Golf News

At $6.7M DEAN and DELUCA Invitational, Texas, USA (PGA Tour)

T6 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 65 70 68 68 -9 $216,912.50

First top ten finish of the year for Anirban on PGA tour ... This performance boost his confidence for performing better in coming weeks.

Here Anirban was steady through out four sdays and remained inside top-10 ... In the final round he was 2 strokes behind leader till 11th hole ... But he bogeyed the 12th and then double bogeyed the 15th after hitting into the creek after hitting perfect drives onto the fairway ... He needs to reduce these errors for giving connsistent performance on the tour.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Brian Baker (USA)/ Marcus Daniell (NZL) 62 67(4) 61
[R3] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) bt (4) Jamie Murray (GBR)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 76(5) 76(4)

[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 36 26

[QF] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) vs (5) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (1) Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Jamie Murray (GBR) 62 36 8-10

Junior
[R1] Karman Thandi (IND,42) bt Oana Gavrila (ROU,48) 61 75

[R2] Karman Thandi (IND,42) vs (5) Dayana Yastremska (UKR,10)

Mixed day for us, SanTina face one-sided loss against their unseeded Czech opponents and with that their dream of completing SanTina Slam is over ... This is shocking loss of our pair.

In the doubles Lee scores upset win over 4th seed Soares and Murray with Matkowski ... Our pair won both sets in tie-break ... In the quarters they r facing Bryans.

Rohan-Florin score win in three sets against Marcus Daniell and Baker ... Our pair won their both sets comfortably but lost second set in tie-break.

Karman starts her campaign of French open with straight sets win over Romanian girl ... Next she is facing tough challenge of top-10 Ukrainian girl.

Rohan-Alla lose their MXD match against top-seed ... After winning the first set our pair failed to keep momentum.

---

At $50K+H Furth Challenger, Germany

[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,411) l Yannik Maden (GER,431) 46 46
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,388) bt Jan Chiunski (GER,413) 64 61

[Q2] Sumit Nagal (IND,388) l (2) Aurther De Greef (BEL,195) 75 67(3) 46

After winning first qualifying Sumit gives creditable fighting performance against top-200 De Greef ... He lose very close match, now his next target should be winning these matches ... Other hand Prajnesh lose in his first match in his comeback match after longish training break.

Athletic News

At Pat Young's Throwers Classic 2016, Salinas, California, USA

Women's Discuss Throw
Gold - Seema Punia (IND) 62.62 mtrs

The 32-year-old Seema Punia crossed the Rio Games qualification standard of 61.00m at the Hartnell College Throwers Complex with her season's best effort of 62.62m ... Seema is the 19th Indian track and field athlete to have qualified for Rio Games.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Tatjana Maria (GER)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) w/o

[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (4) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) 26 75 10-6
[R2] Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (1) Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Jamie Murray (GBR)

Excellent comeback win by Lee-Martina against 4th seed Shvedova and Mergea for entering into the quarters.

Squash News

At $25K Women's MEML HKFC International 2016, Happy Valley, Hong Kong China

Women's Final
(3) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) l (1) Joelle King (NZL,9) 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11 (45m)

Joshana's terrific run ended in the final against top-seed Joelle King ... In well fought match Joshana lose in four games.

Squash News

At $25K Women's MEML HKFC International 2016, Happy Valley, Hong Kong China

[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,19) bt (Q) Low Wee Wern (MAS,37) 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (23m)
[R1] (3) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) bt (Q) Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,33) 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8 (37m)

[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,19) l (1) Joelle King (NZL,9) 8-11, 6-11, 8-11 (36m)
[QF] (3) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) bt (7) Rachael Grinham (AUS,20) 15-13, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-4 (40m)

[SF] (3) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) bt (2) Annie Au (HKG,10) 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9 (60m)

[F] (3) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) vs (1) Joelle King (NZL,9)

Joshana is in the final of big Hong Kong event after scoring some thrilling win over talented players ... First round she defeated former top-20 Egyptian girl in four games ... In the quarters she defeated very experienced and former WR #1 Aussie player Rachel Grinham in five minutes ... In the semis she beats defending champion and top-10 local player Annie Au in exciting five games, match was extended to an hour long battle ... I m really hoping she is having enough energy for the final against top-seed and another top-10 New Zealand player Joelle King.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Eri Hozumi (JPN) 62 60

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt (WC) Gregoire Barrere (FRA)/ Quentin Halys (FRA) 63 64
[R2] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) bt Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Florian Mayer (GER) 64 63

[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Brian Baker (USA)/ Marcus Daniell (NZL)

Very dominating win by Sania-Martina against Japanese pair losing only two games ... Next they r facing Czech pair.

Expected win for Rohan-Florin against local wild-card pair for entering into the third round ... Other hand really good win by Lee and Marcin against experienced doubles players Kowle and Mayer in straight sets.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[SF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) l (2) Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB,237) 26 63 26

Ankita stretches 2nd seed Sabina Sharipova to three sets but in end Sabina was better player on the court.

---

At $25K Uzbekistan Futures 2016, Andijan

[SF] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) l (2) Temur ISMAILOV (UZB,467) 36 46

2nd seed Uzbek Temur Ismailov proves too strong for Bala.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[R1] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (9) Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 16 26

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Robert Farah (COL) 64 64
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt (WC) Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/ Tristan Lamasine (FRA) 64 62

[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (4) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/ Florin Mergea (ROU)

One-sided loss of Purav-Ivo against 9th seed Peya-Kubot.

In MXD, straight sets winning start for Martina and Lee ... Next they r facing 4th seed Shvedova and Mergea.

Sania-Ivan also start with straight sets win over French pair.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[QF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) bt (4) Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,268) 63 3-0 retd.

[SF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) vs (2) Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB,237)

Ankita moves into the semis ... She was dominating match against Natela ... After winning the first set comfortably she was leading 3-0 when her opponent retired from the match ... Ankita is facing 2nd seed Sabina Sharipova.

---

At $25K Uzbekistan Futures 2016, Andijan

[QF] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) bt (4) Markos KALOVELONIS (RUS,494) 64 76(4)

[SF] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) vs (2) Temur ISMAILOV (UZB,467)

Bala also enters into the semis with straight sets win over his top-500 Russian player ... Next he is facing 2nd seed Uzbek Temur Ismailov.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Daria Kasatkina (RUS)/ Alexandra Panova (RUS) 76(4) 62

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROU) bt (WC) Stephane Robert (FRA)/ Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) 62 62
[R1] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) bt Aliaksandr Bury (BLR)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 76(3) 76(6)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Eri Hozumi (JPN)

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (WC) Gregoire Barrere (FRA)/ Quentin Halys (FRA)
[R2] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) vs Julian Knowle (AUT)/ Florian Mayer (GER)

Winning start for our pairs ... Sania-Martina start with straight sets win against Russian pair ... Next they r facing Japanese pair.

Rohan-Florin win comfortably against local wild-card pair ... In the second round they r facing another local wild-car pair.

Lee-Marcin had tricky first round match but they overcome Bury-Istomin challenge in two tie-breaks ... Next they r facing experienced doubles players Knowle and Mayer.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R2] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) bt (Q) Valeria SAVINYKH (RUS,1058) 64 61
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,544) l (2) Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB,236) 16 26

[QF] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) vs (4) Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,268)

This is really good win by Ankita over experienced Valeria Savinykh, who is former top-100 player and making comeback after really long injury break ... Next Ankita is facing similar ranked Russian girl Natela ... Other hand expected but little disappointing one-sided loss of Natasha.

---

At $25K Uzbekistan Futures 2016, Andijan

[R2] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) bt (WC) Saida'lo SAIDKARIMOV (UZB,2160) 63 36 61
[R2] (Q) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND, 1678) l (6) Sanjar FAYZIEV (UZB,551) 36 26

[QF] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) vs (4) Markos KALOVELONIS (RUS,494)

Bala gets stretched by local wild-card player to three sets ... Next he is facing similar ranked Markos ... Shahbaaz runs ended with his loss against top-550 Uzbek player.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Tatjana Maria (GER)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Robert Farah (COL)
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs (WC) Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/ Tristan Lamasine (FRA)

Mixed doubles draw r out ... Sania with Ivan Dodig is 2nd seed and they r facing local wild-card pair ... Lee is back playing with Martina and they r facing Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah in the first round ... Rohan is playing with Russian Alla Kudryavtseva and they r facing Nicolas Mahut and Tatjana Maria

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R1] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) bt (Q) Polina MERENKOVA (UZB,1224) 61 62
[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,544) bt Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS,459) 62 61

[R2] (5) Ankita RAINA (IND,278) vs (Q) Valeria SAVINYKH (RUS,1058)
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,544) vs (2) Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB,236)

Terrific winning start for Natasha over higher ranked Russian girl in dominating fashion ... Ankita also joins her in the second round with comfortable win ... In the second round Natasha is facing 2nd seed top-250 Uzbek player Sharipova and Ankta is facing Russian qualifier.

---

At $25K Uzbekistan Futures 2016, Andijan

[Q1] (5) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND,1678) bt Odil AKRAMOV (UZB,UNR) 63 46 76(5)
[Q2] (5) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND,1678) bt Rasul AKHMADALIEV (UZB,UNR) 61 63

[R1] (Q) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND,1678) bt Alexander OVCHAROV (RUS,1259) 64 62
[R1] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,514) bt (Q) Sardor PULATOV (UZB,UNR) 75 61

[R2] (5) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND, 514) vs (WC) Saida'lo SAIDKARIMOV (UZB,2160)
[R2] (Q) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND, 1678) vs (6) Sanjar FAYZIEV (UZB,551)

Shahbaaz Khan qualified for main-draw and joins Bala in main-draw ... In main-draw Shahbaaz starts with straight sets win over his higher ranked Russian opponent ... Next he is facing 6th seed local player.

Bala also starts with straight sets win over local qualifier ... In the second round he is facing another local qualifier.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (WC) Stephane Robert (FRA)/ Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
[R1] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) vs Aliaksandr Bury (BLR)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)
[R1] Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (9) Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Alexander Peya (AUT)
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Daria Kasatkina (RUS)/ Alexandra Panova (RUS)

Doubles draw r out ... Sania-Martina r playing Russian girls in the first round.

In men's doubles draw, Lee is 16th seeded with Marcin Matkowski in bottom draw and they r facing Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin in the first round ... Rohan and Florin r in top-draw and facing local wild-card pair in the first round ... Purav and Karlovic r playing against 9th seed Kubot and Peya.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Singles Final
(4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) l Theo GRAVOUIL (FRA,820) 67(5) 46

Vaishnavi fails to overcome Gravouil's challenge for winning her first ITF title ... In the first set both players hold their respective service games but Vaishnavi lost the set in tie-break despite 9 aces in this set ... In the second set with a single break advantage Gravouil won the final.

Indian girls Prerna Bhambri and Nidhi Chilumula lifted doubles title beating another Indian girl Pranjala Yadlapalli and her Thai partner Tamachan Momkoonthod in match tie-break, 36 75 10-7.

Tennis News

At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[SF] (4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) bt Eleni KORDOLAIMI (GRE,803) 64 64
[SF] (7) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,713) l Theo GRAVOUIL (FRA,820) 67(8) 76(14) 36

Vaishnavi scores straight sets win over Greece girl for entering into the final ... In the final she face French girl Gravouil, who beats Pranjala in three sets ... Pranjala had multiple chances of finishing this match in two sets but she failed to convert ... In the first set Pranjala had four set points but French girl saved those for winning the set ... In the second set Pranjala had 3 set points when she was leading 5-3 ... She missed those and then in tie-break Pranjala had 9 more set points, so she converted 12th set point of the set for winning it ... In the third French girl took a break and kept that advantage for winning this match.

Tennis News

At $10K Czech Republic F2 Futures, Prague (Clay)

[QF] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,379) l (3) Zdenek KOLAR (CZE,335) 61 46 57

Sumit lose the match after starting well ... Sumit dominated the first set but afterwards he failed to overcome fightback from Kolar.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2015, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND,1232)bt Ivana HORVAT (AUT,1232) 64 62
[R1] Eleni KORDOLAIMI (GRE,803) bt (5) Eetee MAHETA (IND,667) 62 62
[R1] (4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) bye
[R1] (6) Tamachan MOMKOONTHOD (THA,699) bt Lalita DEVARAKONDA (IND,UNR) 61 62
[R1] (7) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,713) bt Jelena LUKIC (SRB,1167) 75 63
[R1] (8) Ines MURTA (POR,764) bt Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND,813) 63 62
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,784) bt Moulika RAM (IND,UNR) 36 60 64
[R1] (2) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,394) bye

[R2] Amrita MUKHERJEE (IND,1232) l Eleni KORDOLAIMI (GRE,803) 16 26
[R2] (4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) bt Maria ZOTOVA (RUS,1165) 61 62
[R2] (7) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,713) bt Anastasiia GEVEL (UKR,NR) 62 61
[R2] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,784) bt (2) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,394) 64 60

[QF] (4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) bt Federica PRATI (ITA,1143) 61 62
[QF] (7) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,713) bt Nathalia ROSSI (BRA,825) 62 62
[QF] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,784) l Theo GRAVOUIL (FRA,820) 16 26

[SF] (4) Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,656) vs Eleni KORDOLAIMI (GRE,803)
[SF] (7) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,713) vs Theo GRAVOUIL (FRA,820)

Sri and Prajala r in the seimi ... So good week for then as they fought hrd for winnng this match.

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Uber Cup - Semi Final
India l (1) China 0-3

[MS1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) l Xuerui LI (CHN,3) 15-21 21-12 17-21
[MS2] V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND,10) l Shixian WANG (CHN,6) 13-21 21-23
[MD1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Sikki Reddy NELAKURIHI (IND) l Qing TIAN (CHN)/ Yunlei ZHAO (CHN) 6-21 6-21

Indians girls end their Uber cup with Bronze medal ... In the semis Chian scores dominating victory over Indian girls after winning first 3 matches ... I was expecting little closer tie and expected at least one of from Saina and Sindhu could scored upset ... In first match Saina stretched Xuerui to three games in her loss ... After winning the first game easily Shixian managed to overcome Sindhu's challenge in second game despite it went to extra points ... Chinese pair proved too strong for Jwala-Sikki ... Overall encouraging to see Ruthvika's performance in this tournament.

Tennis News

At $10K Czech Republic F2 Futures, Prague (Clay)

[R2] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,379) bt (Q) Marek Gengel (CZE,UNR) 76(3) 46 64

[QF] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,379) vs (3) Zdenek KOLAR (CZE,335)

Surprisingly tougher match win for Sumit against unranked Czech player ... Looking at his struggle I feel big task for Sumit for beating local top-340 player on the clay.

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Uber Cup - Quarter Final
India bt (3/4) Thailand 3-1

[MS1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) l Ratchanok INTANON (THA,2) 12-21 19-21
[MS2] V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND,10) bt Busanan ONGBUMRUNGPHAN (THA,21) 21-18 21-7
[MD1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Puttita SUPAJIRAKUL (THA)/ Sapsiree TAERATTANACHAI (THA) 21-19 21-12
[MS3] Ruthvika Shivani GADDE (IND,119) bt Nitchaon JINDAPOL (THA,25) 21-18 21-16
[MD2] Sikki Reddy NELAKURIHI (IND)/ V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND) vs Jongkolphan KITITHARAKUL (THA)/ Rawinda PRAJONGJAI (THA)

Our girls scores upset win over Thai girls for entering into the semis of Uber Cup ... They will face host and #1 team China (though they still playing their matches) ... Ratchanok gave terrific start for Thai team after beating Saina convincingly ... In second match Sindhu dominated against Busanan for equalling the tie ... After longtime Jwala-Ashwini gave solid performance to beat similar ranked Thai team in straight sets ... But biggest upset was scored by young Ruthvika ... She defeated top-25 Thai girl Nitchaon in straight games for securing our place in the semis.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,138) l Frances Tiafoe (USA,188) 67(5) 57

Saki plays close match but fails to overcome young talented Tiafoe ... In the first set after exchanging early breaks Saki was double break down at 2-5 ... Saki crawled back to make it 5-all ... In tie-break Saki was double mini-break at 4-0 and then 5-2 but Tiafoe fought back winning next five points for grabbing this set ... In the second set also Saki 1-4 down and he fought back to make it 4-all ... But at 5-6 while serving for staying in the match Saki failed to hold.

---

At $250K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2016, France (Clay)

[R1] Alona Fomina (UKR)/ Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) l Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP) 26 06

Tough learning experience for Prarthana in her first WTA level match.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-3 Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE) 36 67(11)

Jeev and Sanam fail to overcome tough challenge of Gong-Yu to lose in two sets.

---

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Thomas Cup - Group B
India l Indonesia 0-5

[MS1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) l Christie JONATAN (INA,19) 14-21 12-21
[MD1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l Angga PRATAMA (INA)/ Ricky Karanda SUWARDI (INA) 18-21 17-21
[MS2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,34) l Ginting ANTHONY (INA,23) 21-18 11-21 15-21
[MD2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY (IND) l Gideon Markus FERNALDI (INA)/ Hendra SETIAWAN (INA) 9-21 11-21
[MS3] Sourabh VARMA (IND,180) l Ihsan Maulana MUSTOFA (INA,31) 10-21 22-20 13-21

Uber Cup - Group D
India l Japan 2-3

[MS1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Nozomi OKUHARA (JPN,5) 21-18 21-6
[MS2] V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND,10) bt Akane YAMAGUCHI (JPN,11) 21-11 21-18
[MD1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Sikki Reddy NELAKURIHI (IND) l Misaki MATSUTOMO (JPN)/ Ayaka TAKAHASHI (JPN) 11-21 8-21
[MS3] Ruthvika Shivani GADDE (IND,113) l Sayaka SATO (JPN,12) 7-21 14-21
[MD2] Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND)/ V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND) l Shizuka MATSUO/ Mami NAITO (JPN) 21-15 19-21 16-21

Our men's team lose one-sided match against strong Indonesian men ... This time also Sai and Sourabh give fighting performance in their losses against higher ranked opponents ... This is our men's team third loss in a row.

Our girls fail to overcome big test against Japanese team as they lose close match against them ... Saina and Sindhu started with solid wins against top Japanese team ... Our team used interesting strategy as they broke Jwala and Ashwini's partnership for this big tie ... Jwala-Sikki and Ruthvika lost their matches ... In the final match Ashwini partnered Sindhu, they started well winning the first game ... They failed to finish match in two games and then Japanese pair dominated the final game.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Bangkok-3 Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) l (PR) Remi Boutillier (FRA,501) 46 67(4)

Sid gives fighting performance in his loss against former top-250 Boutillier ... Overall decent performance which will help to improve his confidence.

---

At $10K Czech Republic F2 Futures, Prague (Clay)

[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,379) bt (Q) Frantisek Polanka (CZE,UNR) 61 63

[R2] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,379) vs (Q) Marek Gengel (CZE,UNR)

Sumit is playing back to back Czech futures ... He starts with comfortable win against local qualifier ... Next also he is facing another local qualifier.

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Thomas Cup - Group B
India l Hong Kong 2-3

[MS1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) l Ka Long Angus NG (HKG,11) 13-21 12-21
[MD1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l Chin Chung OR (HKG)/ Chun Man TANG (HKG) 19-21 12-21
[MS2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,34) bt Yun HU (HKG,14) 23-21 23-21
[MD2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY (IND) l Tsz Kit CHAN (HKG)/ Cheuk Him LAW (HKG) 10-21 11-21
[MS3] Sourabh VARMA (IND,180) bt Nan WEI (HKG,17) 17-21 21-19 21-9

Uber Cup - Group D
India bt Germany 5-0

[MS1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Fabienne DEPREZ (GER,99) 21-15 21-10
[MS2] V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND,10) bt Luise HEIM (GER,116) 21-7 21-12
[MD1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Linda EFLER (GER)/ Lara KAEPPLEIN (GER) 14-21 21-9 21-8
[MS3] Ruthvika Shivani GADDE (IND,113) bt Yvonne LI (GER,186) 21-5 21-15
[MD2] Sikki Reddy NELAKURIHI (IND)/ V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND) bt Isabel HERTTRICH (GER)/ Franziska VOLKMANN (GER) 21-18 19-21 22-20

Our men's team lose their second match of the group as they fail to overcome Hong Kong ... With this loss our chances of reaching to the quarters r over ... This time also Sai and Sourabh rose to occassion and defeated their top-20 opponents in upset win ... Other hand Ajay and Manu-Sumeeth r failing to raise their games in this tournament.

Another expected win against lowly ranked German girls for our team ... Still worrying struggling performance by our doubles pairs as big test against Japanese team is coming next.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,199) l Mathew Barton (AUS,262) 36 36
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,138) bt Duckhee Lee (KOR,225) 16 76(3) 64

[Q2] Saketh Myneni (IND,138) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA,188)

Mixed results for Indians in French open ... Saki scores impressive comeback win over talented young Korean Duckhee but other hand surprising straight sets loss for RamK against Mathew Barton ... Next Saki is facing another 18 yrs old talented American Frances Tiafoe ... At 15 years old, Tiafoe became the youngest boys' singles champion in Orange Bowl history ... His favorite surface is clay and last year he played French open main-draw as he received wild-card ... In April last week he reached final in clay challenger at Tallahassee.

Superb comeback by Saki ... He was playing after injury break and his rustiness was visible in the first set ... Saki managed to win only a game in the set ... In the second set Saki was holding his serve comfortably and managed to put pressure on Duckhee's serve but failed to break ... Saki dominated tie-break for winning it comfortably ... In the last set both players were putting pressure on each other's serve but important break took by Saki in 9th game and then converted fourth match point for remarkable win.

RamK failed to raise his game against Mathew Barton ... After losing the first set RamK was up 3-1 in the second but after that he hardly won 4-5 points losing five games in a row ... May be this is the case of RamK's excessive travelling playing so many tournaments.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-3 Challenger, Thailand

[Q3] Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) bt (5) Clay Thompson (USA,410) 61 62

[R1] (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) vs (PR) Remi Boutillier (FRA,501)

Unexpected solid win by Sid against top-400 type Frenchman ... Sid dominated to win this match losing only three games ... So he qualify for main-draw with three wins over higher ranked opponents ... Next he is facing another Frenchman Boutillier, who is playing with protected ranking.

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Uber Cup - Group D
India bt Australia 5-0

[MS1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Hsuan-Yu Wendy CHEN (AUS,74) 22-20 21-14
[MS2] V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND,10) bt Joy LAI (AUS,78) 21-12 21-11
[MD1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Hsuan-Yu Wendy CHEN (AUS)/ Gronya SOMERVILLE 21-9 21-15
[MS3] Ruthvika Shivani GADDE (IND,113) bt Tiffany HO (AUS,156) 21-5 21-11
[MD2] Sikki Reddy NELAKURIHI (IND)/ V. Sindhu PUSARLA (IND) bt Leanne CHOO (AUS)/ Joy LAI (AUS) 21-12 21-12

Expected winning start for Indian girls against lowly ranked Aussie players ... In this group their real test will be coming against tough Japanese team.

Tennis News

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy (WTA Premier 5)

Doubles Final
(1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (7) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 61 67(5) 10-3

Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza score win over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in match tie-break to capture the Internazionali BNL d'Italia title - this is their first title since February and their first ever on red clay ... Heading into the French Open on a four-match winning streak, Santina next look to complete a box set of Grand Slam titles - a Santina Slam - that began at Wimbledon over Makarova and Vesnina, and took them through victories at the US Open and Australian Open in January.

---

At $250K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2016, France (Clay)

[R1] Alona Fomina (UKR)/ Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP)

Good to see Prarthana is getting opportunity of playing in WTA tournament with her Ukrainian partner in France.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-3 Challenger, Thailand

[Q2] Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) bt (4) Sanam Singh (IND,394) 36 3-1 retd.

[Q3] Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) vs (5) Clay Thompson (USA,410)

Doubles
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE)

Sid gets lucky break as Sanam withdrew after winning the first set ... Sid having tough final qualifying match against American top-400 type Clay Thompson.

Hoping for Sanam's recovery to play doubles with Jeevan.

Badminton News

At TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2016, Kunshan, Jiantsu, China

Thomas Cup - Group B
India l Thailand 2-3

[MS1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,21) l Tanongsak SAENSOMBOONSUK (THA,26) 16-21 21-12 14-21
[MD1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND) l Bodin ISSARA (THA)/ Nipitphon PUANGPUAPECH (THA) 17-21 6-21
[MS2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,34) bt Khosit PHETPRADAB (THA,98) 21-11 21-16
[MD2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY (IND) l Puavaranukroh DECHAPOL (THA)/ Kedren KITTINUPONG (THA) 15-21 21-14 15-21
[MS3] Sourabh VARMA (IND,180) bt Adulrach NAMKUL (THA,201) 21-17 16-21 21-19

Disappointing loss for our men's team as our pairs were higher ranked than Thai opponents ... Only Sai and Sourabh won their respective matches.

Tennis News

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy (WTA Premier 5)

[SF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU)

[F] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (7) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Sania-Martina score comfortable straight sets win over Romanian pair ... In the final they r facing Russian pair.

---

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy

[SF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) l (8) Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA) 67(4) 67(2)

Rohan-Florin lose in two t-breaks against Pospisil-Sock ... Rohan having big task of performing really well at French open for climbing back inside top-10 before Olympics deadline of 6th June.

---

At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, Korea

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE) 76(5) 36 8-10

Divij-Purav lose in match tie-break against Gong-Yu ... Divij-Purav were serving for the set at 5-3 but failed to hold but they recovered for winning tie-break ... In the second set our pair was up with a break at 2-1 but afterwards Gong-Yu started to hold their services comfortably and putting extra pressure on our pair ... In match tie-break our pair won 4 points in a row from 2-4 for leading 6-4 but from 7-5 they managed to win one point only for losing the match.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-3 Challenger, Thailand

[Q1] (4) Sanam Singh (IND,394) bye
[Q1] Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) bt Kento Takeuchi (JPN,435) 75 63

[Q2] Siddharth Rawat (IND,610) vs (4) Sanam Singh (IND,394)

Good upset win by Sid over his higher ranked Japanese opponent ... But next he is facing Sanam for place in the final qualifying.

---

At $10K ITF Women Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[SF] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) l Olesya PERVUSHINA (RUS,648) 67(7) 16

Karman lose in straight sets against Olesya ... In the first set Karman was neck to neck with Olesya but failed to chllenger her in the second.

Tennis News

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy (WTA Premier 5)

[QF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Raquel Atawo (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA) 64 62

[SF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Another comfortable straight sets win for Sania and Martina for entering into the semis ... Next they r facing another Olympics bound Romanian pair.

---

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 63 64

[SF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs (8) Vasek Pospisil (CAN)/ Jack Sock (USA)

Good to see straight sets win for Rohan and Florin against German-Serbian pair ... In the semis they r facing Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock.

---

At $50K+H Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) bt (2) Radu Albot (MDA,140) 64 64

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) l Ruben Hidalgo (ESP,318) 62 67(5) 67(0)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) l Denis Matsukevich (RUS)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 46 06

Looks like tiredness catch with RamK as his match against Hidalgo was 9th match in 11 days ... RamK started well with comfortably winning the first set ... In the second set two times RamK was break down but both times he broke back to take this set in tie-break ... In tie-break RamK was up 4-2 before losing it ... In the final set also both players held respective service games to take it to tie-break but again this time Hidalgo dominated it and won it without losing a point.

Before that RamK scored big win of this year as he defeated top-140 Radu Albot in straight sets for entering into the semis ... In the first set both players exchanged early break but RamK took crucil break in 9th game for winning the set ... In the second set also RamK took crucial break in 7th game for 4-3 lead and kept that advantage for winning the match.

Jeevan-Riccardo lose in straight sets against Matsukevich-Vasilevski.

---

At $10K ITF Women Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[QF] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) bt Deborah CHIESA (ITA,946) 16 63 64

[SF] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) vs Olesya PERVUSHINA (RUS,648)

Karman scores another comeback win over local Italian player after losing the first set ... In the semis she is facing current JR WR #13 Russian Olesya Pervushina.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, Korea

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE) 67(1) 36
[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 76(6) 76(5)

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE)

Divij-Purav score really good tight wins against big server eastern European pair for entering into the semis ... They r facing Chinese-Taipei pair, who scored upset win over Lee-Sam in straight sets.

---

At $50K+H Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) bt Steven Diez (CAN,247) 75 63

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) vs (2) Radu Albot (MDA,140)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) bt Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/ Steven Diez (CAN) 61 64

[QF] (3) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) bt Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Marko Tepavac (SRB) w/o

RamK scores impressive straight sets win over in-form Canadian clay-court specialist Steven Diez ... Really good preparation in direction of French open qualifying ... Next he is facing Radu Albot.

Jeevan-Ghedin in the semis ... After winning their first round match comfortably they receive walkover from Serbian pair in the quarters.

---

At $10K ITF Women Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[R2] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) bt Federica ARCIDIACONO (ITA,719) 63 36 75

[QF] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) vs. Deborah CHIESA (ITA,946)

Another hard fought win for Karman against local girl ... In this match also Karman was 1-4 down in the third before coming back to win six games from next seven games ... Next she is facing another lower ranked local Italian pair, who scores upset win over 2nd seed.

Wrestling News

At Asian Olympic qualifiers - Wrestling,

There were failed dope tests for couple of Asian wrestlers in the Asian Olympic qualifiers and as a result we get 2 additional quota places - One in Greco-Roman 85kg. Ravinder Khatri and women's freestyle 53 kg. Babita Kumari. That means we grab 8 quota places for Rio with 8 quotas - 3 in both men and women freestyle and 2 in Greco-Roman.

Tennis News

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy (WTA Premier 5)

[R2] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) 63 63

[QF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Raquel Atawo (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA)

Another comfortable winning start for Sania-Martina against Hsieh-Kalashnikova for entering into the quarters.

---

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Joao Sousa (POR) 67(5) 64 10-8

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Good comeback win by Rohan-Florin against Sousa-Paire after losing the first set.

---

At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, Korea

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) bt (WC) Yeongseok Jeong (KOR)/ Dae-Hee Lee (KOR) 64 62
[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) 64 62

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Chu-Huan Yu (TPE)
[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

Our both pairs start with comfortable straight sets.

---

At $50K+H Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) bt (Q) Markos Kalovelonis (RUS.510) 64 63

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,240) vs Steven Diez (CAN,247)

RamK starts with straight sets win over Russian qualifier ... In both sets he was 4-1 up with a break and both times he gave break back but recovered to broke again for winning the match ... He is playing second round against in-form Canadian clay-court specialist Steven Diez.

---

At $10K ITF Women Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) bt (6) Alice SAVORETTI (ITA,659) 36 64 76(6)

[R2] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,663) vs Federica ARCIDIACONO (ITA,719)

Karman scores impressive comeback win against similar ranked Italian opponent ... After losing the first she won the second but in the third Karman was down 1-4 ... Again she fought back and took this set in tie-break ... In tie-break also she saved couple of match points at 4-6 before winning it ... Next she is facing another Italian girl.

Tennis News

At $75K Heilbronn Challenger, Germany (clay)

[Q3] Sumit Nagal (IND,379) l (WC) Kevin Krawietz (GER,414) 16 26

Surprising one-sided loss for Sumit against his German opponent Kevin Krawietz ... Last week Sumit defeated him in straight sets but here he failed to repeat it ... Sumit needs to overcome these inconsistencies from his performance for becoming more solid player.

Golf News

At $7.3M Wells Fargo Championship 2016, Charlotte, North Carolina(PGA Tour)

T41 Anirban Lahiri 66 77 72 75 +2 $22,642.16

Disappointing final standing for Anirban as he managed only three over in the final round ... Which put him outside top-40 in standing after he started inside top-20 ... Anirban started with a bang scoring six under round in the first round and was at sole 3rd place ... But his second five over round put him outside top 35 ... He recovered in the third and was on way of coming inside top 10 but on last two holes he had bogeys for finishing on PAR ... He needs another strong round for finishing inside top 20.

Tennis News

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open 2016, Spain

Doubles Final
(6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) l (3) Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 46 67(5)

Rohan-Florin fail to defend their Madrid title and lose in the final in straight sets against 3rd seed Rojer and Tecau.

---

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy (WTA Premier 5)

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

Hoping for Rome title before French open for our pair.

---

At €2.4M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2016, Rome, Italy

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bye

Rohan-Florin r in bottom draw and can meet 2nd seed Melo-Dodig in the quarters.

---

At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

Doubles Final
(1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) bt (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 46 61 10-7

Lee-Sam lift the title beating Ratiwatanas in match tie-break ... In this match Lee was in amazing form near net and while service returns ... After losing the first set Lee and Sam changed the gear ... Lee was putting more pressure on Thai opponents with his superb returning ... In match tie-break also Lee was better player on the court and he single handedly won this.

---

At $75K Heilbronn Challenger, Germany (clay)

[Q2] Sumit Nagal (IND,409) bt (5) Laslo Djere (SRB,208) 63 67(2) 63

[Q3] Sumit Nagal (IND,409) vs (WC) Kevin Krawietz (GER,414)

Good to see in end Sumit crosses the line and complete impressive upset win over top-200 type Serbian in almost two and half hour ... After winning the first set Sumit was break up in 11th game of 2nd set 6-5 ... But he got broken in 12th game and then lost tie-break easily ... In the final set Sumit broke Laslo in 2nd and 4th games to lead 5-0 ... Sumit missed couple of match points in 6th game on Laslo's serve ... Then Laslo broke Sumit comfortably in 7th game but in 9th gme Sumit served well to hold and winning this match ... In the final qualifying he is facing in-form similar ranked local player Kevin Krawietz.

---

At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, Korea

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs (WC) Yeongseok Jeong (KOR)/ Dae-Hee Lee (KOR)
[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA)

Lee-Sam and Divij-Purav r playing another big Korean challenger ... This time our both pairs r in top draw.

---

At $50K+H Samarkand Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (3) Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Riccardo Ghedin (ITA) vs Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/ Steven Diez (CAN)

This week Jeevan is playing with Italian Riccardo Ghedin.

---

At $10K Spain F12 Futures, Lleida (clay)

[R1] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,239) bt Dan Dowson (GBR,976) 62 75
[R2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,239) bt Zeljko Milovic (SRB,1282) 60 61
[QF] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,239) bt David Jorda Sanchez (ESP,UNR) 63 61
[SF] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,239) bt Carlos Taberner (ESP,618) 36 75 62

Singles Final
(1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,239) bt Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN,714) 76(1) 61

RamK lifts his first futures title of the year beating Canadian youngster in straight sets ... This is overall hi 12th futures title ... Good to see his performance on clay before French open qualifying ... He also lifts doubles title with his Spanish partner.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Egypt (clay)

[R1] (1) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,398) bt (Q) Agata Jadwiga BIENKOWSKA (POL,997) 60 61
[R2] (1) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,398) bt (Q) Linnea MALMQVIST (SWE,1268) 46 62 60
[QF] (1) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,398) bt (Q) Jaqueline Adina CRISTIAN (ROM, 675) 46 64 64
[SF] (1) Prerna Bhambri (IND,398) bt (7) Ola Abou ZEKRY (EGY,539) 75 60

Singles Final
(1) Prerna Bhambri (IND,398) l (5) Noppawan LERTCHEEWAKARN (THA,512) 46 16

Prerna lose in the final against former top-150 Thai girl Noppawan ... Overll good performance as she reached the final outside of India.

Wrestling News

At 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament - Wrestling, Istanbul, Turkey

Women's freestyle 48 kg
[R32] Vinesh Phogat (IND) bt Nataliya Pulkovska (UKR) 10-0
[R16] Vinesh Phogat (IND) bt Jaqueline Schellin (GER) 11-1
[QF] Vinesh Phogat (IND) bt Lee Yu-mi (KOR) 11-1
[SF} Vinesh Phogat (IND) bt Evin Demirhan (TUR) 12-2

For Gold medal
Vinesh Phogat (IND) bt Iwona Matkowska (POL) 6-0

Women's freestyle 58 kg
[R16] Sakshi Malik (IND) bt Irene García (ESP) 10-0
[QF] Sakshi Malik (IND) bt Kateryna Zhydachevska (ROU) 12-2
[SF] Sakshi Malik (IND) bt Zhang Lan (CHN) 10-10

For Gold medal
Sakshi Malik (IND) l Valeria Koblova (RUS) 3-7

Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik win fifth and sixth Olympic quota places in Women's 48kg freestyle and Women's 58kg freestyle for India after winning Gold and Silver medals respectively ... So they r joined Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav, Sandeep Tomar from Men's freestyle and Hardeep Singh from Men's Greco-Roman.

In this last Olympic qualification tournament only top 2 wresters are qualifying ... So stakes were high for our women wrestlers ... In 48kg Vinesh is talented and everyone were expecting she should have qualified before ... And here Vinesh dominated her weight category from her first match ... She dominated and won in convincing fashion all four bouts against Ukrainian, German, Korean and Turkish wrestlers before qualifying for the final ... In the final her Polish opponent Iwona Matkowska gave her fight but Vinesh won this bout also convincingly.

Sakshi Malik's inclusion in the team was at last moment after Wrestling Federation took action on Geeta Phogat ... But Sakshi take full advantage of it and qualifying for Olympics ... Sakshi won her first 2 bouts against Spanish and Romanian wrestlers convincingly ... In the big Olympic qualifying match she faced strong Chinese wrestler ... Both wrestlers played attacking wrestling and match ended on 10-all ... Sakshi was declared winner as she won more continuous points than her Chinese opponent ... In the final Sakshi tried hard but her Russian opponent proved better technical wrestler ... Still creditable performance by Sakshi for winning the quota place for India.

Tennis News

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

Doubles Final
(1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (5) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 46 46

French girls prove too strong for Sania-Martina in the final ... These French girls will be one of top contender for French open.

---

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open 2016, Spain

[SF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt (4) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 75 67(4) 12-10

[F] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs (3) Jean-Julien Rojer (FRA)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Really good hard fought win for Rohan-Florin ... After winning the first set they lost the second easily ... In match tie-break both pairs were neck to neck but our pair prevailed over math tie-break ... In the final they r facing 3rd seed Rojer and Tecau.

---

At $75K Heilbronn Challenger, Germany (clay)

[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,409) bt Oscar Otte (GER,411) 63 62

[Q2] Sumit Nagal (IND,409) vs (5) Laslo Djere (SRB,208)

Sumit is showing his liking on the clay and he beats similar ranked his German opponent comfortably.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[SF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) l Jessica CRIVELLETTO (SUI,920) w/o

Snehadevi gives walkover to her Swiss opponent so with that Indian challenge got over.==­-

Tennis News

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

[SF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Vania King (USA)/ Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 62 60

[F] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (5) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)

Sania and Martina toyed their opponents King and Kudryavtseva in one-sided win in the semis ... In the final they r facing Olympics medal contender French pair.

---

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open 2016, Spain

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ John Peers (AUS) 36 63 10-6

[SF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs (4) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Rohan-Florin score comeback win after losing the first set ... Good to see that they made strong comeback for winning this match ... In the semis they r facing Dodig and Melo.

---

At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) bt Ji Sung Nam (KOR)/ Ming-kyu Song (KOR) 63 64
[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 46 26

[F] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Lee-Sam scores straight sets win over their Korean opponents ... In the final they r facing Ratiwatana twins, who beat Purav-Divij convincingly.

---

At $50K+H Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

Doubles Final
Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) bt Alexandre Metreveli (GEO) / Dmity Popko (KAZ) 61 64

Jeevan and Enrique win the final convincingly ... This is Jeevan's third challenger level doubles title and second in a row.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[QF] (6) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,665) l Anna TURATI (ITA,972) 57 26
[QF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) bt (5) Tess SUGNAUX (SUI,644) 36 76(3) 62

[SF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) vs Jessica CRIVELLETTO (SUI,920)

Snehadevi scores comeback win over her Swiss opponent but Karman lose her match in straight sets..

Tennis News

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

[QF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 63 62

[SF] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Vania King (USA)/ Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

Sania and Martina score dominating win over experienced Czech pair ... In the semis they r facing Russian-American pair.

---

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open 2016, Spain

[R2] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) l (7) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Nenad Zimonjić (SRB) 36 64 6-10
[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) 67(4) 64 10-4

[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ John Peers (AUS)

Mahesh and Fabrice give fighting performance against 7th seed Peya and Zimo in their loss in match tie-break.

Rohan-Florin score comeback win after losing the first set in tie-break ... After winning the second set they dominated match tie-break ... In the quarters they r facing Finnish-Aussie pair, who score upset win over 2nd seed Soares-Murray.

---

At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) bt Matt Reid (AUS)/ John Patrick Smith (AUS) 63 57 10-5
[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 63 64

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs Ji Sung Nam (KOR)/ Ming-kyu Song (KOR)
[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Purav-Divij and Lee-Sam r in the semis with contrasting win.

---

At $100K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) l (2) Xinyun HAN (CHN,120) 26 16

Xinyun proves too stong for Ankita.

---

At $50K+H Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) bt Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) 64 63

[SF] Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) bt (4) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Akexander Nedoyvesov (KAZ) 64 64

Jeevan and Enrique r in the final with really two good wins ... In the quarters they defeated Taipei pair convincingly and in the semis they beat 4th seed Easter European pair in straight sets for entering into the final.

---

At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (6) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,665) bt (WC) Costanza TRAVERSI (ITA,UNR) 76(6) 63
[R1] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) bye

[R2] (6) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,665) bt Valentine CONFALONIERI (ITA,UNR) 36 61 63
[R2] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) bt Chiara PUSCEDDU (ITA,UNR) 60 60

[QF] (6) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,665) vs Anna TURATI (ITA,972)
[QF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,523) vs (5) Tess SUGNAUX (SUI,644)

Karman and Snehadevi r in the quarters with contrasting win ... Karman is struggled in each match against unranked local players ... May be due to lack of match practice but next our both players having more difficult matches.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) bt Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ,425) 36 63 63

[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) vs. (2) Xinyun HAN (CHN,120)

Ankita scores comeback win over Kerimbayeva ... Good to see Ankita is showing consistency in her performance ... Next she is having tough match against 2nd seed local girl Xinyun Han.

---

At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (Q) Alexander Ward (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) 64 76(8)

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) vs Matt Reid (AUS)/ John Patrick Smith (AUS)
[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)/ Ze Zhang (CHN)

Purav-Divij also start with straight sets win over British qualifier ... This is good win considering they reached China on Monday after their US challengers stint.

In the quarters top-seed Lee-Sam r facing Aussie pair and Divij-Purav r facing Chinese-Russian combination.

---

At $50K Rome Challenger, Italy

[R2] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) l (5) Filip Krajinovic (SRB,114) 75 36 26

Sumit lose in three sets in the second round after winning the first set ... Sumit played really good match against top-125 Serbian Filip Krajinovic ... In the first set he was 0-2 down before leading 5-3 ... He missed 4 set points on his serve but broke Filip in 12th game for winning the set ... In the secnd set also he managed to put pressure on Filip's serve ... Sumit broke him twice but other hand lost his serve four times ... After that Sumit was tired as he was playing 5th match in five days ... Still encouraging performance against talented Serbian player.

Badminton News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

It is confirm that our seven badminton players have qualify for Rio Olympics after completion of the Badminton Asia Championships ... This is our biggest badminton contingent would be fielding at the Olympics ... Though the BWF (Badminton World Federation) will be making an official statement after 5th May's ranking, here r qualified seven Indians - Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy.

Still our real chance of medal in Women's singles only.

Tennis News

At Asia/ Oceania Group I Davis cup 2016 - 2nd Round, India

I am really pleasantly surprised by AITA move to play the Davis cup tie against Korea in July on grass courts at Chandigarh club ... As per AiTA this was players suggestion ... With current injury list we can see different type of combination in the team.

---

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

[R2] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Darija Jurak (CRO) 60 64

Sania and Martina start with comfortable straight sets win over Chuang and Jurak for entering into the quarters.

---

At €4.8M Mutua Madrid Open 2016, Spain

[R1] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) bt Guido Pella (ARG)/ Gilles Simon (FRA) 67(3) 75 10-7

[R2] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs (7) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Nenad Zimonjić (SRB)
[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP)

Mahesh and Fabrice start with fighting comeback win over Pella and Simon after losing the first set in tie-break ... Good win considering Mahesh's lack of match fitness ... Next they r facing 7th seed Peya and Zimo ... Rohan and Florin r facing Cuevas and Granollers.

---

At $100K Busan Challenger, South Korea

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Sam Groth (AUS) bt Daniel Nguyen (USA)/ Di Wu (CHN) 63 76(4)

Winning start for Lee and Sam against American-Chinese pair though they stretched to tie-break in the second.

---

At $100K ITF Women's Tournament, Anning, China (Clay)

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,287) vs Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ,425)

This week Ankita is playing in big China tournament and having winnable first round match.

---

At $50K Rome Challenger, Italy

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN,209) 57 63 61 susp.

[R2] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) vs (5) Filip Krajinovic (SRB,114)

Sumit completes amazing comeback for scoring big win in Rome challenger against top-225 Japanese opponent Hiroki Moriya ... Yesterday when match was stopped Sumit was break down after losing the first set ... But today he won 12 out of 14 games ... This is huge win after qualifying for main-draw ... Next he is facing tough challenge of top-125 Serbian Filip Krajinovic.

---

At $50K+H Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) bt (WC) Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Markos Kolvoelonis (RUS) 76(1) 57 10-5

[QF] Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND) / Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) vs Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE) / Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)

Fighting winning start for Jeevan with his new Spanish partner in match tie-break.

Weightlifting News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Indian weightlifters earned two quota places for Rio Olympics - one each in men's and women's sections - at the recently-concluded Senior Asian Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Tennis News

At € 4.8M Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

[R1] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bye
[R2] (1) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Darija Jurak (CRO)

Sania and Martina r facing Croatian-Taipei pair in the second round.

---

At $50K Rome Challenger, Italy

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,411) vs Hiroki Moriya (JPN,209) 57 0-2 susp.

Sumit was down break in the second when match stopped due to rain ... Before that after 1-4 down Sumit made comeback but lost the first set after late break of serve.

---

At $50K+H Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Neduncheziyan (IND)/ Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP) vs (WC) Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Markos Kolvoelonis (RUS)

This week Jeevan is playing with new Spanish partner and they r facing wild-card pair..

Archery News

At Shanghai 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1, China

Women's Team Recurve event - Gold medal
(4) India l (7) Chinese Taipei 2-6 (51-55, 55-53, 53-58, 52-57)

Men's Team Recurve event - Bronze medal
(3) India bt (8) Great Britain 6-0 (58-53, 57-55, 55-54)

Mixed Team Recurve event - Bronze medal
(3) India bt Korea 18* 5-4 18

Indian women end with Silver medal ... Chinese Taipei women dominated the final match beating our team convincingly.

Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Champia won the Bronze medal for India in the Recurve Men's team event at the Archery World Cup in China ... Dominant performance from them with Sets score of 58, 57 and 55 to beat Great Britain 6-0.

We also won bronze in Mixed team event when the pair of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das beat a Korean pair in a close match 5-4.