Athletics News

At 2016 Federation Cup National Athletics Championships, New Delhi, India

Sudha Singh also qualified for the Rio Games while winning silver in women's 3000m steeplechase Lalita Babar, who has already qualified for the Olympics in both the 3000m steeplechase and marathon, clocked 9:27.09 for setting new national mark in 3000m steeplechase ... Sudha came up with a timing of 9:31.86 and easily bettered the Rio Games qualification standard of 9:45.00.

Badminton News

At Asian Badminton championships 2016, Wuhan, China

[SF] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l (6) Yihan Wang (CHN,6) 16-21 14-21

Yihan again proves too strong for Saina as she defeated Saina in straight games.

Tennis News

At Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

[R1] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Guido Pella (ARG)/ Gilles Simon (FRA)
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bye

Mahesh has received wild card with Fabrice Martin in Madrid Masters ... They r facing French-Argentine combination in the first round.

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At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs Daniel Nguyen (USA)/ Di Wu (CHN)
[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Qualifiers

This week Lee-Sam r playing at Busan ... Purav-Divij r joining them.

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At $100K Anning Challenger, China

[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) l (7) Mathias Bourge (FRA,193) 06 1-3 retd.

In the semis Saki retire against Frenchman Mathias Bourge in the second set ... From the beginning Saki was struggling in the match and in endhe decided to quit in middle of second set ... As per report his right shoulder was bothering him ... Hoping for not a serious injury.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Julio Peralta (CHI) 64 36 5-10

Divij and Purav lose in match tie-break against American-Chilean pair ... They started well with winning the first set but after that failed to keep momentum.

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At $50K Rome Challenger, Italy

[Q1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,411) bt (WC) Andrea Del Prete (ITA,UNR) 60 61
[Q2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,411) bt Marco Mosciati (ITA,UNR) 62 61
[Q3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,411) bt Kevin Kravietz (GER,415) 75 64

Sumit qualify for main-draw at Rome challenger with some good wins ... After winning first 2 matches convincingly Sumit faced real challenge in the final qualifying ... Sumit was 2-5 down in the first set against Kevin Kravietz but Sumit made excellent comeback winning next five games for winning this set ... Sumit kept momentum for winning the second and match.

Badminton News

At Asian Badminton championships 2016, Wuhan, China

[QF] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt (3) Shixian Wang (CHN,5) 21-16 21-19

[SF] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs (6) Yihan Wang (CHN,6)

Saina scores impressive win over Shixian Wang in closely fought match though it was ended in straight games ... Saina lost her last two matches against Shixian so this was important match for brining her confidence back ... Saina kept her composure after winning the first game for finishing this match in two games ... Next she is facing another Wang, Yihan, against her Saina struggled a lot in the past.

Tennis News

At $100K Anning Challenger, China

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) bt (8) Arthur De Greef (BEL,203) 61 63

[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) vs (7) Mathias Bourge (FRA,193)

Saki scores once again impressive win against Belgian clay court player Arthur De Greef in dominating fashion ... Saki won the first set in 21 minutes breaking Arthur twice ... In the second set from 2-3 Saki won next four games again breaking Arthur two times for comfortable win ... In the semis Saki is facing Frenchman Mathias Bourge.

But he and Mahesh lose their doubles match in straight sets against Eastern European pair.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Benjamin Lock (ZIM)/ Marco Nunez (MEX) 64 63

Divij and Purav continue with their winning ways ... In the quarters they beat collegiate pair of Nunez and Lock in straight sets.

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At $25K France F9 Futures, Grasse (Clay)

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,237) l (Q) Benjamin BALLERET (MON,695) 36 63 46

Ramk get upset by qualifier Benjamin Balleret in three sets ... Last week Balleret defeated De Bakker on the clay but still Ramk needs to win these matches for moving ahead in his career.

Archery News

At Shanghai 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1, China

Women's Team Recurve event
[R1] (4) India bt (13) USA 6-0
[QF] (4) India bt (5) China 5-4
[SF] (4) India bt (1) Germany 5-3

Men's Team Recurve event
[R1] (3) India bt (14) France 5-3
[QF] (3) India bt (11) Germany 6-2
[SF] (3) India l (2) Netherland 4-5

In the individual Recurve eliminations, our three archers lost in the quarter final, including Deepika Kumari with Laxmi Rani Manhi and Jayanta Talukdar.

Coming out of disappointment of individual performance our recurve archers give excellent performance in team event ... Our women's recurve team has reached the finals with exciting win over powerhouse China in the quarter final ... In the semis they beat qualification top-see Germany ... Now for Gold medal match they r facing Chinese Taipei.

Our men's recurve team lost in the semi finals against qualification 2nd seed Netherlands in close match ... For Bronze medal they r facing British men.

Badminton News

At Asian Badminton championships 2016, Wuhan, China

[R1] (8) KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,13) l Dong Keun LEE (KOR,19) 21-13 12-21 19-21

[R1] (5) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Fitriani FITRIANI (INA,49) 21-16 21-17
[R1] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,10) bt Maria Febe KUSUMASTUTI (INA,23) 21-10 21-13

[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l Ye Na HANG (KOR)/ LEE So Hee (KOR) 15-21 11-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ Akshay DEWALKAR (IND) l Chin Chung OR (HKG)/ Chun Man TANG (HKG) 19-21 17-21
[R1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (5) Hiroyuki ENDO (JPN)/ Kenichi HAYAKAWA (JPN) 15-21 13-21

[R2] (5) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Nitchaon JINDAPOL (THA,25) 21-14 21-18
[R2] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,10) l (8) Tzu Ying TAI (TPE,9) 21-13 20-22 8-21

[QF] (5) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) vs. (3) Shixian WANG (CHN,5)

Only Saina is remaining in the quarter final of ongoing Asian championship ... Sindhu miss match point at 20-19 of the second game and then failed to challenge in the third ... All other players lost their matches in the first round only .. In the quarters Saina is facing Shixian Wang, in recent matches Saina is failed to beat her.

Squash News

At $185K Women's World Championship 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,19) l (11) Annie Au (HKG,10) 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 7-11 (63m)
[R1] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,14) bt Victoria Lust (ENG,18) 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (39m)

[R2] (14) Joshana Chinappa (IND,14) l (1) Laura Massaro (ENG,1) 3-11, 6-11, 3-11 (26m)

Joshana fails to challenge WR #1 Laura Massaro in the second round of World championship ... Before that in the first round Joshana scored convincing win over similar ranked Victoria Lust ... Dipika lost in the first round after giing fighting performance against WR #10 Annie Au ... After losing first 2 games Dipika tried fightback winning next two games but she failed to keep same momentum in the fifth.

Archery News

At Shanghai 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1, China

Deepika Kumari matched the world record for the 72-arrow round in qualification at the first leg of the Hyundai Archery World Cup, with a score of 686 ... She matched Korean Ki Bo Bae’s 686-points/720 performance from 2015.

Tennis News

At $100K Anning Challenger, China

[R2] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) bt Nicolas Barrientos (COL,254) 63 76

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) vs (8) Arthur De Greef (BEL,203)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) l Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Alexander Nedoyvesov (KAZ) 46 46

Another impressive win by Saki over Colombian Nicolas Barrientos in straight sets ... Saki started confidently taking 3-0 lead in the first set and kept that advantage for winning it ... Nicolas tried fightback in the second but Saki kept his hold for winning the second set in tie-break ... This is really good win considering on clay and against South American ... Next he is facing Belgian Arthur De Greef for place in the semis.

But he and Mahesh lose their doubles match in straight sets against Eastern European pair.

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Tennis News

At 2016 Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT- Girls-u14, Thailand

India l Thailand 1-2
SHREYA GULIA l MANANCHAYA SAWANGKAEW (THA) 16 16
TANISHA KASHYAP (IND) bt MONIQUE BARRY (THA) 61 61
SHREYA GULI (IND)/ TANISHA KASHYAP (IND) l ANCHISA CHANTA (THA)/ MANANCHAYA SAWANGKAEW (THA) 36 16

So with this loss against Thai girls ended our any chance of qualifying for world group ... This time also our #1 Tanisha Kashyap win her match.

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At $100K Anning Challenger, China

[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) bt Duckhee Lee (KOR,206) 64 63

[R2] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) vs Nicolas Barrientos (COL,254)

Saki scores superb straight sets win over young talented Korean Duckhee Lee ... Duckhee was leading 2-4 in the first set but Saki made strong comeback ... He won next four games breaking Duckhee twice for winning the first set ... He continued with his attacking game for leading 5-2 in the second before winning the match ... Next he is facing Colombian Nicolas Barrientos.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Sakou Bangoura (USA)/ Jose Statham (NZL) 64 76

Divij and Purav start with tight straight sets win over Statham and Bangoura in the first round.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Chiasso, Switzerland (Clay)

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) l (1) Evgeniya RODINA (RUS,119) 26 06

Rodina proves too strong for Ankita.

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At $25K France F9 Futures, Grasse (Clay)

[R1] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,237) bt Enzo COUACAUD (FRA,588) 76(6) 61

[R2] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,237) vs (Q) Benjamin BALLERET (MON,695)

Ramk scores straight sets win over Frenchman Couacaud in the first round ... In the first set RamK was 0-3 down before taking set in tie-break ... In tie-break also RamK saved a set point before winning it, after that he dominated second set ... Next he is facing qualifier Benjamin Balleret.

Rowing News

At 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament, Chungju, South Korea

Men's Single Sculls Event
2. Dattu Bhokanal (IND) 7 min 07.63 sec

Rower Dattu Bhokanal qualify for Rio Olympics 2016 in Men's Single Sculls Event after winning Silver medal in qualifying tournament in Korea ... He became the only rower from India to qualify for the Rio Olympics ... In the final Dattu Bhokanal was on course for a gold medal finish as he was leading the five-man field till the 1,500m mark but Korean Dongyong Kim smartly paced his race (07 mins 05.13 secs) and overtook him in the final stretch.

Tennis News

At 2016 Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT- Girls-u14, Thailand

India l New Zealand 1-2
[SW2] SANYA SINGH (IND) l THARUBPHET HOMKRUN (NZL) 16 67(6)
[SW1] TANISHA KASHYAP (IND) bt MONIQUE BARRY (NZL) 75 67(4) 61
[WD] SHREYA GULI (IND)/ TANISHA KASHYAP (IND) l MONIQUE BARRY (NZL)/ THARUBPHET HOMKRUN (NZL) 46 46

Our u-14 girls r in deep trouble as they lose their first match against New Zealand girls ... Only Tanish Kashyap managed to win her match against top New Zealand player.

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At $75K+H Santaizi Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan

[R1] (1) Sam Groth (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Tatsuma Ito (JPN)/ Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN) 67(2) 63 9-11

Feeling bad for Lee after such close loss for him and Sam against Japanese pair ... I wish he keep fighting remaining of the season.

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At $50K Tallahassee Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sakou Bangoura (USA)/ Jose Statham (NZL)

In last week of US clay season Divij and Purav r 3rd seed and facing Statham and Bangoura in the first round.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Chiasso, Switzerland (Clay)

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) vs (1) Evgeniya RODINA (RUS,119)

Ankita is having tough match against top 120 Russian player in the first round.

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At $25K France F9 Futures, Grasse (Clay)

[R1] (1) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,237) vs Enzo COUACAUD (FRA,588)

Ramk is playing in French futures on clay for French open qualifying preparation.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Skeet Men
Gold Medal Match
Marcus Swensson (SWE) bt Mairaj Ahmad Khan (IND) 14-14 (2-1)

Mairaj wins Silver medal In World cup stage in Rio, which was played in same location where Olympics is later part of the year ... Mairaj qualified for the final on 2nd place with 122 hits ... After they both hit 15 semifinal targets, Svensson and Mairaj finished tied also at the end of the regular course of the final match, where they both crushed 14 clays ... In the subsequent tie-breaking shoot-off, Khan missed on his very first double, delivering the first Gold medal of his career to Marcus Svensson.

Wrestling News

At 2016 World Olympic Qualification Tournament 1, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Men's freestyle 57 kg
[R16] Sandeep Tomar (IND) bt Sezar Akgül (TUR) 11-0
[QF] Sandeep Tomar (IND) bt Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (KGZ) 4-1
[SF] Sandeep Tomar (IND) l Mirjalal Hasanzada (AZE) 8-8

For Bronze medal
Sandeep Tomar (IND) bt Alexandru Chirtoacă (MDA) 10-0

For Olympic wrestle-off
Sandeep Tomar (IND) bt Andriy Yatsenko (UKR) 11-0

Sandeep Tomar wins fourth Olympic quota in Men's freestyle 57 kg for India after winning Olympic wrestle-off against Ukrainian wrestler after clinching Bronze medal ... So he is joining Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav and from Greco-Roman Hardeep Singh.

Sandeep Tomar's participation in this tournament was controversial as Rahul Aware defeated him in trails but ahead of him Sandeep got this chance ... Sandeep started confidently beating Turkish wrestler convincingly ... In the quarter final Sandeep faced real challenge but he managed to come over Kyrgyzstan wrestler ... In the semis Sandeep was 8-6 up when 15 seconds were remaining against Azerbaijani wrestler ... But Hasanzada managed to take down him and won it on last point win criteria ... In the Bronze medal match Sandeep playing attacking wrestling and won the bout in dominating fashion within couple of minute against Moldova wrestler Chirtoacă ... Total three wrestlers were going to qualify from this group so wrestle-off happened between two Bronze medal winners ... Sandeep continued with his attacking wrestling and defeated Ukrainian Andriy Yatsenko convincingly.

Tennis News

At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l (2) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 62 16 6-10

Sania-Martina lose the plot after winning the first set, after that French girls proved too strong for them ... Still overall good performance as they scored three wins in a row after almost two months.

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At $50K+H Nanjing Challenger, China

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (2) Yan Bai (CHN)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) 63 62

Doubles Final
(3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Alexander Nedoyvesov (KAZ) 63 63

Saki and Jeev lift Nanjing Challenger doubles title convincingly ... In the final they defeated Molchanov and Nedoyvesov without losing much sweat ... This is Saki's 6th and Jeev's 2nd challenger level doubles title.

Before that in the morning Saki and Jeev scored dominating win over 2nd seed Bai and Ghedin for entering into the final.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Florida, USA

Doubles Final
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Brian Baker (USA)/ Ryan Harrison (USA) 75 67(4) 8-10

Purav-Divij lose in the final against tricky American pair in closely fought match ... In end very narrow loss for them after winning the first set ... Overall good week for them and hopefully they will build on this.

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At $100K Anning Challenger, China

[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) vs Duckhee Lee (KOR,206)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Alexander Nedoyvesov (KAZ)

Anning Challenger draw is out ... In the singles Saki is facing tough opponent in 17 yrs old talented Korean Duckhee Lee ... In the doubles he is playing with Mahesh and they r facing Nanjing finalists Denys Molchanov and Alexander Nedoyvesov in the first round.

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At $75K+H Santaizi Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan

[R1] (1) Sam Groth (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Tatsuma Ito (JPN)/ Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN)

This week Lee and Sam r top-seed in Taipei challenger and facing Japanese pair in the first round.

Tennis News

At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE) 64 75

Sana-Martina score tight straight sets win over Lisicki and Safarova for entering into the final.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Florida, USA

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Giovanni Lapentti (ECU)/ Roberto Maytin (VEN) 46 76(3) 11-9

[F] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Brian Baker (USA)/ Ryan Harrison (USA)

Divij-Purav score excellent comeback win against Lapentti-Maytin for entering into the final ... They were a set and double break down against Maytin before making amazing comeback ... In the final they r facing

Tennis News

At $50K+H Nanjing Challenger, China

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) 61 62

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (2) Yan Bai (CHN)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)

Another dominating winfor Saki and Jeev against Aussie pair in the quarters ... In the semis they r facing 2nd seed Chinese-Italian combination.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT 2016 - u-14 Boys, Bangkong, Thailand

Quarter Final
(6) India l (3) Japan 0-2
[S2] AARYAN ZAVERI (IND) l SHUNSUKE MITSUI (JPN) 46 67(4)
[S1] >DEV JAVIA (IND) l DAIKI YOSHIMURA (JPN) 62 46 26

And our chance of qualifying for world group get over with our loss against Japanese boys ... They won both singles for moving to the semis.

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At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Katrina Siniakova (CZE) 61 63

Sania-Martina r in the semis with another comfortable win over Czech pair.

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At € 2.4M Barcelona ATP 500, Spain

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA) l Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 67(5) 46

Not a fruitful partnership with Rojer ... Rohan lose with him in the quarters against Mirnyi and Huey.

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At $50K+H Nanjing Challenger, China

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Max Schnur (USA) 61 64

Good to see Saki is getting chance of getting accumulate on clay through doubles win.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Florida, USA

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (LL) Jose Hernandez-Fernandez (DOM)/ Nicolas Jarry (CHI) 63 75

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Giovanni Lapentti (ECU)/ Roberto Maytin (VEN)

Divij-Purav score straight sets win over Hernandez-Fernandez and Jarry ... In the semis they r facing another unseeded pairing of Giovanni Lapentti and Roberto Maytin.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT 2016 - u-14 Boys, Bangkong, Thailand

Group D
(6) India l (2) Australia 1-2
[S2] AARYAN ZAVERI (IND) l PHILIP SEKULIC (AUS) 36 16
[S1] DEV JAVIA (IND) bt ALEX BULTE (AUS) 46 75 61
[D] DEV JAVIA (IND)/ SANDEEP MOHANDOSS (IND) l ALEX BULTE (AUS) / PHILIP SEKULIC (AUS) 57 26

We lose our match against Australia but as we required for winning a match for group winner, we managed that ... Dev Javia scored comeback win over Aussie #1 Alek Bulte in three sets ... But in other group 3rd seed Japan get upset by Thai boys so we r having tough quarter final against 3rd Japanese boys for qualifying world group.

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At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Eri Hozumi (JPN)/ Miyu Kato (JPN) 61 61

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Katrina Siniakova (CZE)

Dominating winning start on clay season for Sania and Martina against young Japanese pair ... Next they can face tougher challenge from Czech pair.

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At € 2.4M Barcelona ATP 500, Spain

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA) bt (WC) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP) 75 63

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)

Rohan-Rojer start with straight sets win over Spanish wild-card pair ... Next they r facing Huey and Mirnyi.

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At $50K Savannah Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Guido Andreozzi (ARG)/ Nicolas Kicker (ARG) 64 61

Winning start against Argentine pair for Divij and Purav.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying WJT 2016 - u-14 Boys, Bangkong, Thailand

Group D
India bt Indonesia 3-0
[S2] AARYAN ZAVERI (IND) bt ARI FAHRESI (INA) 63 60
[S1] DEV JAVIA (IND) bt RIFQY SUKMA RAMDHAN (INA) 62 62
[D] DEV JAVIA (IND)/ SANDEEP MOHANDOSS (IND) bt ARI FAHRESI (INA)/ JERALL YASIN (INA) 61 60

India bt Malaysia 3-0
[S2] AARYAN ZAVERI (IND) bt IMRAN DANIEL ABD HAZLI (MAS) 60 60
[S1] DEV JAVIA (IND) bt CHAN SOO KEAT (MAS) 62 63
[D] DEV JAVIA (IND)/ SANDEEP MOHANDOSS (IND) bt IMRAN DANIEL ABD HAZLI (MAS)/ MUHAMMAD NUR IMAN MOHD NOOR ARIFFIN (MAS) 62 62

Expected easy winning start for our boys .. They win back to back against Indonesia and Malaysia and other hand seeded Aussie boys surprisingly lose against Indonesia ... Tomorrow we r facing Australia for deciding group winner..

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Gymnastic News

At Rio Olympic 2016, Brazil

Dipa Karmakar created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics as she booked a berth for the Rio Games after a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event ... Dipa garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics.

Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnast have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964) but this will be the first for an Indian woman at the Olympics.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Nanjing Challenger, China

[R1] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) l Daniel Nguyen (USA,228) 67(6) 67(3)

Saki lose in two tie-breaks against American Nguyen ... Saki had his chances in the mach like in the first set tie-break Saki was up 6-5 and was in control on Nguyen's serve but due to interruption that point replayed ... In the second set Saki was up with break at 5-3 but failed to take advantage ... Frankly disappointing result for Saki but considering this on clay must be learning experience.

Table Tennis

At Rio Olympic 2016, Brazil

First time our two men and two women players qualifying for Olympics in table tennis ... This is full quota as per Olympic rules only two men and two women per country can participate ... Soumyajit Ghosh in men's singles and Manika Batra in women's singles won stage I (South Asia Zone) of Asian Qualifiers ... Achantha Sharat Kamal made it to Rio by winning second stage of the Asian qualifiers beating Iranian paddler ... Achantha played this tournament with back injury so creditable performance as he missed opportunity of participation in 2012 London Olympic ... Mouma Das lost in the final round for a qualifying round but qualify after winning third place play-off against Uzbek paddler.

Tennis News

At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,278) l (8) Kristyna Pliskova (CZE,83) 16 06

As expected Ankita fails to match powerful game of Kristyna Pliskova.

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At $50K+H Nanjing Challenger, China

[R1] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,151) vs Daniel Nguyen (USA,228)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Max Schnur (USA)

Saki is back on the tour and is 4th seed at Nanjing ... In the first round he is facing American Nguyen.

In the doubles Saki and Jeevan r 3rd seed and facing American pair.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

Final India l Australia 0-4 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Thomas Craig (AUS) 25' and 35', Matt Gohdes (AUS) 43' and 57'

India suffered a 0-4 thrashing at the hands of world champions Australia to settle for a silver medal, their best finish in six years, in the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament ... Till first 25 minutes our defense was holding Aussies but other hand our forward line failed to create much chances ... After 0-1 half-time our players looked tired and Aussie players took full advantage scoring 3 goals more in the second half.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

For Third Place
(4) India bt (6) New Zealand 2-1
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) bt NINA PARIPOVICH (NZL) 61 61
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt VALENTINA IVANOV (NZL) 64 26 63
[WD] SHIVANI INGLE (IND)/ SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) l TAMARA ANDERSON (NZL)/ NINA PARIPOVICH (NZL) 26 36

Our girls r finished on third place after beating New Zealand girls ... In the first single Mahak won it comfortably losing only 2 games ... In the second singles Sathwika faced tough challenge from Ivanov but she came through in three sets ... Other hand top-seed Japanese girls win the title comfortably beating Thai girls.

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At $759K Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2016, Stuttgart, Germany (Clay)

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,278) bt Tena Lukas (CRO,265) 67(4) 76(2) 75

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,278) vs (8) Kristyna Pliskova (CZE,83)

Ankita is playing in big Porsche WTA tournament ... In the first qulifying round she again showed her comeback skill against little higher ranked Croatian Tena Lukas .... Ankita lost the first set in tie-break but then she fought back for winning the second set in tie-break ... She completed win after winning another tight set, this match was going on for almost for three hours ... She is next meeting Czech big server and top 100 Kristyna Pliskova.

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At € 2.4M Barcelona ATP 500, Spain

[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,247) l (2) Karen Khachanov (RUS,136) 46 63 36

Doubles
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA) vs (WC) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP)

RamK gives fighting performance in his loss against top 150 talented Russian Karen Khachanov.

This week Rohan is playing with Rojer and in the first round they r facing local wild-card pair.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[SF] (7) N Vijay Sunder Prasanth (IND,542) l (1) Nicolas Barrientos (COL,291) 26 16

VSP was no match to top-seed Barrientos.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India bt Malaysia 6-1 (4-0)
Goal Scorers - Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 2', Harjeet Singh (IND) 7', Ramandeep Singh (IND) 25' PC and 39', Danish Mujtaba (IND) 27' PC, Talwinder Singh (IND) 50' and Shahril Saabah (MAS) 46'

Our players raise to challenge and beats Malaysia in dominating fashion to book the final with mighty Aussie team ... From the start our players dominated and scored two goals in first 8 minutes ... After that we never turned back and Malaysians were doing catching game ... So after 2010 this is our first final.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

Semi Final
(4) India l (1) Japan 0-2
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) l NAHO SATO (JPN) 16 06
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) l AYUMI MIYAMOTO (JPN) 16 26

Japanese girls prove too strong for Indian girls ... So tomorrow our girls will meet New Zealand girls for third place.

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At € 4.09M Monte Carlo Masters, Monte Carlo, Monaco

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l (4) Jamie Murray (GBR)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 26 36

Rohan-Florin lose comfortably against Murray-Soares.

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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/ Sergio Galdos (PER) 46 67(4)

Our pair fail to overcome South American pair.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[QF] (7) N Vijay Sunder Prasanth (IND,542) bt (Q) Rigele Te (CHN,1217) 61 62
[QF] Ranjith Virali-Murugesan (IND,750) l Chuhan WANG (CHN,679) 46 26

[SF] (7) N Vijay Sunder Prasanth (IND,542) vs (1) Nicolas Barrientos (COL,291)

Doubles Final
(1) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Jeson Patrombon (PHI)/ Aoran Wang (CHN) 64 60

VSP comfortably wins his quarter final against Chinese qualifier ... Next he is facing top 300 Colombian Barrientos.

In the doubles VSP and Rungkat win the doubles title comfortably ... They dominated this week in all doubles matches.

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At $10K Spain F9 Futures, Reus

[QF] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,580) l Bastian Malla (CHI,468) 26 06

Sasi fail to raise his game against Chilean Malla.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

Quarter Final
(4) India bt (2) Australia 2-0
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) bt JESSICA ZAVIACIC (AUS) 16 61 63
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt BAIJING LIN (AUS) 46 63 64

Indian girls take challenge of 2nd seed Aussie and win this tie winning both singles ... Mahak scored comeback win over Aussie #2 Jessica after losing the first set ... In the second match Sathwika scored huge upset win over top 50 Aussie player Lin in three sets ... In the semis our girls r facing top-seed Japanese girls.

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At $100K Sarasota Challenger, Florida, USA

[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Guilherme Clezar (BRA)/ Thiago Monteiro (BRA) w/o

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/ Sergio Galdos (PER)

Brazilian pair give walkover to Divij and Purav ... In the quarters they r facing Arevalo-Galdos.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[R1] (1) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Long CHEN (CHN)/ Weiqiang ZHENG (CHN) 61 64
[QF] (1) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Yecong HE (CHN)/ Yibing WU (CHN) 61 64
[SF](1) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) / Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Yang LU (CHN)/ Sheng Hao ZHOU (CHN) 61 64

[F] (1) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Jeson Patrombon (PHI)/ Aoran Wang (CHN)

VSP with Rungkat in the final with identical scores in their all three wins.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India l New Zealand 1-2 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) 36' and Kane Russell (NZL) 28' PC, Nick Wilson (NZL) 41'

Once again we fail to beat New Zealand ... As usual our forward line struggled but they earned three penalty corners but all wasted by our drag-flicker specialists ... Other hand New Zealand players converted opportunities for important win and they r now on second position in standing.

India are still within a chance of making it to the final if they beat Malaysia on Thursday.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

Group D
(4) India bt (7) Korea 2-1
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) bt EUNHYE LEE (KOR) 61 57 61
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) l SOHYUN PARK (KOR) 57 46
[WD] MAHAK JAIN (IND)/ SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt EUNHYE LEE (KOR)/ SOHYUN PARK (KOR) 3-2 retd.

We were lucky as Korean pair retired from the doubles match but other hand I m thinking they deliberately tanked this match to avoid playing 2nd seed Aussie girls in the quarters ... In Group B, 8th seed Thailand scored upset win over 2nd seed Australia ... So our girls meeting 2nd seed Aussie girls for qualifying for World group and 7th seed Korea is facing 8th seed Thailand girls ... Interestingly 3rd seed Taipei lost their match against 5th seed Chinese girls ... So 3rd seed Taipei girls r facing top-seed Japanese girls in other quarter-final.

In our match Mahak gave winning start for us after beating Korean Eunhye Lee in three sets ... But Korean top player Sohyun Park defeated our top player Sathwika Sama in straight sets ... In the doubles Korean pair retired after playing five games.

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At € 4.09M Monte Carlo Masters, Monte Carlo, Monaco

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 75 75

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (4) Jamie Murray (GBR)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Tight straight sets win for Rohan-Florin ... In both sets our pair took crucial break in 12th game ... In the quarters they r facing 4th seed pair of Murray and Soares.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[R2] (7) N Vijay Sunder Prasanth (IND,542) bt (Q) Jeson Petrombon (PHI,1241) 61 61
[R2] (8) N Sriram Balaji (IND,583) l Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,834) 26 46
[R2] Ranjith Virali-Murugesan (IND,750) bt (Q) Zihao Xia (CHN,UNR) 61 64

Surprising loss of Bala against lowly ranked Taipei player ... Other hand expected dominating win from VSP and Ranjith against qualifiers for entering into the quarter.

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At $10K Spain F9 Futures, Reus

[R2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,580) bt (WC) Eduard Esteve Lobato (ESP,647) 63 36 75

[QF] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,580) vs Bastian Malla (CHI,468)

Good to see Sasi pull another three sets win after excellent upset win over top-300 British player ... In the quarters he is facing Chilean Bastian Malla.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India bt Pakistan 5-1 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Manpreet Singh (IND) 4', SV Sunil (IND) 10' and 41', Talwinder Singh (IND) 50', Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) PC and Muhammad Irfan (PAK) 7' PC

Indians demolished Pakistan for dominating win, though Rupinder missed penalty stroke for giving India 6-1 victory ... We started confidently after scoring on 4th minute but Pakistan responded within three minutes ... After that there was all Indian show, Pakistan failed to match SV Sunil's pace, who scored brace ... Talwinder and Rupinder also added in second half ... Now our next match is crucial one against difficult New Zealand.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

Group D
(4) India bt Uzbekistan 3-0
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) bt YASMINA KARIMJANOVA (UZB) 62 63
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt MILANA MASLENKOVA (UZB) 63 60
[WD] MAHAK JAIN (IND)/ SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt YASMINA KARIMJANOVA (UZB)/ VALERIYA VOROBYOVA (UZB) 61 62

Another comfortable win for our girls against Uzbek girls ... Next they r having important match for deciding group winner against Korean girls.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,753) bt (Q) Yu Hsiang CHIU (TPE,1703) 36 63 75
[R1] (7) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) bt Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,810) 76 62
[R1] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) bt (WC) Su Hao ZHONG (CHN,2147) 63 64

[R2] (7) N Vijay Sunder Prasanth (IND,542) vs (Q) Jeson Petrombon (PHI,1241)
[R2] (8) N Sriram Balaji (IND,583) vs Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,834)
[R2] Ranjith Virali-Murugesan (IND,750) vs (Q) Zihao Xia (CHN,UNR)

Expected wins for our players.

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At $50K+H Barletta Challenger, Italy

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) l (PR) Julian Reister (GER,597) 06 36

Disappointing loss of RamK against former top 100 Reister.

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At $25K Uzbekistan F2 futures, Bukhara

[R1] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,418) l Duje Kekez (CRO,513) 36 06

I really hope that not another injury scare for Sumit.

Tennis News

At Junior Fed Cup Asia Oceania Final-Qualifying - u16, New Delhi, India

Group D
(4) India bt Sri Lanka 3-0
[WS2] MAHAK JAIN (IND) bt JANALI MANAMPERI (SRI) 60 60
[WS1] SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt ANIKA SENEVIRATNE (SRI) 61 63
[WD] SHIVANI INGLE (IND)/ SATHWIKA SAMA (IND) bt ANYA GUNAWARDENA (SRI)/ ANIKA SENEVIRATNE (SRI) 61 62

Expected easy winning start for Indian girls ... Tomorrow they r facing Uzbek girls.

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At $50K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Istanbul, Turkey

[Q3] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,279) l Freya CHRISTIE (GBR,379) 36 75 36

Ankita misses opportunity of qualifying for main-draw after her loss against Christie.

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At $10K Spain F9 Futures, Reus

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,580) bt (3) Alexander Ward (GBR,321) 46 61 62

Sasi Kumar Mukund scores biggest win by ranking wise as he beat in-form British player Alexander Ward ... After losing the first set Sasi made superb comeback for winning next two sets easily.

Golf News

At $10M Augusta Masters Tournament, USA (PGA Tour 2016)

T42 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 76 73 75 75 +11 $37,000

Disappointing outing for Anirban at Masters ... Last time he finished at T49 so one can say improvement but he cand do better ... Anirban struggled on last four holes on this course ... He managed 9 over on these holes but in the final round triple bogey on 3rd hole reduced his chances of finishing in top-30.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India bt Canada 3-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Chandana Thimmaiah (IND) 3', Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 41' PC, Talwinder Singh (IND) 67' and Keegan Pereira (CAN) 23'

Another unconvincing performance by our players, mostly our forwards who squandered numerous chances in-front of the goals, in win against Canadian side ... We started scoring in first 3 minutes but then failed to convert chances ... Canadian equalized before half-time ... In the second half we scored two late goals but this performance is not increasing confidence about our team for Olympic.

Badminton News

At $550K Malaysia Open 2016, Shah Alam (Superseries Premier)

[SF] (3) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) l Tzu Ying TAI (TPE,9) 19-21 12-21

This is sixth loss in a row for Saina against Tai ... It seems some mental block for Saina against Tai ... Sad to see this straight games loss.

Tennis News

At Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup u-16, New Delhi, India

For 3rd Place
(5) India bt (4) Australia 2-0
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (IND) bt THOMAS JAMES BOSANCIC (AUS) 62 64
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) bt ALEXANDER CRNOKRAK (AUS) 62 64

Terrific result by our boys beating higher ranked Aussie team for qualifying to the junior Davis cup world group played in Budapest, Hungary in September.

Our Siddhant and Adil scored dominating win in these matches and they lost to only Japan and China, other qualifiers, in close matches.

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At € 4.09M Monte Carlo Masters, Monte Carlo, Monaco

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bye

Rohan-Florin r 6th seed and receive bye ... Hoping for better outing for them in clay season after poor hard court season.

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At $25K China F4 Futures, Zhangjiagang

[QF] (5) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) l (3) Jimmy WANG (TPE,377) 26 67(3)
[QF] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) bt (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN,388) 36 63 75

[SF] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) l (1) Duck Hee LEE (KOR,214) 26 26

Bala scored upset win in the quarters against Sekiguchi but fail to keep same level in the semis ... He lose convincingly against Duck Hee Lee.

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At $50K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Istanbul, Turkey

[Q1] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,279) bt Polina MONOVA (RUS,674) 62 61
[Q2] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,279) bt Anna ZAJA (GER,402) 64 63

[Q3] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,279) vs Freya CHRISTIE (GBR,379)

As expected Ankita is in the final qualifying with two straight sets wins.

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At $50K+H Barletta Challenger, Italy

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,233) vs (PR) Julian Reister (GER,597)

Tricky match for RamK against former top-100 Julian.

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At $25K China F5 Futures, Taizhou

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,753) vs Qualifier
[R1] (7) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) vs Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,810)
[R1] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) vs (WC) Su Hao ZHONG (CHN,2147)

Draw is out for next week's Chinese futures.

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At $25K Uzbekistan F2 futures, Bukhara

[R1] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,418) vs Duje Kekez (CRO,513)

Sumit needs to play as much matches to bring back his match fitness and hopefully his last week's doubles title help him to perform better in the singles.

Badminton News

At $550K Malaysia Open 2016, Shah Alam (Superseries Premier)

[R1] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,11) bt Bingjiao HE (CHN,18) 21-16 21-17
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,6) bt Nitchaon JINDAPOL (THA,27) 21-16 21-7

[R2] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,11) bt (7) Ji Hyun SUNG (KOR,8) 22-20 21-17
[R2] (3) Saina NEHWAL (IND,6) bt Yeon Ju BAE (KOR,15) 21-10 21-16

[QF] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,11) l (4) Ratchanok INTANON (THA,4) 7-21 8-21
[QF] (3) Saina NEHWAL (IND,6) bt Porntip BURANAPRASERTSUK (THA,22) 19-21 21-14 21-14

[SF] (3) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) vs Tzu Ying TAI (TPE,9)

In Olympic year our players r struggling ... Our top men players lose in the first round of Indian and Malaysian superseries ...In Indian superseries Saina and Sindhu also failed to cross quarter final stage ... In Malaysian superseries Saina enters into the semis with hard fought win over her Thai opponent ... But Saina lose cheaply against Ratchanok in the quarters ... In the semis Saina is having tough match against Tzu Ying Tai, against her Saina is having five matches losing streak.

Tennis News

At Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup u-16, New Delhi, India

Semi Final
(5) India l (3) China 1-2
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (IND) l TAO MU (CHN) 26 16
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) bt LING XI ZHAO (CHN) 61 63
[D] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND)/ MEGH PATEL (IND) l YE CONG MO (CHN)/ LING XI ZHAO (CHN) 36 75 8-10

In the semis our boys lose close match against Chinese boys ... After Siddhant's one-sided loss Adil scored dominating win against Chinese #1 and top-75 ITF junior ranked Zhao ... In the doubles Adil-Megh tried comeback after losing the first set ... After winning the second set they failed to keep momentum in match tie-break ... Now our boys need to win 3rd place match against Australia for qualifying for World group.

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At $50K Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,294) l (Q) Yuya Kibi (JPN,663) 36 63 67(8)

Sanam's terrible start of year continues as he lose first round match in Kyoto challenger against below 650 ranked Japanese in tight third set tie-break.

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At $25K China F4 Futures, Zhangjiagang

[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,753) l (1) Duck Hee LEE (KOR,214) 16 06
[R2] (5) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) bt Kuan-Yi LEE (TPE,836) 63 63
[R2] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) bt Xi QI (CHN,1250) 64 63

[QF] (5) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) vs (3) Jimmy WANG (TPE,377)
[QF] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) vs (4) Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN,388)

Doubles
[F] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) l (1) Cheng-Peng HSIEH (TPE)/ Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE) 67(4) 36

VSP and Bala score comfortable wins in the second round ... Now their real test in the quarters against top-400 players ... In the doubles Bala-Shuichi lose the final against top-seed Taipei pair.

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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 futures, Karshi

[R1] Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt Denis MATSUKEVITCH (RUS)/ Valery RUDNEV (RUS) 16 63 10-2
[QF] Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt (3) Luca MARGAROLI (SUI)/ Ilija VUCIC (SRB) 76(6) 75
[SF] Ti CHEN (TPE) / Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt Temur ISMAILOV (UZB) / Shonigmatjon SHOFAYZIYEV (UZB) 61 63

Doubles Final
Ti CHEN (TPE)/ Sumit NAGAL (IND) bt (4) Sanjar FAYZIEV (UZB)/ Jurabek KARIMOV (UZB) 5-5 retd.

Good outing for Sumit in the doubles as he lifts doubles title with Ti Chen ... Good match practice for Sumit after his comeback due to injury break.

Hockey News

At Men's Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India l Australia 1-5 (1-4)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 8' PC and Blake Govers (AUS) 5', Jacob Whetton (AUS) 13', Eddie Okkenden (AUS) 20', Simon Orchard (AUS) 25', Matt Ghodes (AUS) 53'

Young Indians paid dearly against full-side Aussie team as they took full advantage of poor defending and clearance by Indian players inside the circle ... After first goal by Aussie we equalized within 3 minutes by Rupinder ... After that all Aussie show was going on ... We were lucky as Aussie managed to add only one goal after half-time ... We need to improve our overall game for remaining matches.

Tennis News

At Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup u-16, New Delhi, India

Quarter Final
(5) India bt (2) Korea 2-1
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (IND) bt JINSEOK YU (KOR) 63 64
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) l YEONGSEOK JEONG (KOR) 26 26
[D] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND)/ MEGH PATEL (IND) bt SEONYONG HAN (KOR)/ YEONGSEOK JEONG (KOR) 36 63 14-12

Excellent win by our boys against 2nd seed Korean boys ... Siddhant started with straight sets win but today Adil was off-color and lost his match cheaply ... But he came back in the doubles with Megh and they scored hard fought comeback win in extra points of match tie-break ... In the semis they r facing Chinese boys.

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At € 520K Grand Prix Hassan II, Marrakech, Morocco

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) l Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 67(5) 67(5)

Rohan-Denis lose in two tie-breaks against Aisam-Marin ... Our pair had 11 break points in the match which they failed to convert.

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At $25K China F4 Futures, Zhangjiagang

[R1] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,697) bt Xin GAO (CHN,724) 06 64 63
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,805) l (WC) Zihao XIA (CHN,UNR) 36 36
[R1] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,526) bt (Q) Hao WU (CHN,1881) 26 62 76(1)
[R1] (5) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,443) bt Cheng-Peng HSIEH (TPE,1133) 64 60

[R2] Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,753) vs (1) Duck Hee LEE (KOR,214)
[R2] (5) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,543) vs Kuan-Yi LEE (TPE,836)
[R2] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,583) vs Xi QI (CHN,1250)

Doubles
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) l Xi QI (CHN)/ Weiqiang ZHENG (CHN) 62 16 2-10
[R1] (3) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Jie CUI (CHN)/ Rigele TE (CHN) 64 63
[R1] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) bt Jeson PATROMBON (PHI)/ Aoran WANG (CHN) 67(3) 62 10-8

[QF] (3) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Bowen OUYANG (CHN)/ Chuhan WANG (CHN) 63 26 10-8
[QF] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) bt (4) Matteo VIOLA (ITA)/ Jimmy WANG (TPE) 16 62 10-5

[SF] (3) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) l (1) Cheng-Peng HSIEH (TPE)/ Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE) 67(2) 46
[SF] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) bt (2) Xin GAO (CHN)/ Kaichi UCHIDA (JPN) 76(4) 62

[F] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Shuichi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) vs (1) Cheng-Peng HSIEH (TPE)/ Hsien-Yin PENG (TPE)

Only surprising loss of Vinayak against un-ranked local player, otherwise expected wins for our players ... In the doubles Bala is in the final with his Japanese partner after scoring couple of upset wins ... VSP lose in the doubles semis against top-seed Taipei pair.

Hockey News

At Men's Azlan Shah Cup 2016, Ipoh, Malaysia)

India bt Japan 2-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 24' PC, Sardar Singh (IND) 32' and Kenji Kitazato (JPN) 17'

Very unimpressive win by Indians against more energetic and spirited Japanese men ... We were early goal down but made comeback after penalty corner converted by Harmanpreet ... After half-time Sardar scored excellent reverse flick for winning goal ... But in this match again we squandered multiple chances as we failed to take created chances.

Tennis News

At Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup u-16, New Delhi, India

Group A
(5) India l (1) Japan 1-2
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (ND) l RIMPEI KAWAKAMI (JPN) 62 57 06
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) bt NAOKI TAJIMA (JPN) 64 64
[D] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND)/ MEGH PATEL (IND) l RIMPEI KAWAKAMI (JPN)/ NAOKI TAJIMA (JPN) 16 67(7)

Adil scored straight sets win over Japanese #1 Naoki but he didn't get support from other players ... In the important quarter final we r facing Korean boys.

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At € 520K Grand Prix Hassan II, Marrakech, Morocco

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Inigo Cervantes (ESP) 63 76(5)

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) vs Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

They r in the semis with straight sets win over Spanish pair ... Next Rohan is facing his old successful partner Aisam, who with his Croatian partner score upset win over top-seed pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R2] (7) Ankita RAINA (IND,281) l (Q) Sviatlana PIRAZHENKA (BLR,553) 57 26

Yesterday's three hours match took toll and Ankita fail to repeat same performance.

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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 futures, Karshi

[R2] (7) Sumit NAGAL (IND,415) l Sanjar FAYZIEV (UZB,524) 16 46

Expected loss after his yesterday's long match.

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Tennis News

At Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup u-16, New Delhi, India

Group A
(5) India bt Thailand 2-1
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (IND) l NOPPADOL NOIKOR (THA) 46 67(3)
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) bt TONKLA MULADA (THA) 62 64
[D] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND)/ MEGH PATEL (IND) bt NATTHAYUT NITHITHANANONT (THA)/ NOPPADOL NOIKOR (THA) 63 76(4)

(5) India bt Indonesia 3-0
[S2] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (ND) bt ISWANDARU KUSUMO PUTRO (INA) 62 63
[S1] ADIL KALYANPUR (IND) bt MUHAMMAD ALTHAF DHAIFULLAH (INA) 63 75
[D] SIDDHANT BANTHIA (IND)/ MEGH PATEL (IND) bt MUHAMMAD ALTHAF DHAIFULLAH (INA)/ ISWANDARU KUSUMO PUTRO (INA) 62 63

Winning start for our boys in u-16 Asia-Oceania Davis cup tournament ... After winning tight match against Thailand our boys dominated against Indonesian boys ... Now for winning this group our boys r facing to to-seed Japanese boys.

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At € 520K Grand Prix Hassan II, Marrakech, Morocco

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) bt (4) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) 64 62

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Inigo Cervantes (ESP)

Rohan and Istomin start with comfortable upset win over 4th seed pair ... Next they r facing Spanish pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R1] (7) Ankita RAINA (IND,281) bt (Q) Polina MONOVA (RUS,683) 75 46 76(2)

[R2] (7) Ankita RAINA (IND,281) vs (Q) Sviatlana PIRAZHENKA (BLR,553)

Ankita scores superb hard fought win over Russian qualifier ... In the final set Ankita was down 1-5 and made remarkable comeback to beat Russian in 3 hours ... Next she is facing another qualifier.

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At $15K Uzbekistan F1 futures, Karshi

[R1] (7) Sumit NAGAL (IND,415) bt (Q) Richard MUZAEV (RUS,1035) 64 36 62

[R2] (7) Sumit NAGAL (IND,415) vs. Sanjar FAYZIEV (UZB,524)

Expected tough match for Sumit, who is making comeback after long injury break ... Good to see Sumit wins this match but he need to raise his game few notches against his next opponent Sanjar Fayziev.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Leon Challenger, Mexico

[QF] Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 26 26
[QF] (3) Sam Groth (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Andre Ghem (BRA)/ Fabricio Neis (BRA) 76(5) 64

[SF] (3) Sam Groth (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 76(2) 76(8)

[F] (3) Sam Groth (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 46 63 11-13

Lee and Sam lose in the final against top-seed in extra points of match tie-break ... Before that they defeated 2nd seed New Zealand's ATP level pair in the semis.

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At $50K+H St. Brieuc Challenger, France

[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) bt (ALT) Lorenzo Giustino (ITA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND) 75 62

[QF] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) l Tobias Kamke (GER)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 76(2) 26 5-10

In the quarters they lose match against German-Austrian pair in match tie-break after winning the first set tie-break.