Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

India l New Zealand 0-1 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Stephen Jenness (NZL) 18'

Black sticks weren't good but we played badly ... May be Oltmans is trying different thing in this tournament but today nothing was working as we were pathetically slow and our defending was poor ... Inside the D our forwarders failed to convert opportunities and again we failed to convert penalty corners.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bye
[R1] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) bye
[R1] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bye

Our all players r seeded so having first round bye ... Rohan and Lee r in bottom draw and can meet each other in the quarters.

Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

India bt Ireland 2-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Talwinder Singh (IND) 20' PC, Sardar Singh (IND) 34' and Kyle Good (IRL) 4'

Indians scored tight win over Irish team, 2-1, for registering their first win ... Indians fought back after Kyle Good strike in the fourth minute gave the lead to Ireland but goals from Talwinder Singh in 2nd quarter and Sardar Singh in 3rd quarter helped us for a win ... Worrying sign is failure of Rupinder Pal Singh and Raghunath's penalty corner conversion.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marburg Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,370) l (6) Daniel Brands (GER,131) 46 63 57

Sumit lose very close match against experienced Brands, who had a win over Federer in 2013 on clay ... In the first set Brands broke Sumit in 1st game and kept that lead for winning it ... In the second set Sumit broke Brands in 8th game for winning it ... In the final set Brands broke Sumit in 6th game to lead 2-4 but while serving for the match at 3-5 Brands got tight ... Sumit took advantage of it breaking Brands but at 5-6 Brands broke Sumit for completing victory.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Baku, Azerbaijan

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Gold - Petar Gorsa (CRO) 457.5 pts
Silver - Sanjeev Rajput (IND) 456.9 pts
Bronze - Hyeonjun Kim (KOR) 445.5 pts

Sanjeev Rajput, who claimed silver with 456.9 points after finishing the kneeling series with 153.5 points and the prone series with 307.6 points ... This is our second Silver medal of this World cup.

Total nine Indian finalists In this World cup, 2 medal winners and these r list of other finalists - Gagan Narang in 2 events, Abhinav Bindra, Heena Siddhu in 25M Pistol, Kynan Chenai in Trap, Man Singh in Skeet and Pooja Ghatkar in 10M Air Rifle

Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

India l Germany 0-4 (0-3)
Goal Scorers - Mats Grambusch (GER) 5' PC and 9' PC, Moritz Furste (GER) 14' PC, Lukas Windfeder (GER) 57' PC

Disappointing start for us in this six nations tournament ... After our performance in Champions trophy hopes were high but German scored 3 goals in 1st 15 minutes ... After that we were playing catching game but we failed to take advantage of extra body on the field ... In lat German scored another goal for convincing win.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marburg Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q3] Sumit Nagal (IND,370) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) 63 63

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,370) vs (6) Daniel Brands (GER,131)

Very convincing win by Sumit against Prajnesh for main-draw qualification ... I was expecting win for Sumit but also expected little close match ... Real tough match for Sumit against top-130 German Daniel Brands in the first round.

Rio Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

India had earned only 1 quota place in Men's archery through Mangal Singh Champia ... After the trials held today, in-form Atanu Das is selected to represent India in Men's individual archery.

Muhammed Anas clocked 45.40s for national record in 400m at Bydgoszcz ... So Muhammed Anas also made the Olympic qualification standard which was 45.40s itself.

Long jumper Ankit Sharma has created national record as he jumped 8.14m, 8.17m and 8.19m in three consecutive jumps and qualified for Rio, where qualification mark was 8.15m.

In Women's 200M, Srabni Nanda qualify for Rio Olympics when she clocked 23.07s ... For Rio qualification mark was 23.20s.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marburg Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) bt (5) Alexey Valutin (RUS,274) 62 63
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,370) bt Riccardo Rodriguez Pace (VEN,524) 46 64 61

[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) bt Sergey Betov (BLR,536) 62 64
[Q2] Sumit Nagal (IND,370) bt (4) Maximilian Marterer (GER,272) 64 64

[Q3] Sumit Nagal (IND,370) vs Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406)

With upset win over top-275 German Marterer in straight sets Sumil is in the final qualifying and he is playing his fellow countryman Prajnesh Gunneswaran for place in main-draw ... Sumit started well for breaking Marterer in 7th game and kept that advantage for winning the first set ... Sumit continued with his good form in the second and again broke Marterer in 7th game for winning it ... Prajnesh scores straight sets win over Belarus player Sergey Betov showing his first round win wasn't a fluke..

In the first qualifying round, terrific upset win by Prajnesh against top-275 Russian in straight sets for entering into the second qualifying round ... Sumit lost the first set before finding his form for win over Pace in three sets.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Grand Baie La Croisette, Mauritius

[R1] (6) Kyra SHROFF (IND,669) bt Emily DOWDESWELL KOTI (GBR,UNR) 60 60
[R1] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,500) bye

[R2] (6) Kyra SHROFF (IND,669) bt Alexandra WALTERS (AUS,1029) 60 30 retd. [R2] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,511) bt Claudia WILLIAMS (NZL,1257) 63 60

[QF] (6) Kyra SHROFF (IND,669) bt Pauline PAYET (FRA,683) 63 63
[QF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,500) bt Eleonore BARRERE (FRA,966) 76(2) 75

[SF] (6) Kyra SHROFF (IND,669) bt (Q) Vanja KLARIC (SRB,NR) 64 60
[SF] (2) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,500) l (5) Estelle CASCINO (FRA,603) 26 36

Singles Final
(6) Kyra SHROFF (IND,669) l. (5) Estelle CASCINO (FRA,603) 63 16 36

Kyra lose in the final in three sets against French girl Cascino but still overall good performance by Kyra for reaching her first final ... Sneha also reached in the semis.

Athletics News

At International Athletics Tournament, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand became the 99th Indian sportsperson to secure a place in the Rio Olympics after meeting the qualification mark in the 100 metres heat in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday. She will represent India in the Women's 100 meter event ... Required to better the 11.32s mark to book an Olympic berth, Dutee Chand clocked 11.30s to secure a berth in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Baku, Azerbaijan

10m Air Pistol Men
Gold - Felipe Almeida Wu (BRA) 200.0 pts
Silver - Jitu Rai (IND) 199.5 pts
Bronze - Jongoh Jin (KOR) 178.8 pts

Jitu is showing terrific consistency in his performance lifting his 6th world cup medal in the span of 3 years ... In qualifying he shot 580 pts to qualify for the final on 6th spot ... In the final he shot excellently for winning the Silver.

Before that in Women's 10M Air rifle, Pooja Ghatkar reached the final and missed the bronze by a whisker finishing 4th.

After a long time both Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang reached the final in 10 M air rifle ... But they failed to perform in the final finishing 6th and 7th.

Kynan Chenai shot a brilliant 123 of 125 to finish at the top in Men's trap qualifiers ... But he also faltered in the final and finished 6th.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)/ Laura Siegemund (GER)

Doubles draw is out Lee and Rohan r in same draw and can meet in the third round but both having winnable first round matches with their respective partners ... Sania-Martina r facing German pair in the first round.

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At $50K+H Marburg Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) vs (5) Alexey Valutin (RUS,274)
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,370) vs Riccardo Rodriguez Pace (VEN,524)

Sumit and Prajnesh r playing in German challenger qualifying ... Prajnesh having tough match against top-275 Russian.

Boxing News

At 2016 AIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Baku, Azerbaijan

Light flyweight (49 kg)
[R1] Devendro Singh (IND) bye
[R2] Devendro Singh (IND) bt Leandro Blanc (ARG) 3-0
[QF] Devendro Singh (IND) bt Sibusiso Bandla (RSA) 3-0

[SF] Devendro Singh (IND) l Samuel Carmona (ESP) 0-3

Light welterweight (64 kg)
[SF] Manoj Kumar (IND) l Pat McCormack (GBR) 0-3

Middleweight (75 kg)
[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) l Arslanbek Achilov (TKM) w/o

Devendro needed a win in the semis for grabbing Olympic quota but he loses to Spanish boxer for missing opportunity ... Manoj Kumar also lose his semi-final bout against his British opponent and Vikas gives walkover to his Tajikistan opponent.

Boxing News

At 2016 AIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Baku, Azerbaijan

Middleweight (75 kg)
[R1] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bye
[R2] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Makoto Takahashi (JPN) 3-0
[R3] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Zaal Kvachatadze (GEO) 3-0
[QF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Lee Dong-yun (KOR) 3-0

[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs Arslanbek Achilov (TKM)

Light welterweight (64 kg)
[R1] Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Danielito Zorrilla (PUR) 2-1
[R2] Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Eslam Mohamed (EGY) 3-0
[R3] Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Ayrin Ismetov (BUL) 3-0
[QF] Manoj Kumar (IND) bt Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (TJK) 3-0

[SF] Manoj Kumar (IND) vs Pat McCormack (GBR)

Light heavyweight (81 kg)
[R1] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt Andrew Fermin (TTO) 3-0
[R2] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt Jonathan Esquivel (USA) 2-1
[R3] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt Sandagsürengiin Erdenebayar (MGL) 3-0
[QF] Sumit Sangwan (IND) l (1) Petr Khamukov (RUS) 0-3

Our two boxers join Shiva Thapa in Rio ... Manoj Kumar and Vikas Krishan have won their quarterfinal bouts 3-0 against boxers from Tajikistan and Korea respectively to grab quota places for India for Rio Olympics ... This is really good result for us ... Sumit Sangwan was in the quarters but faced WR #6 and top-seed Russian boxer for grabbing quota place for Rio ... In that bout Russian boxer proved better boxer.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

[Q2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) l (21) Daniel Brands (GER,130) 67(5) 67(3)

Doubles
[Q1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Dustin Brown (GER)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 76(5) 46 6-8

RamK lose really close match against good grass court player Daniel Brands in two tie-breaks ... RamK had multiple break points which he failed to convert in the match ... Tough loss considering all opportunities.

Sad to see in-form pairing of Divij and Purav lose in first qualifying round after giving fighting performance against really good German grass-court pair ... Divij-Purav lost their serve in 1st game but they broke back German pair in 8th games for 4-all ... In tie-break also Divij-Purav were 0-2 mini-break down but they immediately broke back for 2-all ... They had crucial mini-break on 11th point for leading 6-5 and then won next point on their serve for winning this set ... In the second set both players hold their respective service games till 9th game and in 10th game Divij-Purav failed to hold their serve while serving for the set ... In the third set German pair broke Indians in 8th game to lead 3-5 but our pair fought back and broke Germans when they were serving for the match after saving 2 match points ... But German pair took crucial break in 14th game when Divij-Purav were serving for staying in the match and completed victory.

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At $777K Aegon International Eastbourne 2016, Great Britain (grass) (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE)/ Samantha Stosur (AUS) 61 26 10-4

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l Darija Jurak (CRO)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 36 36

Not a best preparation for Wimbledon for Sania and Martina, as after winning first round match against experienced players they lose in the quarters in straight sets.

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At $25K USA F21 Futures, Tulsa

[R2] Arjun KADHE (IND,1418) l Ryan HAVILAND (USA,1070) 06 16

Arjun fails to raise his game against Ryan.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,148) l Tristan Lamasine (FRA,206) 64 67(2) 16
[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) bt Marek Michalicka (CZE,241) 75 67(2) 64

[Q2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) vs (21) Daniel Brands (GER,130)

RamK starts with a win against his experienced Czech opponent ... In the first set both players exchanged break but RamK took crucial break in 12th game for winning the set ... In the second set both hold respective service games to take in tie-break ... RamK played terrible tie-break for lose this set ... In the final set RamK broke Marek in 5th game for leading 3-2 and then kept this one break advantage for winning the set and match ... In second qualifying he is playing good grass court German player Daniel Brands.

Heartbreaking loss for Saki against Frenchman ...In the first set Saki broke Tristan in 7th game for winning the first set ... In the second set Saki broke Tristan in 1st game and kept that advantage till 5-4 ... While serving for the match Saki was only 2 points away from a win at 30-15 ... Saki lost his serve and after that everything went southward ... I have feeling mostly his right shoulder injury acted up as suddenly his game was worst ... He lost tie-break and managed winning a single game in the final set ... Terrible time to be injured for Saki.

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At $25K USA F21 Futures, Tulsa

[R1] Arjun KADHE (IND,1418) bt (WC) Ezekiel CLARK (USA,1544) 63 64

[R2] Arjun KADHE (IND,1418) vs Ryan HAVILAND (USA,1070)

Good to see Arjun is having winning start in US futures.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,148) vs Tristan Lamasine (FRA,206)
[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) vs Marek Michalicka (CZE,241)

Doubles
[Q1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Dustin Brown (GER)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

Wimbledon qualifying draw is out ... I am going one match by one so on paper Saki and RamK having winnable matches ... Other hand Divij-Purav r facing tough challenge of German pair, which includes grass court specialist Dustin Brown.

Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

Goalkeepers - PR Sreejesh (VC), Vikas Dahiya
Defenders - Rupinderpal Singh, VR Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra
Midfielders - Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh (C), SK Uthappa, Devindar Walmiki, Harjeet Singh
Forwards - Talwinder Singh, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah

The team is announced for the six nations tournament which is starting from next week ... Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra and Oltmans favorite Ramandeep Singh r back in the team .. Here we r playing against Argentina, New Zealand, Germany, Spain and Ireland ... So good for us test our metal against Argentina and New Zealand with Germany.

Tennis News

At $777K Aegon International Eastbourne 2016, Great Britain (grass) (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Lucie Safarova (CZE)/ Samantha Stosur (AUS)

Sania-Martina r playing at Eastbourne tournament in preparation for Wimbledon.

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At €648K Aegon Open, Nottingham, Great Britain

[Q1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,229) l Jan Hernych (CZE,325) 36 16

RamK fails on his first match on the grass and he faced one-sided loss against Hernych.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

Doubles Final
Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (4) Yannick Jkovits (FRA)/ Luca Margaroli (SUI) 46 67(4)

Vishnu and Toshihide lose in the final in straight sets against 4th seed French-Swiss combination.

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

Doubles Final
Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) l (3) Polina MONOVA (RUS)/ Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS) 67(0) 26

Ankita-Prerna fail to overcome challenge of 3rd seed Russian pair in the final ... Still overall good performance from them.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Grand Baie La Croisette, Mauritius

[R2] (1) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,511) bt Vicky GEURINCKX (BEL,1257) 61 64
[R2] (5) Kyra SHROFF (IND,687) bt Nicole DZENGA (ZIM,NR) 60 64
[R2] (6) Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,695) bt Claudia WILLIAMS (NZ,1257) 76(5) 64
[R2] (7) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,715) l Pauline PAYET (FRA,728) 26 16

[QF] (1) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,511) bt (8) Fiona CODINO (FRA,711) 75 57 75
[QF] (5) Kyra SHROFF (IND,687) l (3) Chayenne EWIJK (NED,596) 57 26
[QF] (6) Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,695) l (4) Estelle CASCINO (FRA,661) 46 26

[SF] (1) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,511) bt (3) Chayenne EWIJK (NED,596) 64 76(3)

Singles Final
(1) Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,511) bt (2) Valeria BHUNU (ZIM,563) 64 46 63

Good to see as per seeding Snehadevi wins ITF tournament at Mauritius beating her 2nd seed Zimbabwean opponent Valeria in three sets.

Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

Final
India l Australia 0-0 (0-0) PS 1-3

Indians fail to win Gold but still this is our best performance in Champions trophy to win Silver ... Very fascinating final match as Indian players matched intensity of Aussie players on the field ... Both teams had multiple opportunities but both failed to score in full time ... For India Sreejesh was rock solid in front of the goal ... Aussie had nine penalty corners, in that 7 was in first half and they also missed one penalty stroke early of second quarter ... Indians also had five penalty corners which they failed to convert ... Aussie players were frustrated and made multiple fouls but Indians failed to take advantage of extra body on the field ... In penalty strokes Indians failed to score through Uthappa and Sunil as both hit wide hits and Aussie players scored on both hits ... Sreejesh saved third Australian hit and then Harmanpreet Singh converted third hit for India ... Again Aussie converted 4th stroke and on fourth chance again Surinder hit wide for giving Aussie team victory ... But today we had more possession than Aussie on the field and in the second half better team on the field ... Tough loss but heart warming performance by our team.

Following an official protest from India against a situation which occurred in the shoot-out, there was a delay in the official confirmation of the result ... The protest - in relation to an unintentional foul that had lead to the shoot-out being retaken - was rejected by the Technical Delegate.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,306) l (WC) Gozal AINITDINOVA (KAZ,739) 57 75 36

Doubles
[SF] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) 60 63

[F] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) vs (3) Polina MONOVA (RUS)/ Yana SIZIKOVA (RUS)

Ankita misses opportunity of going deep in this tournament ... She lost in three sets against Gozal in topsy-turvy match ... Ankita lost the first set after leading 4-1, won the second after being down 0-4 ... Failed to keep similar momentum in the final set ... In the doubles Ankita is in the final with her partner Prerna after dominating win over Natasha and her partner ... In the final they r facing 3rd seed Russian pair.

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At $25K+H ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Montpellier, France

Doubles Final
(1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) bt (3) Lourdes DOMINGUEZ LINO (ESP)/ Jil TEICHMANN (SUI) 75 26 11-9

Prarthana continues with her terrific run in ITF tournaments as she lift another $25K+H title with her Dutch partner Eva Wacanno ... In the final after winning the first set they lost momentum for losing second set easily ... But they fought hard in match tie-break for winning it in extra points against Spanish-Swiss pair.

Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

India l Australia 2-4 (0-2)
Goal Scorers - Raghunath (IND) 44' PC, Mandeep SIngh (IND) 47' and Trent Mitton (AUS) 21', Aran Zalewsk (AUS) 23', Flynn Ogilvie (AUS) 35', Christian White (AUS) 45'

India is in their first Champions trophy final despite their loss against mighty Aussie in last match ... Australia dominated in the first three quarters, but India fought back really well in the final quarter, but failed to overcome a disciplined Australian team ... They still have a chance of making it to the finals ... In the last game of the day, Belgium played out a draw against Great Britain so that help us for entering into the final.

Tennis News

At €1.92M Aegon Championships, London, Great Britain

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 63 36 10-12

Rohan-Florin started well after winning the first but then they lost the plot .. They tried hard in match tie-break but failed to overcome French pair.

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At $846K Aegon Classic Birmingham 2016, Great Britain (grass) (WTA Premier)

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Coco Vandeweghevs (USA) l Naomi Broady (GBR)/ Heather Watson (GBR) 46 46

Sania lose in straight sets against British pair with her new partner Coco.

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sergio Galdos (PER) l (1) Wesley Koolhof (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 64 67(3) 5-10

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 57 46

Jeev-Sergio lost their first round match after winning the first set against Dutch top-seed.

Divij-Purav 9 matches winning streak ended after their loss against ATP level pairing of Aisam and Demoliner ... In the quarters Divij-Purav failed to hold their serve in 12th game for losing the first set ... In the second set also all players saved their respective service games till 9th game and 2nd seed broke our pair in 10th game for victory.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (3) Yaraslav Shyla (BLR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 76 36 10-5

Vishnu and Toshihide continue with their terrific run and beat third seed Belarus pair in match tie-break for entering into the final.

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

[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,553) l (5) Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,273) 64 57 26

[QF] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,306) vs (WC) Gozal AINITDINOVA (KAZ,739)

Doubles
[QF] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt (4) Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ)/ Ekaterina YASHINA (RUS) 63 60
[QF] Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Tamara CUROVIC (SRB) / Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB) 61 63

[SF] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) vs Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Natasha PALHA (IND)

Fighting performance by Natasha in her loss against top-275 player ... In the doubles our both pairs win their matches comfortably ... In the semis they r facing eachother.

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At $25K+H ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Montpellier, France

[SF] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) bt Sara CAKAREVIC (FRA)/ Marine PARTAUD (FRA) 63 62

[F] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) vs (3) Lourdes DOMINGUEZ LINO (ESP)/ Jil TEICHMANN (SUI)

Another convincing win by Prarthana and her Dutch partner against French pair ... In the final they r facing 3rd seed Spanish-Swiss combination.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (1) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Mikhail Elgin (RUS) 76(4) 76(5)

[SF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (3) Yaraslav Shyla (BLR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

Vishnu and Toshihide score upset win over top-seed Molchanov-Elgin in two tie-breaks ... In the semis they r facing third seed Belarus pair.

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

[R2] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,306) vs Komola UMAROVA (UZB,918) w/o
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,553) vs (5) Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,273)

Doubles
[R1] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) bt Mumtoza MAMADALIYEVA (UZB)/ Valentina SHLEYN (UZB)
[R1] Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (1) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR) 63 36 10-7

[QF] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita RAINA (IND) vs (4) Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ)/ Ekaterina YASHINA (RUS)
[QF] Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) vs Tamara CUROVIC (SRB)/ Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB)

Ankita gets lucky break in the singles as she move into the quarters without facing a ball ... Also she is in the doubles quarters with Prerna after easy win over Uzbek pair ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Kazakh-Russian pair ... Natasha and her Ukrainian partner Kapshay score upset win over top-seed Russian-Ukrainian pair in match tie-break.

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At $25K+H ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Montpellier, France

[R1] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) bye
[QF] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) bt Mylene HALEMAI (FRA)/ Jade SUVRIJN (FRA) 76(2) 62

[SF] (1) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND)/ Eva WACANNO (NED) vs Sara CAKAREVIC (FRA)/ Marine PARTAUD (FRA)

Prarthana is top-seed in French ITF tournament with her Dutch partner Eva Wacanno ... They r in the semis after scoring straight sets win over French pair in the quarters and before that they received bye in the first round ... In the semis they r facing another French pair.

Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

India bt Korea 2-1 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - SV Sunil (IND) 39', Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 57' and Kim Jun-hu (KOR) 57'

Indians were better team on the field and they created multiple chances but in end we struggled to complete victory ... Both teams were played with similar counter-attacking style but our boys were creating more circle penetrations ... We took lead in late of third quarter through Sunil but afterwards instead of taking advantage we were seems happy for keeping the lead ... Last four minutes were crazy, South Korea came back to equalise in the 57th minute through a brilliant deflection by Kim Jun-hu on a long ball ... We regain the lead within 30 seconds as Talwinder's diagonal cross from left went wide of the Korean goalkeeper and Thimmaiah deflected the ball into the goal for the winner ... So this win moves us on 2nd position with 7 points.

Tennis News

At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE) 61 63

Divij-Purav r started with comfortable and dominating win against decent pair.

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At $50K+H Blois Challenger, France (clay)

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Bastian Malla (CHI) l (1) Dean O'Brien (RSA)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA) 16 36

Straight sets loss against top-seed South Africans.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,415) l (5) Duckhee Lee (KOR,225) 67(4) 36

Vishnu loses match in straight sets against Duckhee ... He gave decent fight to Korean.

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

[R1] (6) Ankita RAINA (IND,306) bt (Q) Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR,632) 64 62
[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,553) bt (Q) Jamilya SADYKZHANOVA (UZB,UNR) 60 60
[R1] Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,361) l (2) Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB,205) 57 46

Good expected winning start for Ankita and Natasha against local qualifiers ... Prerna also give fighting performance against in-form Sharipova.

Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

India l Belgium 1-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Devindar Walmiki (IND) 30' and Alexander Hendrickx (BEL) 25' PC, Jerome Truyens (BEL) 44'

Belguim was better side on the turf as we failed to produce similar performance of last two matches ... Match tone set from the beginning as we conceded 1st penalty corner within 30 seconds of the start ... Belgium converted 3rd penalty corner to take lead but before half-time Devindar equalized through powerful hit on rebound ... Belgium hit matchwinner in late of third quarter through excellent shot from acute angle by Truyens ... We were struggled inside D while defending and conceded 8 penalty corners ... Also rare couple of mistakes from Sreejesh as both goals went through his legs ... This win is also Belgium's first ever win over India at the tournament and third straight in all competitions.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Blois Challenger, France (clay)

[Q2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,373) bt (WC) Louis Chaix (FRA,2071) 61 76(4)

[Q3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,373) l (4) Scott Griekspoor (NED,315) 76(4) 67(6) 26

Sumit lose in three sets against his Dutch opponent ... At 4-all Sumit lost his serve, 4-5 but he broke Scott in 10th game when he was serving for the set ... Sumit took early control for winning tie-break .. In the second set Sumit's 3 unforced errors in 8th game had cost his service game, 3-5 but again he broke Scott when he was serving for the set ... This time in closely fought tie-break Sumit saved one set point but Scott converted second for taking match into the decider ... In the final set Sumit was looking tired and from 2-1 he lost next five game for losing the match.

Before this after winning the first set easily Sumit was 0-4 down before making comeback for winning in tie-break against Chaix in second round qualifying.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Sadio Doumbia (FRA)/ Michal Konecny (CZE) 76(9) 67(3) 10-8

Vishnu and Toshihide score hard fought win in match tie-break ... In this match both pairs failed to break other pair's service game.

Badminton News

At $750K Australian Open 2016, Sydney (Superseries)

Women's Singles Final
(7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Yu SUN (CHN,12) 11-21, 21-14, 21-19

Saina Nehwal scored comeback win against Sun Yu in a 72-minute thriller and win the Australian Open Super Series women's title ... This is her second Australian Open win and with this, she has managed to claim her maiden title this season.

Saina was looking off-colour in the first game, but then she roared back to clinch the second and third game quite comprehensively in the end ... In the last game from 8-10 down Saina took 12-10 lead and kept that couple of points advantage for winning this match.

Tennis News

At €1.92M Aegon Championships, London, Great Britain

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Rohan-Florin r facing tricky match against French pair in the first round of Queens open.

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At $846K Aegon Classic Birmingham 2016, Great Britain (grass) (WTA Premier)

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Coco Vandeweghevs (USA) vs Naomi Broady (GBR)/ Heather Watson (GBR)

Coco wins s-Hertogenbosch singles title so good choice by Sania for this week's tournament ... They r facing local pair in the first round.

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At $50K Ilkley Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sergio Galdos (PER) vs (1) Wesley Koolhof (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Mirza Basic (BIH)/ Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)

This week our players playing in the doubles only ... Many top pairs r playing so this week Divij-Purav r un-seeded.

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At $50K+H Blois Challenger, France (clay)

[Q2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,384) vs (WC) Louis Chaix (FRA,2071)

Doubles
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND)Bastian Malla (CHI) vs (1) Dean O'Brien (RSA)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA)

Sumit is also playing in the doubles with Chilean partner and they r facing top-seed South African pair.

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Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

India bt Great Britain 2-1 (1-0)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) 17', Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 34' PS and Ashley Jackson (GBR) 35' PC

India overcame both the crowd and the attacking forwards to register a memorable victory over Great Britain on day Two of London Champions Trophy ... Mandeep opened account for India taking defence lapse ... Then on penalty corner Barry Middleton misjudged Harmanpreet's flick and took it on shoulder ... Harmanpreet converted awarded penalty stroke but British team responded on next minute when Ashley hit unstoppable flick in top of the net on their fourth penalty corner ... After that British team was putting pressure but our players stood and defended well ... In this match we played with really good defensive structure ... After whistle in desperation Middleton asked for referral for penalty corner but that was turned in our favor.

Badminton News

At $750K Australian Open 2016, Sydney (Superseries)

[SF] KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,13) l Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,12) 20-22 12-21

[SF] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt (4) Yihan WANG (CHN,2) 21-8 21-12

[F] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) vs Yu SUN (CHN,12)

What an excellent win by Saina against WR #2 Yihan Wang in 31 minutes ... Saina dominated match from the start, in both games she didn't give any chance to Yihan for fightback ... In the final she is facing another Chinese young girl Yu Sun ... It seems Saina is peaking up at right moment before Rio Olympics and giving some good wins over her higher ranked opponents.

Rio Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Abhinav Bindra chosen as the flagbearer of the Indian contingent for the Rio Games' opening ceremony on 5 August ... Abhinav will be making his fifth Olympic appearance this year.

Abhinav Bindra also declared that he will bring the curtains down on his career at the upcoming Rio Games where he will be the country's flagbearer in the opening ceremony.

Tennis News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Men's Doubles - Leander Paes/ Rohan Bopanna
Women's Doubles - Sania Mirza/ Prarthana Thombare
Mixed Doubles - Sania Mirza/ Rohan Bopanna

The AITA declared pairing for Rio Olympics ... As expected pairing declaration from them as Lee has only chance of playing in men's doubles due to his lower ranking and other hand Sania with Rohan can be seeded in MXD draw at Rio.

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At Davis Cup - Asia/ Oceania Group I 2016, Chandigarh, India

Indian Team -
Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal, Vishnu Vardhan and Ramkumar Ramanathan

The AITA announced seven members team for Korean Davis cup tie ... The team will be shortened to four members but reason behind declaring such a big squad is they r not taking any risk of losing players due to injury ... Yuki is still recovering from tennis elbow and Saki is also coming out of his right shoulder injury.

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At $50K+H Blois Challenger, France (clay)

[Q1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,384) bye

This week Sumit is playing in Blois qualifying and he has received bye in the first round.

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At $50K+H Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,415) vs (5) Duckhee Lee (KOR,225)

Tough match for Vishnu against talented Duckhee at Fergana challenger.

Hockey News

At Men's Champions Trophy 2016, London, Great Britain

India dw Germany 3-3 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - V. Raghunath (IND) 6' PC, Mandeep Singh (IND) 26', Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 32' PC and Tom Grambusch (GER) 26' and 36', Jonas Gomoll (GER) 57' PS

Olympic and World League champions Germany began their Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 title defence with a 3-3 draw against India, fighting back from 3-1 down to claim a point ... Our players were matching fancied Germany but their overall defensive game was worrisome ... We missed big opportunity upsetting defending champion Germany in well fought match ... We were leading 1-0, 2-1 and then 3-1 but all time we failed to keep lead ... We gave penalty corners due to some rush of blood and poor defending inside the D ... Sreejesh was very good in front of the goal and SV Sunil performed remarkably as a captain.

Badminton News

At $750K Australian Open 2016, Sydney (Superseries)

[R1] Sameer VERMA (IND,37) bt Ihsan Maulana MUSTOFA (INA,29) 22-20 15-21 21-15
[R1] R. M. V. Gurusaidutt (IND,89) l HU Yun (HKG,14) 19-21 21-12 15-21
[R1] KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,12) bt. NG Ka Long Angus (HKG,11) 21-16 21-12

[R1] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Joy LAI (AUS,78) 21-10 21-14
[R1] PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,10) l KIM Hyo Min (KOR,40) 15-21 19-21
[R1] Tanvi LAD (IND,89) bt Tiffany HO (AUS,140) 18-21 21-14 21-11

[R2] Sameer VERMA (IND,37) l Anthony Sinisuka GINTING (INA,22) 21-11 7-21 19-21
[R2] KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,12) bt Sony Dwi KUNCORO (INA,35) 21-19 21-12

[R2] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt Jin Wei GOH (MAS,58) 21-12 21-14
[R2] Tanvi LAD (IND,89) l (4) Yihan WANG (CHN,3) 18-21 6-21

[QF] KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,12) bt Kwang Hee HEO (KOR,84) 21-18 21-17

[QF] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) bt (2) Ratchanok INTANON (THA,4) 28-26 21-16

[SF] KIDAMBI Srikanth (IND,13) vs Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,12)

[SF] (7) Saina NEHWAL (IND,8) vs (4) Yihan WANG (CHN,2)

Sania and Srikanth is picking up at right time ... They r in the semis with contrasting wins ... Importantly they managed give creditable performance under demanding position ... Other hand Sindhu lost her match in the first round.

Tennis News

At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

Doubles Final
(4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (1) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 64 76(1)

[SF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Luke Saville (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) 63 63

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) l Luke Saville (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) 36 46

Divij-Purav complete their back to back challenger titles on the grass ... Again they beat British pair Skupski brothers ... This is Divij' 10th and Purav's 8th challenger title, together they win 4 titles.

In the final Divij and Purav started positively and were 5-2 up before taking the first set comfortably ... In the second set again Purav lost his serve to find our pair down 1-4 ... From 3-5 and 40-15 our pair made amazing comeback and broke Skupski brothers after saving couple of set points ... In tie-break our pair dominated from the start and won this comfortably.

Before that Jeevan and his Spanish partner lost in straight sets against Aussie pair ... Divij and Purav faced same Aussie pair in the semis and they scored dominating win over them for entering into the final.

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At $75K+H Moscow Challenger, Russia (Clay)

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) l Alexandre Metrevelli (GEO)/ Dmity Popko (KAZ) 63 36 7-10

RamK and Sanz lose in match tie-break after winning the first set against Metrevelli and Popko.

Tennis News

At €635K Ricoh Open 2016, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherland (grass)

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) l Gilles Muller (LUX)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 36 57

And surprising loss to top-seed in straight sets against Muller and Nielsen.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R2] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,150) l (SE) Tobias Kamke (GER,141) 06 46

Doubles
[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Alexander Ward (GBR) 64 62

Disappointed performance by Saki in this match as he struggled with his serve through out the match ... He committed 7 doubles faults and managed only 1 ace ... In the first set he failed to win a single game and in the second set Tobias broke him in 5th game, 3-2 ... When Tobias serving for the match at 5-4 Saki had 2 break points 15-40 but he failed to convert and Tobias won 4 points in a row for winning the match.

Divij-Purav complete comfortable win for moving to the semis.

Tennis News

At €635K Ricoh Open 2016, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherland (grass)

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) bt (WC) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Robin Haase (NED) 61 64

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) vs Gilles Muller (LUX)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)

Expected comfortable winning start for top-seed against wild-card pair ... Next they r facing Muller and Nielsen.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Alexander Ward (GBR) 4-3 (rain interruption)

Match is stopped when Purav and Divij were a break up.

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At $75K+H Moscow Challenger, Russia (Clay)

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) bt (1) Radu Albot (MDA)/ Sergey Betov (BLR) 76(5) 63

Meantime RamK and his partner David Perez Sanz r in the semis with win over top-seed in straight sets ...They started with winning the first set in tie-break and in the second crucial break came in 8th game ... The top-seed Albot and Betov missed several opportunities of breaking opponents serve in the first set.

Football News

At 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers - Play-off, Guwahati, India

India bt Laos 6-1 (2-1)
Goal Scored -Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 43' and 74', Sumeet Passi (IND) 45+', Sandesh Jhingan (IND) 48', Mohammed Rafique (IND) 83' and Fulganco Cardozo (IND) 87' and Khonesavanh Sihavong (LAO) 16'

India came back strongly after conceding early to beat Laos 6-1 (7-1 aggregate) to book their place in the final round of qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup ... Jeje Lalpekhlua’s brace and Jackichand Singh’s impact after coming off the bench helped India make it into the third round of 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers ... This was good comeback after down 0-1 in first 20 minutes ... Also after nine years our team managed to score six goals in a match, before this in 2007 we scored six goals against Cambodia.

Tennis News

At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,149) bt James Duckworth (AUS,170) 64 36 63

[R2] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,149) vs (SE) Tobias Kamke (GER,141)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH) 64 64

Good winning start for Saki against tricky Aussie player Duckworth in rain interrupted match ... Saki won the first set after a single break but match was interrupted due to rain at 0-1 in the second set ... After restarting Saki lost his serve and lost this set with single break ... In the third set Saki took 5-1 lead with double break but lost his serve while serving for the match but hold his serve in 9th game for winning the match ... Next he is facing German Tobias Kamke.

Comfortable straight sets winning start for Divij and Purav against Moriya and Setkic.

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At $75K+H Moscow Challenger, Russia (Clay)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,199) l (2) Karen Khachanov (RUS,108) 46 46

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) bt Steven Diez (CAN)/ Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 46 64 10-2

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) vs (1) Radu Albot (MDA)/ Sergey Betov (BLR)

Expected loss of RamK in the singles against Khachanov ... But in the doubles he with his partner David Perez Sanz score comeback win ... Next they r facing top-seed Albot and Betov.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,384) l Guido Andreozzi (ARG,154) 26 46

This was tough match for Sumit against Argentine Guido Andreozzi ... He recently won Vicenza challenger and here Sumit faced him in the first round ... After losing the first set Sumit was 2-4 down ... Sumit broke him to 4-all but failed to held his next service game and lost hte match ... Still in his loss Sumit gives encouraging performance ...I still feel he needs to wok on his serve, which will hugely help him.

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) bt (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 64 64

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs Luke Saville (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS)

Jeevan and his partner Menendez-Maceiras score straight sets upset win over 2nd seed Ratiwatana twins ... Next they r facing Aussie pair in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $50K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

Doubles Final
Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 63 36 11-9

Terrific start for grass season for Divij and Purav ... They lift their 3rd title as pair and this is Divij's 9th challnger title and Purav's 7th challenger title ... In end really hard fought win for Purav-Divij for winning Manchester title.

After winning the first set Purav struggled with his serve in the second ... He lost his serve twice in the second set for losing the set ... In match tie-break Divij-Purav took 5-2 lead but after that they lost 7 points from 8 points played .. From 6-9 they made amazing comeback winning 5 points in a row and in that they saved 3 match points for completing exciting win.

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At $125K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[Q3] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,388) bt (1) Alessandro Bega (ITA,284) 46 62 61

Another superb upset win over top-300 Alessandro Bega for Sumit and qualifying to main-draw of this big Italian challenger ... After losing the first set he made excellent comeback for winning next two sets comfortably.

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At $75K+H Lyon Challenger, France (Clay)

[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,411) l (5) Maxime Teixeira (FRA,373) 57 36

Prajnesh lose in straight sets against Teixeira.

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At €635K Ricoh Open 2016, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherland (Grass)

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) vs (WC) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Robin Haase (NED)

This week Rohan is playing with WR #2 Nicolas Mahut and they r top-seed ... Interestingly Florin Meargea is playing at Stuttgart with his Romanian partner Horia Tecau, may be preparation for Rio Olympics?

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At $50K Surbiton Challenger, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,149) vs James Duckworth (AUS,170)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Hiroki Moriya (JPN)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

This week Saki is playing at Surbiton and his first match is tricky one against Aussie James Duckworth ... In the doubles Purav and Divij r 4th seed and Jeevan is playing with Spanish partner Adrian Menendez-Maceiras but they r having tough challenge of Ratiwatana twins.

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At $75K+H Moscow Challenger, Russia (Clay)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND,199) vs (2) Karen Khachanov (RUS,108)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ David Perez Sanz (ESP) vs Steven Diez (CAN)/ Nikola Milojevic (SRB)

RamK is playing on clay at Moscow challenger but having tough match against local favorite Karen Khachanov.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (clay)

[Q1] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,388) bye
[Q2] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,388) bt (WC) Giuseppe Ricciardi (ITA,UNR) 76(4) 60

[Q3] (6) Sumit Nagal (IND,388) vs (1) Alessandro Bega (ITA,284)

Sumit continues playing high risk tournaments ... He is in the final round of qualifying after win over local player ... In the final qualifying round he is facing top-300 Italian Bega.

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At $75K+H Lyon Challenger, France (Clay)

[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,411) bt Benjamin Balleret (MON,677) 64 61

[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,411) vs (5) Maxime Teixeira (FRA,373)

Good winning start for Prajnesh against talented Balleret ... Prajnesh was 1-4 down before making comeback ... After that he won 11 games from next 12 games for this win ... Next he is facing top-400 French opponent.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Shared by Leander on his facebook page.

Mixed Doubles Final
Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) 46 64 10-8

Junior
[QF] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Karman Thandi (IND) l Mayuka Aikawa (JPN)/ Ylena In-Albon (SUI) 06 26

With the title win Leander completes his career grand slam in mixed doubles as till now only French open title was missing for Lee in mixed doubles ... This is also Lee-Martina's 4th grand slam title in last six grand slams ... For the record Lee is already completed career grand slam in men's doubles ... This was Lee's 10th mixed doubles title ... This title win also make strong case for Leander to partner Sania at Rio Olympics in mixed doubles.

In the first set both pairs were holding their repective service games till 9th game ... With superb returning mixing lobs by Sania helped her team to take crucial break on Lee's serve in 10th game for winning the set ... In the second set Lee-Martina were more committed on the net ... They broke Sania in 3rd game to lead 3-1 but Sania-Dodig broke Lee in 6th game for 3-all ... In 7th game Lee-Martina again broke Sania and then they missed 2 set points on Dodig serve in 9th game but Lee hold his serve comfortably for taking the final in match tie-break ... In match tie-break both pairs exchanged early mini-breaks and then both pairs hold points on their serve till 6-5 ... Lee-Martina took mini-break on Sania's serve to lead 7-5 ... On 14th points Lee made super interception on the net on long rally but Sania won mini-break in 15th points with down the line backhand service return on Martina's serve ... On 17th point Martina hit superb backhand cross court winner on Didig serve's and gave match point to them, 9-8 ... And Lee-Martina became emotional when Doddig hit in the net on next point's on Lee's serve for giving them championship.

Karman and Jaimee fail to challenge their Japanese-Swiss opponents in one-sided loss.

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At WTA 125K Bol Open, Croatia

[QF] Prarthana Thombare (IND)/ Tena Lukas (CRO) l (1) Raluca Olaru (ROM)/ Ipek Soylu (TUR) 26 57

Prarthana-Tena lose in the quarters against top-seed ... Prarthana and her Croatian partner Tena Lukas lost the first set easily but they gave decent fight in the second.

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At $50K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (1) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) 75 76(3)

[F] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Neal Skupski (GBR)

Another well fought win over top-seed Daniell and Siljestrom for Purav-Divj ... In the first set our pair broke opponents in 9th game but after longish medical break by opponents Divij failed to hold while serving for the set ... Again our pair took crucial break in 11th game and then Purav hold his serve for winning the set ... In the second set both pairs hold their respective sers but our pair dominated tie-break for a win ... In the final they r facing British Skupski brothers.

Badminton News

At $900K Indonesia Open 2016, Jakarta (Superseries Premier)

[QF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l (1) Carolina Marin (ESP,1) 22-24 11-21

Sania loses her match against Carolina in straight games in the quarters ... In the first game both players were neck to neck and Saina had couple of game points ... Saina failed to convert it and Carolina converted second for winning it ... In the second game Carolina proved too strong for Saina.

Football News

At 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers - Play-off, Vientiane, Laos

Laos l India 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scored -Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 54'

Indians score important win over Laos and are now on verge of qualifying for Asian cup qualifiers ... Indians dominated match but needed to wait till an almost hour mark for taking lead through excellent header from Jeje on Udanta Singh assist ... After that we kept that lead for completing victory ... The Indian side will now go into the June 7 home tie in Guwahati in an advantageous position.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Mixed Doubles
[QF] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (5) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 64 63
[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt (7) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 61 36 10-6

[SF] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (6) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 63 36 10-7
[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt (3) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 46 63 12-10

Junior
[R2] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Karman Thandi (IND) bt Amanda Anisimova (USA)/ Caty McNally (USA) 46 75 11-9

[QF] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Karman Thandi (IND) vs Mayuka Aikawa (JPN)/ Ylena In-Albon (SUI)

Terrific results for us in French open as Sania and Leander r in the final of MXD with their respective partners after winning two matches in a day.

In the semis ania-Dodig faces young talented 3rd seed French pair ... As expected this turn to be tough match ... After losing the first set Sania-Dodig made comeback for winning the second ... In match tie-break Sania-Dodig took 6-1 lead but from 8-5 they lost next 4 points for 8-9 down but they saved with big serve from Dodig and then converted 2nd match point for excellent win ... Before that Sania-Dodig won quarter-final against Max-Chan in another super tie-break.

Lee-Martina started solidly against Hlavackova and Roger-Vasselin ... But after winning the first set they gave momentum to Hlavackova and Roger-Vasselin ... In match tie-break after facing early mini-break Lee-Martina took control and kept that lead for winning this match ... Before this Lee-Martina scored comfortable straight sets win over Soares and Vesnina.

Incredible comeback by Karman and Jaimee in their second round match against Americans ... They saved 3 match points when they were down 64 5-3 and 40-15 to turn this match around ... They mon ext 4 games for winning the set and then completed win after winning tight super tie-break.

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At WTA 125K Bol Open, Croatia

[QF] Prarthana Thombare (IND)/ Tena Lukas (CRO) bt Tereza Mredeza (CRO)/ Isabella Shinikova (BUL) 62 63

[QF] Prarthana Thombare (IND)/ Tena Lukas (CRO) vs (1) Raluca Olaru (ROM)/ Ipek Soylu (TUR)

Prarthana scores her first WTA level match win with her Croatian partner against decent opponents ... Next they r facing top-seed pair.

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At $50K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Frederik Nielsen (DEN)/ Igor Sijsling (NED) 60 62

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE)

Dominating win by Purav and Divij against Danish-Dutch combination ... In the semis they r facing top-seed Daniell and Siljestrom.

Badminton News

At $900K Indonesia Open 2016, Jakarta (Superseries Premier)

[R2] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Fitriani Fitriani (INA,53) 21-11 21-10

[R2] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (6) Sung Hyun KO (KOR)/ Baek Cheo SHIN (KOR) 18-21 13-21
[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l Yaqiong HUANG (CHN)/ Jinhua TANG (CHN) 9-21 18-21

[QF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs (1) Carolina Marin (ESP,1)

Sania scores comfortable win over her Indonesian opponent losing only 21 points in the match ... In the quarters she is facing Spanish WR #1 Carolina Marin.

Our doubles pairs fail to cross Korean and Chinese hurdles respectively and lose their matches in straight games.

Tennis News

At French Open 2016, Roland-Garros

Doubles
[QF] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l (3) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 46 46
[QF] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) l (5) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA) 67(12) 36

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Alize Cornet (FRA)/ Jonathan Eysseric (FRA) 67(6) 64 10-8

[QF] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (5) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)
[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs (7) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)

Junior
[R2] Karman Thandi (IND,42) l (5) Dayana Yastremska (UKR,10) 36 06

[R1] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Karman Thandi (IND) bt (3) Amina Anshba (RUS)/ Elena Rybakina (RUS) 64 63

[R2] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/ Karman Thandi (IND) vs Amanda Anisimova (USA)/ Caty McNally (USA)

Bad start for our players after 2 days long rain break ... Our challenge in men's doubles is over as our both pairs lose their respective matches.

Sania-Dodig score excellent comeback win over French pair in well fought match ... After losing the first set our pair fought back for winning the second ... In match tie-break after 0-2 down they took control and converted 3rd match point for entering into the semis.

In the singles Yastremska proves too strong for Karman, but in the doubles she upset 3rd seed Russian pair in straight sets with her Aussie partner Jaimee Fourlis ... Next they r facing American pair.

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At $50K Manchester Challenger, Great Britain

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Jonathan Marray (GBR)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 63 76(5)

Terrific start of grass court season for Divij and Purav as they beat 3rd seed and grass court doubles pair Marray and Shamasdin in straight sets.

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

[Q1] (5) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Gulchekhra MUKHAMMADSIDIKOVA (UZB) 62 63
[Q2] (5) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt (10) Komola UMAROVA (UZB) 60 46 75

[R1] (7) Ankita RAINA (IND,296) l Olga DOROSHINA (RUS,451) 64 16 46
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (IND,550) l Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS,405) 36 36

Disappointing week for Ankita as she loses in the first round after reaching semis in the last week.

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At $25K Uzbekistan F4 Futures, Namangan

[Q1] (6) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND) bt Rasul AKHMADALIEV (UZB) 26 60 63
[Q2] (6) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND) bt (10) Grigoriy REYTMAN (UZB) 62 62

[R1] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,514) bt (LL) Batyr SAPAEV (UZB,1856) 61 57 4-1 retd.
[R1] (Q) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND,1671) bt (Q) Kirill KOMAROV (RUS,2062) 63 61

[R2] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,514) l Vitaly KOZYUKOV (RUS,835) 57 75 16
[R2] (Q) Shahbaaz KHAN (IND,1671) l (Q) Sergey FOMIN (UZB,UNR) 36 64 36

After good last this week was so-so considering Bala lose against lowly ranked Russian ... Shahbaaz also misses opportunity of going deep in this tournament as an qualifier.

Badminton News

At $900K Indonesia Open 2016, Jakarta (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,37) l Lee Chong Wei (MAS,2) 11-21 13-21
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Pai Yu Po (TPE,23) 21-11 19-21 21-15

[R1] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) bt Peter Gabriel MAGNAYE (PHI)/ Alvin MORADA (PHI) 21-13 21-16
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt Febriana Dwipuji KUSUMA (INA)/ Ribka SUGIARTO (INA) 21-7 20-22 21-10

[R1] (Q) Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND)/ Manu ATTRI (IND) l Yong Kai Terry HEE (SIN)/ Wei Han TAN (SIN) 14-21, 25-27

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Fitriani Fitriani (INA,53)

[R2] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (6) Sung Hyun KO (KOR)/ Baek Cheo SHIN (KOR)
[R2] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) vs Yaqiong HUANG (CHN)/ Jinhua TANG (CHN)

Our many players r missing Indonesian open due to injury including Sindhu ... Saina has shaky start as her Taiwani opponent Po stretches her to three games ... Manu-Sumeeth start with straight games but next they r having tough challenge of 6th seed Korean pair ... Jwala-Ashwini surprisingly lost the second game, otherwise comfortable match for them ... Next they r facing tricky Chinese pair.