Tennis News

At Roland Garros 2017, Paris, France

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) l Daria Gavrilova (AUS)/ Anastasi Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 67(5) 61 26

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (ALT) Radu Albot (MDA)/ Hyeon Chung (KOR) 76(5) 46 62
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Steve Johnson (USA) 67(5) 64 60
[R1] (9) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt (WC) Mathias Bourgue (FRA)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 61 61

[R2] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP)
[R2] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (15) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)
[R2] (9) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Denis Istomin (UKR)

Disappointing loss of Sania-Yaroslava against Gavrilova and Pavlyuchenkova in three sets ... After losing the first set in tie-break, Sania-Yaroslava fought back to win the second set comfortably ... But they failed to keep momentum in the third and lost it convincingly.

Rohan-Pablo started with a confident win over French pair ... They lost only 2 games in the match ... In the second round, they r facing Huey and Istomin.

Lee-Scott scored 3 sets win over Radu Albot and Hyeon Chung ... Not a confident start but at least they started with a win ... Next, they r meeting experienced Spanish pair, who scored upset win over top-seed pair.

Divij-Purav scored their first win in the French open beating Almagro and Johnson ... They should had win this match in two sets but after leading 5-3 they missed a set point ... Afterlosing the tie-break they recovered well and made excellent comeback for winning the second set with an early break ... Then domnated the final set as they bagel their opponents ... Next, they r facing 15th seed Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.

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At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,474) l Anastasia Gasanova (RUS,438) 57 26

Karman failed to challenge Russian girl in the second set after giving close fight in the first.

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At $15K+H Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) l (7) Michael Linzer (AUT,279) 36 36

Sumit had a real fight on his hands against Lizner but he failed to challenge him ... But I am hoping that his game is improving.

Tennis News

At Roland Garros 2017, Paris, France

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (4) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Raven Klaasen (RSA)
[R1] (7) Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Darija Jurak (CRO)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Mixed doubles draw is out ... Defending champion Lee-Martina having tough opener against 4th seed Srebotnik and Klaasen.

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At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,629) l (WC) Komola Umarova (UZB,851) 46 67(6)

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,474) vs Anastasia Gasanova (RUS,438)

Tough loss for Dhruthi against local wildcard player ... Karman is facing Gasanova, who scored upset win over 2nd seed Russian.

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At $15K Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt Dragos Dima (ROU,316) 60 60

Frankly never experienced these type of scoreline by Indian player consistently against players between 300 to 350 ... Another double bagel win for Sumit, this time against top-325 ranked Dragos Dima.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Kyra SHROFF (IND,736) l (8) Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ,365) 75 36 26
[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,474) bt Melis SEZER (TUR,448) 46 75 76(2)

Karman scored fighting comeback win over Turkish girl, Sezer ... After losing the first set, Karman dug deep for fightback ... In the third set, Sezer two times served for the match but both time Karman broke her and then comfortably won the tie-break ... Other hand, Kyra started well after winning the first set but failed to keep momentum in next two.

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At $15K Italy F15 Futures 2017, Reggio Emilia

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs Dragos Dima (ROU,316)

This is tricky match as Sumit lost against Dima in beginning of the month.

Tennis News

At Roland Garros 2017, Paris, France

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) vs Daria Gavrilova (AUS)/ Anastasi Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Gilles Muller (LUX)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Steve Johnson (USA)
[R1] (9) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Mathias Bourgue (FRA)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Doubles draw is out ... 4th seed Sania-Yaroslava r in bottom draw.

Lee-Scott can face top-seed Kontinen and Peers, if they win their first round ... Overall our pairs having winnable first round matches.

Abhimanyu Vannem Reddy secured the French Open junior wild card by beating Hikaru Shiraishi of Japan, 61 46 61, in the final of the Rendezvous Roland Garros tournament in Paris on Saturday.

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At $60K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Luan, China

Courtesy of Ankita Raina's FB page

Singles Final
Ankita Raina (IND,321) l (1) Lin Zhu (CHN,124) 36 63 46

Ankita lost in the final against top-125 Lin Zhu in three sets ... Still this was excellent week for her as she reached her first ITF tournament in $50K and above event.

After losing the first set, Ankita was break down 2-3 in the second but she made superb fightback for winning next 4 games to win this set ... In the final set, Zhu took 5-0 lead and from here Ankita tried comeback ... She won next 4 games saving 4 match points but failed to hold her serve in 10th for the loss.

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At $25K Romania F2 Futures 2017, Bacau

Singles Final
(5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) l (3) Goncalo Oliveira (POR,379) 63 36 06

Sumit started well and broke Oliveira in 2nd to lead 3-0 ... He kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set, Sumit was early break down 1-4, he broke Oliveira to make it 3-4 but Oliveira again broke him in next game for winning the set .... In the final set, Sumit failed to challenge Oliveira, hoping no injury scare ... Oliveira broke Sumit in 1st, 3rd and 5th games for winning it comfortably ... So other than these final two sets this week was good for Sumit.

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At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Andijan, Uzbekistan

[R1] (Q) Kyra SHROFF (IND,736) vs (8) Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ,365)
[R1] (Q) Dhruthi TATACHAR VENUGOPAL (IND,629) vs (WC) Komola UMAROVA (UZB,851)
[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,474) vs Melis SEZER (TUR,448)

Kyra and Dhruthi qualified for main-draw to join Karman ... Karman and Kyra having tough matches in the first round.

Tennis News

At $60K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Luan, China

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND,321) bt (5) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,244) 64 61

[F] Ankita Raina (IND,321) vs (1) Lin Zhu (CHN,124)


Another excellent win by Ankita for entering her first final of $50K and above tournament ... After winning the first set she dominated last against top-250 ranked Shapatava ... In the final, she is having big challenge of top-125 Chinese girl, Lin Zhu.

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At $25K Romania F2 Futures 2017, Bacau

[SF] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt (7) Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR,406) 62 62

[F] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs (3) Goncalo Oliveira (POR,379)

After a long time Sumit lost his service game in the 7th game after taking 5-0 lead but he again immediately broke Ferreira Silva in 8th game for winning the first set ... In the second set, Sumit broke Ferreira Silva in the 6th and 8th games for completing dominated victory ... Next, he is facing another Portuguese player, Goncalo Oliveira, for the title.

Tennis News

At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[SF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (1) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 36 63 3-10

Lee-Scott lost in the match tie-break against top-seed pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

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At $60K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Luan, China

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,321) bt (3) Fangzhou Liu (CHN,139) 46 63 62

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND,321) vs (5) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,244)

Ankita scored huge comeback win over top-150 Chinese girl Fangzhou Liu ... After very long time she has scored this top-150 win, here after losing the first set she made excellent comeback for winning next two sets ... Next, she is facing Georgian girl Sofia Shapatava.

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At $25K Romania F2 Futures 2017, Bacau

[QF] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt (1) Gregoire Jacq (FRA,367) 60 60

Sumit made a mockey of seedings and handed a double bagel to a top-seed Frenchman Gregoire Jacq in 53 mins.

Badminton News

At BWF Sudirman Cup 2017, Gold Coast, Australia

Quarter Final
(9/12) India l (1) China 0-3

[XD] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) l Kai Lu (CHN)/ Yaqiong Huang (CHN) 21-16 13-21 16-21
[MS] Kidambi Srikanth (IND,24) l Long Chen (CHN,12) 16-21 17-21
[MD] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Haifeng Fu (CHN)/ Nan Zhang (CHN) 9-21 11-21

This was the second time we qualified for the quarter finals of Sudiram cup and both time we faced #1 seed Chinese team ... Despite this loss, we can say overall good performance and some positives to take.

Again impressive performance from our new MXD pair, Ashwini and 16 yr old Satwiksairaj, as they stretched WR #2 Chinese team to three games .. In every match, they gave impressiv showing in this tournament ... Need to keep eye on the progress of Satwiksairaj.

Srikanth failed to challenge fromer WR #1 Long Chen in his loss .. In men's doubles, young Chirag and Satwiksairaj got doubles trainning from former WR #1 and very experienced Chinese pair.

Tennis News

At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[QF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) w/o (Dutra Silva: Right Ankle)

[SF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (1) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Lee and Scott r in the semis without hitting the ball as they received walkover ... Next, they r facing top-seed pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

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At $60K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Luan, China

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,321) bt (6) Jing-Jing Lu (CHN,297) 62 57 63

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,321) vs (3) Fangzhou Liu (CHN,139)

After longtime Ankita scored top-300 win and this was her first win over top-300 in 2017 ... In well contested match, Ankita defeated Lu in three sets in more than 2 hours long match ... Next, she is facing top-150 Chinese girl Fangzhou Liu.

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At $25K Romania F2 Futures 2017, Bacau

[R2] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt Carls Gomez-Herrera (ESP,576) 76(3) 62

[QF] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs (1) Gregoire Jacq (FRA,367)

This is good win by Sumit against experienced Spansh Carlos Gomez-Herrera ... It also shows Sumit is getting his confidence back and gaining momentum ... Next, he is facing top-seed Frenchman Gregoire Jacq, winnable match if he shows consistency.

Tennis News

At $60K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Luan, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,321) bt (WC) Zhanlan Wei (CHN,521) 62 63

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,321) vs (6) Jing-Jing Lu (CHN,297)

Ankita started with comfortable win against local wild-card player .. Next, she is facing similar ranked Chinese opponent Lu.

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At $25K Romania F2 Futures 2017, Bacau

[Q1] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bye
[Q2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt Iulian Mihai Crisan Zara (ROU,UNR) 61 75
[Q3] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt (10) Sergey Dorozhkin (RUS,1855) 61 60

[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) bt Nicolae Frunza (ROU,580) 62 retd.

[R2] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,405) vs Carlos Gomez-Herrera (ESP,576)

This week Sumit qualified as an qualifier and started with a win as his opponent retired after losing the first set ... Next, he is facing Spanish player Carlos Gomez-Herrera.

Tennis News

At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (PR) David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP) 67(3) 76(3) 10-4

[QF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

Lee-Scott scored tight comeback win over Spanish pair in the first round ... After losing the first set, Lee-Scott fought back to win the second set in the tie-break ... But they dominated match tie-break from the start ... Next, they r facing another unseeded pair, who scored upset win over 4th seed.

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At €540K Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon 2017, France

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Thomas Paire (FRA) 63 26 2-10

Disappointing loss for Purav-Divij against Paire brothers, one was an amateur player, after their last week's title win.

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At €226K NÜRNBERGER Versicherungs Cup 2017, Germany

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) l Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Misaki Doi (JPN) 57 26

This was a tough loss for Sania-Yaroslava against Doi-Chuang in straight sets.

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At $226K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2017, France

[QF] Vera Lapko (BLR)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l Chantal Skamlova (SVK)/ Eva Wacanno (NED) 36 57

Prarthana-Vera failed to score back to back wins in this WTA tournament ... This was an upset loss as their opponents were lower ranked, so missed an opportunity for Prarthana.

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At $50K+H Mestre Challenger 2017, Italy (Red clay)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,270) l (8) Blake Mott (AUS,256) 57 36

Very disappointing result for Prajnesh against similar ranked Aussie opponent ... Morover, he was 3-1 up in the first set before losing this match.

Badminton News

At BWF Sudirman Cup 2017, Gold Coast, Australia

Group 1D
(9/12) India bt (5/8) Indonesia 4-1

[XD] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) bt Tontowi Ahmad (INA)/ Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA) 22-20 17-21 21-19
[MS] Kidambi Srikanth (IND,26) bt Jonatan Christie (INA,28) 21-15 21-16
[MD] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 9-21 16-21
[WS] Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Fitriani Fitriani (INA,23) 21-8 21-19
[WD] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Della Destiara Haris (INA)/ Rosyita Eka Putri Sari (INA) 21-12 21-19

Indians completed victory after winning women's doubles, MXD and 2 singles for entering into the quarters (Group1) ... Ashwini was the a hero of this win as she was in mixed in our two important wins.

Ashwini has repeated or bettered her yesterday's performance with 16 yrs Satwiksairaj, as they scored an upset win over Indonesian pair in MXD in a closely fought match ... Srikanth scored comfortable straight games win over similar ranked Indonesian to give a 2-0 lead.

After that expected results, as our young doubles pair lost against WR #1 Indonesian pair but Sindhu scored straight games win over Fitriani. In the final match, Ashwini and Sikki scored superb straight games win over WR #15 Indonesian pair for our dominating win over Indonesian team.

Tennis News

At Roland Garros 2017, Paris, France

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,241) l (25) Peter Polansky (CAN,132) 67(5) 67(5)
[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,265) l (13) Guido Pella (ARG,114) 26 16

Our both players were playing against seeded but RamK had a real tough match against clay court specialist and former top-50 Argentine Guido Pella ... In his match, Yuki was up early break 3-0 but Polansky fought back to make it 4-all ... And in tie-break, he took early lead 2-5 but Yuki caught up at 5-all ... Polansky won next 2 points for winning the set .... In the second set, Polansky broke Yuki in 7th game, 3-4, but Yuki immediately broke back, 4-all ... Again in tie-break Polansky took early lead and had 3 match points at 3-6 ... Yuki saved 2 match points but failed to save 3rd ... RamK failed to challenge superior Guido Pella in his match ... So early exit for us in the singles but big cheque for them.

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At €540K Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon 2017, France

[R1] (WC) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 36 63 5-10

Jeevan-Chris lost in the match tie-break against more experienced Aussie pair.

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At $226K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2017, France

[R1] Vera Lapko (BLR)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) bt Chen Liang (CHN)/ Katarzyna Piter (POL) 63 64

Prarthana and her Belarus partner Lapko started with straight sets victory over their opponents ... This is her first main-draw win in WTA tournament.

Badminton News

At BWF Sudirman Cup 2017, Gold Coast, Australia

Group 1D
(9/12) India l (2) Denmark 1-4

[XD] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) l Joachim Fischer Nielsen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 15-21 21-16 17-21
[MS] Ajay Jayaram (IND,13) l Viktor Axelsen (DEN,3) 12-21 7-21
[MD] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Mathias Boe (DEN)/ Carsten Mogensen (DEN) 17-21 15-21
[WS] Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Line Kjærsfeldt (DEN,26) 21-18 21-6
[WD] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Kamilla Rytter Juhl (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 21-18 15-21 21-23

Bad start for us, as we manged to win a single match against 2nd seed Denmark ... In the second match, Ajay lost one-sided match against Axelsen after Ashwini-Satwiksairaj lost in three games in MXD ... Our men's doubles pair lost in stright games against fancied Danish pair ... Sindhu scored expeted comfortable win against Danish girl ... Ashwini-Sikki started well after winning the first game ... Danish pair won the second game comfortably ... In the third, our pair tried hard, they saved 4 match points from 16-20 and had a match point at 21-20 but failed to convert ... Danish pair converted 5th match point for completing the win ... Next, in our last group match we r facing (5/8) ranked Indonesian team.

Squash News

At $5K Men's Malaysian Tour No9 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] (Q) Abhay Singh (IND,493) bt (6) Ravi Dixit (IND,180) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (50m)
[R1] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (Q) Vijay Kumar (IND,323) 15-13, 11-9, 11-8 (31m)

[QF] (Q) Abhay Singh (IND,493) l (1) Elvinn Keo (MAS,102) 8-11, 4-11, 13-15 (40m)
[QF] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (7) Yuen Tsun Hei (HKG,191) 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (28m)

[SF] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (4) Tang Ming Hong (HKG,123) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6

[R1] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (3) Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS,105) 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (36m)

Back to bac titles for Harinder Pal Singh, as he lifted his 7th PSA title and 2nd outside India ... Here he won all is matches comfortably including the final against Malaysian Mohd Syafiq Kamal.

Tennis News

At €106K+H Bordeaux Challenger 2017, France (Red clay)

Divij's FB page

Doubles Final
(3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (4) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 64 64

Divij Sharan and Purav Raja scored a straight sets victory in the final of the Bordeaux Challenger, beating 4th seed Santiago Gonzalez and Artem Sitak.

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At €540K Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open 2017, Switzerland (Red clay)

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (PR) David Marrero (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP)

Lee with Scott Lipsky, r playing in the Geneva open ... And they r facing experienced Spanish players, David Marrero and Tommy Robredo, in the first round.

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At $50K+H Mestre Challenger 2017, Italy (Red clay)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,270) vs (8) Blake Mott (AUS,256)

This week important for Prajnesh for Wimbledon qualifying tournament qualification ... He needs to reach at least semis for giving himself some chance.

Tennis News

At $2.77M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017, Rome, Italy (Premier 5)

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) l (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) 36 67(7)

Sania-Yaroslava tried hard in the second set but Hingis-Chan managed to complete win in straight sets.

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At €540K Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon 2017, France

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Benoit Paire (FRA)/ Thomas Paire (FRA)
[R1] (WC) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

Divij-Purav r playing in Lyon open and having a winnable first round match ... Jeevan-Chris managed to get a wildcard but facing a tough match against Aussie pair.

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At €226K NÜRNBERGER Versicherungs Cup 2017, Germany

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) vs Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Misaki Doi (JPN)

Sania-Yaroslava playing in Germany, mostly for honing their partnership before French open.

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At $226K Internationaux de Strasbourg 2017, France

[R1] Vera Lapko (BLR)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs Chen Liang (CHN)/ Katarzyna Piter (POL)

In Strasbourg tournament, Prarthana getting chance to participate with her Belarus partner Vera Lapko ... Hoping for a decent outing for her.

Tennis News

At €4.5M Rome Masters 2017, Italy

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) l (4) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 67(5) 76(2) 10-12

Rohan-Pablo lost in really close match against 4th seed French pair ... After losing the first set in tie-break, ROhan-Pablo fought back for winning the second set tie-break ... Again both pairs were neck to neck in the match tie-break which French pair won on extra points.

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At $2.77M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017, Rome, Italy (Premier 5)

[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt (WC) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Martina Trevisan (ITA) 64 61

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) vs (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Martina Hingis (SUI)

Sania-Yaroslava entered into the semis with comfortable win over wildcard Italian pair ... In the semis, they r facing 2nd seed Hingis and Chan.

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At €106K+H Bordeaux Challenger 2017, France (Red clay)

[SF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) 62 63

[F] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (4) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)

Divij-Purav scored comfortable win over Lee-Scott for entering into the final.

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At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

Doubles Final
Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Zdenek Kolar (CZE) 67(2) 36

Prajnesh-Vishnu failed to lift the title against Kolar and Grigelis but overall really good performance by them.

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Hockey News

At The Men's Hockey World League Semi-Finals 2017, London, England

Goalkeepers - Akash Chikte, Vikas Dahiya

Defenders - Pardeep Mor, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Rupinderpal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh

Midfielders - Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (Vice-captain), S.K. Uthappa, Satbir Singh, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Harjeet Singh

Forwards - Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh

Indian team has been selected for Hockey World League Semi-Finals ... Sreejesh has missed as he is still recovering from injury ... Our forward line looks susceptible, I am surprised why didn't selectors selected players like Affan, Sumit, Nikkin etc.

Tennis News

At €4.5M Rome Masters 2017, Italy

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt (7) Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Marc Lopez (ESP) 46 76(7) 10-8

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (4) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

Rohan-Pablo's encouraging performance on clay continues ... They scored superb comeback victory after saving match point against 7th seed Spanish pair ... In the second set, they needed to dig deep for winning the tie-break and kept their upperhand in the match tie-break for a victory ... Next, they r facing 4th seed Mahut and Herbert.

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At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

[SF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 76(5) 36 10-2
[SF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Zdenek Kolar (CZE) 36 46

[F] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Zdenek Kolar (CZE)

Prajnesh-Vishnu scored huge upset win over top-seed Podlipnik-Castillo and Vasilevski for entering into the final ... After winning the first set in tie-break our pair lost the second but they recovered in the match tie-break for winning it comfortably ... Next, they r facing Grigelis-Kolar, who proved too strong for RamK-Toshihide.

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At $75K Heilbronn Challenger, Germany (Red Clay)

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA)l (1) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 36 36

Jeevan-Chris lost in straight sets against top-seed pair.

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At $25K Nigeria F3 futures 2017, Abuja

[QF] Haadin BAVA (IND,796) l (1) Calvin HEMERY (FRA,283) 36 26

Haadin failed to challenge his top-300 French opponent.

Tennis News

At $2.77M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017, Rome, Italy (Premier 5)

[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt (ALT) Olga Savchuk (UKR)/ Elina Svitolina (UKR) w/o

Sania-Yaroslava enter into the quarters without hitting the ball.

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At €106K+H Bordeaux Challenger 2017, France (Red clay)

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 62 67(4) 10-6
[QF] (2) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Maxime Janvier (FRA)/ Laurent Lokoli (FRA) 64 64

Lee-Scott scored comfortable victory over local wildcard pair ... Divij-Purav scored tight win over Aussie pair for entering into the semis ... Next, they r facing Lee and Scott.

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At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 75 76(5)
[QF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Sanjar Fayziev (UZB) 75 46 10-7

[SF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)
[SF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Zdenek Kolar (CZE)

Prajnesh-Vishnu entered in the semis with two tight sets win against good pair ... Other hand RamK-Toshihide needed the match tie-break for the victory.

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At $25K Nigeria F3 futures 2017, Abuja

[R2] Haadin BAVA (IND,796) bt Karim HOSSAM (EGY,1057) 62 4-1 retd.
[R2] Kunal ANAND (IND,1346) l (7) Takanyi GARANGANGA (ZIM,432) 26 26
[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,426) l Christopher DIAZ-FIGUEROA (GUA,754) 46 67(1)

[QF] Haadin BAVA (IND,796) vs (1) Calvin HEMERY (FRA,283)

Only Haadin managed to enter into the quarters but facing top-300 French opponent in the quarters ... Sasi lost against lower ranked opponent.

Tennis News

At €4.5M Rome Masters 2017, Spain

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt (WC) Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) 64 62

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (7) Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Marc Lopez (ESP)

Comfortable win for Rohan-Pablo ... After winning the first set they were 0-2 down before winning next 6 games in a row ... Next, they r facing 7th seed Lopezs.

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At €106K+H Bordeaux Challenger 2017, France (Red clay)

[R1] (2) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Gregoire Barrere (FRA)/ Mathias Bourgue (FRA) 62 75

[QF] (2) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Maxime Janvier (FRA)/ Laurent Lokoli (FRA)

Lee-Scott started with straight sets win over local pair ... Next, they r facing another local wildcard pair.

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At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Joris De Loore (BEL)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH) 3-1 retd.
[R1] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Michael Mmoh (USA) 76(3) 36 10-5

[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
[QF] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Sanjar Fayziev (UZB)

RamK-Matsui entered into the quarters after winning their match in the match tie-break ... Next, they r facing local wild card pair, who scored upset win over 2nd seed ... Vishnu-Prajnesh also joined them as their opponents retired after De Loore neck injury ... Next, they r facing Ukrainian pair, who also scored upset win over 3rd seed.

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At $75K Heilbronn Challenger 2017, Germany (Red Clay)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Andreas Mies (GER) 61 57 10-7

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (1) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO)

Jeevan-Chris started with the match tie-break win over experienced Cerretani and Mies ... Next, they r facing top-seed pairing of Jebavy and Sancic.

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At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Qujing, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,325) l (Q) Meiling Wang (CHN,1013) 26 26

Poor loss for Ankita against 17 yrs old Chinese girl.

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At $25K Nigeria F3 futures 2017,

[R1] Haadin BAVA (IND,796) bt (8) Fernando ROMBOLI (BRA,486) 76(4) 67(6) 64
[R1] Kunal ANAND (IND,1346) bt (WC) Christian PAUL (NGR,UNR) 61 61
[R1] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,426) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND,UNR) 64 61
[R1] Mohit JAIN (IND,UNR) l (2) Brayden SCHNUR (CAN,264) 16 06

[R2] Haadin BAVA (IND,796) vs Karim HOSSAM (EGY,1057)
[R2] Kunal ANAND (IND,1346) vs (7) Takanyi GARANGANGA (ZIM,432)
[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,426) vs Christopher DIAZ-FIGUEROA (GUA,754)

Haadin has started to show some consistency in his results ... Here he started with hard fought upset win over top-500 Brazilian opponent Romboli ... Sasi and Kunal also joined him with straight sets win.

Squash News

At $5K Men's SYS Open 2017, Southampton, New York, USA

[R1] (3) Kush Kumar (IND,165) bt Timothy Lasusa (USA,280) 11-4, 11-4, 11-8
[R1] (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,493) bt (6) Scott Young (ENG,279) 11-4, 11-3, 11-2

[QF] (3) Kush Kumar (IND,165) bt Spencer Lovejoy (USA,339) 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9 (75m)
[QF] (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,493) bt (4) Noah Browne (BER,231) 11-2, 11-2, 11-8 (38m)

[SF] (3) Kush Kumar (IND,165) bt (Q) Timothy Brownell (USA,452) 14-12, 11-5, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7 (63m)
[SF] (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,493) bt (2) Clinton Leeuw (RSA,143) 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (32m)

[F] (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,493) bt (3) Kush Kumar (IND,165) 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (31m)

Ramit Tandon won the $5K title in the US beating another Indian Kush Kumar in the final ... Ramit has joined US college so last few years he participated in very few tournaments ... Here, he won all his matches convincingly as a qualifier for lifting his 1st PSA title.

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At $5K Men's Malaysian Tour No9 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] (8) Ravi Dixit (IND,180) bt (Q) Muhammad Shoaib Hassan (PAK,315) 3-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (40m)
[R1] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (Q) Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS,382) 8-11, 11-3, 15-13, 11-1 (45m)

[QF] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (8) Ravi Dixit (IND,180) 11-4, 11-8, 11-3 (27m)

[SF] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt (4) Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS,105) 11-7, 7-11, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4 (66m)

[F] (2) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,89) bt Henry Leung (HKG,161) 11-0, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)

Harinder Pal Singh lifted his 6th PSA title but 1st outside India on Malaysian tour ... In the final he defeated Henry Leung convincingly.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

[Q3] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,418) l (1) Danilo Petrovic (SRB,295) 46 46

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,262) l (4) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,176) 63 36 67(2)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,270) l (3) Jason Jung (TPE,173) 63 67(1) 46

Again first round loss for Prajnesh but his losses were against higher ranked players and he gave fighting performance in those ... Here also, he started aftr winning the first set but Jung came back in the match after winning the tie-break comfortably and then completed win in the third.

With RamK's loss Indian challenge got over in the singles ... RamK also started with winning the first set but in the second set from 3-all he lost his serve in 8th game for losing the set ... In the final set, he took match into the tie-break but Adrian took 0-5 lead before winning it comfortably.

Vishnu lost in straight sets against Petrovic in the final qualifying.

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At €106K+H Bordeaux Challenger 2017, France (Red clay)

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Maxime Hamou (FRA)/ Romain Jouan (FRA) 75 60
[R1] (2) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Gregoire Barrere (FRA)/ Mathias Bourgue (FRA)

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)

Purav-Divij r playing in Bordeaux challenger with Lee ... Lee is back with Scott Lipsky, so maybe he is planning to participate in French open with Scott ... Both pairs r in bottom draw and can face each other in the semis.

Purav-Divij started with a comfortable win over local wild card pair ... Next, they r facing Aussie pair in the quarters ... Lee-Scott will also face local wild card pair in the first round.

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At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Qujing, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,325) vs (Q) Meiling Wang (CHN,1013)

Ankita is back in China for ITF tournament.

Tennis News

At €4.5M Rome Masters 2017, Italy

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Rohan-Pablo r facing local wild-card pair.

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At $2.77M Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2017, Rome, Italy (Premier 5)

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bye

Sania-Yaroslava r having bye in the first round.

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At $75K+H Samarkand Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan (Red clay)

[Q1] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,420) bt (WC) Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ,1856) 61 62
[Q2] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,420) bt (WC) Sharobiddin Abzalov (UZB,1536) 61 63

[Q3] (8) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,420) vs (1) Danilo Petrovic (SRB,292)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs (4) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,177)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,269) vs (3) Jason Jung (TPE,167)

Doubles
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Joris De Loore (BEL)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH)
[R1] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Michael Mmoh (USA)

Prajnesh and RamK having tough first round matches ... Vishnu is playing in the final qualifying round against top-300 Serbian.

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At $75K Heilbronn Challenger, Germany (Red Clay)

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Andreas Mies (GER)

This week Jeevan-Rungkat r unseeded and they r facing Cerretani-Mies.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,273) l Egor Gerasimov (BLR,225) 16 46

Yuki lost comprehensively against Gerasimov ... Gerasimov overpowered and took full advantage of unforced errors from Yuki ... Still turned up as a good week for Yuki.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[SF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) l (2) Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,270) 63 16 46

Courtesy to Ankita's FB page

Doubles
[R1] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Punnin KOVAPITUKTED (THA)/ Si Qi LIU (CHN) 64 61
[QF] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Kamonwan BUAYAM (THA)/ Shanshan GUO (CHN) 64 62
[SF] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA)/ Sung-Hee HAN (KOR) 61 61

Doubles Final
(1) Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR) bt Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA)/ Yukun ZHANG (CHN) 62 60

Karman lost against local top-275 player in three sets ... After winning the first set Karman failed to keep same momentum in last two sets.

Ankita lifted her 10th ITF doubles title with her British partner Emily Webley-Smith ... They scored dominating win in the final against Thai-Chinese pair and here they won their all matches comfortably.

Tennis News

At $5.9M Mutua Madrid Open 2017, Spain

[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) l Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Simona Halep (ROU) 36 63 6-10

Not as such a great start for Sania-Yaroslava as they lost in the quarters against Romanian pairing of Begu and Halep in the match tie-break.

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At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt (1) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,96) 62 64

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,273) vs Egor Gerasimov (BLR,225)

Yuki scored dominating win over top-100 Sergiy Stakhovsky in two sets, also first top-100 win of season 2017 ... This is a huge win for Yuki before French open qualifying and simply showing that he is coming back to his form after injury break ... In the first set, after 2-all he dominated Stakhovsky ... He broke Stakhovsky in 5th and 7th games for winning this set comfortably after converting 4th set point ... In the second set, Yuki broke Stakhovsky in 3rd game and then hold his service games for winning this match ... In this match, Yuki played attacking game and his ground strokes had power, authority and placement ... Next, he is facing Belarus player Egor Gerasimov.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) bt Giuliana Olmos (MEX,514) 61 63

[SF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) vs (2) Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,270)

Karman moved to the semi-final with dominating win over Mexican girl Olmos, who defeated Ankita in the second round ... Next, she is having tough match against local top-275 player for place in the final.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt (8) Aldin Setkic (BIH,231) 75 75
[R2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,318) l Egor Gerasimov (BLR,225) 36 46

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND,273) vs (1) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,96)

Yuki scored impressive win over Aldin Setkic in straight sets ... In the first set, he saved 3 set points at 4-5 and 0-40 before breaking Setkic in 11th game for winning it ... In the second set also, Yuki was break up at 4-3 but then failed to hold his serve in 8th game ... Again he broke Setkic in 11th game and then hold comfortably for a win .. Next, he is having tough challenge of top-100 Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) bt Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN,583) 63 36 75
[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,319) l Giuliana Olmos (MEX,514) 63 57 26

[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) vs Giuliana Olmos (MEX,514)

Nice to see Karman beating a Japanese girl Muramatsu whom she had lost in the previous week ... Karman scored impressive win in 3 hours 30 mins long match ... Next, she will facing Mexican girl Giuliana Olmos, who scored upset win over Ankita ... Moreover Ankita had a match point in the second set before losing this match ... Bad loss for Ankita.

Table Tennis News

At Challenge Seamaster Brazil Open 2017, Sao Paulo (3-5 May 2017)

[R16] Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) l Eric Jouti (BRA) 1-4 (11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 9-11, 7-11)
[R16] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Massao Kohatsu (BRA) 4-1 (11-4, 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6)

[QF] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Hunor Szocs (ROU) 4-0 (11-6, 13-11, 11-8, 11-7)

[SF] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Philipp Floritz (BUL) 4-3 (6-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)

Men's Singles Final
Amalraj Anthony (IND) l Hugo Calderano (BRA) 1-4 (12-14, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 5-11)

Turned out to be two terrific weeks for Amalraj as he was finalists in back to back South American ITTF Challenge tournaments, though he missed winning the title.

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At Challenge Seamaster Chile Open 2017, Santiago de Chile (26-30 April 2017)

[R16] Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) bt Juan Daher (ARG) 4-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-6, 11-2)
[R16] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Pablo Tabchnik (ARG) 4-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9)

[QF] Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) bt Horacio Cifuentes (ARG) 4-1 (7-11, 16-14, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4)
[QF] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Gaston Alto (ARG) 4-2 (7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, 5-11, 11-6)

[SF] Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) bt Philipp Floritz (BUL) 4-0 (13-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6)
[SF] Amalraj Anthony (IND) bt Hunor Szocs (ROU) 4-1 (4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6)

Men's Singles Final
Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) bt Amalraj Anthony (IND) 4-2 (8-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7)

In this Chilean Challenge tournament, Soumyajit lifted the title beating Amalraj in the final.

Tennis News

At €6.4M Madrid Masters 2017, Spain

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vsl Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 36 26

A one-sided loss for Rohan-Pablo against Martin-Nestor.

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At $5.9M Mutua Madrid Open 2017, Spain

[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt Christina Mchale (USA)/ Monica Niculescu (ROU) 61 75

Sania and Yaraslova started with straight sets win over Mchale and Niculescu.

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At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,269) 64 62
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,315) bt (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB,883) 63 61
[R1] (7) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) l Cem Ilkel (TUR,323) 46 46

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,273) vs (8) Aldin Setkic (BIH,231)
[R2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,318) vs Egor Gerasimov (BLR,225)

Doubles
[R1] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 67(7) 36
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) l Aslan Karatsev (RUS)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH) 46 62 4-10
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (4) Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Yaraslav Shyla (BLR) 67(8) 67(8)

In the battle of Indians, Yuki showed supremecy over his fellow Indian ... He defeated Prajnesh convincingly ... In the first set, Yuki broke Prajnesh in 7th game to take 4-3 lead and kept this break advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, he broke Prajnesh 5th and 7th games for winning it comfortably ... In the second round, he is facing 8th seed Aldin Setkic.

Bala took full advantage of a weak draw and scored dominating win over Uzbek Davis cupper Farrukh Dustov ... Next, he is facing Egor Gerasimov, who defeated his seeded countryman in the first round.

RamK failed to challenge Ilkel in his loss, may be struggling with jet lag ... He also lost in the first round of the doubles with his Japanese partner.

It was a terrible day in the doubles as our other two pairs also lost in the first round ... Yuki-Jung lost in the match tie-break ... And Vishnu-Bala lost against 4th seed Belarus pair in two tight tie-breaks.

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At $75K Rome Challenger, Italy (Red Clay)

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)/ Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 67(3) 36

Jeevan and Rungkat lost in the first round against Coppejans and Fucsovics.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,319) bt (Q) Yukun Zhang (CHN,710) 61 61

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,522) vs Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN,583)
[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,319) vs Giuliana Olmos (MEX,514)

Ankita started with dominating win over Chinese qualifier ... Next, she is facing Mexican girl Olmos and Karman is facing Japanese girl Muramatsu.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,381) l Vladyslav Manafov (UKR,348) 36 75

Doubles
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Marek Jaloviec (CZE) l (2) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS) 57 46

Disapopinting loss of vishnu in the singles against similar ranked player.

Prajnesh and his Czech partner Marek Jaloviec lost in the doubles against 2nd seed Russian in close two sets.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,538) bt (WC) Mananchaya SAWANGKAEW (THA,UNR) 62 67(4) 62

Surprising struggle for Karman against 14 yrs old thai girl but at least she started with a win.

Boxing News

At the Asian Championships 2017, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

India have seven boxers confirmed for the World Championships in Germany scheduled from August 25 ... The top six boxers from each weight category in the Asian event qualified for the championship.

Our four boxers have qualified after winning the medals, are the silver-medallists Shiva Thapa (60kg) and Sumit Sangwan (91kg) along with the bronze medal winning duo of Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Amit Phangal (49kg) ... Satish Kumar (+91kg), Manoj Kumar (69kg) and Kavinder Singh Bisht (52kg), who qualified for the World Championships after winning their respective box-offs ... Kavinder Singh Bisht (52kg) got a walkover against Malaysia's Salam Abdul Kasim ... Manoj prevailed in a split decision against second-seeded Chinese Liu Wei ... Satish sailed past China's Mu Haipeng in a unanimous verdict ... Before that Bisht, Manoj and Satish had lost in the quarterfinals of the Asian championships.

Tennis News

At €6.4M Madrid Masters 2017, Spain

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)


Rohan-Pablo can face Bryans in the second round.

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At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[R1] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Jason Jung (TPE) vs Aslan Karatsev (RUS)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (4) Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Yaraslav Shyla (BLR)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Marek Jaloviec (CZE) vs (2) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)

Our all players r playing in the doubles and having tough first round matches.

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At $75K Rome Challenger, Italy (Red Clay)

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)/ Marton Fucsovics (HUN)

This week Jeevan is back with Rungkat in Rome challenger.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,538) vs (WC) Mananchaya SAWANGKAEW (THA,UNR)
[R1] (4) Ankita RAINA (IND,313) vs (Q) Yukun ZHANG (CHN,710)

Favorable first round matches for Karman and Ankita.

Hockey News

At 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017, Ipoh, Malaysia

For Third Place
India bt New Zealand 4-0 (2-0)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 17' PC and 27' PC, SV Sunil (IND) 48', Talwinder Singh (IND) 60'

Today, India outclassed New Zealand 4-0 to clinch a bronze medal in the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup ... Our forwards again disappointed with their overall performance but we avoided silly errors ... In bigger tournament we need to avoid one of lethargic performance like against Malaysia for winning the medal.

Tennis News

At $5.9M Mutua Madrid Open 2017, Spain

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bye

Sania clay court season begins with her new partner Yaroslava Shvedova in Madrid ... They r 3rd seed and having a bye in the first round.

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At $75K+H Karshi Challenger 2017, Uzbekistan

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) vs Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,269)
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,381) vs Vladyslav Manafov (UKR,348)
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,315) vs (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB,883)
[R1] (7) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs Cem Ilkel (TUR,323)

Yuki and Prajnesh r facing each other in the first round ... Otherwise, winnable first round matches for our players.

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At $75K+H Ostrava Challenger, Czech Republic (Clay)

Doubles Final
(1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Lukas Rosol (CZE) 63 62

Jeevan with Skugor lifted Ostrava challenger beating Junaid and Rosol comfortably ... This is Jeevan's 4th challenger title and the first of season.

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At $50K+H Gimcheon Challenger 2017, Korea

[SF] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) l Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 64 36 7-10

Yuki-Brydan lost this rain-delayed semi-final in the match tie-break after winning the first set.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Ostrava Challenger, Czech Republic (Clay)

[SF] (1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) w/o

Jeevan and Skugor in the final without hitting the ball due to walkover from their Spanish opponents.

Hockey News

At 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017, Ipoh, Malaysia

India l Malaysia 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Shahril Saabah (MAS) 50'

A listless India slumped to a heart-breaking 0-1 defeat to hosts Malaysia in their last league match as they failed to reach the final ... We required win by 2 goals after Britain's 3-2 victory against New Zealand ... But our forward line failed to breach Malaysian defense ... Other hand Malaysian side were regularly entering into our circle and 4th quarter back to back penalty corners helped them to score a winner ... So now we will play for Bronze against New Zealand.

Tennis News

At €540K Estoril Open 2017, Portugal (Red clay)

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Ariel Behar (URU)/ Aliaksandr Bury (BLR) 57 36
[QF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) l Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 67(2) 64 8-10

Our both pairs lost in the quarters in contrasting style ... Lee-Andre managed to take the match in match tie-break but failed to win it against Spanish pair ... Divij-Purav lost in straight sets.

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At $75K Savannah Challenger 2017, Georgia, USA (green clay)

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) l (6) Stefan Kozlov (USA,144) 16 26

Doubles
[QF] Andre Ghem (BRA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (3) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA) 26 36

The one-sided loss in an hour for RamK against Kozlov ... Also in the doubles, failed to produce much fight with his Brazilian partner Ghem against 3rd seed.

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At $75K+H Ostrava Challenger, Czech Republic (Clay)

[R1] (1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/ Matteo Donati (ITA) 63 63
[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ David Poljak (CZE) l Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 26 64 7-10

[QF] (1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Norbet Gombos (SVK)/ Zdnek Kolar (CZE) 64 57 10-3

[SF] (1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)

Jeevan and Skugor r in the semis and facing Spanish pair, who defeated Sumit and his partner in the first round ... Jeevan and Skugor scored back to back win over good clay court specialist pairs.

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At $50K+H Gimcheon Challenger 2017, Korea

[QF] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) bt (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 76(3) 46 11-9

[SF] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) vs Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)

Yuki-Brydan scored hard fought upset win over top-seed Ratiwatanas ... After winning the first set Yuki-Brydan lost the second but they kept fighting in the match tie-break for winning it on extra points ... Next, they r facing experienced eimuraz Gabashvili and Marco Chiudinelli.

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At $25K Nigeria F1 Futures 2017, Abuja

[QF] Haadin BAVA (IND,833) l Moez ECHARGUI (TUN,792) 16 36

Straight sets loss for Haadin against Moez.

Tennis News

At €540K Estoril Open 2017, Portugal (Red clay)

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 60 76(4)
[R!] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) bt Renzo Olivo (ARG)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 76(1) 62

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Ariel Behar (URU)/ Aliaksandr Bury (BLR)
[QF] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/ Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

Divij-Purav started with upset win over 3rd seed Daniell-Demoliner in straight sets ... Next, they r facing Bury and Behar.

Lee and Andre Sa also started with straight sets win over their opponents ... Next, they r having tricky match against Spanish pair.

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At $50K+H Gimcheon Challenger 2017, Korea

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) l (2) Konstnin Kravchuk (RUS,105) 26 61 36

Doubles
[R1] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) bt (WC) Yunseong Chung (KOR)/ Soon Woo Kwon (KOR) 46 64 10-3

[QF] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Yuki gave fighting performance after losing the first set against Kravchuk ... He was little rusty and that was expected but he still kept trying till end.

Yuki-Brydan won in the match tie-break against local wildcard pair ... Next, they r facing top-seed Ratiwatanas.

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At $25K Nigeria F1 Futures 2017, Abuja

[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,425) l Fabiano DE PAULA (BRA,699) 61 36 46
[R2] Haadin BAVA (IND,833) bt (WC) Ivan MARRERO CURBELO (ESP,UNR) 76(2) 62

[QF] Haadin BAVA (IND,833) vs Moez ECHARGUI (TUN,792)

Haadin continued with his good form for entering into the quarters ... Next he is facing similar ranked Tunisian opponent ... But disappointed to see Sasi's loss after winning the first set.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R2] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,538) l Chihiro MURAMATSU (JPN,512) 57 36

Hoping for better result for Karman.

Hockey News

At 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017, Ipoh, Malaysia

India bt Japan 4-3 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 8' PC, Mandeep Singh (IND) 45', 51' and 58' and Kazuma Murata (JPN) 13', Heita Yoshihara (JPN) 43', Genki Mitani (JPN) 45'

Mandeep Singh's hat-trick saved embarrassment of losing against spirited Japanese team ... Japan matched Indian game and kept pressure throughout the match, we were two goals down, 1-3 ... But Mandeep opportunist goal scoring helped us for winning this match and keep our hope alive for the final.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Gimcheon Challenger 2017, Korea

[R1] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) bt (WC) Seong-chan Hong (KOR,517) 63 36 64

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,283) vs (2) Konstnin Kravchuk (RUS,105)

Good win for Yuki against former junior WR #2 Seong-chan Hong in three sets ... He was looking rusty after a month break but in the third he responded well for completing the win ... Next, he is facing WR #105 Konstnin Kravchuk.

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At $75K Savannah Challenger 2017, Georgia, USA (green clay)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) bt (WC) Ryan Shane (USA,504) 64 75

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,217) vs (6) Stefan Kozlov (USA,144)

RamK scored straight sets win over Ryan Shane ... Next, he is facing 6th seed Stefan Kozlov.

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At $25K Nigeria F1 Futures 2017, Abuja

[R1] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,425) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND,UNR) 62 64
[R1] (Q) Rishabdev RAMAN (IND,UNR) l (WC) Ivan MARRERO CURBELO (ESP,UNR) 26 06
[R1] Haadin BAVA (IND,833) bt (8) Fernando ROMBOLI (BRA,484) 63 64

[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,425) vs Fabiano DE PAULA (BRA,699)
[R2] Haadin BAVA (IND,833) vs (WC) Ivan MARRERO CURBELO (ESP,UNR)

Haadin started with good upset win over top-500 Brazilian opponent ... Expected easy win for Sasi against Anvit.

Hockey News

At 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017, Ipoh, Malaysia

India l Australia 1-3 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 25' PC and Eddie Ockenden (AUS) 26', Tom Craig (AUS), Tom Wickham (AUS) 51'

The Indian men's hockey team have suffered their first loss at the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament, losing 1-3 to world champions Australia in Ipoh ... Australian gave authorative peformance in the second half and Sreejesh's absentee due to injry also cost us two goals

Tennis News

At €540K Estoril Open 2017, Portugal (Red clay)

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)
[R1] (4) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs Renzo Olivo (ARG)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)

This week, Purav, Divij and Leander r playing at Portugal ... Purav-Divij having a tough match against 3rd seed pair ... Lee is back with Sa and they r 4th seed.

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At $50K+H Gimcheon Challenger 2017, Korea

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,269) l (1) Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,56) 26 26

Doubles
[R1] (PR) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Brydan Klein (GBR) vs (WC) Yunseong Chung (KOR)/ Soon Woo Kwon (KOR)

Lu proved too strong for Prajnesh in his one-sided loss.

Yuki is playing in the doubles with Brydan Klein and they r facing local wild card pair.

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At $75K+H Ostrava Challenger, Czech Republic (Clay)

[R1] (1) Franko Skugor (CRO)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/ Matteo Donati (ITA)
[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ David Poljak (CZE) vs Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)

Jeevan is top-seed with his Croatian partner Skugor and they r facing Italian pair in the first round ... Sumit has received a wild card for the doubles with local player David Poljak.

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At $75K Savannah Challenger 2017, Georgia, USA (green clay)

[R1] Andre Ghem (BRA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) Damon Gooch (RSA)/ Wil Spencer (USA) 64 64

[QF] Andre Ghem (BRA)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (3) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Mitchell Krueger (USA)

This week RamK should have avoided the doubles .. Comfortable straight sets win for him in the doubles with Andre Ghem ... Next they r facing 3rd seed pair.

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At $15K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,538) bt Haruka KAJI (JPN,570) 61 63

[R2] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,538) vs Chihiro MURAMATSU (JPN,512)

This week only Karman is in maindraw ... She started with ccomfortable win over her Japanese opponent ... Next, she is facing another Japanese challenge of Muramatsu.