 ... After that he saved 3 game points before missing his third game point at 25-24 ... Zainuddin converted 4th game point for winning this game ... In the second game from start Zainuddin didn't give much chance to Srikanth for winning it comfortably.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) 62 63

[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 75 61

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Juniors
[R1] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) bt Mayuka Aikawa (JPN,56) 64 57 61
[R1] Karman Thandi (IND,40) bt (LL) Olivia Gadecki (AUS,970) 63 64

[R2] Karman Thandi (IND,40) vs Panna Udvardy (HUN,63)
[R2] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) vs Mira Antonitsch (AUT,81)

[R1] (5) Karman Thandi (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs Petra Hule (AUS)/ Selina Turulja (AUS)
[R1] Zhuoma Ni Ma (CHN)/ Mihika Yadav (IND) vs (2) Anna Kalinskaya (RUS)/ Tereza Mihalikova (SVK)

Comfortable win for Sania and Martina against Ukrainian pair ... Next they r facing veteran experienced players Vinci and Kuznetsova, can be tricky one.

In mixed doubles also winning start for Sania with Ivan Dodig ... They scored straight sets win over Aussie pair ... Next they r facing pairing of Aisam and Shvedova.

Lucky break for Karman as Hon withdrew and Karman plays against local lucky loser player Gadecki and she start with comfortable win ... Next she is facing Hungarian girl Udvardy.
Pranjala also starts with win but her Japanese opponent stretched her to three sets ... Next she is facing Austrian girl.

Junior doubles draw is out ... Good to see Pranjala and Karman r playing together, they r fifth seed.

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At $75K Manila Challenger, Philippines

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) l (2) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 36 76(8) 7-10

After losing the first set Divij and Maximillan made excellent comeback for winning tight tie-break but they failed to keep momentum in match tie-break ... Still good outng for Divij with his partner in Manila challenger.

Badminton News

At $120K Malaysia Masters 2016, Penang (Grand Prix Gold)

[QF] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) bt Yuxiang Huang (CHN,76) 21-15 21-14
[QF] (10) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) vs (1) Chong Wei Lee (MAS,5) 16-21 16-21
[QF] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) bt Lindaweni Fanetri (INA,25) 21-10 21-10

[SF] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) vs Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (MAS,51)
[SF] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) vs (1) Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,8)

Srikanth and Sindhu score straight games win over their respective opponents ... Next Sindhu is having tough challenge against top-seed Korean Ji Hyun Sung but Srikanth is facing Malaysian giant-killer Zainuddin ... Ajay's loss was expected against Chong Wei Lee

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[R2] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) l (3) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 36 26
[R2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Jiri Vesely (CZE) 63 62

[R3] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (14) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)

Juniors
[R1] Karman Thandi (IND,40) vs (11) Priscilla Hon (AUS,201)
[R1] Mihika Yadav (IND,125) vs (15) Katherine Sebov (CAN,30)
[R1] (10) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,18) vs Mayuka Aikawa (JPN,56)

Rohan-Florin score comfortable win over Czech pair ... Next they r facing 14th seed mad Max and Huey ... Other hand as expected Mahesh and Muller fail to challenge Bryans.

Junior draw is out, Pranjala is 10th seed and facing Japanese girl in the first round ... Mihika is facing 15th seed Canadian girl ... Karman is playing WTA top-350 local girl Priscilla Hon, who is already participated as wild-card in the singles and doubles main-draw.

Badminton News

At $120K Malaysia Masters 2016, Penang (Grand Prix Gold)

[R1] (10) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) bt Takuma UEDA (JPN,32) 21-19 21-11
[R1] Subhankar DEY (IND,178) bt Kantaphon WANGCHAROEN (THA,169) 21-19 21-16
[R1] Sameer VERMA (IND,46) bt (12) Sho SASAKI (JPN,24) 21-18 21-18
[R1] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) bt Wei Feng CHONG (MAS,41) 21-17 21-11
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,34) bt Shahzan Shah MISFAHUL (MAS,458) 21-13 21-15

[R1] PV Sindhu (IND,12) bt Sabrina JAQUET (SUI,54) 21-19 21-5
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Mei Kuan CHOW (MAS)/ LEE Meng Yean (MAS) 21-14 14-21 25-23

[R2] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) bt Christie JONATAN (INA,38) 21-16 21-15
[R2] (10) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) bt Petr KOUKAL (CZE,87) 21-17 21-17
[R2] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,34) l (3) Tommy SUGIARTO (INA,11) 14-21 21-10 18-21
[R2] Sameer VERMA (IND,46) l GOH Soon Huat (MAS,59) 21-7 13-21 16-21
[R2] Subhankar DEY (IND,178) l XUE Song (CHN,30) 21-16 11-21 19-21

[R3] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) bt (16) Boonsak PONSANA (THA,29) 21-17 21-10
[R3] (10) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) bt Zulfadli ZULKIFFLI (MAS, 42) 11-21 21-8 22-20
[R2] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) bt Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,36) 21-13 13-21 21-14

[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l Shizuka MATSUO (JPN)/ Mami NAITO (JPN) 14-21 17-21

[QF] (2) K. Srikanth (IND,9) vs Yuxiang HUANG (CHN,76)
[QF] (10) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) vs (1) Chong Wei LEE (MAS,5)
[QF] (3) PV Sindhu (IND,12) vs Lindaweni FANETRI (INA,25)

So only three singles players in the quarters ... In that Ajay scores amazing comeback win after 11-19 down in the final game ... I am worried about poor form of Ashwini and Jwala in Olympics year ... They need to show improvement in their performance.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Mariana Duque-Mariño (COL)/ Teliana Pereira (BRA) 62 63
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt (WC) Omar Jasika (AUS)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 75 63

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)
[R2] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) vs (3) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA)
[R2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Jiri Vesely (CZE)

Comfortable straight sets win for Sania-Martina and Rohan-Florin against their respective opponents ... Next Sania-Martina r facing Ukrainian pair and Rohan-Florin r facing Czech pair ... Maheh and Muller having stern test against Bryans.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (12) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 36 46
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) bt (WC) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) 76(4) 36 64

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR)
[R1] (3) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Kimberly Birrell (AUS)/ John Millman (AUS)

Mahesh with Muller is in the second round turning the clock back ... They score hard fought win over local wild-card pair ... After winning the first set in tie-break Mahesh-Muller lost the second set, but they recovered for winning the third.

Other hand Lee's poor selection of partner from last year continues and he lose quite easily against Colombian pair with his French partner Jeremy Chardy ... Lee need to find solid partnership for good performance for his selection for Rio Olympics.

MXD draw is out and last year's formidable pairing of Lee and Martina r unseeded due to poor ranking of Lee ... They r in top draw and can meet top-seed Sania and Dodig in the quarters ... Rohan is playing with Taipei partner Yung-Jan Chan and they r in bottom draw as third seed.

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At $75K Manila Challenger, Philippines

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) bt David Guez (FRA)/ Go Soeda (JPN) 62 64

Divij is in the semis with Neuchrist and they score dominating win over Guez-Soeda.

Tennis News

At $75K Manila Challenger, Philippines

[R1] (Q) Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND, 421) l (PR) Marco Chiudinelli (SUI,252) 76(1) 46 46

Really close loss for VSP against Chiudinelli in three sets ... VSP fought hard to win the first set in tie-break but after that Chiudinelli played well enough to win next two sets with a break ... Overall encouraging performance by VSP against top-200 caliber Chiudinelli.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,95) l (6) Tomas Berdych (CZE,6) 57 16 26

Two days back after reading Yuki's interview in Indian daily I remembered the idiom, “He talks the talk, but can he walk the walk?” ... And I get answer after today's match ... My observations after the match, Yuki requires more juice in his serve as he continuously managed to serve in 170s only ... He needs to work on his fitness to remain fit throughout the year ... Missing off-season will give him trouble in progressing ahead in 2017 ... He really need to work hard for reaching inside top-50.

About this match, Yuki started tentatively and lost his serve in 2nd game to down 0-3 ... Yuki broke Berdych in 7th game for bringing the set on serve, 3-4 ... But around 9th game Yuki started to check his right arm and once about injury doubt creeped in his mind then his game declined ... Berdych won 14 games out of next 17 games for straight sets win ... He broke Yuki in 12th game for winning the first set and after that it was almost walk in a park for Berdych.

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At $75K+H Manila Challenger, Philippines

[Q3] Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND, 421) bt Cheong-Eui Kim (KOR,382) 76(3) 57 63

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) l Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP,244) 57 76(0) 67(4)
[R1] (Q) Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND, 421) vs (PR) Marco Chiudinelli (SUI,252))

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) bt James Cerretiani (USA)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) 76(5) 62

Buji loss in three hours after playing closely fought match against almost 250 ranked Spanish opponent Batalla ... In this match Buji hit 19 aces, he had 10 break points including couple of match points despite he found a way for losing this match ... Now it looks more mental struggle than physical one ... This year all three loses are close one so he is failing to cross last hurdle ... Dy by day it looks difficult to see Buji back in top-100 but I am hoping he will once again prove me wrong to achieve that.

VSP is playing really well and score another hard fought win over Korean opponent Kim in three sets ... Next he is facing former top-50 type Swiss player Marco Chiudinelli, really tough match for VSP.

In the doubles Divij scores his first win of new season with Neuchrist in straight sets.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Mariana Duque-Mariño (COL)/ Teliana Pereira (BRA)
[R1] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (12) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL)
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) vs (WC) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)
[R1] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Radu Albot (MDA)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR)
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (WC) Omar Jasika (AUS)/ Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

Double draw is out and overall decent first round matches for our pairs.

Lee and Jeremy r facing seeded Colombian pair but it is better than facing top-8 pairs.

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At $75K+H Manila Challenger, Philippines

[Q2] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,278) l Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,775) 36 67(7)
[Q2] (8) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,421) bt (1) Kamil Majchrzak (POL,276) 75 46 63

[Q3] Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND, 421) vs Cheong-Eui Kim (KOR,382)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) vs Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP,244)

Doubles Final
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) vs James Cerretiani (USA)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN)

VSP scores really good win over top-300 Polish opponent Kamil Majchrzak in three sets ... Next he is facing Korean top-400 Kim for place in main-draw ... Other hand Sanam face unexpected loss in hands of lowly ranked Taipei player Chu-Huan Yi.

Tennis News

At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

Doubles Final
(4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA) 63 67(6)

Rohan-Florin lose their final against unseeded pairing of Murray and Soares ... After losing first set easily Rohan-Florin kept fighting in the second ... In tie-break they had 3 set points at 6-3 but failed to convert it ... They lost 5 points in a trot for losing the set and match.

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At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[Q3] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) l (22) Mirza Basic (BIH,137) 63 46 6-8

Saki miss big opportunity of playing in main-draw of grand slam ... Saki started well and broke Mirza in 6th game to lead 4-2 ... Saki kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set both players were holding their respective service games till 9th game ... Mirza broke Saki in 10th game for winning this set ... In the decider Mirza broke Saki in 2nd game for taking 3-0 lead ... From 2-5 Saki made small comeback as he broke Mirza in 9th game when he was serving for the match, 4-5 ... At 6-all Saki failed to hold his service games and then Mirza hold his service games for winning the match ... Saki missed numerous break points on Mirza's serve, he struggled on his big serve at crucial juncture of the match and that cost him this match.

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At $75K+H Manila Challenger, Philippines

[Q1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,278) bt Benjamin Balleret (MON,491) 75 46 63
[Q1] (8) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,421) bt Alexander Vasilenko (RUS,589) 46 76(4) 61

[Q2] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,278) vs Chu-Huan Yi (TPE,775)
[Q2] (8) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,421) vs (1) Kamil Majchrzak (POL,276)

Surprisingly our both pairs get stretched to three sets ... VSP needed to dig deep after losing the first set ... Next VSP having tough match against top-300 Polish player ... Sanam having winnable match but he is struggling with removing his rustiness after longish break.

Tennis News

At $$753K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

Doubles
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (3) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 16 75 10-5

Sania and Martina wins another title in close match against talented French pair ... Also Martina is projected to join Sania as co-World No.1 on the WTA Doubles Rankings ... This will be Martina's first time at No.1 since the Indian Wells in 2000.

After losing the first set easily Sania and Martina were 2-5 down in the second set ... After that they made amazing comeback for winning this match.

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At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 76(8) 64

[F] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA)

Rohan-Florin r in the final after beating South American pair in closely fought match ... In the final they r facing British-Brazilian pair for the title.

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At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) bt Lorenzo Giustino (ITA,261) 61 76(7)

[Q3] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) vs (22) Mirza Basic (BIH,137)

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,95) vs (6) Tomas Berdych (CZE,6)

Saki is in the final qualifying round of Australian open with straight sets win over his Italian opponent ... Saki was cruising till one and half set with his big serving and powerful ground-strokes ... Saki won the first set comfortably with double break ... In the second set also Saki was up with double break at 3-0 but then suddenly unforced errors creep in his game from 4th game when he was serving ... Suddenly Saki lost his serve in 4th and 6th games to bring the set on serve, 3-all ... After that Saki and Lorenzo hold their respective service game for taking the set in tie-break ... In tie-break Saki lost points on his serve on 2nd and 3rd points and Saki was 0-4 down ... Then Saki won next four points to make it 4-all ... At 5-all Saki lost point on his serve for match point down 5-6 but Saki again re-take mini-break for 6-all and then again took mini-break for 7-6 ... This time Lorenzo saved a match point, 7-all ... At 8-7 Saki won the point on Lorenzo's serve for excellent win ... Superbly played tie-break ... Next he is facing 22nd rank Mirza Basic ... Good opportunity for qualifying for Australian open.

Yuki is attracting top players like magnet for Australian open main-draw ... Last year he faced Andy Murray and this time Tomas Berdych ... With his current struggle with fitness and lack of match practice gives him very less chance against Berdych.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[SF] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (3) Gero Kretschmer (GER)/ Alexander Satschko (GER) 57 36

Mahesh-Purav lose their match in straight sets against 3rd seed German pair.

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

[SF] (Q) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,1118) l (2) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO,269) 36 61 46

Another fighting performance against top-300 player in her loss by Pranjala ... Hoping for better outing for her at junior Australian open.

Tennis News

At $$753K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Raluca Olaru (ROU)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 46 63 10-8

Sania-Martina better Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva's 28 matches winning streak after winning their 29th match ... It is also the biggest winning streak in international tennis for the last 22 years ... Also this is the longest winning streak for "currently active players" who are still playing the game of tennis professionally ... I think this is third best winning streak in all-time records ... In 1990 Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 consecutive matches and before that Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver had an even bigger winning streak ... Still creditable achievement by Sania and Martina.

In this match our pair was a set down before making comeback ... In super tie-break also they were stretched by their opponents.

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At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Sam Groth (AUS)/ John Peers (AUS) 62 64

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Leonardo Mayer (ARG)

Rohan-Florin score comfortable win over Aussie pair in the quarters ... In the semis they r facing South American pair.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[QF] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Ilija Bozoljac (SRB)/ Mark Vervoort (NED) 26 61 10-5

[SF] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Gero Kretschmer (GER)/ Alexander Satschko (GER)

Mahesh-Purav continue with winning run as they beat big serving Bozo and Vervoort ... After losing the first set easily our pair made strong comeback for winning next two ... In the semis they r facing 3rd seed German pair.

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

[QF] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) l Ekaterina YASHINA (RUS) 67(3) 36
[QF] (Q) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND) bt (7) Lou BROULEAU (FRA) 64 46 62
[QF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND) l (2) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO) 67(5) 64 26

[SF] (Q) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND) vs (2) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO)

Pranjala's giant killing continues as she scores another upset win over top-350 French girl ... Next she is facing tough match against 2nd seed, who beats Ankita in three sets.

Tennis News

At $$753K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Chen Liang (CHN)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) 62 63

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Raluca Olaru (ROU)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Sania-Martina equal all-time 28 matches winning streak with straight sets win over Chinese opponents ... In the semis they r facing Romanian-Kazakh pair for place in the final and break the record.

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At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) l Jurgen Zopp (EST,164) 62 16 46
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,206) 64 61

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) vs Lorenzo Giustino (ITA,261)

Saki scores comfortable straight sets win over RamK showing not giving wild-card at Chennai open by organizers was bad decision ... This match dominated big serving by both players but Saki was more consistent ... At 3-all match were stopped due to heat wave but after resuming Saki took control on the match ... RamK struggled with finding his rhythm and Saki surprised him with regularly approaching the net ... He came well prepared for the match as he was attacking RamK's backhand ... After winning the first set Saki breezed through the second for the win ... In the second qualifying round he is facing Italian Lorenzo Giustino, who score upset win over 112th ranked Lukas Lacko.

Buji again miss chance of finishing the match after winning the first set ... He started well winning first 4 games to lead 4-0 and kept that advantage for winning the set ... But after that Buji failed to keep same intensity ... From 1-all he lost five games in a row in that he lost his service games at 4th and 6th games for losing the second set ... In the final set Zopp broke Buji in 5th game to lead 3-2 and kept that advantage for winning this match.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) l (4) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 26 67(7)
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK) 64 16 10-6

[QF] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Ilija Bozoljac (SRB)/ Mark Vervoort (NED)

Mahesh having winning start with Purav in Bangkok challenger ... They beat 2nd seed Demoliner and Zelenay in super tie-break ... Next they r facing big serving Serb-Dutch pair.

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

[R2] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt (WC) Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) 62 57 61
[R2] (Q) Riya BHATIA (IND) l (7) Lou BROULEAU (FRA) 26 36
[R2] (Q) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND) bt Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 64 62
[R2] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Snehadevi S REDDY (IND) 60 76(6)

Pranjala shows her first round win against top-300 opponent wasn't fluke with straight sets win over Rishika ... Prerna and Ankita also join her in quarter finals with win over their Indian opponents.

Tennis News

At $$753K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 62 63

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Chen Liang (CHN)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)

Sania-Martina start with comfortable win over Rodionova sis ... Next they r facing tricky match against former Chinese doubles WR #1 Shuai Peng and her partner for record equaling 28 matches winning streak.

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At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Denis Istomin (UZB)/ Henri Kontinen (FIN) 67(2) 63 10-8

Rohan-Florin score hard fought comeback win over Uzbek-Finnish pair ... After losing the first set in tie-break our pair fought back to win the second ... They prevail in tight super tie-break.

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At Australian Open 2016, Melbourne

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,173) vs Jurgen Zopp (EST,164)
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,168) vs Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,206)

Really cruel draw for our players as Saki and RamK r facing each other in the first qualifying round ... Buji is facing decent opponent but our players having big battle for qualifying for main-draw.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (6) Sanam Singh (IND,278) l Aleksandre Metreveli (GEO,310) 26 61 46

This was tricky first match of the season for Sanam after more than two months break and that prove right ... After losing the first set Sanam fought back for winning the second in dominated fashion ... But he failed to keep momentum in the final and lost the match.

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

[R1] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND) l Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) 67(6) 26
[R1] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) l (8) Ching-Wen HSU (TPE) 26 64 26
[R1] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND) bt (3) Ayaka OKUNO (JPN) 63 36 64
[R1] (WC) Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) bt (Q) Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND) 36 63 63
[R1] (Q) Soha SADIQ (IND) l Ekaterina YASHINA (RUS) 36 36
[R1] (Q) Riya BHATIA (IND) bt (WC) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND) 76(2) 61
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (WC) Rashmi TELTUMBDE (IND) 61 62
[R1] (Q) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND) bt (4) Melanie KLAFFNER (AUT) 67(5) 62 3-1 retd.
[R1] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (Q) Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND) 63 62
[R1] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND) bt (WC) Natasha PALHA (IND) 62 62
[R1] (Q) Sneha PADAMATA (IND) l Pei-Chi LEE (TPE) 46 06
[R1] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l (2) Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO) 16 26

What a terrific wins by Prerna and Pranjala over respective top-300 opponents ... Superb performance by these young girls.

Tennis News

At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[R1] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (3) Marcelo Melo (BRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 46 46

Sad to see Lee is regularly losing with different partners ... Hopefully little better Australian open for Lee and Jeremy.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Frantisek Cermak (CZE))/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (WC) Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA) 61 57 5-10

Another first round loss for Divij with his Czech partner ... After dominating the first set they lost match in super tie-break against wild-card pair.

Tennis News

At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (WC) Angelique Kerber (GER)/ Andrea Petkovic (GER) 75 61

Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 10th WTA doubles title together in Brisbane and have now won 26 matches in a row - the longest doubles win streak in 22 years ... Now they r shy of 3 wins from all-time record by Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva, who won 28 matches in a row together in 1994.

In the final German pair was leading 4-2 at one time but after that Sania-Martina responded strongly after winning off 11 of the last 13 games of the match for straight sets win.

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At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[SF] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 57 67(4)

Indian challenge get over with Buji and Jeevan's loss in the doubles ... After losing the first set Buji-Jeevan were early break down at 2-3 when Buji lost his serve ... Our pair fought back to take the set in tie-break ... But Krajicek-Paire's experience helped them for completing the victory.

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At $$753K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

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

Sania-Martina r facing Rodionova sis in the first round of Sydney tournament.

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At $405K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)/ Henri Kontinen (FIN)

Rohan is starting 2016 season from Sydney tournament.

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At $50K+H Bangkok II Challenger, Thailand

[Q1] (5) Vijay Sunder Prashanth (IND,378) bt Jui Chen Hung (TPE,601) 64 62
[Q1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,552) l (6) Cheong-Eui Kim (KOR,379) 63 67(6) 16

[Q2] (5) Vijay Sunder Prashanth (IND,378) l Yuva Kibi (JPN,664) 57 16

[R1] (6) Sanam Singh (IND,278) vs Aleksandre Metreveli (GEO,310)

Doubles Final
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs (4) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) [R1] Frantisek Cermak (CZE))/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA)
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK)

Not a great start of the year 201 for VSP ... Sanam having decent draw and facing similar ranked opponent in the first round.

In the doubles solid draw as good pairing r participating ... Interesting to see Mahesh's comeback as here he is playing with Purav.

Tennis News

At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Shahar Peer (ISR)/ Maria Sanchez (USA) 61 62
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 63 46 10-6
[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt (4) Andreja Klepac (SLO)/ KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 63 75

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (WC) Angelique Kerber (GER)/ Andrea Petkovic (GER)

Sania and Martina r in the final of the first tournament of 2016 with their amazing winning streak ... In the quarters young Swiss-French pair stretched them to super tie-break but they survived ... In the final they r facing good wild-card German pairing of Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic.

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At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[QF] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) l Alijaz Bedene (GBR,45) 76(5) 46 36

Doubles
[QF] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 64 16 10-6

Though RamK lose this match but still I am predicting that he is truly arrived on the tour ... This match was 2 hours and Till first and 3/4th second set RamK was matching Bedene or I can say he was better at sometime ... In the first set Bedene saved a break point but other hand RamK was solid ... He played excellent game for winning this set in tie-break ... In the second set also RamK was matching Bedene and played some breathtaking shots while approaching the net or with his fearsome forehands ... He had 2 break point chances in 7th game at 15-40 but RamK missed this opportunity ... Bedene took advantage of it breaking RamK in 10th game for winning the set ... In the final set RamK got broken in 2nd game and was down early 0-3 ... And after that Bedene played solid tennis on his service games but in 9th game when Bedene serving for the match RamK managed to put pressure on him ... RamK saved four match points but in end Bedene converted fifth match point.

Buji-Jeevan score a win in super tie-break against RamK and Bala for entering into the semis.

Tennis News

At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) bt (LL) Alexander Kudryavstev (RUS,164) 36 64 64

[QF] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) vs Alijaz Bedene (GBR,45)

Doubles
[QF] (2) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)

Excellent comeback upset win by RamK over Kudryavstev ... In the first set RamK struggled with his own game to lose it ... From the second set he recovered ... He took important break in 7th game to lead 4-3 and then hold his service games for taking the set in the decider ... In the final set also RamK broke Kudryavstev in 7th game and then hold his service games ... This is first ATP quarter final for RamK and he is facing top-50 British player Alijaz Bedene.

In the doubles Lee and Marcel concede their match due to illness to Marcel.

Tennis News

At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) vs (LL) Alexander Kudryavstev (RUS,164)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) 46 63 10-5
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (4) Marcus Daniel (NZL)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 26 76(5) 10-5

[QF] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)

Kevin Andersen withdrew so RamK will play lucky loser Russian Alexander Kudryavstev.
.
In the doubles our both wild-card pairs start with upset comeback win over their seasoned opponents ... Next they will face eachother for place in the semis.

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At $50K+H Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (4) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 36 67(4)

So Skupski brothers prove better pair for Divij and Purav but I feel they need to stick together for getting their rhythm back.

Tennis News

At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,177) l (WC) Andrey Rublev (RUS,185) 36 63 36
[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP,98) 62 60

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) vs (2) Kevin Anderson (RSA,12)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (ALT) Taro Daniel (JPN)/ John Millman (AUS) 62 63

RamK scores dominating win over top-100 SpanishDaniel Gimeno-Traver ... Gimeno-Traver never was in the match ... He struggled with his shot making and RamK took full advantage of it ... RamK won last 8 games in a trot for a win in 58 minutes ... In the second round he is facing top-15 Kevin Anderson.

Buji lose winnable match against lower ranked Russian in three sets ... In the first set Buji was 3-1 up before losing 5 games in a row to lose this set ... Buji fought back to win the second set but he made too many unforced errors in the third and that cost him the match ... Buji is showing improvement in his game from 2015 but need more consistency in his performance.

Lee with Marcel Granollers start with straight sets win over alternate pair.

Tennis News

At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) l (1) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 36 76(2) 7-10

Surprisingly fighting performance by Mahesh with Muller against top-seed till super tie-break.

Football News

At the SAFF Championship 2015, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Final
India bt Afghanistan 2-1 AET (0-0)
Goal Scored - Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 72', Sunil Chhetri (IND) 101' and Zubayr Amiri (AFG) 70'

Stephen Constantine wins his first title in his second stint as the coach of India as our boys fought back to beat Afghans in entertaining final ... In the first half both teams missed chances so score remain goalless ... In the second half Afghanistan broke the deadlock in the 70th minute but we responded immediately in two minutes when Jeje scored on Chhetri's header ... In extra time Indians started well but Afghans fought back and increase pressure but Chhetri scored goal on quick free-kick yo give lead to India ... In second extra-time half our players missed couple of chances ... Umpires also missed to give penalty to Afghans when Mondal handled the ball inside penalty area ... In injury time Jeje fouled Hatifie inside penalty area and again Referee denied penalty for Afghan ... With this we won SAFF title after four years ... In 2013 Afghanistan defeated us 2-0.

Tennis News

At $425,535 Chennai Open, India

[Q2] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,538) l (PR) Ante Pavic (CRO,449) 67(2) 67(0)
[Q2] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,177) bt (2) James Ward (GBR,156) 26 75 64
[Q2] (5) Saketh Myneni (IND,170) l (3) Thomas Fabbiano (ITA,157) 46 26

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,177) vs (WC) Andrey Rublev (RUS,185)

Buji scores superb comeback victory over 2nd seed James Ward to qualify for main-draw but our Saki and Bala lose their respective matches.

Buji lost the first set convincingly and was down 1-3 in the second set ... From here Buji made amazing comeback he broke James in 5th game to bring the set on the serve, 2-3 and then took crucial break in 11th game before holding his serve for winning this set ... In the final set Buji broke James in 1st and 3rd games to lead 4-0 ... While serving for the match at 5-2 Buji failed to hold his serve but in 10th game he comfortably hold for important win ... After so-so 2015 Buji started working with his new coach and friend Theodoros Angelinos, who gave new diet plan and fitness regime ... So this is their first test and Buji is started well ... Hoping for few more wins in main-draw for Buji ... He is facing Russian wild-card player Andrey Rublev in the first round.

Bala gave fighting performance in his loss against Pavic ... After losing the first set Bala saved couple of match point in 10th game on his serve ... Bala broke Pavic in 11th game to lead 6-5 but failed to hold for winning the second set ... Pavic didn't gave any chance in tie-break and won it without losing a single point ... Still decent performance by Bala.

I was hoping better result from Saki in this match ... But he struggled with his first serve, only 40% in the match and 33% in the second ... And that cost him the match.

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At $50K+H Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (4)Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR)

Purav and Divij r together for Bangkok challenger and facing Skupski brothers in the first round.

Tennis News

At $421K Chennai Open, India

[Q1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,538) bt (7) Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI,190) 62 64
[Q1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,428) l (2) James Ward (GBR,156) 46 36
[Q1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,177) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,378) 62 63
[Q1] (5) Saketh Myneni (IND,170) bt Sanam Singh (IND,278) 62 64
[Q1] (WC) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,484) l (8) Jozef Kovalik (SVK,259) 36 06

[Q2] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,538) vs (PR) Ante Pavic (CRO,449)
[Q2] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,177) vs (2) James Ward (GBR,156)
[Q2] (5) Saketh Myneni (IND,170) vs (3) Thomas Fabbiano (ITA,157)

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,248) vs Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP,98)

Doubles
[R1] (PR) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) vs (1) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (4) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA)
[R1] (2) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)

Crap draw for Indian players as they r facing each other ... I was hoping lot closer matches between Buji against VSP and Saki against Sanam ... But our top-200 players show superiority over their country men for comfortable straight sets win ... Bala starts with dominating upset win over top-200 Chilean opponent.

Next Bala is facing Croatian Ante Pavic, who scores upset win over top-seed and in form Elias Ymer ... Buji is facing 2nd seed Britisher James Ward ... Saki is facing 3rd seed Italian Thomas Fabbiano.

In main-draw RamK is having decent draw as he is facing 98th ranked Spanish Daniel Gimeno-Traver .

In the doubles Mahesh is participating with protected ranking with Muller and they r facing top-seed pair ... Buji and Jeevan having decent draw but Bala and RamK r facing 4th seed pair ... 2nd seed Lee and Granollers r having tricky match against Stan and Garcia-Lopez.