Tennis News

At $618K BB&T Atlanta Open 2016, USA

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)

Divij-Purav r facing 4th seed experienced players Erlich and Fyrstenberg.

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At $125K Chengdu Challenger, China

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP)

Jeevan is playing at Chengdu with Chu-Huan Yi and they r 3rd seeds.

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

[R1] Shivika BURMAN (IND,837) l Anastasiya SAITOVA (RUS,1133) 36 67(4)
[R1] Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,704) bt Anna PRIBYLOVA (RUS.901) 64 63
[R1] Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,698)bt (WC) Lina QOSTAL (MAR,NR) 62 61
[R1] Shweta Chandra RANA (IND,1066) bt (Q) Rio KITAGAWA (JPN) 76(4) 63

[R2] Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,704) bt (4) Fanny OSTLUND (SWE,580) 36 60 63
[R2] Sri Vaishnavi PEDDI REDDY (IND,698) bt (7) Mirabelle NJOZE (GBR,629) 64 63
[R2] Shweta Chandra RANA (IND,1066) l (3) Victoria MUNTEAN (FRA,445) 16 26

[QF] Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,704) bt Sri Vaishnavi PADDI REDDY (IND,698) 64 61

[SF] Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL(IND,704) bt Natalie KALLMUNZEROVA (CZE,1108) 61 63

Singles Final
Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL(IND,704) bt (1) Victoria MUNTEAN (FRA,445) 76(6) 36 63

Dhruthi lifts her first ITF title beating top-450 French girl Victoria Muntean ... In the first set Dhruthi was a break down at 5-6 and French girl Victoria had a set point on her serve at 40-30 ... Dhruthi saved that to break her and then in tie-break Dhruthi saved another set point at 5-6 before converting her first set point ... Victoria fought back for winning the second but Dhruthi recovered in the third and won it for exciting win.

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At $10K Vietnam F1 Futures, Thu Dau Mot City

Singles Final
Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) l (1) Seong Chan HONG (KOR,439) 16 26

Hong proves too strong for Rishab but still overall good week for Rishab and Sasi.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Biella Challenger, Italy (Clay)

Doubles Final
(3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (1) Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podipnik-Castillo (CHI) 64 64

Lee lifts Biella Challenger title with his German partner Andre Begemann beating top-seed pair comfortably ... Lee-Andre saved few break points on their serves and converted their first break point chance on Podipnik-Castillo's serve in 9th game for winning the first set ... In the second set Lee-Andre broke Andrej is 5th game for taking 4-2 lead ... And kept that advantage for completing straight sets victory

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At $75K+H Segovia Challenge, Spain

Doubles Final
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Joaquin Munoz-Hernandez (ESP)/ Akira Santillan (JPN) 63 46 10-8

Divij-Purav lift their 3rd challenger title of the year when they defeated Munoz-Hernandez and Santillan in match tie-break at Segovia ... Overall this is 5th challenger title for Purav-Divij pairing ... Individually this was Divij's 11th and Purav's 9th challenger title ... Next they r playing at Atlanta ATP.

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At $125K Chengdu Challenger, China

[R1] (PR) Karunuday Singh (IND,1443) vs (WC) Rigele Te (CHN,971)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,390) vs Qualifier

Prajnesh and KU r playing in big Chengdu challenger ... KU used his protected ranking #471 for gaining direct entry in main-draw.

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At $10K Vietnam F1 Futures, Thu Dau Mot City

[SF] (8) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,713) l (1) Seong Chan HONG (KOR,439) 06 26
[SF] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) bt Renta TOKUDA (JPN,1020) 61 64

Rishab is in the final with convincing win over his Japanese opponent Toduka ... In the final he is facing Korean Davis cupper Hong, who defeated Sasi losing only 2 games.

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At $100K Granby Challenger, Canada

[Q1] Sanam Singh (IND,473) l Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN,601) 26 16

Sanam was back on the court ... Hopefully he will be fully fit from his shoulder injury ... But not a great comeback as he lost one-sided match.

Tennis News

At $2.7M Roger Cup 2016, Montreal, Canada (WTA Premier 5)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l Christina McHale (USA)/ Asia Muhammad (USA) 46 36

Disappointing loss of Sania-Martina against young American pair.

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At $100K+H Biella Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[SF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) James Cerretani (USA)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 63 64

[F] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (1) Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podipnik-Castillo (CHI)

Leander also in the final with his German partner Andre Begemann ... They scored straight sets win over 2nd seed Cerretani and Oswald ... In the final they r facing top-seed Slovak-Chilean pair.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,, USA

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (4) Luke Saville (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) 57 26

Jeevan-RamK fail to overcome challenge of 4th seed Aussie pair in the semis.

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At $10K Vietnam F1 Futures, Thu Dau Mot City

[R1] (8) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,713) bt (Q) Jake DELANEY (AUS,952) 46 63 60
[R1] Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,737) l (7) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,647) 36 46
[R1] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) bt (Q) Maciej SMOLA (POL,1052) 62 63

[R2] (8) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,713)bt (Q) Shunrou TAKESHIMA (JPN,2149) 64 61
[R2] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) bt (2) Antoine ESCOFFIER (FRA,477) 62 61

[QF] (8) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,713) bt (3) Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN,484) 62 76(0)
[QF] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) bt (7) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,647) 63 63

[SF] (8) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,713) vs (1) Seong Chan HONG (KOR,439)
[SF] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,965) vs Renta TOKUDA (JPN,1020)

Terrific run for Rishab and Sasi in this Vietnam futures ... Rishab and Sasi really good win over top-500 players for reaching to the semis.

Tennis News

At $2.7M Roger Cup 2016, Montreal, Canada (WTA Premier 5)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Naomi Broady (GBR)/ Shelby Rogers (USA) 61 61

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Christina McHale (USA)/ Asia Muhammad (USA)

Expected comfortable winning start for Sania and Martina against young British-American pair ... In the quarters they r facing another young pairing of McHale and Muhammad.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger, USA

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,196) l Andrew Whittingtton (AUS,207) 67(4) 64 46

Doubles
[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (2) Dean O'Brien (RSA)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA) 64 62

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (4) Luke Saville (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS)

RamK misses huge opportunity of completing win in straight sets as he was two breaks up before losing the first set in tie-break ... RamK took early lead and was up 41 with double break ... Andrew fought back winning next 4 games breaking RamK twice, 4-5 ... RamK managed to take the set in tie-break but here Andrew proved strong ... In the second set also RamK took a break and was serving for the set at 5-3 but this time also he failed to hold his serve in 9th game ... But this time RamK broke Andrew in 10th game for winning this set ... In the final set Andrew broke RamK in 5th game and kept that advantage for winning the set and match.

In the doubles Jeevan and RamK scored dominating upset win over 2nd seed South African pair ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed Aussie pair.

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At $75K+H Segovia Challenge, Spain

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) 64 76(2)

Divij-Purav's terrific run continue ... They defeated 2nd seed Swedish pair in tight two sets for entering into the final.

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At $100K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) l Alexander Bublik (RUS)/ Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 67(10) 36

Hoping for couple of more wins after their upset win over top-seed in the first round ... But Russian pair dug deep for winning in straight sets.

Tennis News

At $4.1M Roger Cup 2016, Toronto, Canada

[R2] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) l Tomas Berdych (CZE)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) 16 46

4th seed Rohan and Rojer lose in straight sets against Olympics bound Czech pair.

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At $100K+H Biella Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[QF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Joao Souza (BRA) 64 57 10-8

Lee-Begemann in the semis after winning their quarters against Brazilian pair in match tie-break.

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At $75K+H Segovia Challenge, Spain

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Pablo Irigaray Guarne (ESP)/ Oscar Mancineiras Cornella (ESP) 64 60

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE)

Divij-Purav r in the semis with comfortable win over local wild-card pair ... Next they will face 2nd seed Swedish pair.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,, USA

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) 76(5) 46 12-10

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (2) Dean O'Brien (RSA)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA)

Hard fought win for Jeevan and RamK against in-form good players Klein and Whittington ... In the quarters our pair is facing 2nd seed South African pair.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Biella Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Michael Linzer (AUT)/ Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP) 61 64

[QF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Fabricio Neis (BRA)/ Joao Souza (BRA)

Comfortable winning start for Lee with his partner Begemann ... Next they r facing Brazilian pair.

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At $100K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) bt (1) Konstatin Kravchuk (RUS)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 63 46 10-7

Terrific big upset by Vishnu and Matsui in match tie-break against top-seed Eastern European pair.

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At $75K+H Segovia Challenge, Spain

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Alex De Minaur (AUS)/ Roberto Ortega-Olmedo (ESP) 63 76(7)

Purav-Divij get stretched in the second set tie-break after winning the first set easily ... Still good winning start for them.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,196) bt Luke Saville (AUS,230) 46 62 61

Doubles
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)

RamK made strong comeback for dominating last 2 sets after losing the first set against quality player Luke Saville ... After losing the first set RamK played exceptionally well from back of the court for winning next two sets with double break.

RamK and Jeev r playing doubles against Klein-Whittington.

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At $50K+H Scheveningen Challenger,, Netherlands (Clay)

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l (WC) Tallon Griekspoor (NED)/ Tim Van Ruthoven (NED) 63 26 8-10

Surprising loss of our pair against local wild-card pair after winning the first set.

Tennis News

At $4.1M Roger Cup 2016, Toronto, Canada

[Q2] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,152) l (2) Radek Stepanek (CZE,119) 67(5) 76(5) 46

Doubles
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) bye

Saki played superb fighting match against Radek in his loss in three sets ... After losing the first set in tie-break Saki was break down in the second 2-4 ... He broke back and took the set in tie-break for winning it ... In the decider Saki struggled with his serve and was 2 breaks down 0-4 ... After that he tried fightback and broke Radek in 6th game for 3-4 ... But Radek kept one break advantage for winning this match ... Good big match experience for Saki.

This week Rohan is playing with Rojer and they r 4th seed receiving bye in the first round.

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At $2.7M Roger Cup 2016, Montreal, Canada (WTA Premier 5)

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

Sania-Martina receive first round bye at Roger cup.

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At $100K+H Biella Challenger, Italy (Clay)

[R1] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Michael Linzer (AUT)/ Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP)

Lee is playing with German partner Andre Begemann in Italian Biella Challenger ... They r facing Spanish-Austrian pair in the first round.

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At $100K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q3] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,459) l (6) Mikhail Elgin (RUS,534) 26 63 36

Doubles
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) vs (1) Konstatin Kravchuk (RUS)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR)

Vishnu lose in the final qualifying round after winning the first set ... In the doubles he and Matsui having tough match against top-seed.

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At $75K+H Segovia Challenge, Spain

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alex De Minaur (AUS)/ Roberto Ortega-Olmedo (ESP)

Divij-Purav r playing against Australian-Spanish pair.

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At $50K Lexington Challenger,, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,214) vs Luke Saville (AUS,230)

RamK is facing experienced Australian Luke Saville in the first round.

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At $50K+H Scheveningen Challenger,, Netherlands (Clay)

[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs (WC) Tallon Griekspoor (NED)/ Tim Van Ruthoven (NED)

This week Bala with Vijay Sunder r playing doubles in Dutch challenger at Scheveningen ... They r facing local wild-card pair in the first round.

Hockey News

At America tour 2016, Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA

Fourth Game
India bt Canada 3-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Poonam Rani (IND) 19' PC, Renuka Yadav (IND) 32' PC, Anuradha Thokchom (IND) 58' and Natalie Sourisseau (CAN) 22'

Indian girls continue with their good performance and scored second win over Canadian girls in American tour.

Athletics News

At the U-20 World Championships 2016, Bydgoszcz, Poland

Gold - Neeraj Chopra (IND) 86.48m (JWR)

Young Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra creates history, becomes first Indian world champion in athletics ... Neeraj sets World U-20 and senior national records with throw of 86.48m that wins gold at U-20 Worlds ... The 18-year-old broke the old mark of 84.69 metres held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais by nearly two metres.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

In shocking development our Olympic bound World championship bronze medalist wrestler Narsingh Yadav fails dope test.

Tennis News

At $4.1M Roger Cup 2016, Toronto, Canada

[Q1] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,152) bt (ALT) Fabrice Martin (FRA,978) 76(2) 62

[Q2] (8) Saketh Myneni (IND,152) vs (2) Radek Stepanek (CZE,119)

Saki is having opportunity of playing in Masters qualifying at Roger cup ... In the first qualifying round he has expected winning start ... Now in the final qualifying he is having real test against tough nut Radek.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger,, USA

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,214) l Mitchel Krueger (USA,239) 26 46

RamK's terrific run in this Binghamton challenger ended after his straight sets loss against American Krueger ... Still overall good start of US hard court season for RamK.

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At $100K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q2] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,459) bt Roman Khassanov (KAZ,1156) 63 63

[Q3] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,459) vs. (6) Mikhail Elgin (RUS,534)

Comfortable winning start for Vishnu.

Hockey News

At America tour 2016, Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA

Third Game
India bt Canada 5-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Vandana Katariya (IND) 9' and 51', Deepika (IND) 38' and 49', Poonam Rani (IND) 58' PC and Stephanie Norlander (CAN) 17' PC, Brienne Stairs (CAN) 42'

Indian girls scored impressive win against Canadian girls to score their second consecutive win of the tour ... In the first 3 quarters both teams matched each other but in the last quarter our girls pressed pedal hard and scored three goals.

Tennis News

At € 520K Swiss Open 2016, Gstaad

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 63 67(4) 2-10

Divij-Purav miss big opportunity of entering into another ATP final ... After winning the first set they were break up in the second, 3-2 ... Pavic-Venus broke them in next game, 3-all, again our pair had 3 break points in 11th game which they failed to convert ... And from tie-break our pair lost the plot and they lose tie-break and match tie-break easily.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger,, USA

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,214) bt Brydan Klein (GBR,260) 76(5) 67(3) 62

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,214) vs Mitchel Krueger (USA,239)

RamK is in the semis with another hard fought win over Klein ... In the first set RamK had 3 breakpoints on Klein's serve in 9th game but failed to convert it ... RamK played near perfect tie-break for winning it ... In the second set RamK broke Klein in 8th game to lead 5-3 but RamK failed to hold his serve while serving for the match ... Klein dominated tie-break for winning this set ... In the decider RamK broke Klein in 1st game and again he broke Klein in 5th game to lead 4-1 ... In this set Klein was struggling with fitness and RamK took full advantage for completing a win ... Next he is facing American Mitchel Krueger.

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At $100K Astana Challenger, Kazakhstan

[Q1] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,459) bye

[Q2] (3) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,459) vs Roman Khassanov (KAZ,1156)

This week Vishnu is playing qualifying of big Astana challenger.

Cycling News

Cycling News,

According to the latest UCI rankings.the Indian men's junior team has moved to top of the table ... The Indian men's junior team has moved from a previous rank of 11th place to top of the table, with a tally of 1012.5 points ... At second is Poland, with 960 points, followed by Korea at third with 900 ... Junior men's team cyclist Sanuraj is ranked tenth in the individual Keirin category ... There was further improvement for India in the women juniors table too, where in the Team Sprint the cyclists moved up four places to occupy eighth place ... Cyclist Anu Chotia enjoys two top-20 rankings as per the UCI, at No 8 in the individual 500m time trial and 19th in the Sprint category ... In the Women Elite table, India are at 18th place while in the 500m time trial, Deborah Herold sits at sixth.

Tennis News

At € 520K Swiss Open 2016, Gstaad

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 76(6) 67(5) 10-7

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

Divij-Purav score hard fought win over 3rd seed in match tie-break for entering into the semis ... Divij-Purav played really well against big serving opponents and won the first set in tight tie-break ... In this set both pairs exchanged two breaks of serve ... In the second set our pair broke 3rd seed in 3rd game but lost their serve in 6th game, 3-all ... 3rd seed pair won the second set tie-break ... Both pairs played amazing match tie-break ... Only a single mini-break came on 14th point by our pair for completing really good win ... In the semis they r facing top-seed Pavic and Venus.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger,, USA

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,214) bt (Q) Jose Statham (NZL,472) 26 64 76(3)

RamK needs to dig deep for scoring comeback win over experienced Statham in three sets ... In the first set from 2-3 RamK was outperformed by Statham ... In the second set RamK took crucial break in 9th game for winning this set ... In the final set RamK broke Statham in 3rd game but Statham broke him in 6th game for bringing back on the serve ... RamK again broke Statham in 11th game but while serving for the match he made unforced errors for losing his serve ... RamK played solid tie-break to take 5-0 lead and converted 3rd match point for good win.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Hong Kong

[QF] Kyra SHROFF (IND,660) l Hao Chen TANG (CHN,723) 26 67(1)

Overall disappointing performance by Indians in these Hong Kong series ... So with Kyra's loss Hong Kong leg get over.

Hockey News

At America tour 2016, Manheim, Pennsylvania, USA

Second Game
India bt USA 2-1 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Preeti Dubey (IND) 45' PC, Lilima Minz (IND) 55' PC and Jill Witmer (USA) 19' PC

First Game
India l USA 2-3 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Preeti Dubey (IND) 33', Deepika (IND) 38' and Kathleen Sharkey (USA) 6', Katie Bam (USA) 31' PC, Kelsey Kolojejchick (USA) 48'

Indian girls bounced back in the second game and defeated Champions trophy bronze medalist USA in tight match ... In the first match our girls lost very close match and in the second match also both teams were neck to neck ... In this match also USA took lead and were leading at half-time ... But this time our players converted two crucial penalty corners and then defended well for completing victory ... In tour's next match we r playing against Canadian girls.

Tennis News

At € 520K Konzum Croatia Open, Umang

[R1] Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (4) Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 06 26

Lee and Gabashvili failing to click as pair on the court and their Croation opponents took full advantage of it.

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At € 520K Swiss Open 2016, Gstaad

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Tristan Lamasine (FRA)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 64 64

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)

Divij-Purav start with straight sets win over French pair ... In both sets they had a single break for winning it ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Inglot and Istomin.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger,, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) bt Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,314) 63 64

Doubles
[R1] (3) Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Liam Broady (GBR)/ Guilherme Clezar (BRA) 67(10) 26

Good winning start for RamK for his US hard court season ... He came out of jetleg for completing straight sets win over his Japanese opponent Uchiyama.

Jeev and his Kazakh partner lose their first round match in straight sets.

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At $50K Gimcheon Challenge, Korea

[R1] Cheong-Eul Kim (KOR)/ Sidharth Rawat (IND) l (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 06 26

Now officially Sid completes forgettable Korea tour.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Hong Kong

[R2] Kyra SHROFF (IND,660) bt (Q) Kanika VAIDYA (IND,962) 62 76(3)
[R2] (3) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,372) l.(WC) Kwan Yau NG (HKG,1256) 0-1 retd.

[QF] Kyra SHROFF (IND,660) vs Hao Chen TANG (CHN,723)

Kyra proves better than Kanika in their face-off ... Next she is facing Chinese opponent ... But sad to see Prerna needs to retire from the match due to injury.

Hockey News

Triple Olympian and Moscow Olympic gold medalist Mohd Shahid, 56, has passed away at a Gurgaon hospital ... He was undergoing treatment for multiple defects ... RIP Mohd. Shahid.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup World Group - Play-off 2016, India

The Draw for the 2016 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-offs is out ... India will be hosting 6th seed Spain to fancy their chances to qualify for the elite group of nations ... Hoping for again grass court selection by our think tank and this time in Kolkata.

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At $250K Citi Open 2016, Washington DC, USA (WTA Premier)

[R1] (WC) Malkia Menguene (USA)/ Nidhi Surapaneni (IND) l Sanaz Marand (USA)/ Jessica Pegula (USA) 63 16 2-10

Really don't know much about Nidhi ... She and her American partner lost in the first round of Citi open.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Hong Kong

[R1] Kyra SHROFF (IND,660) bt Ying ZHANG (CHN,688) 26 76(8) 61
[R1] (Q) Kanika VAIDYA (IND,962) bt (4) Ching-Wen HSU (TPE,389) 76(10) 63
[R1] (3) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,372) bt Yuenu LI (CHN,909) 63 62

[R2] (Q) Kanika VAIDYA (IND,962) vs Kyra SHROFF (IND,660)
[R2] (3) Prerna BHAMBRI (IND,372) vs.(WC) Kwan Yau NG (HKG,1256)

terrific upset win by Kanika over top-400 Taipei player ... Kyra also scored good comeback win over similar ranked Chinese girl.

Tennis News

At $50K Gimcheon Challenge, Korea

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,584) l Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN,381) 76(1) 46 26

Overall expected loss of Sidharth against his Japanese opponent but in that he gave fighting performance.

Golf News

At 145th Open Championship, Ayrshire, Scotland

T68 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 72 76 79 +12

Terrible last round for Anirban in British open, 8 over ... Consisted of 6 bogeys and a double bogey on last hole.

Tennis News

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

India bt Korea 4-1

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) bt Seong Chan Hong (KOR,427) 63 26 63 5-6 retd.
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,150) bt Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626) 61 36 64 36 5-2 retd.

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Hong Chung (KOR)/ Yunseong Chung (KOR) 63 64 64

Day Three
[R4] Rohan Bopanna (IND,UNR) bt Hong Chung (KOR,655) 36 64 64
[R5] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) l Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626) 36 75 67(2)

As expected Saki decided to skip return singles ... In his place Rohan played and showed his touch on grass ... He scored comeback win over top-650 type Korean Hong Chung ... In last match of the day Lim scored upset win over RamK ... So with that Indians miss chance of winning this tie 0-5.

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At € 520K Konzum Croatia Open, Umang

[R1] Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (4) Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO)

Lee is playing in Croatian open with Russian Gabashvili and they r facing 4th seed local pair in the first round.

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At € 520K Swiss Open 2016, Gstaad

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Tristan Lamasine (FRA)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Tough first round against French pair for Divij and Purav.

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At $50K Gimcheon Challenge, Korea

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,584) vs Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN,381)

Doubles
[R1] Cheong-Eul Kim (KOR)/ Sidharth Rawat (IND) vs (4) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN)

Sidharth having tough matches in the singles and doubles.

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At $50K Binghamton Challenger,, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,314)

RamK will be jet-lagged in his first round match.

Golf News

At $10M 145th Open Championship, Ayrshire, Scotland

T43 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 72 76 +4

Anirban had poor round of five over which put him on outside top 40 ... Need solid round to finish inside top 25.

Tennis News

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

India bt Korea 3-0

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) bt Seong Chan Hong (KOR,427) 63 26 63 5-6 retd.
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,150) bt Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626) 61 36 64 36 5-2 retd.

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Hong Chung (KOR)/ Yunseong Chung (KOR) 63 64 64

Our pair produce clinical win over Korean Chungs without much fuss and wrap the tie ... Our pair won first 2 sets with a single break advantage ... In the third they broke Hong in 1st game but Chungs broke Lee in 6th game for 3-all ... Immediately on next service game our pair broke Yunseong and then kept that advantage for winning the set, match and tie ... So with this win we r back in World group play-off match.

Also a 42nd Davis Cup doubles win for Leander, which equals Nicola Pietrangeli's record for most Davis Cup doubles victories.

Golf News

At $10M 145th Open Championship, Ayrshire, Scotland - Second Round

T22 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 71 -1

Anirban makes cut at British open and remain in top 25 after two rounds ... In the first round Anirban missed opportunities of scoring lower round than 2 under ... But in the second round under demanding condition Anirban played excellent round ... With 2 birdies and 3 bogeys he managed one over for remaining in top 25.

Tennis News

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

India vs Korea 2-0

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) bt Seong Chan Hong (KOR,427) 63 26 63 5-6 retd.
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,150) bt Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626) 61 36 64 36 5-2 retd.

Indians are in commanding position after first day with two victories in this Davis cup tie.

Winning start for RamK on his debut match against Korean Seong Chan Hong ... After winning the first set RamK became tight in the second and committed numerous double faluts and unforced errors may be due to his first Davis cup match ... But he recovered well for winning the third set and in the fourth Seong Chan Hong got injured in 11th game while returning RamK's serve .... So he retired from the match for giving victory to RamK.

Saki also has floundered in his win on Davis cup debut ... Saki started dominating his opponent Lim and won the first set losing only a single game ... But Saki failed to keep same intensity in the second and lose the set ... In the third set Saki lost his serve in 1st game but he recovered and broke back ... With another break he took this set with a single break advantage ... Saki's struggled with his fitness in the fourth, he was cramping badly in this set ... Lim broke Saki in 5th and 9th games for winning the set ... In the final set Lim also struggled with cramps and Saki broke him in 1st game and then again broke Lim in 5th game for taking 4-1 lead ... At 5-2 when Saki was serving for the match Lim retired for giving victory to Saki.

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At $578K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[SF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Jonathan Marray (GBR)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 36 46

Marray-Shamasdin prove better pair on the court as they defeated Indians in straight sets.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Aschaffenburg, Germany (Clay)

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND,312) l Anna ZAJA (GER,348) 46 36

Anna proves better player on the clay than Ankita.

Tennis News

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

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs Seong Chan Hong (KOR,427)
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,150) vs Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626)

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Hong Chung (KOR)/ Yunseong Chung (KOR)

Day Three
[R4] Saketh Myneni (IND,150) vs Seong Chan Hong (KOR,427)
[R5] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs Yong-Kyu Lim (KOR,626)

RamK is playing first match of the tie on his debut ... On paper our team is looking strong but in reality they r playing really talented young Koreans, who have career high junior rankings of #2 and #3 ... Yunseong Chung made the SF of the juniors Australian open this year and lost in the last-16 of junior Wimbledon ... So these kids can play on the grass ... Overall interesting tie to follow on the grass.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Aschaffenburg, Germany (Clay)

[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND,312) bt Giulia GATTO-MONTICONE (ITA,431) 62 63

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND,312) vs Anna ZAJA (GER,348)

Very confident win in the second round against Italian girl for Ankita ... Next she is facing German girl Anna Zaja, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Chinese girl in the second round.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Athletics (36+3)

Men -
200M - Dharambir Singh
400M - Muhammad Anas
800M - Jinson Johnson
50KM walk - Sandeep Kumar, Manish Singh Rawat
20KM walk - Baljinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Irfan Kolothum Thodi
Marathon - Thonakal Gopi, Kheta Ram, Nitender Singh Rawat
Long Jump - Ankit Sharma
Triple Jump - Renjith Maheshwary
Discus - Vikas Gowda
Shot Put - Inderjeet Singh
4x400 relay - R Mohan Kumar, Ayyasamy Dharun, Mohammed Kunhi, Arokia Rajiv, Sumit Kumar, Jithin Paul (may be we send only 5 athletes and add already qualified Muhammad Anas in roster)

Women -
100M - Dutee Chand
200M - Srabani Nanda
400M - Nirmala Sheoran
800M - Tintu Luka
3000M steeplechase - Lalita Babar, Sudha Singh
Marathon - Kavita Raut, O. P. Jaisha
20KM walk - Khushbir Kaur, Sapna Punia
Shot Put - Manpreet Kaur
Discus - Seema Antil
4x400 relay - Jisna Mathews, M. R. Poovamma, Anilda Thomas, Debashree Majumdar, Ashwini Akkunji, Priyanka Panwar (may be we send only 4 athletes and add already qualified Nirmala Sheoran and Tintu Luka in roster)

Archery (4)

Mens individual - Atanu Das
Womens individual - Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi, Bombayla Devi

Badminton (7)

Mens singles - Srikanth Kidambi
Womens singles - Saina Nehwal, Pusarla Sindhu
Mens doubles - Manu Attri/ B. Sumeeth Reddy
Womens doubles - Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa

Boxing (3)

Mens 60 Kg - Shiva Thapa
Mens 64 kg - Manoj Kumar
Mens 75 kg - Vikas Krishnan

Hockey (32)

Mens team - PR Sreejesh (captain and GK), Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surendar Kumar, VR Raghunath, SK Uthappa, Danish Mujtaba, Devender Walmiki, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, Chinglensana Singh, SV Sunil (vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah

Womens team - Savita (GK), Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu (captain), Deepika (vice-captain), Namita Toppo, Navjot Kaur, Renuka Yadav, Monika, Rani Rampal, Preeti Dubey, Lilima Minz, Nikki Pradhan, Anuradha Devi, Poonam Rani, Vandana Kataria

Gymnastics (1)

Womens individual - Dipa Karmakar

Rowing (1)

Mens single Sculls - Dattu Baban Bhokanal

Shooting (12)

Men -
Rifle - Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh
Pistol - Jitu Rai, Prakash Nanjappa, Gurpreet Singh
Shotgun - Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Kynan Chenai, Mairaj Ahmad Khan

Women -
Rifle - Apurvi Chandela, Ayonika Paul
Pistol - Heena Siddhu

Table Tennis (4)

Men - Sharath Kamal Achanta, Soumyajit Ghosh
Women - Manika Batra, Mouma Das

Swimming (2)

200m butterfly - Sajan Prakash
200m freestyle - Shivani Kataria

Golf (3)
Men - Anirban Lahiri, Shiv Chawrasia
Women - Aditi Ashok

Judo (1)

Men's 90 kg - Avtar Singh

Tennis (4)

Men - Leander Peas, Rohan Bopanna
Women - Sania Mirza, Prarthana Thombre

Wrestling (8)

Mens freestyle - Sandeep Tomar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav
Women - Vinesh, Babita , Sakshi Malik
Greco Roman - Ravinder Khatri, Hardeep Singh

Weight lifting (2)

Men's 77 kg - Sathish Sivalingam
Women's 48 kg - Saikhom Mirabai Chanu

This is India's biggest contingent for Olympics ... We are sending 120 athletes (can be 123) to Rio ... Still not sure about medal contenders but hoping to crack in double figure in medal hauls for the first time

Tennis News

At $578K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Giles Muller (LUX) 64 64

This is really good win in straight sets by Divij-Purav against very experienced players, who r having plenty of experience of playing on grass.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Aschaffenburg, Germany (Clay)

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,312) bt (Q) Guadalupe PEREZ ROJAS (ARG,563) 57 64 61

[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND,312) vs Giulia GATTO-MONTICONE (ITA,431)

Ankita scores comeback win over Argentine qualifier after losing the first set in the first round ... Next she is facing challenge of Italian girl.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Men’s squad
PR Sreejesh (captain and GK), Harmanpreet Singh (defender), Rupinder Pal Singh (defender), Kothajit Singh (defender), Surendar Kumar (defender), VR Raghunath (defender), SK Uthappa (midfielder), Danish Mujtaba (midfielder), Devender Walmiki (midfielder), Manpreet Singh (midfielder), Sardar Singh (midfielder), Chinglensana Singh (midfielder), SV Sunil (forward and vice-captain), Akashdeep Singh (forward), Ramandeep Singh (forward), Nikkin Thimmaiah (forward)
On standby - Pardeep Mor, Vikas Dahiya

Women’s squad
Savita (GK), Deep Grace Ekka (defender), Sunita Lakra (defender), Sushila Chanu (captain and defender), Deepika (vice-captain and defender), Namita Toppo (defender), Navjot Kaur (midfielder), Renuka Yadav (midfielder), Monika (midfielder), Rani Rampal (forward), Preeti Dubey (forward), Lilima Minz (midfielder), Nikki Pradhan (forward), Anuradha Devi (forward), Poonam Rani (forward), Vandana Kataria (forward),
On standby - Rajani Etimarpu & H. Lalruat Feli

India’s 16-member squads for Men and Women for Rio Olympics was announced.

In women's India’s forward line will be held by Rani Rampal with Deepika named vice-captain ... Sushila Chanu will captain the team in the absence of Ritu Rani.

In the men’s side, PR Sreejesh will be in goal and will lead the side with SV Sunil the vice captain ... Sardar Singh has released from the role of captain

Tennis News

At $578K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (PR) Victor Estrella-Burgos (DOM)/ John Paul Fruttero (USA)) 26 63 10-6

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Giles Muller (LUX)

Good comeback win for Divij-Purav against Estrella-Burgos and Fruttero ... After losing the first set easily our pair made strong comeback for winning the second ... They kept their momentum in match tie-break for completing victory ... Next they r facing seasoned players pairing of Baghdatis and Muller.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Anirban Lahiri (WR #62)
SSP Chawrasia (WR #207)

Aditi Ashok WR #439

Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia had already sealed a spot for Rio Olympics earlier in the year but it has an official stamp on it now ... But newest and youngest entrant to the Indian contingent will be 18-year-old Aditi Ashok who qualifies with her ranking of 57 as of July 11 – the cutoff date for the Summer Games.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

In Men's Triple Jump - Renjith Maheswary 17:30m (Qualification mark - 16:85m)

In Men's 200m - Dharanbir Singh 20:45s (Qualification mark - 20:50s)

In Men's 800m - Jinson Johnson 1:45:98s (Qualification mark - 1:46:00s)

In the 3rd Indian Grand Prix our three more players qualify for Rio ... Also Indian men's 4x400 team qualifies for Rio clocking 3:00:91s joining Indian women's 4x400 team.
Frankly I am frightened by our players SO MUCH improved performance in Olympic year by our athletes ... For example 17.30m jump by Ranjit Maheshwari is a new national record and is the third best mark in the world this year behind 2 Americans ... But we know in Olympics he will be sick or fouled out like last time ... I really don't know what WADA is doing ... Sick and sucks!

Tennis News

At $578K Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, USA

[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (PR) Victor Estrella-Burgos (DOM)/ John Paul Fruttero (USA))
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ariel Behar (ISR) l Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Giles Muller (LUX) 26 36

Divij-Purav r 4th seed at Newport ... Jeevan played with Israeli partner Behar but they faced tough first round against seasoned players ... Baghdatis-Muller pair dominated in their win over Jeev and his partner.

Olympics News

At Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil

Sajan Prakash (Men's 200m Butterfly) and Shivani Singh (Women's 200m Freestyle) are selected to represent India at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on wild-cards.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l (5) Tímea Babos (HUN)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 26 46

Mixed Doubles
[R3] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Heather Watson (GBR) 63 36 26

Junior
[R1] Charlotte Robillard-Millette (CAN)/ Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) l (1) Olesya Pervushina (RUS)/ Anastasia Potapova (RUS) 67(4) 64 9-11

Indian challenge is over with Lee-Martina's loss in MXD ... They started well after winning the first set but in this match Martina was struggling with her game ... And from second set their opponents targeted Martina and she was making numerous errors from near net or missing simple overheads or hitting outside.

Surprisingly one-sided loss of Sania-Martina against Babos-Shvedova.

Karman-Charlotte started well against top-seed Russian pair after taking 4-2 lead but top-seed broke back and then won the first set in tie-break ... Karman-Charlotte fought back for winning the second set with a break ... In the final set both pairs tried hard as per match stat but Karman-Charlotte mostly had chance of closing the match as they broke Russian couple of times ... In 20th game Karman-Charlotte served back to back double faults from 30-all to lost the match ... Tough loss.

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At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy

[R2] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) l (2) Marco Cecchinato (ITA,130) 67(6) 46

RamK give good fighting performance against Cecchinato in this match ... In the first set both players were neck to neck till tie-break ... In tie-break RamK had 2 set points at 6-4 but he lost next 4 points for losing the set ... In the second set Cecchinato took crucial break in 5th game, 2-3 and that break was enough for winning this set.

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At $25K France F13 Futures, Bourg-En-Bresse (Clay)

[R2] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,488) bt Laurent LOKOLI (FRA,523) w/o

[QF] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,488) l (4) Jonathan EYSSERIC (FRA,347) 46 36

Doubles Final
[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Marat DEVIATIAROV (UKR) l Maxime HAMOU (FRA)/ Calvin HEMERY (FRA) 61 67(5) 8-10

Bala lost in the quarters against higher ranked Frenchman after receiving walkover from another French opponent ... In the doubles she and her doubles Ukrainian partner lose in match tie-break after winning the first set against French pair.

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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, USA

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Stefan Kozlov (USA)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 64 57 9-11

But our top-seed pair of Divij-Jeev lost in the quarters in closely fought match.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Tímea Babos (HUN)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Mixed Doubles
[R3] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Heather Watson (GBR)

Juniors
[R1] Charlotte Robillard-Millette (CAN) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) bt (WC) Georgina Axon (GBR)/ Lauryn John-Baptiste (GBR) 67(6) 64 64

[R2] Charlotte Robillard-Millette (CAN) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) vs (1) Olesya Pervushina (RUS)/ Anastasia Potapova (RUS)

Good fighting comeback win by Karman with her Canadian partner Charlotte against local pair ... Next they r facing Russian pair.

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At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy

[R1] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) bt Enrique López-Pérez (ESP,211) 63 64

[R2] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) vs (2) Marco Cecchinato (ITA,130)

Doubles
[R1] Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Steven Diez (CAN)/ David Pérez Sanz (ESP) 76(1) 61

[QF] Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Fabricio Ness (BRA)

RamK starts with straight sets win over his Spanish opponent ... After winning the first set he was down 2-4 in the second ... He fought back and won next four games in a row for completing win in straight sets ... Tough second round against in-form Marco.

In the doubles also winning start for RamK with his Italian partner.

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At $50K Winnetka Challenger, USA

[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt (WC) Strong Kirchheimer (USA)/ Konrad Zieba (USA) 64 64

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Stefan Kozlov (USA)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)

Expected winning start for Divij and Jeev.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Mixed Doubles<
[R2] (1) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (WC) Neal Skupski (GBR)/ Anna Smith (GBR) 64 36 57
[R2] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Artem Sitak (NZL)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 64 64

[R2] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) l Juan Sebastián Cabal (COL)/ Mariana Duque (COL) 67(5) 36

Junior
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,88) l Mariam Bolkvadze (GEO,UNR) 64 26 26

Turning to be disappointing day for Indians as our players but only saving grace was Lee's win with Martina in MXD ... Sania-Ivan fail to cross second round and lost in three sets against British pair after winning the first set ... Olympic bound Colombian pair prove better pair than Rohan-Rodionova in MXD third round ... Karman had tough match against top-500 WTA ranked Bolkvadze ... After winning the first set Karman failed to keep momentum in next two sets.

Lee-Martina scored comfortable straight sets win over Sitak and Siegemund.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Versmold, Germany

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,311) l Tereza SMITKOVA (CZE,224) 36 36

Ankita fails to challenge top-225 Czech player to lose in straight sets.

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At $25K France F13 Futures, Bourg-En-Bresse (Clay)

[R1] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,488) bt Florent DIEP (FRA,905) 64 46 62

[R2] (8) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,488) vs Laurent LOKOLI (FRA,523)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Marat DEVIATIAROV (UKR) bt Benjamin PIETRI (FRA)/ Johan Sebastien TATLOT (FRA) 64 64

[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Marat DEVIATIAROV (UKR) vs Maxime HAMOU (FRA)/ Calvin HEMERY (FRA)

Bala is playing in France and start with win in the singles and the doubles.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) l (10) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ John Peers (AUS) 62 36 46 76(6) 6-8
[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Christina McHale (USA)/ Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 61 60

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL) 63 75
[R2] (16) Leander Paes (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Artem Sitak (NZL)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 64 64

[R3] (13) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) vs Juan Sebastián Cabal (COL)/ Mariana Duque (COL)

Sania-Martina reach into quarters lsoing only single game against McHale-Ostapenko ... Very dominating win by Sania-Martina, now hoping they will continue with same form in remaining match.

Rohan-Florin lose in five sets against 10th seed Kontinen-Peers ... After winning the first set easily Rohan-Florin lost next two sets ... They fought back for winning the fourth in tie-break but failed to keep momentum in the fifth and lost in extra games.

Rohan-Rodionova r in the third round with straight sets victory and next they r facing Olympic bound Colombian pair for place in the quarters ... Lee-Martina r also in the third round with straight sets win over German pair.

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At $50K+H Bastad Challenger, Sweden

[R1] (Q) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) l Andrey Rublev (RUS,203) 76(3) 57 67(3)

Creditable fighting performance by Prajnesh against top-200 type Russian Rublev in very close match ... Prajnesh won the first set in tie-break but was break down in the second ... He fought back but again Rublev broke him on crucial stage for taking match into decider ... In the final set also Prjnesh lost his serve but again he fought back and took set into tie-break ... Here Prajnesh became tight and made few errors for losing the set but still encouraging performance.

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At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy

[Q2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) bt Sergio Galdos (PER,UNR) 63 67(2) 62

[Q3] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) bt Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,447) 64 61

[R1] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) vs Enrique López-Pérez (ESP,211)

Doubles
[R1] Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Steven Diez (CAN)/ David Pérez Sanz (ESP)

RamK qualifies for main-draw with comfortable win over top-500 Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi ... But before that surprisingly he was stretched to three sets by un-ranked player ... In first round he is facing Spanish player Enrique López-Pérez and in the doubles he is partnering Italian Riccardo Ghedin.

Badminton News

At $55K Canada Open Grand Prix 2016, Calgary

[PQF] (1) Ajay Jayaram (IND,24) bt David OBERNOSTERER (AUT,68) 21-10 21-12
[PQF] (4) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) bt Wenchao SHI (CAN,NR) 21-19 21-12
[PQF] R. M. V. Gurusaidutt (IND,108) l (8) Raul MUST (EST,38) 12-21 21-7 17-21
[PQF] (2) H. S. Prannoy (IND,28) bt B. R. Sankeerth (CAN,294) 21-18 18-21 21-12
[PQF] Harsheel DANI (IND,112) bt Pratul JOSHI (IND,191) 21-9 21-18

[PQF] Tanvi Lad (IND,79) bt Maya CHEN (USA,460) 21-14 21-15
[PQF] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,110) bt Elisabeth BALDAUF (AUT,74) 24-22, 21-18

[QF] (1) Ajay Jayaram (IND,24) bt Harsheel DANI (IND,112) 21-18 19-21 21-8
[QF] (4) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) bt (8) Raul MUST (EST,38) 21-14 21-16
[QF] (2) H. S. Prannoy (IND,28) l (7) Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,39) 22-20 21-23 18-21

[QF] Tanvi Lad (IND,79) l (3) Iris WANG (USA,36) 16-21 15-21
[QF] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,110) l (4) Linda ZETCHIRI (BUL,39) 16-21 12-21 10-21

[QF] (1) Manu ATTRI (IND)/ REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND) bt Ted (Chin Tai) CHEN (CAN)/ Chao Hsiang LIAO (CAN) W/o

[QF] (1) Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l Leanne CHOO (AUS)/ Rachel HONDERICH (CAN) W/o
[QF] JAKKAMPUDI Meghana (IND)/ S. Poorvisha Ram (IND) l Hsiang Ling SU (TPE)/ Yi-Ting HUNG (TPE) 21-18 16-21 20-22

[QF] Manu ATTRI (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) l (4) Nico RUPONEN (SWE)/ Amanda HOGSTROM (SWE) w/o

[SF] (1) Ajay Jayaram (IND,24) l (3) Hyun Il LEE (KOR,44) 9-21 8-21
[SF] (4) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) bt (7) Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,39) 22-20 19-21 21-12

[SF] (1) Manu ATTRI (IND)/ REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND) bt Andrei ADISTIA (INA) / Adam (Xingyu) DONG (CAN) 21-15 21-19

Men's Singles Final
(4) B. Sai Praneeth (IND,37) bt (3) Hyun Il LEE (KOR,44) 21-12 21-10

Men's Doubles Final
(1) Manu ATTRI (IND)/ REDDY B. Sumeeth (IND) bt Adrian LIU (CAN)/ Toby NG (CAN) 21-8 21-14

Good to see Sai lifts his first Grand Prix title in Canada ... More importantly he defeated seeded foreigners, who defeated Ajay, Guru and Prannoy ... In the doubles our top-seed pair of Manu and Sumeeth performed as per their top-seeding for lifting the title.

Golf News

At $9.5M World Golf Championship, Akron, Ohio, USA (PGA Tour)

T33 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 68 74 73 70 +5 $76,000.00

Anirban failed to keep his first round putting in next two rounds and finished outside top-25 in this World championship ... But still good to see he is fighting for keeping his PGA card for 2017.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[R2] Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) l (10) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ John Peers (AUS) 36 26

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Eri Hozumi (JPN)/ Miyu Kato (JPN) 63 61

[R3] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs (10) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ John Peers (AUS)
[R3] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Christina McHale (USA)/ Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

Junior
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,88) bt Lara Escauriza (PAR,37) 76(1) 75

Comfortable win for Sania-Martina against Japanese pair ... In this match our pair were proved too strong for Japanese pair ... Next they r facing McHale-Ostapenko.

One-sided loss of Lee-Marcin against 10th seed Kontinen and Peers.

Karman score really tight win over Paraguayan girl Lara Escauriza in the first round ...

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At $125K Braunschweig Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) l Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER,733) 36 26

Former top-100 player Cedrik-Marcel Stebe proves too strong for young Sumit.

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At $50K+H Bastad Challenger, Sweden

[Q3] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) bt (6) Fred Simonsson (SWE,678) 46 75 63

[R1] (Q) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) vs Andrey Rublev (RUS,203)

Excellent comeback win by Prajnesh against local player ... After losing the first set both players were neck to neck in the second ... Prajnesh broke Fred in 12th game for winning the second set and then in the third Prajnesh saved whooping 11 break points on his serve and broke Fred's serve on one chance he got for winning this set ... He is having tough match against top-200 type Russian.

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At $50K+H Todi Challenger, Italy

[Q1] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) bye
[Q2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,231) vs Sergio Galdos (PER,UNR)

RamK is top-seed in Todi challenger qualifying.

Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

India dw Spain 1-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - VR Raghunath (IND) 20' PC and Pau Quemada (ESP) 11' PS

Again unimpressive performance by Indians against host Spain ... Match ended on an equal term but our struggle in front of the goal continues ... Frankly speaking this is really not an ideal performance by our team ... In all matches we awarded many penalty corners and in this match we awarded five penalty corners but managed to score off one; so the team’s problems with conversion continue ... I am really hoping this would not be an issue ahead of Rio Olympics.

Tennis News

At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) 75 62

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 62 75

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

Expected straight sets win for Rohan and Florin against challenger level pair.

Sania-Martina at last starts their title defense with straight sets victory over German pair ... Next they r facing Japanese pair.

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At $125K Braunschweig Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) bt Petr Michnev (CZE,540) 67(3) 76(5) 63

[Q3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) vs Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER,733)

Very hard fought win for Sumit against his Czech opponent Michnev ... After losing the first set in tie-break Sumit needed to dig deep for winning the second set in tie-break ... And then with multiple breaks he won the final set ... Next he is facing former top-100 German player Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who is continue with his comeback after long injury layoff.

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At $50K+H Bastad Challenger, Sweden

[Q2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) bt Jonathan Mridha (SWE,971) 75 64

[Q3] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) vs (6) Fred Simonsson (SWE,678)

Straight sets win for Prajnesh against local player ... In the final qualifying he is facing another Swedish player.

Hockey News

At Valancia Six Nation Cup 2016, Spain

India dw Argentina 3-3(1-3)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 16' PS, Ramandeep Singh (IND), Devinder Walmiki (IND) 57' and Matias Paredes (ARG) 15', Gonzalo Peillat (ARG) PC, Lucas Vila (ARG)

Indians manage to draw with Argentina in entertaining match ... We started slowly so Argentinian players took control ... At half-time Argentina were leading 1-3 and they managed to keep that lead till end of third quarter ... In the final quarter our players were pressing hard .. Ramandeep scored tap-in and then Devinder scored excellent equalizer ... Again today our players were playing out of their regular positions but umpiring in this match was below average ... They failed to awards couple of penalty corners and gave unnecessary cards to our players.

Tennis News

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

Indian Team - Saketh Myneni, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes
Non-playing captain - Anand Amritraj
Coach - Zeeshan Ali

Sensible team selection by AITA for our Davis cup tie against Korea ... Yuki is still recovering from tennis elbow so no fully match fit but I m still worrying about Saki's shoulder injury ... We require him fit for this tie as here we r playing with two doubles specialists.

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At Wimbledon Open 2016, London, Great Britain

Doubles
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 61 63
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) bt Marin Draganja (CRO)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO) 75 76(6)

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Florin Meargea (ROM) vs Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)

Junior
[Q1] Zeel Desai (IND,87) l (12) Siqi CAO (CHN,78) 36 64 36

[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,88) vs Lara Escauriza (PAR,37)

Lee-Marcin score comfortable win over Lu-Tipsarevic ... Rohan-Florin start with tight two sets win over Croatian pair.

Zeel loses in first qualifying round so only Karman is playing in junior Wimbledon.

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At $125K Braunschweig Challenger, Germany (Clay)

[Q1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) bye
[Q2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,409) vs Petr Michnev (CZE,540)

Sumit is playing in another tough German big challenger.

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At $50K+H Bastad Challenger, Sweden

[Q1] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) bye
[Q2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,406) vs Jonathan Mridha (SWE,971)

Prajnesh decides to play in Sweden challenger and having good opportunity of qualifying in mai-draw.

Olympics News

At the 56th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships, Hyderabad, India

Nirmala Sheoran has become the first Indian to qualify for Women’s 400 m at Rio Olympics ... Nirmala Sheoran has clocked a brilliant 51:48 seconds in Women’s 400 metres, she has thus beaten the qualification mark of 52:20 seconds for Rio by a fair margin.