Squash News

At $50K Women's Wadi Degla Open 2016, Cairo, Egypt

[R1] (7) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,19) l (Q) Mariam Metwally (EGY,31) 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 8-11 (54m)

Poor loss for Dipika against local Egyptian qualifier ... Dipika won first 2 games but afterwards she failed to keep momentum and lost last three games.

Tennis News

At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[Q3] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,552) bt Petros Chrysochos (CYP,939) 57 62 60

In new ranking updates Yuki fall out of top-500 but here he scored impressive win over talented US collegiate ... In the first set Yuki was 5-3 up before losing 4 games in a row for losing the set ... After that Yuki recovered and gave dominating performance he won next two sets losing only couple of games to qualifying main-draw.

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At $10K Vietnam F9 Futures, Thu Dau Mot City

[R1] (3) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,527) vs Maciej SMOLA (POl,1005)
[R1] Rishab AGARWAL (IND,846) vs Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA,1156)
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,1084) vs (Q) Congsup CONGCAR (THA,1404)
[R1] Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND,1011) vs Siyu LIU (CHN,UNR)

This week Sasi and Vinayak has joined Rishab and Niki ... Sasi played qualifying due to late entrant and comfortably qualified for main-draw.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

Courtesy Arena Hockey Malaysia

Championship Match
India bt Pakistan 3-2 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 18' PC, Yousuf Affan (IND) 23', Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 51' and Aleem Bilal (PAK) 26' PC, Ali Shan (PAK) 38'

India wins second time Asian Champions trophy beating Pakistan ... Before this we won the title in 2011 and with win also cemented our place as top Asian team ... Rupinder Pal Singh became top scorer of the tournament with 11 goals ... He also receive Best Player of the Tournament award ... Sardar Singh received Best Player of the Final award.

Both teams played really entertaining attacking hockey ... Earlier we were better team on the field but out forward line failed to show on scoreboard those many circle penetration ... Rupinder scored on 2nd penalty corner in 18th minute and within 5 minutes Affan scored on tap in on excellent move by Sardar and Ramandeep ... After that Pakistan made superb comeback ... They putted Indian defenders under pressure and converted penalty corner through Bilal ... After half-time they kept attacking and scored field goal through Ali Shan for equalized ... In the fourth quarter we started to pick our game and one of those excellent move Akashdeep passes towards Nikkin, who scored powerful hit from top of the goal to give winning lead to India.

Golf News

At $2M Sime Darby LPGA tournament 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

52 Aditi Ashok 71 69 73 74 +3

Aditi struggled in the last round of Sime Darby LPGA tournament and managed 3 over ... Which pushed her outside top-50 in the final standing.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/Oceania Group I,

AITA has taken decision that the India-New Zealand Asia/Oceania Group I tie will be played in Pune from February 3-5 ... So after 42 years Davis cup tie is coming back to Pune ... There are also speculation that there will be some changes in support staff as Anad Amritraj and Zeeshan Ali's contract is getting over in December.

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At $50K Canberra 2 Challenger, Australia

[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,551) vs Luke Saville (AUS,273)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) vs Maverick Banes (AUS,438)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,352) vs Dayne Kelly (AUS,328)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,442) vs Marc Polmans (AUS,262)

Doubles
[R1] Omar Jasika (AUS)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) vs (1) Matt Reid (AUS)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)
[R1] (4) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Jarmere Jenkins (USA)/ Anderson Reed (USA)

Winnable matches for Sumit and Prajnesh ... Hoping for better performance from them so that can help them in securing their place Australian open qualifying.

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At $50K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Maximilian Marterer (GER)/ Andreas Mies (GER)

Purav and Divij r playing in German challenger and facing local wild-card pair.

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At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, USA

[Q1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,330) bye
[Q2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,330) bt Jonathan Ho (USA,1547) 64 64

[Q3] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,330) vs Petros Chrysochos (CYP,939)

Yuki received bye in the first round ... In the second qualifying round he faced lower ranked American, Yuki defeated him in straight sets ... In the final qualifying he is facing Cyprus's Chrysochos, who is current the ITA all American championships winner.

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At $10K Vietnam F8 Futures, Thu Dau Mot City

[R1] (8) Rishab AGARWAL (IND,863) bt Artem VU (VIE,UNR) 61 64
[R1] Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND,1000) bt Hoa TRAN VAN (VIE,UNR) 61 60

[R2] (8) Rishab AGARWAL (IND,863) bt Maciej SMOLA (POL,1005) 63 76(3)
[R2] Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND,1000) bt (7) Jurabek KARIMOV (UZB,755) 61 13 retd.

[QF] (8) Rishab AGARWAL (IND,863) bt David Agung SUSANTO (INA,789) 61 63
[QF] Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND,1000) l (3) Young Seok KIM (KOR,610) 46 36

[SF] (8) Rishab AGARWAL (IND,863) bt Ken ONISHI (JPN,1158) 61 63

Singles Final
(8) Rishab AGARWAL (IND,863) l(5) Enzo COUACAUD (FRA,707) 26 16

Rishab gave excellent performance reaching the final of Vietnam futures ... In the final he facing former top-200 Frenchman Couacaud, who proved too strong for him ... Still promising performance from Rishab ... Also Niki reached in the quarters here.

Squash News

At $325K Men's World Championship 2016, Cairo, Egypt

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) l (2) Gregory Gaultier (FRA,2) 7-11 2-11 3-11 (34m)

Saurav's struggle against Frenchman Gaultier continues ... Again he folded easily in last two games after giving decent fight in the first.

Tennis News

At $7M BNP Paribas WTA Finals, Singapore

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) l (4) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 63 26 6-10

Tough loss but this was expected due to their change of playing partners so less chemistry on the court ... After losing the first set Russian pair dominated the match with keeping more pressure on Martina's serve.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

Singles Final
Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) l Sadio Doumbia (FRA,359) 64 46 36

Courtesy of Divij

Doubles Final
(1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Hugo Nys (FRA) 36 63 11-9

Prajnesh failed to take pressure of his first title and lost in the final after winning the first set against Frenchman Doumbia ... In the first set both players exchanges early breaks but Prajnesh took crucial break in 9th game, 5-4 and then hold his serve for winning the first ... From the second set Prajnesh playes some casula tennis made too many unforced errors and Doumbia took full advantage of it ... He won the second set breaking Prajnesh in 10th game ... In the final he broke Prajnesh in 2nd game for 3-0 lead and kept that advantage for winning his first challenger title ... Still remarkable week for Prajnesh as he will first time breaks into top-300.

Purav-Divij lift the doubles title after their comeback win over Swiss-French pair ... After losing the first set Divij-Purav made excellent comeback for winning the second ... In match tie-break they took early 5-2 lead but Nya-Margaroli fought back and they had 2 match points at 7-9 ... After this Divij-Purav played excellent next 4 points as they saved these both match points before converting on their first match point ... This title win guarantee Purav and Divij's career high ranking and mostly Australian open direct entry.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

India bt Korea 2-2 (1-1) 5-4 Shoot-out
Goal Scorers - Talwinder Singh (IND) 14', Ramandeep Singh (IND) 55' and Seo Inwoo (KOR) 21', Yang Jihun (KOR) 53' (PS)

India in the Kuantan Asian Champions Trophy Final, beating Korea in the shoot out 5-4 after full time score were remained 2-2 ... Captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made a brilliant save in the fifth attempt against Daeyeol Lee in the shootout for a win ... This is well fought match but again we were defending poorly ... Rupinder failed to score on all four penalty corners ... Koreans were better team on the field but difference was always dependable Sreejesh ... Multiple saves by Sreejesh so that helped us for a win ... In the final we r facing Pakistan, who defeated Malaysia in shootout 3-2.

Snooker News

At £625K International Championship 2016, China

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,120) bt Ryan Day (WAL,23) 6-2 (104(104)-28, 29-91(64), 86(86)-0, 64-34, 95-0, 1-91(77), 67-54, 64(64)-62(62))

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,120) l (10) Joe Perry (ENG,11) 3-6 (0-67(50), 66-21, 64-34, 0-101(101), 109(105)-19, 26-68(56), 0-136(136), 2-81(50), 38-76)

Aditya lost against WR #11 Joe Perry, he tried but Joe scored couple 100+ breaks for winning this match in nine frames ... Before that Aditya scored impressive win over top-25 Ryan Day in the first round.

Golf News

At $2M Sime Darby LPGA tournament 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

T41 Aditi Ashok 71 69 73 PAR

This week Aditi is playing in LPGA event on invitation ... After two rounds she was in top-25 but 2 over in the third round pushed her outside top-40.

Tennis News

At $7M BNP Paribas WTA Finals, Singapore

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) bt Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) 76(9) 75

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs (4) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Sana-Martina started with tight win over Chan sisters in straight sets ... In the first set both pairs exchanged breaks and Chan broke Martina in 11th game for leading 5-6 ... Martina-Sania kept cool and broke Chans in 12th game for taking the set in tie-break ... Sania-Martina had multiple set points before winning this set after 20 points long tie-break ... In the second set also Martina was struggling to hold but our pair returning was helping them to opponents ... In 11th game our pair broke Chan and this time Martina hold for completing win.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) bt (2) Duckhee Lee (KOR,156) 62 75

[F] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) vs Sadio Doumbia (FRA,359)

Doubles
[SF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 64 62
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Hugo Nys (FRA) 36 63 11-13

[F] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Hugo Nys (FRA))

Prajnesh is in his first challenger level final beating talented Korean Duckhee Lee in straight sets ... In the final he is facing Frenchman Sadio Doumbia, who is also in his first challenger final ... Prajnesh won the first set with double break and despite Duckhee's resistance Prajnesh won the second set with break in 11th game.

In the doubles Purav-Divij reached in the final with comfortable win over Serbian pair ... In other semis Jeevan-VSP lost closely fought match in match tie-break against Margaroli-Nya.

Badminton News

At $300K Yonex French Open 2016, Paris (Superseries Premier)

[R2] H.S.Prannoy (IND,32) l (5) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,8) 19-21 16-21
[R2] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) l He Biangjiao (CHN,11) 20-22 17-21

This time Sindhu failed to overcome of challenge of Biangjiao ... She lost her match in straight games ... Prannoy also failed to challenge Chen in his straight games loss ... With this our challenge is over in French open ... Disappointing.

Squash News

At $325K Men's World Championship 2016, Cairo, Egypt

[Q1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,68) bt Omar El Torkey (EGY,478) 11-3, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7 (45m)
[Q1] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,82) bt Sean Conroy (IRL,165) 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 (36m)
[Q1] Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bt Ahmad Al-Mudhaf (KUW,331) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (16m)

[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,68) bt Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP,86) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (43m)
[Q2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,82) l Karim El Hammamy (EGY,70) 11-6, 6-11, 11-5, 11-13, 10-12 (102m)
[Q2] Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) l Shehab Essam (EGY,88) 8-11, 9-11, 8-11 (35m)

[R1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,68) l (8) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL,11) 4-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (53m)
[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) bt Adrian Waller (ENG,36) 11-7, 11-13, 11-9, 12-10 (66m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) vs (2) Gregory Gaultier (FRA,2)

In Men's World championship, Mahesh qualified for main-draw with couple of good win ... In the first qualifying round Mahesh received tough fight from u-16 WR #1 Omar El Torkey ... Other hand Sandhu lost titanic battle with top-70 Egyptian Hammamy in 102 mins match ... Sandhu was up 2-1 games and he lost next two games in extra points ... He also missed few match balls, tough loss.

In main-draw Mahesh had a tough match against former top-10 Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez ... Mahesh started well winning first game but Rodriguez fought back winning close second game ... After that Rodriguez raised his game and Mahesh failed to cope with that ... Still fighting performance by Mahesh.

Saurav has been stretched by Britisher Adrian Waller in his four games win ... After winning the first game Saurav faced lot of resistant from Adrian ... Saurav kept his focus for winning tight 3rd and 4th games after losing the second ... Next he is facing WR #2 and defending champion Frenchman Gregory Gaultier.

Tennis News

At $7M BNP Paribas WTA Finals, Singapore

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Yung-Jan Chan (TP)E

This time directly knock-out matches in the doubles ... Sania-Martina r facing Chans in in the quarters.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) bt (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,203) 67(5) 62 60

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) vs (2) Duckhee Lee (KOR,156)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Marat Deviatiarov (UKR)/ Dmitry Popko (KAZ) 76(0) 64
[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Hugo Nys (FRA) 62 36 4-10

[SF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB)
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Hugo Nys (FRA)

Prajnesh is in the semis with upset win over Saki ... Saki won the first set in tie-break but then he struggled with his serve due to troubling shoulder ... Prajnesh took full advantage of it winning next two sets easily ... Next he is facing Korean Duckhee Lee.

In the doubles shocking loss of Lee with Ramk ... After winning the first set they failed to overcome of challenge of Swiss-French pair ... Other hand Purav-Divij has completed win in the straight sets for entering into the semis.

Badminton News

At $300K Yonex French Open 2016, Paris (Superseries Premier)

[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,23) l Anthony Ginting (INA,40) 22-20 10-21 18-21
[R1] H.S.Prannoy (IND,32) bt Boonsak Ponsana (THA,29) 21-16 21-18
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,34) l Lee Hyun II (KOR,22) 21-15 8-21 19-21

[R1] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) bt Yup Pui Yin (HKG,34) 21-9 27-25

[R2] H.S.Prannoy (IND,32) vs (5) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,8)
[R2] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) vs He Biangjiao (CHN,11)

Mixed results for our players as two won and two lost ... Sindhu and Prannoy having tough second round matches.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

India bt Malaysia 2-1 (11)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 12' PC and 58' PC and Razie Rahim (MAS) 18' PC

We were lucky for winning this match as Malaysian were looking better than us ... Again we failed in defending, mid-field and forwardline .. Our passing, trapping, crossing, defending and intercepting were poor ... Only bright spot for us was reserve goalkeeper Akash Chikte, who made some acrobatic saves ... Rupinder was poor in defending and passing but converted 2 penalty corners from four for a win..

Tennis News

At €2.46M Erste Bank Open 2016, Vienna, Austria

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 46 46

Somehow this was expected loss of Rohan and Nestor ... Not sure age is catching up or lack of suitable partner is reason for Rohan's loss of form.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[R2] (WC) Dhruv Sunish (IND,1640) l (1) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,108) 36 26
[R2] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,229) l Sadio Doumbia (FRA,359) 26 57
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,352) l (4) Adrian Menendez Maceiras (ESP,248) 76(2) 67(6) 46
[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) bt N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,551) 64 62
[R2] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,203) bt Sidharth Rawat (IND,644) 60 26 61
[R2] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,415) l (7) Dimitry Popko (KAZ,265) 46 46

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,203) vs (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Anvit Bendre (IND)/ Sidharth Rawat (IND) 63 64

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 36 46
[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND) 62 64

Disappointing performance by Indian contingent in the singles ... Only Saki and Prajnesh managed to win but that also against Indian opponents ... RamK's straights sets loss against lower ranked Frenchman was hurting as he needs to take advantage of such weak draw and wining more matches at home challenger ... Sumit missed golden opportunity of beating his top-250 ranked Spanish opponent ... He was serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set and was 30-all ... He failed to hold his serve and in tie-break he was 0-3 down ... Sumit won next 6 points for leading 6-3 ... He failed to convert any match point and lost 5 points in a row for losing the set .. Andrian took early break in the third and kept that advantage for wining it.

Expected winning start for Lee with Ramk against Anvit and Sidharth ... In quarters I was hoping better performance by Vishnu and Bala but Jeevan and VSP r in the semis with comfortable win.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

India bt China 9-0 (4-0)
Goal Scorers - Akashdeep Singh (IND) 9' and 39', Yousuf Affan (IND) 18' and 41', Jasjit Singh Kumar (IND) 22' and 51', Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 25' PC, Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 34', Lalit Upadhyay (IND) 35'

India outclassed China 9-0 in the round-robin league competition of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament ... In this match we performed better than our previous match ... Still some stupid defending inside D and our forwardline against failed to create more penalty corners, only 2 ... Need same intensity by our players in remaining matches for lift the trophy.

Tennis News

At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[R1] Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND,752) l (1) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,102) 46 26
[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,226) bt Alexander Zhurbin (RUS,618) 62 36 63
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,348) bt Marc Giner (ESP,441) 75 63
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,443) l (6) Nikola Milojevic (SRB,232) 57 67(2)
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,555) bt (WC) Jayesh Pungliya (IND,1039) 62 64
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,186) bt Danilo Petrovic (SRB,346) 16 63 76(3)

[R2] (WC) Dhruv Sunish (IND,1640) vs (1) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,108)
[R2] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,229) vs Sadio Doumbia (FRA,359)
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,352) vs (4) Adrian Menendez Maceiras (ESP,248)
[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,346) vs N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,551)
[R2] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,203) vs Sidharth Rawat (IND,644)
[R2] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,415) vs (7) Dimitry Popko (KAZ,265)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Sadio Doumbia (FRA)/ Fabien Reboul (FRA) 64 76(4)
[R1] (WC) Anirudh Chandrasekar (IND)/ Vignesh Peranamallur (IND) l Marat Deviarov (UKR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 57 46

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB)
[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND)

Overall expected results but good to see Sumit started with win against his Spanish opponent ... RamK also started with a win but his Russian opponent stretched him to three sets ... Saki scored excellent comeback win over big serving 6'8" Serb ... Early he was struggling against his Serbian opponent as he lost the first set in 18 mins ... But Saki fought back for winning the second set ... In the decider both players failed to break other, in tie-break Saki took early mini-break for leading 3-1 and that he increased to 6-2 ... Saki converted 2nd match point for exciting win.

In the doubles Purav-Divij scored win in straight sets but French pair stretched them in this match.

Golf News

At LPGA Qualifying Tournament 2016 - Stage II, USA

T24 Aditi Ashok 69 76 75 72 +4

Aditi managed the final round of PAR which helped her to climb inside top-25 ... So with this performance she qualify for LPGA final qualifying tournament, that will be played November 28 to December 4 at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Tennis News

At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[R1] (WC) Dhruv Sunish (IND,1643) bt Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1246) 64 26 63
[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,556) l Sadio Doumbia (FRA,378) 64 46 46
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,329) bt Haadin Bava (IND,896) 75 26 64
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,630) bt (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,853) 75 67(3) 62
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,536) l (7) Dimitry Popko (KAZ,240) 63 67(6) 67(5)
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,417) bt Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,1073) 76(2) 64
[R1] Anvit Bendre (IND,1632) l (Q) Luca Margaroli (SUI,1270) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) 67(2) 63 10-4
[R1] Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND) bt (WC) Tejas Chaukulkar (IND)/ Jayesh Pungliya (IND) 62 64
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt (WC) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) 60 64

Overall expected win by our players against fellow players ... Sasi failed to keep momentum after winning the first set against Frenchman ... Sanam missed golden opportunity of upsetting his 7th seed Kazakh top-250 opponent ... After winning the first set he had 4 match points in the second set tie-break at 2-6 ... He lost next 6 points for losing the set and then lost decider also in tie-break.

In the doubles tricky pair of Bala and Vishnu scored comeback upset win over 3rd seed Sanam and Saki in match tie-break ... Otherwise easy wins for our Indian pairs.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

India bt Pakistan 3-2 (1-0)
Goal Scorers - Pradeep Mor (IND) 22' Rupinderpal Singh (IND) 43' PC, Ramandeep Singh (IND) 44' and Mhmd. Rizwan Sr. (PAK) 31', Mumd. Irfan Jr. (PAK) 39'

Overall disappointing performance by us on the field ... Again we were struggling on the final touch, in defense and marking ... Pradeep gave us a lead in 2nd quarter but immediately after half-time Pakistan equalized when our players were failed to mark Rizwan ... Pakistan kept attacking and they converted on another poor defending by Indians when Irfan scored from close range ... Indians responded scoring back to back goals in a minute after 5 minutes ... Rupinder scored through penalty corner hitting powerful shot top left corner of the goal ... After that Ramdeep deflected on excellent pass from Talwinder Singh to gave lead ... In 4th quarter both teams tried but failed to score.

Golf News

At $7M CIMB Classic 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (PGA Tour co-sanctioned)

T3 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 66 66 65 72 -19 $406,000.00
T56 Gaganjeet Bhullar 73 70 74 68 -3 $15,750.00
71 SSP Chawrasia 74 74 73 69 +2 $13,860.00

Anirban Lahiri took pressure of his first PGA tour title on the final day ... He made quadruple bogey on Par-5 third hole to lose the lead ... He scored another bogey on 6th hole, so with one eagle and three birdies he finished PAR for the day ... Other hand defending champion Justin Thomas scored 8 under for winning the title with -23.

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At LPGA Qualifying Tournament 2016 - Stage II, USA

T39 Aditi Ashok 69 76 75 +4

Aditi managed three over in the third round to slide down to T39 in the standing ... Hoping for better round in the final round from her.

Tennis News

At €2.46M Erste Bank Open 2016, Vienna, Austria

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Rohan-Nestor having no seeding and having tough match considering their recent performance as pair.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Sadio Doumbia (FRA)/ Fabien Reboul (FRA)
[R1] (WC) Anirudh Chandrasekar (IND)/ Vignesh Peranamallur (IND) vs Marat Deviarov (UKR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB)
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND)
[R1] Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND) vs (WC) Tejas Chaukulkar (IND)/ Jayesh Pungliya (IND)
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs (WC) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND)
[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Anvit Bendre (IND)/ Sidharth Rawat (IND)

Doubles draw is out and our all top doubles players other than Rohan and Yuki r playing here ... Pleasantly surprise to see Lee is participating here and partnering RamK.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Carol Weymuller Open 2016, New York, USA

[QF] (9) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) l (7) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG,11) 6-11, 6-11, 3-11

Sarah-Jane proved better player than Joshana and defeated her convincingly.

Tennis News

At $566K Stockholm Open 2016, Sweden

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) l (WC) Elias Ymer (SWE)/ Mikael Ymer (SWE) 36 46

Disappointing straight sets loss for Rohan-Treat against Ymer brothers ... Next week in Austria Rohan is playing with Nestor.

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At $50K Pune Challenger, India

[R1] Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND,752) vs (1) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,102)
[R1] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1246) vs (WC) Dhruv Sunish (IND,1643)
[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,556) vs Sadio Doumbia (FRA,378)
[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,226) vs Alexander Zhurbin (RUS,618)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,348) vs Marc Giner (ESP,441)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,443) vs (6) Nikola Milojevic (SRB,232)
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,329) vs Haadin Bava (IND,896)
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,555) vs (WC) Jayesh Pungliya (IND,1039)
[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,630) vs (Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,853)
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND,186) vs Danilo Petrovic (SRB,346)
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,536) vs (7) Dimitry Popko (KAZ,240)
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,417) vs Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,1073)
[R1] Anvit Bendre (IND,1632) vs (Q) Luca Margaroli (SUI,1270)

This is the first time we r seeing 18 Indian players in any challenger draw ... Hoping for terrific Pune challenger for Indian players.

Golf News

At $7M CIMB Classic 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (PGA Tour co-sanctioned)

1 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 66 66 65 -19
T70 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 73 70 74 +1
T75 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 74 74 73 +5

Anirban Lahiri romped to a four-shot lead at the CIMB Classic on Saturday, firing a brilliant seven-under-par 65 in the third round to set himself up for a maiden PGA Tour title ... Good opportunity for Anirban for lifting his first PGA tour title ... Here till now he scored 25 birdies, hopefully he stays focused on the final day.

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At LPGA Qualifying Tournament 2016 - Stage II, USA

T29 Aditi Ashok 69 76 +1

After first round Aditi was in top-5 but in the second round she struggled on the course to score 4 over ... She needs to finish in top-80 for qualifying for final qualifying round.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Carol Weymuller Open 2016, New York, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,19) l (2) Camille Serme (FRA,7) 8-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-13
[R1] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) bt (Q) Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,35) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8

[QF] (4) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) vs (7) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG,11)

Dipka gives fighting performance against top-10 player as she lost in four games against Frenchwoman Camille Serme ... Joshana scored straight games over Egyptian qualifier ... Next she is facing in-form Britisher Sarah-Jane Perry.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Kuantan, Malaysia

India dw Korea 1-1 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Lalit Upadhyay (IND) 33' and Junwoo Jeong (KOR) 10'

Didn't played well at all today ... In this match too many silly errors all over the pitch by our players ... Despite so many curcle penetration we failed to convert, so considering this we were lucky for managing draw.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Lagos, Nigeria

Doubles Final
(1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) 67(3) 63 11-9

Prarthana lifts doubles title with her Greece partner in comeback win ... They defeated Indian pair after losing the first set, in match tie-break also they stretched to fullest by Kyra and Dhruthi.

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At $10K Egypt F29 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] Aryan GOVEAS (IND,1195) l (4) Jose Fco. VIDAL AZORIN (ESP,731) 16 46

Spanish opponent proved too strong for Aryan.

Badminton News

At $700K Yonex Denmark Open 2016, Odense ( Superseries Premier)

[R2] H.S. Prannoy (IND,32) l (1) Lee Chong Wei (MAS,1) 10-21 20-22
[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,20) l Shi Yuqui (CHN,25) 21-23 15-21
[R2] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) l Sayaka Sato (JPN,12) 13-21 23-21

Again our player failed to solve Japanese puzzle ... In the first game Sindhu was up 12-8 but after that she lost 13 points of next 14 points for losing the game ... In the second game also she was struggling with Sato's game but she kept fighting and won this game after saving 2 match points ... But she failed to keep similar momentum in the decider and lost last three points for losing the match from 18-all.

After losing the first game Ajay tied hard against Yuqui but lost the second game in extra points.

Prannoy gave fighting performance in the second against Lee Chong Wei after losing the first game cheaply.

Hockey News

At 4th Asian Champions Trophy 2016, Malaysia

India bt Japan 10-2 (7-1)
Goal Scorers - Ramandeep Singh (IND) 2' and 15', Rupinderpal Singh (IND) 9' PC, 12' PC, 17' PC, 22' PC, 46' PC and 47' PC, Talwinder Singh (IND) 19', Affan Yousuf (IND) 50' and Kenta Tanaka (JPN) 23', Hiromasa Ochai (JPN) 38'

Expected dominating win by Indians against inexperienced Japanese side ... Rupinderpal captained side and responded with six goals ... But after scoring 7 goals before half-time our team failed to capitalized in the second ... Moreover our defense was also little lethargic as we conceded couple of goals.

Tennis News

At $566K Stockholm Open 2016, Sweden

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) 76(7) 64

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs (WC) Elias Ymer (SWE)/ Mikael Ymer (SWE)

Good fighting win by Rohan and Treat against tricky Swedish pair in straight sets ... After winning the first set in tight tie-break Rohan-Treat were 0-1 break down but they fought back and broke back ... Then they took crucial break in 10th game for winning the match ... Next they r facing another Swedish pair, this time wild-card pair of Ymer bros.

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At $25K Nigeria F6 Futures, Lagos

[QF] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) l Moez ECHARGUI (TUN,1198) 46 64 26

Bad loss of Sasi in the quarters against 1200 ranked Tunisian in three sets.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Lagos, Nigeria

[SF] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (4) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Julia TERZIYSKA (BUL) 36 64 10-8
[SF] Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) bt Chayenne EWIJK (NED)/ Rosalie VAN DER HOEK (NED) 63 76(6)

Our all three players in the doubles final with contrasting win ... Good to see our players r atleast taking advantage of weaker draw in the doubles.

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At $10K Egypt F29 Futures, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Aryan GOVEAS (IND,1195) bt Ignacio CAROU (ARG,NR) 61 61
[R2] Aryan GOVEAS (IND,1195) bt Iouri Sant SYROMOLOTOV NETREBIN (ESP,NR) 75 61

[QF] Aryan GOVEAS (IND,1195) vs (4) Jose Fco. VIDAL AZORIN (ESP,731)

Good to see Aryan taking advantage of weaker draw ... In the quarters he is having tough match against top-750 Spanish player.

Badminton News

At $700K Yonex Denmark Open 2016, Odense ( Superseries Premier)

[Q1] Purupalli Kashyap (IND,92) l Raul Must (EST,47) 13-21 21-8 20-22

[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,20) bt Boonsak Ponsana (THA,30) 21-15 21-16
[R1] B. Sai Praneeth (IND,36) l Tanongsak Saensonboonsuk (THA,18) 17-21 21-19 15-21
[R1] H.S. Prannoy (IND,32) bt Wei Feng Chong (MAS,50) 21-13 19-21 22-20
[R1] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) bt He Biangjio (CHN,11) 21-14 21-19

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Kim Astrup (DEN)/ Anders Skaruup (DEN) 10-21 19-21
[R1] Pranav Chopra (IND)/ Sikky Reddy (IND) l (5) Joachin Fischer Nelson (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 15-21 14-21

[R2] H.S. Prannoy (IND,32) vs (1) Lee Chong Wei (MAS,1)
[R2] (6) P.V. Sindhu (IND,8) vs Sayaka Sato (JPN,12)

Overall all results went as per respective rankings ... So our three players r in the second round but most impressive win by Sindhu ... Against Biangjio she had 1-3 win-loss record before this match but here Sindhu scored straight games win over her ... In the second round Biangjio tried comeback from 15-19 down after winning next 4 points but Sindhu kept cool and won next two points for a win ... Next she is facing experienced Japanese opponent Sayaka Sato.

Tennis News

At $717K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[R1] (PR) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 57 46

Disappointing loss of Lee-Andre in straight sets against Croatian pair.

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At $566K Stockholm Open 2016, Sweden

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Gilles Muller (LUX) 76(6) 63

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE)

Winning start for Rohan and Treat against Muller-Baghdatis ... Next they r facing local favorite pair.

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At $566K European Open, Antwerp, Belgium

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) l Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 36 36

Jeevan fails to cross first hurdle with Vasilevski against more experienced pair.

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At $25K Nigeria F6 Futures, Lagos

[R2] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) bt Mohammed MOHAMMED (NGR,1752) 62 60

[QF] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) vs Moez ECHARGUI (TUN,1198)

Expected easy win for Sasi ... Next he is facing 1200 ranked Tunisian Echargui.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Lagos, Nigeria

[R1] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Nina KOLAR (SLO)/ Ushna SUHAIL (PAK) 63 75
[R1] Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) bt (3) Fatma AL NABHANI (OMA)/ Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR) 63 36 10-7

[QF] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Fiona CODINO (FRA)/ Draginja VUKOVIC (SRB) 60 62
[QF] Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) bt Brenda NJUKI (SWE)/ Fanny OSTLUND (SWE) 6-2 6(8)

[SF] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs (4) Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Julia TERZIYSKA (BUL)
[SF] Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) vs Chayenne EWIJK (NED)/ Rosalie VAN DER HOEK (NED)

After disappointing outing in the singles our players r performing well in the doubles ... Our three players r in the semis with contrasting win.

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At $25K USA F32 Futures, Harlingen

[R1] (Q) Arjun KADHE (IND,1752) vs (Q) John McNALLY (USA,1844) 46 64 57

Arjun failed to earn a point after qualifying as he lost his first round match in three sets ... After losing the first set he tried fightback winning the second ... Arjun was broken early in the third but he broke back ... He lost his serve in crucial stage in 11th game for losing the match.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND,284) l (Q) Julia WACHACZYK (GER,443) 46 16

Big missed opportunity for Ankita for earning good ranking points ... This was winnable match against qualifier for her.

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At $25K USA F32 Futures, Harlingen

[Q1] (9) Arjun KADHE (IND,1752) bye
[Q2] (9) Arjun KADHE (IND,1752) bt Yates JOHNSON (USA,UNR) 61 64
[Q3] (9) Arjun KADHE (IND,1752) bt (5) Hunter JOHNSON (USA,1474) 64 63

[R1] (Q) Arjun KADHE (IND,1752) vs (Q) John McNALLY (USA,1844)

Arjun qualified for main-draw with good wins over Johnson twins ... Next he is facing fellow qualifier.

Tennis News

At $717K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) 46 64 4-10

Divij-Purav lose their match in match tie-break against top-seed Spanish pair ... After losing the first set Divij-Purav fought back winning the second but Spanish pair proved too strong them in match tie-break.

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At $25K+H Nigeria F6 Futures, Lagos

[R1] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) bt Christopher BULUS (NGR,UNR) 60 62

[R2] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) vs Mohammed MOHAMMED (NGR,1752)

Expected easy winning start for Sasi against local player ... Next he is facing another Nigerian.

Badminton News

At $55K Chinese Taipei Masters (Grand Prix) 2016, Taipei

Men's Singles Final
Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt Daren LIEW (MAS,106) 12-10 12-10 3-3 retd.

Sourabh Varma lifts Taipei GP title when Malaysian Daren Liew retired from the match in the third game ... In both games Sourabh made amazing comeback for winning it ... In the first game he saved 3 game points before winning this game after winning 5 points in a row from 7-10 ... In the second game also he saved 4 game points before winning it after winning 6 points consecutively from 6-10.

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At $55K Dutch Open (Grand Prix) 2016, Almere

Men's Singles Final
(1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) l (2) Tzu Wei WANG (TPE,33) 10-21 21-17 18-21

Ajay failed to defend his last year's Dutch open title win ... He lost in three games against Taipei's Tzu Wei Wang ... After losing the first game Ajay fought back for winning the second game but in the third Wang opened 4-0 lead and he maintained that till end for winning the game and match.

Golf News

At $1.1M Venetian Macao Open €250K Lacoste Ladies Open De France 2016, Macau

2 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 66 68 69 65 -16 $121,000.00
T3 Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 69 65 69 68 -13 $62,150.00
7 Rahil Gangjee (IND) 68 69 70 67 -10 $31,350.00
T8 Rashid Khan (IND) 69 69 66 71 -9 $25,245.00
T25 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 69 71 69 71 -4 $10,340.00
T34 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 73 70 69 70 -2 $7,590.00
T34 Chirag Kumar (IND) 67 70 74 71 -2 $7,590.00
T46 Shankar Das (IND) 70 67 72 75 PAR $5,390.00
T57 Khalin Joshi (IND) 70 70 75 71 +2 $3,575.00
T57 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 74 69 70 73 +2 $3,575.00
T81 Arjun Atwal (IND) 71 71 77 75 +10 $1,210.00

Anirban Lahiri lost in play-off against Thai Pavit Tangkamolprasert to finish on second place ... He and Chikkarangappa started with tied for first place but they struggled early ... After 11 holes Anirban was 1 over for the day but he scored 7 birdies in a row in last seven holes for tying Pavit ... Also impressive performance by young Chikkarangappa in this tournament ... Overall good performance by Indian players.

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At €300K Xiamen International Ladies Open 2016, China

T8 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 71 70 71 -6 € 7,200.00
T29 Veena Kappor (IND) 72 70 73 73 PAR € 2,745.00

Another top-10 finish for Aditi on European tour in China ... Here all four rounds she scored under PAR rounds ... She is showing tremendous consistency in her tender 18 yrs age ... Really proud of her and very excited about her future ... Here Veena Kapoor also played, she missed top-20 finish due to last two over par rounds.

Tennis News

At $717K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP)
[R1] (PR) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO)

Divij-Purav having tough draw against top-seed Spanish pair ... Lee-Andre also playing here and facing Croatian pair.

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At $566K Stockholm Open 2016, Sweden

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Gilles Muller (LUX)

This week Rohan playing with Treat Huey and they r 2nd seed facing pairing of Baghdatis and Muller.

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At $566K European Open, Antwerp, Belgium

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) vs Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)

Jeevan is playing in Belgium ATP with Andrei Vasilevski and they r facing Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

Doubles Final
(4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 57 46

Jeevan-RamK lost the final against Ratiwatanas in straight sets.

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At $125K Ningbo Challenger, China

[Q3] (6) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,442) l (1) Yannick Hanfmann (GER,325) 57 06

Bala lost against Hanfmann in straight sets ... I m surprised to see he played here in qualifying singles considering he is not in the doubles draw.

Badminton News

At $55K Chinese Taipei Masters (Grand Prix) 2016, Taipei

[R1] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt Yi-Hsiang YANG (TPE,224) 12-10 11-3 11-5
[R2] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt (7) Hashiru SHIMONO (JPN,101) 11-6 8-11 12-10 11-3
[R3] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt Ryotaro MARUO (JPN,336) 11-6 11-8 11-6
[QF] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt Kento HORIUCHI (JPN,773) 7-11 11-1 11-3 11-7
[SF] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) bt (1) Jen Hao HSU (TPE,22) 11-4 11-7 11-9

[F] Sourabh VARMA (IND,82) vs Daren LIEW (MAS,106)

Sourabh Varma in the final of Taipei GP with some really good fighting win ... Importantly he defeated local favorite top-25 Jen Hao Hsu in straight three games ... In this tournament BWF r experimenting 11 points game with best of 5 games match ... In the final he is facing experience Malaysian Daren Liew.

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At $55K Dutch Open (Grand Prix) 2016, Almere

[R1] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) bt Henri AARNIO (FIN,200) 21-16 21-11

[R2] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) bt Philip SHISHOV (BUL,847) 21-7 21-9
[R1] (4) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt Ties VAN DER LECQ (NED)/ Alyssa TIRTOSENTONO (NED) 21-5 21-16

[R3] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) bt (16) Marius MYHRE (NOR,96) 21-6 21-6
[R2] (4) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt Jordan CORVEE (FRA)/ Anne TRAN (FRA) 21-16 21-17

[QF] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) bt (8) Ygor Coelho de OLIVEIRA (BRA,62) 21-15 21-18
[QF] (4) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt Ronan LABAR (FRA)/ Audrey FONTAINE (FRA) 21-10 10-21 21-17

[SF] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) bt (5) Anders ANTONSEN (DEN,48) 21-18 13-21 21-13
[SF] (4) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) l Soren GRAVHOLT (DEN)/ Maiken FRUERGAARD (DEN) 19-21 16-21

[F] (1) Ajay JAYARAM (IND,20) vs (2) Tzu Wei WANG (TPE,33)

Ajay also reached in the final of Dutch open, he is defending champion here ... In the final he is facing 2nd seed Tzu Wei Wang.

Pranaav Chopra and Sikky Reddy's 13 match winning streak in last 3 weeks got broken in the semis as they lost in straight games against Danish pair ... Still superb three weeks for them.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[SF] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 26 46
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Kento Takeuchi (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 76(9) 64

[F] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Jeevan and RamK r in the final with straight sets win over Japanese pair ... They won the first set after 20 points long tie-break and managed to win the second with a break ... In the final they r facing top-seed Ratiwatana brothers ... Vijay Sundar and Rungkat failed to challenge Ratiwatanas in their match.

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At $125K Ningbo Challenger, China

[Q1] (6) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,442) bye
[Q2] (6) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,442) bt Sheng Hao Zhou (CHN,1065) 16 62 64

[Q3] (6) N. Sriram Balaji (IND,442) vs (1) Yannick Hanfmann (GER,325)

Bala needed to fightback after a set down against 1000+ ranked Chinese opponent for entering into the final qualifying ... He is having tough match against top-325 ranked German opponent.

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At $25K USA F31 Futures, Houston

[SF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) l Wil Spencer (USA,723) 26 64 57

Disappointing loss against such type of player Yuki should regularly beating ... In the first set Yuki lost his serve thrice for lsing it but he tried fightback winning the second ... In the third Yuki lost his serve in 12th game for losing the match.

Shooting News

At the ISSF World Cup Final - Shotgun, Rome, Italy

Men’s Skeet - Bronze medal
Mairaj Ahmad Khan (IND) l Asmy Mehelba (EGY) 14-15

Mairaj missed Bronze medal by one hit at World cup Final ... In Bronze medal match, both athletes missed a clay on the first station, but then Mehelba hitting all clays right to the end of the match to win bronze with 15 hits, while Mairaj missed again on the last station and placed 4th with 14 clays ... Before that in the semi-final Mairaj hits 15 clays for qualifying on the third place.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

Doubles Final
(3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 46 36

Another loss in the final for Lee and Andre, this time against Russian-Uzbek pair.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[QF] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA)/ Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 61 63

[SF] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Kento Takeuchi (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)

Vijay Sundar with Rungkat scored comfortable win in the quarters against Arnaboldi and Gojowczyk joining Jeev and RamK in the doubles semis.

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At $25K+H Nigeria F5 Futures, Lagos

[R1] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) bt Albert Bisong BIKOM (NGR,1532) 61 60
[R2] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) bt Moez ECHARGUI (TUN,1201) 63 75
[QF] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) bt (WC) Clifford ENOSOREGBE (NGR,UNR) 61 36 62

[SF] (4) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,557) l. (5) Gianni MINA (FRA,586) 67(1) 75 67(4)

Sasi played in Nigerian futures and used full advantage of weak draw for reaching into the semis ... In the semis he faced former Jr. WR #1 and former top-225 player Frenchman Gianni Mina ... Sasi lost really close match against Mina after three hours battle.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Lagos, Nigeria

[R1] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Kyra SHROFF (IND)/ Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND) 62 61
[QF] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Fiona CODINO (FRA)/ Harmony TAN (FRA) 75 60
[SF] (1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt (4) Fatma AL NABHANI (OMA)/ Valeriya STRAKHOVA (UKR) 61 63

Doubles Final
(1) Valentini GRAMMATIKOPOULOU (GRE)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Chayenne EWIJK (NED) / Rosalie VAN DER HOEK (NED) 36 57

Prarthana with her Greece partner Valentini lose in the final against Dutch pair ... This was surprising loss considering Prarthana and Valentini were top-seed.

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At $25K USA F31 Futures, Houston

[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt (5) Sebastian Fanselow (GER,411) 64 64

[SF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) vs Wil Spencer (USA,723),

Yuki scores impressive win over in-form German Sebastian Fanselow in straight sets ... In the first set Yuki broke Fanselow in 5th game to lead 3-2 and kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set Yuki broke Fanselow in 1st game but failed to hold his serve in next game, 1-all ... Yuki broke Fanselow in 7th game and this time he kept his advantage for winning this match ... In the semis he is facing American un-seeded Wil Spencer.

Football News

At the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament, Goa, India

India l Brazil 1-3 (1-2)
Goal Scored - Komal Thatal (BRA) 19' and Brenner Silva (BRA) 2', Marcos Santos (BRA) 30', Vinicius Oliviera (BRA) 82'

Our u-16 boys gave spirited performance against mighty Brazilian boys ensuring their competitiveness ... Brazil took lead in 2nd minute but equalized through Komal in 19th minute ... Brazil regained their lead in 30th minute ... In the second half we had coupe of opportunity but failed to take those chances ... Brazil scored their 3rd goal in 82nd minute and mach ended in their favor ... Interestingly India hosted Brazil for the first time in their Footballing history in any age group.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[SF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Jurabeck Karimov (UZB) 62 60

[F] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)

Expected dominating win by Lee-Andre against local wild-card pair losing only two games ... In the final they r facing pairing of Istomin and Elgin.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,559) l (5) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,119) 16 57

Doubles
[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (LL) Laurent Rochette (FRA)/ Maxime Tabatruong (FRA)

This was a tough match for Sanam against top-125 player ... He lost match in straight sets against Stakhovsky but gave fighting performance in the second.

In the doubles Jeevan in the semis with RamK as they defeated French pair in straight sets.

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At $25K USA F31 Futures, Houston

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt Austin Gonzalez (USA,569) 60 76(5)

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) vs Sebastian Fanselow (GER,411)

Yuki completed win in straight sets though he stretched to tie-break in the second ... After winning the first set easily Yuki was break up in the second set, 4-3 ... But while serving for the set at 5-4 he failed to hold ... He recovered and completed victory in straight sets after winning tie-break ... Next he is facing in-form German Sebastian Fanselow, who is having 15-1 win-loss record in last three tournaments ... In that he won 2 titles and one semi-final appearance ... good test for Yuki.

Squash News

At $150K Women's US Open 2016, Philadelphia, USA

Official US open site

[R2] (9) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) l (2) Laura Massaro (ENG,2) 5-11, 5-11, 6-11 (27m)

Defending champion and WR #2 Laura Massaro proved too strong for Joshana as she lose her match in straight games

Tennis News

At $5.45M Shanghai Masters, China

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Marin Cilic (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 75 46 8-10

I don't see Rohan and Daniel will continue with their partnership considering recent results ... Here also they lose their match against big serving Croatians in match tie-break.

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At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) 46 64 10-8

[SF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)/ Jurabeck Karimov (UZB)

Good to see comeback win by Lee-Andre and importnatly they won this match in super tie-break against decent eastern European pair ... Next they r facing local wild-card pair.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,556) bt Yuya Kibi (JPN,235) 64 64
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,227) l Peter Gojowczyk (GER,190) 46 67(1)

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,344) l (6) Go Soeda (JPN,129) 64 36 26
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,154) l (3) Taro Daniel (JPN,90) 16 retd.
[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,556) vs (5) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,119)

Doubles
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (WC) Tien Cong Le (VIE)/ Dac Thien Nguyen (VIE) 62 60
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Tatsuma Ito (JPN) 06 63 10-4

[QF] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA)/ Peter Gojowczyk (GER)
[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (LL) Laurent Rochette (FRA)/ Maxime Tabatruong (FRA)

Sanam completed victory in straight sets against Yuya Kibi ... Next he is facing top-120 Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky ... After resumption of the match Sanma won first 2 points for capturing first set ... In the second set also he took crucial break in 5th game and kept that advantage for winning the match.

RamK failed to challenger German Gojowczyk and lost in straight sets ... After losing the first set RamK stretched Gojowczyk till tie-break but that wasn't enough.

Prajnesh lost his second round in three sets against Japanese Go Soeda ... Prajnesh started well winning the first set but after that he failed to keep momentum and struggled against Soeda's grinding game ... Soeda won last two sets comfortably ... Still good exposure for Prajnesh against these quality players.

After third game when Saki was break down he took medical break and after losing the first set he retired from the match ... really sad to see Saki is retiring and failing to defend his last year's point as winner ... Now I m hoping his injury isn't serious as big Asian challenger stretch including Pune challenger is the next ... Saki and Sanam withdrew from the doubles ... Good decision for Saki but Sanam is unlucky.

VSP with Rungkat started with dominating win against local wild-card pair in the first round of doubles ... Next they r facing pairing of Arnaboldi and Gojowczyk.

Jeevan and RamK won in weird looking scoreline against Bala and Ito ... They lost the first set without winning a game but fought back to win the second and then won match tie-break comfortably ... Next they r facing French lucky loser pair.

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At $25K USA F31 Futures, Houston

[R1] Ronit Singh Bisht (IND,886) l (3) Frederik Nielsen (DEN,417) 36 36

Expected loss against very experienced Danish player for Ronit.

Football News

At the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament, Goa, India

India l China 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scored - Huang Cong (CHN) 90'

Another loss with solitary goal for our u-16 team, this time against Chinese boys ... Again our boys showed fighting performance on the field ... They were matching opponents and managed to create chances but failed to score ... Other hand Chinese boys defended well and scored in dying minutes for a win ... In this tournaments our lack of scoring is costing us dearly.

Squash News

At $150K Women's US Open 2016, Philadelphia, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,19) l (7) Amanda Sobhy (USA,6) 11-7, 3-11, 1-11, 4-11 (30m)
[R1] (9) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) bt Heba El Torky (EGY,23) 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 (55m)

[R2] (9) Joshana Chinappa (IND,13) vs (2) Laura Massaro (ENG,2)

Joshana needed to dig deep against Torky for comeback win ... After losing first 2 games she made strong comeback ... In fourth game Joshana saved two match balls on the way to beating Heba El Torky ... Next she is facing WR #2 Britisher Laura Massaro.

Dipika failed to maintain momentum after winning first game ... Home favorite Amanda Sobhy proved better player for her.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,424) l (1) Jiri Vesely (CZE,52) 63 36 46

Doubles
[R1] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Gero Kretschmer (GER) 64 6-2
[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Egor Gerasimov (BLR)/ Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 67(3) 67(5)

[QF] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ)

After losing the first set Vesely raised his game for winning next two ... Vishnu started well after winning the first set but failed to keep momentum in next two.

Surprising loss of Divij and Purav against Belarus pair in two tie-breaks ... In the first set our pair managed to generate more break point chances but broke opponents twice only, from 8 chances 2 times ... Other hand Belarus pair had 3 chances and they converted 2 ... In tie-break it seems their serve proved stronger ... In the second set both pairs failed to break other's serve and again in tie-break Belarus pair serve proved too strong for our pair.

Lee-Andre r in the quarters with comfortable win ... They started confidently breaking opponent's in 3rd game, 3-1 and kept that break advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set Lee-Andre broke opponents 1st game to lead 2-0 ... Again they broke opponent's in 5th game to lead 4-1 and kept that couple break advantage for completing a win ... Next they r facing Eastern European pairing of Molchanov and Nedovyesov.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,559) vs Yuya Kibi (JPN,235) 5-4 (40-40) match suspended due to rain
[R1] (Q) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,555) l (8) Tastumi Ito (JPN,162) 36 76(3) 16

After losing the first set VSP fought back for winning the second in tie-break but Ito proved too strong for him in the third.

Sanam match is stopped due to rain when he was serving for the set ... Sanam saved 3 break points in 6th game and then broke Kibi in 7th game to lead 4-3 ... In 10th game he missed 2 set points at 40-15 before match get stopped.

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At $25K USA F31 Futures, Houston

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt Andrew Carter (USA,837) 63 60
[R1] Ronit Singh Bisht (IND,886) vs (3) Frederik Nielsen (DEN,417)

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) vs Austin Gonzalez (USA,569)

Yuki is playing in US futures for getting more match practice ... He started with expected comfortable win against Carter ... In the first set he broke Carter in 4th game for 3-1 lead but Carter immediately broke back, 3-2 ... Yuki again broke Carter in 6th game for 4-2 lead ... After 5-3 Yuki won consecutive next seven games for dominating win ... Next he is facing top-600 Austin Gonzalez.

Ronit having tough match against very experienced and former Wimbledon doubles winner Frederik Nielsen.

Snooker News

At £366K English Open 2016, Manchester, England

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,120) l Lee Walker (WAL,94) 3-4 (65(61)-5, 67-52, 64(64)-1, 44-58, 28-84(63), 0-69, 40-78(64))

Disappointing loss of Aditya against Lee Walker ... With couple of 50+ scores Aditya won first 3 frames but from 4th frame he lost his concentration ... And Lee Walker took full advantage of it winning next four frames for a win.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Final Rifle / Pistol - Champions Trophy, Bologna, Italy

Courtesy of ISSF site

10m Air Pistol Final match
Jitu Rai (IND) bt Damir Mikec (SRB) 29.6 points - 28.3 points

Jitu Rai claimed the Pistol Champions Trophy, beating Serbia’s Damir Mikec in the final rush by 29.6 to 28.3 points ... Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Anna Korakaki was left in third place at the end of the elimination round ... With this win Jitu Rai pocketed the 5.000,00 € prize money of the winner.

The rules of the Trophy are easy and challenging: only the ISSF World Cup Final medalists are eligible to participate in the Champions Trophy, and they are allowed to choose between a 10m Air Rifle and a 10m Air Pistol match ... The matches are conducted in an elimination fashion: after the first four shots, the athlete with the lowest score has to leave the firing line ... From there on, after every shot, the lowest ranked shooter is eliminated ... When only two athletes are left on the line, their scores are set back to zero, and three single shots are fired to determinate the winner of the Champions Trophy.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[Q3] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,556) bt (3) Kento Takeuchi (JPN,450) 62 62
[Q3] (6) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,552) bt (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,443) 76(1) 62

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,155) bt Andrew Whittington (AUS,177) 62 64
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,344) bt Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA,228) 76(1) 3-2 retd.
[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,559) vs Yuya Kibi (JPN,235)
[R1] (Q) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,555) vs (8) Tastumi Ito (JPN,162)

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,154) vs (3) Taro Daniel (JPN,90)
[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,344) vs (6) Go Soeda (JPN,129)

Prajnesh moved into the second round with gritty performance against top-225 ranked Arnaboldi ... He kept fighting in the first round before winning one-sided tie-break ... In the second set he took 3-0 lead but Arnaboldi fought back for 3-2 before retiring from the match ... Next Prajnesh is facing very experienced Japanese Go Soeda.

Saki also started with comfortable win over Aussie Whittington ... After winning the first set with double break Saki broke Whittington in 1st game of the second set ... Whittington immediately broke back but Saki against broke him in 3rd for 2-1 lead ... After that Saki kept that advantage and saved couple of break points while serving for the match in 10th game ... He converted his first match point for moving to next round ... Next match is real toughie one for Saki against top-90 Taro Daniel.

Before that Sanam scored really dominating win over Kento Takeuchi to qualify for main-draw ... In the first round he is facing another Japanese challenge of top-250 ranked Yuya Kibi ... VSP also joins him in the main-draw with straight sets win over Bala ... In main-draw he is also facing another Japanese challenge of top-170 ranked Tastumi Ito.

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Golf News

At €250K Lacoste Ladies Open De France 2016, France

T10 Aditi Ashok 69 69 69 69 -4 € 5,675.00

Another top-10 finish for Aditi on European tour ... In all four rounds she scored consistent 1 under round ... If she reduce her bogeys then she can contender for the title ... Today she scored an eagle and 5 birdies but also scored a triple bogey, a double bogey and a bogey.

Tennis News

At $250K WTA Hong Kong Open International, d

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,293) l (1) Marina Erakovic (NZL,120) 06 16

Ankita fails to challenge Erakovic in one-sided loss ... This performance shows she will still struggle to be in top-200 and she is stagnant in top-250 around performer.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[Q2] (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,443) bt Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN,749) 63 61
[Q2] (6) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,552) bt Masato Shiga (JPN,588) 62 60
[Q2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,556) bt Nebojsa Peric (SRB,1373) 64 61
[Q2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,633) l (4) Laurent Rochette (FRA,465) 26 75 46

[Q3] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,556) vs (3) Kento Takeuchi (JPN,450)
[Q3] (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,443) vs (6) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,552)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA)/ Peter Gojowczyk (GER)
[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (WC) Tien Cong Le (VIE)/ Dac Thien Nguyen (VIE)
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Tatsuma Ito (JPN)

Bala, Sanam and Vijay Sundar r in the final qualifying round with comfortable wins ... Bala and Vijay Sundar r facing each other and Sanam is facing Japanese Kento Takeuchi to qualifying for main-draw ... Sid missed chance of entering into the final qualifying ... In the final set Sid was 4-1 leading but then lost 5 straight games in a row for the loss.

Saki-Sanam r back in the doubles and facing Arnaboldi and Gojowczyk in the first round ... Jeevan and RamK r also playing in the doubles as pair and facing Bala and Ito ... VSP is playing with Rungkat and they r facing local wild-card pair.

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At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Gero Kretschmer (GER)
[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Egor Gerasimov (BLR)/ Ilya Ivashka (BLR)

Divij-Purav and Lee-Andre r playing in big Tashkent challenger ... Andre-Lee r facing Brazilian-German pair ... Divij-Purav r facing Belarus pair.

Golf News

At €250K Lacoste Ladies Open De France 2016, France

5 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 66 73 70 67 -12 $30,750.00
T6 Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 70 67 73 67 -11 $23,175.00
T30 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 75 66 71 70 -6 $5,787.50
T36 Arjun Atwal (IND) 67 73 69 74 -5 $4,810.86
T36 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70 72 74 67 $4,810.86
T43 Chirag Kumar (IND) 72 69 73 70 $4,113.00
T43 Rahil Gangjee (IND) 73 70 71 70 $4,113.00
T43 Himmat Rai (IND) 70 70 69 75 $4,113.00
T52 Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 69 69 78 71 $2,906.25
T63 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 75 72 77 +4 $2,137.50
66 Abhinav Lohan (IND) 72 72 75 75 +6 $1,950.00

Gagan scored the final five under round to finish in top-5 ... So after winning last week he is showing he is gaining his confidence back and performing consistently ... Good to see he is back on his top game ... Chikkarangappa also finished in top 10 with 5 under round.

Tennis News

At $5.45M Shanghai Masters, China

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) bye

Rohan is partnering with Nestor and as seeded pair they r having bye in the first round.

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At $250K WTA Hong Kong Open International, d

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,293) bt Chang Liu (CHN,216) 67(5) 64 63

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,293) vs (1) Marina Erakovic (NZL,120)

Good comeback win by Ankita against higher ranked top-220 Chinese player Liu ... After losing the first set in tie-break Ankita made strong comeback for winning next two ... Tough next match for Ankita against top-125 Erakovic.

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At $50K+H Ho Chi Minh City Challenger, Vietnam

[Q1] (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,443) bye
[Q1] (6) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,552) bye
[Q1] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,556) bt Congsup Congcar (THA,1408) 36 64 60
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,633) bt (WC) Ku Keon Kang (KOR,1560) 64 61

[Q2] (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,443) vs Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN,749)
[Q2] (6) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,552) vs Masato Shiga (JPN,588)
[Q2] (7) Sanam Singh (IND,556) vs Nebojsa Peric (SRB,1373)
[Q2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,633) vs (4) Laurent Rochette (FRA,465)

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,155) vs Andrew Whittington (AUS,177)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,344) vs Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA,228)
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,227) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER,190)

Bala, Vijay Sundar, Sanam and Sidharth r trying to qualify for main-draw for joining Saki, Prajnesh and RamK.

Saki is facing Whittington and RamK is facing Gojowczyk but I m more interested in performance of Prajnesh, who is facing Italian Arnaboldi.

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At $125K+H Tashkent Challenger,, Uzbekistan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,424) vs (1) Jiri Vesely (CZE,52)

Vishnu is facing Jiri in the first round but importantly he is travelling to Uzbekistan for this match is really pleasant.

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At $25K+H France F21 Futures,Saint-Eloi (Indoor Hard)

[SF] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,229) l Albano Olivetti (FRA,427) 46 67(1)

RamK failed to handle big serve of Olivetti, who is having record of second fastest serve on the tour ... Olivetti won the first set with a break ... In the second set RamK was break down at 3-4 but he broke Olivetti is 10th game when Olivetti was serving for the match ... It seems in tie-break Olivetti's serve proved too strong for RamK.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Hua Hin, Thailand

Singles Final
Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,576) l Hanyu GUO (CHN,522) 36 36

Karman failed to raise her game in the final and lost in straight sets against Hanyu Guo ... Need to learn for avoiding these type of bad day.

Football News

At the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament, Goa, India

India l South Africa 0-1 (0-1)
Goal Scored - Ndamolelo Radzilani (RSA) 23'

Indian U-16 National Team lost their second match of the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament as the Colts went down fighting 0-1 against South Africa ... Radzilani’s 23rd minute header was enough to secure three points for the South Africans ... After that India pressed hard for the equalizer and even after the German Coach made two attacking changes, the boys could not find the decisive goal and the South African defence stood strong to see out the match.

Tennis News

At $25K+H France F21 Futures,Saint-Eloi (Indoor Hard)

[QF] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,229) bt Mick Lescure (FRA,678) 63 76(5)

Doubles
[SF] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan(IND)/ Jordi Munoz-Abreu (VEN) bt Hugo Grenier (FRA)/ Elie Rousset (FRA) 67(4) 75 10-8

RamK is in the semis with straight sets win over Frenchman ... After winning the first set he was stretched to tie-break by Lescure in the second.

Hard fought comeback win for RamK-Jordi in very tight match in match tie-break..

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Hua Hin, Thailand

[SF] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,576) bt (7) Jia-Qi KANG (CHN,483) 57 63 75

[F] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,576) vs Hanyu GUO (CHN,522)

Karman in the final with hard fought win in three hours against her Chinese opponent Jia-Qi Kang ... In the first set Karman made excellent comeback from 2-5 down to 5-all but lost next two games for losing the set ... In the second set Karman broke Kang in 6th game for leading 4-2 and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the final set both players broke eachother's serve regularly ... Karman broke Kang in 3rd game but failed to hold her serve in 4th game, 2-all ... Kang broke Karman in 6th game for 2-4 lead but this time Karman broker her back in 7th, 3-4 ... Kang again broke her in 8th game for 3-5 lead ... After that Karman raised her game and broke her in 9th and 11th games ... Other hand holding her servve comfortably for winning this tight match ... In the final she is facing another Chinese girl Hanyu Guo, so interesting battle between two 18 yrs old girls.

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At $10K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Tarakan, Indonesia

[SF] (5) Kanika VAIDYA (IND,975) l (2) Haruka KAJI (JPN,744) 36 26

Kanika failed to challenge her Japanese opponents for losing it cheaply.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Final Rifle / Pistol, Bologna, Italy

Courtesy of ISSF site

50m Pistol Men
Gold - Wei Pang (CHN) 190.6 pts
Silver - Jitu Rai (IND) 188.8 pts
Bronze - Giuseppe Giordano (ITA) 170.3 pts

Jitu Rai is back collecting his first world cup final medal in career at Bologna, Italy in 50m Pistol event ... He shot superbly for winning the Silver behind Chinese shooter Wei Pang ... Before that he qualified for the final on 2nd place scoring 568 pts.