Saturday, September 30, 2017

Tennis News

At $6.3M China WTA Open, Beijing (Premier)

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) bye

This week also Sania-Shuai r in the top draw with Hingis and Chan.

At $4.2M China Open 2017, Beijing

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN)

This week Rohan is back with Cuevas and they r playing local wild-card pair.

At $1M Chengdu Open 2017, China

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) l Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 36 36

Daniell-Demoliner proved better pair on the court as they defeated Divij and Lu in the straight sets.

At $100K Tiburon Challenger 2017, California, USA

[SF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) l (8) Cameron Norrie (GBR,165) 36 26

Prajnesh lost in the straight sets against an in-form Cameron Norrie ... Still, this was overall a good week for Prajnesh.

At $125K+H Kaohsiung Challenger 2017, Taiwan

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,268) vs (3) Marius Copil (ROU,83)
[R1] (7) Yuki Bhambri (IND,155) vs John Millman (AUS,190)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Jui-Chen Hung (TPE)/ Cheng-Yu Yu (TPE)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (2) James Cerretani (USA)/ Marc Polmans (AUS)

A tough draw for Sumit as he is playing top-100 Romanian in the first round ... Yuki is facing Aussie Millman but lot depends upon Yuki's fitness.

In the doubles, Divij is partnering Lipsky and they r facing local wild-card pairs in first 2 matches ... Jeevan and Vishnu r facing 2nd seed pair, but they can be dangerous floaters in this draw.


At $100K Stockton Challenger 2017, California, USA

[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) vs Christian Harrison (USA,266)

RamK is facing Christian Harrison, brother of Ryan, in the first round.

At $15K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[SF] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) l (2) Pei-Chi Lee (TPE,503) 36 46

Kanika lost against her doubles partner, Pei-Chi Lee, in the straight sets.

Squash News

At $50K Women's NetSuite Open 2017, San Francisco, USA

[SF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) l (2) Nicol David (MAS,5) 3-11, 0-11, 5-11 (22m)

Legendary Nicol David didn't give any chance to Dipika for setting in the match and scored a convincing win in the semis.

Friday, September 29, 2017

Tennis News

At $2.3M Dongfeng Motor Wuhan WTA Open, China (Premier 5)

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) l (1) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Martina Hingis (SUI) 67(5) 46

Sania-Shuai failed to overcome a tough challenge of WR #1 Hingis and Chan and lost in two close sets.

At $100K Tiburon Challenger 2017, California, USA

[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) bt Frank Dancevic (CAN,356) 46 64 64

[SF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs (8) Cameron Norrie (GBR,165)

Prajnesh has entered into his first challenger semi-final outside India with excellent comeback win over experienced challenger level player Canadian Dancevic ... In the first set, Prajnesh broke Dancevic in 7th game to lead 4-3 ... But Dancevic responded strongly and won next three games for winning the set, in that he broke Prajnesh in 8th and 10th games ... From the second set, Prajnesh took control of the match with his powerful forehands and consistent backhands ... He broke Dancevic in the 3rd game tp lead 3-1 ... Prajnesh kept that advantage for taking the match into the decider ... In the final set also repeated the same story, as Prajnesh broke him 3rd game and kept that advantage to compete the win ... Next, he is having tough match against an in-form player Cameron Norrie ... Norrie having consistent summer after the Wimbledon as he won the challenger, reached into the final and semi-final in others and as an qualifier he reached the second round of US Open.

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[QF] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) l (2) Jacqueline Cako (USA,210) 46 16

Young Pranjala's terrific run ended in the semis against top-225 American girl in the straight sets ... Still, this was overall pleasing performance by Pranjala as an qualifier.

At $25K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) l (2) Marie Bouzkova (CZE,185) 06 06

The 2014 US Open girls' singles winner, Marie Bouzkova handed double bagel to Karman ... Bouzkova was too strong for Karman, who managed to win only 12 points in this match ... Karman needs to take this loss positively as a learning experience to work on her game and shortcomings tobe more stronger.

At $15K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) bt Emilie Francati (DEN,794) 26 62 61

[SF] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) vs (2) Pei-Chi Lee (TPE,503)

Kanika scored an excellent comeback win against her higher-ranked Danish player ... After losing the first set she gave a strong performance for winning next two sets ... Next, she is facing top-500 type and her doubles partner for this week, Pei-Chi Lee.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Tennis News

At $2.3M Dongfeng Motor Wuhan WTA Open, China (Premier 5)

[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)/ Donna Vekic (CRO) 26 76(4) 10-6

[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) bt (7) Alicja Rosolska (POL)/ Abigail Spears (USA) 36 63 10-5

[SF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) vs (1) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Martina Hingis (SUI)

Sania-Shuai scored back to back comeback wins for entering into the semis ... They r facing a tough challenge of WR #1 Hingis and Chan for the place in the final.

At $1M Chengdu Open 2017, China

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) bt (4) Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 63 63

[SF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)

Solis straight sets win by Divij and Lu against 4th seed Inglot and Nestor ... Next, they r facing Daniell-Demoliner.

At $100K Tiburon Challenger 2017, California, USA

[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs Frank Dancevic (CAN,356)



At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[QF] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) bt Pemra Ozgen (TUR,381) 62 60

Pranjala gave a solid performance against her experienced Turkish opponent and completed win losing only two games ... Good to see that she is reaching the semi-final of this $25K ITF tournament.

At $25K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) bt (6) Cristiana Ferrando (ITA,283) 64 76(3)

[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) vs (2) Marie Bouzkova (CZE,185)

Excellent win by Karman against in-form Italian girl ... After winning the first set Karman was a break down in the second, 0-1 ... When Ferrando serving for the set at 5-4, Karman saved 4 set points before breaking her ... After she dominated the tie-break for the straight sets win ... Next, she is facing top-200 young Czech player Marie Bouzkova ... Marie Bouzkova won the 2014 US Open girls' singles title.

At $15K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) bt Constanze Stepan (GER,UNR) 61 63
[R2] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) bt Giada Clerici (ITA,943) 60 63

[QF] Kanika Vaidya (IND, 896) vs Emilie Francati (DEN,794)

Kanika r in the quarters with back to back straight sets wins ... In the quarters, she is facing Danish girl Emilie Francati.

Squash News

At $50K Women's NetSuite Open 2017, San Francisco, USA

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) bt (6) Olivia Blatchford (USA,17) 13-11, 11-6, 11-9 (35m)

Dipika scored another impressive win over top-20 American player, Olivia Blatchford ... She defeated Olivia in the straight games after winning the first game in extra points ... After longtime Dipika has scored back to back wins over higher ranked opponents.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Tennis News

At $2.3M Dongfeng Motor Wuhan WTA Open, China (Premier 5)

[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)vs Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)/ Donna Vekic (CRO) 2-0 suspended

The match suspended due to rain.

At $731K Shenzhen Open 2017, China

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 26 0-1 retd.

After losing the first set our pair forfeited the match due to retirement ... As per the draw sheet, the issue was with Lee's lower back.

At $1M Chengdu Open 2017, China

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) bt Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 46 75 10-6

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs (4) Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Divij with Lu started with an excellent comeback win over Ratiwatana and Sugita after losing the first set ... Next, they r facing 4th seed pairing of Nestor and Inglot.

At $100K Tiburon Challenger 2017, California, USA

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) bt (Q) Deiton Baughman (USA,708) 76(5) 64

[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs Frank Dancevic (CAN,356)

Doubles
[R1] Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (Q) Tom Fawcett (USA)/ Edan Leshem (ISR) 16 16

Prajnesh scored another straight sets win over American qualifier ... After winning the first set in tie-break Prajnesh was a break down in the second set at 3-4 ... He won next 3 games, breaking Baughman in 8th and 10th games, for completing victory ... Next, he is having tricky match against a veteran Canadian Frank Dancevic.

Another one-sided loss for RamK, this time in the doubles with his Mexican partner against qualifiers.


At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R2] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) bt (Q) Ao Gai(CHN,599) 46 60 61

[QF] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) vs Pemra Ozgen (TUR,381)

Pranjala scored an impressive win over her Chinese opponent ... After losing the first set she dominated the match and won next two sets losing only a single game ... Next, she is facing Turkish experienced player, Pemra Ozgen.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Squash News

At $50K Women's NetSuite Open 2017, San Francisco, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) bt (4) Emily Whitlock (ENG,13) 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 (52m)

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) vs (6) Olivia Blatchford (USA,17)

Dipika scored impressive win over top-15 British girl in the first round ... She won this closely fought match in four games ... Next, she is facing young American top-20 player, Olivia Blatchford.

Tennis News

At $100K Tiburon Challenger 2017, California, USA

[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) l (LL) Jan Choinski (GER,325) 16 26
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) bt (Q) Evan King (USA,251) 62 64

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs (WC) Deiton Baughman (USA,708)

Doubles
[R1] Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (Q) Tom Fawcett (USA)/ Edan Leshem (ISR)

At last Prajnesh scored a win in the challenger over similar ranked American qualifier in the straight sets ... Next, he is facing American college player, Deiton Baughman ... But totally surprised by RamK's loss against German player and that scoreline was shocking ... So turn to be poor last two weeks for RamK.

In the doubles, RamK is partnering his Mexican partner and they r facing qualifiers.


At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) bt (Q) Andrea Ka (CAM,624) 46 61 76(1)

[R2] (Q) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,608) vs (Q) Ao Gai(CHN,599)

This week's $25K tournament, only Pranjala qualified for the main-draw ... She started with a hard fought win over similar ranked Ka ... Next, she is facing Chinese qualifier, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Japanese player ... Rutuja has skipped this tournament due to injury.

At $25K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) bt Katie Swan (GBR,362) 60 46 62

Karman scored really good win over former junior Australian open finalist Katie Swan in three sets.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Squash News

At $50K Men's Macau Open 2017, Taipa, Macau

Men's Final
(4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) l (2) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY,13) 1-11, 4-11, 4-11 (29m)

Saurav failed to challenge in-form young Egyptian in this one-sided loss in the final ... This result was expected considering Abouelghar's performance in the previous matches.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2018 - Asia/ Oceania Group I,

India is top-seed in Asia/ Oceania Group I and they r having bye in the first round ... For the place in play-off, they will face winner between China and New Zealand in away tie in April 2018.

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Squash News

At $50K Men's Macau Open 2017, Taipa, Macau

[SF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) bt (1) Simon Rösner (GER,11) 11-5, 5-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4 (76m)

[F] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) vs (2) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY,13)

After longtime Saurav scored top-10 type win ... He defeated WR #11 German Simon Rösner in a well fought match ... After three games Saurav was 2-1 up, Rösner saved a matchball in the fourth ... But Saurav proved a better player in the fifth ... In the final, Saurav having a tough match against rising Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar.

Tennis News

At $2.3M Dongfeng Motor Wuhan WTA Open, China (Premier 5)

[R1] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) bye

Sania and Shuai r 3rd seeds and received a bye in the first round ... They r in the top-draw with top-seeds Hingis and Chan.

At $731K Shenzhen Open 2017, China

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)

Lee-Purav r facing 2nd seed Rajeev and Peya.

At $1M Chengdu Open 2017, China

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN)

This week, Divij is partnering Lu and playing against another Asian pair in the first round.

At $15K India F9 Futures 2017, Coimbatore

[R1] (1) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,501) bt Dalwinder Singh (IND,1063) 62 63
[R1] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,1157) bt Phongsapak Kerdlaphee (THA,1781) 76(1) 62

[R2] (1) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,501) bt (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1781) 63 75
[R2] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,1157) bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND,1109) 62 62

[QF] (1) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,501) bt (5) Cameron Silverman (USA,779) 64 61
[QF] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,1157) bt (2) Colin Van Beem (NED,644) 64 76(4)

[SF] (1) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,501) bt (7) Aryan Goveas (IND,856) 63 64
[SF] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,1157) bt Ching-Yang Meng (TPE,954) 67(9) 61 60

Singles Final
(1) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,501) vs (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,1157) 63 64

Doubles Final
(1) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) 64 62

Sasi wins back to back futures title after completing the straight sets win over Arjun ... These two titles win will give Sasi much-needed confidence to achieve more on the circuit ... Also turned out to be another excellent week for Arjun as after becoming semi-finalists in last two weeks, he reached in the final beating last two week's finalist and in-form Dutch player, Colin Van Beem, in the quarters ... These three weeks performance has earned him 22 ranking points which will place him around #800-810 from un-ranked in 2nd October ranking.

Sood brothers lifted back to back futures title ... This week, they again defeated Arjun with a different partner, Sasi, in the straight sets.

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX Japan Open 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Superseries)

[SF] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (Q) Takuro Hoki (JPN)/ Sayaka Hirota (JPN) 21-14 15-21 19-21

Pranaav- Sikki failed to keep momentum after winning the first game and lost in the three games against local qualifiers ... Big missed opportunity of playing their first SuperSeries final.

Friday, September 22, 2017

Squash News

At $50K Men's Macau Open 2017, Taipa, Macau

[QF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) bt (6) Yip Tsz Fung (HKG,31) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (38m)

[SF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) vs (1) Simon Rösner (GER,11)

Saurav defeated Yip Tsz Fung in the straight games for entering into the semis ... Next, he is having a tough match against WR #11 German Simon Rösner.

Tennis News

At $1M St. Petersburg Open 2017, Russia

[SF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Julio Peralta (CHI) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 64 36 7-10

Lee-Purav lost in the match tie-break against South American pair ... After winning the first set our pair failed to keep momentum.

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX Japan Open 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Superseries)

[QF] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) l (3) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,2) 17-21 17-21
[QF] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) l (2) Yuqi Shi (CHN,4) 15-21 14-21

[QF] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Seung Jae Seo (KOR)/ Ha Na Kim (KOR) 21-18 9-21 21-19

[SF] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Takuro Hoki (JPN)/ Sayaka Hirota (JPN)

Prannoy failed to challenge Yuqi Shi and lost in the straight games ... Srikanth also lost in the straight games against WR #2 Viktor Axelsen.

Pranaav and Sikki continued with taking advantage of their draw and r in the semis with three games win over ther Korean opponents ... Next, they r facing local pair, it will be interesting to find out when last time our MXD team reached the semis of Superseries tournament ... Before this in 2011, Jwala and Diju reached in the semis of China Superseries.

Squash News

At $50K Men's Macau Open 2017, Taipa, Macau

[R1] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) l (5) Omar Mosaad (EGY,25) 1-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 2-11 (65m)
[R1] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) bt (Q) Mazen Gamal (EGY,56) 5-11, 8-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 (85m)

[QF] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) vs (6) Yip Tsz Fung (HKG,31)

Saurav struggled with his game and poor umpiring in this match and Gamal took full advantage to win first 2 games ... Saurav recovered and made strong comeback for winning last three games ... Next, he is facing Yip Tsz Fung.

Harry managed to win a point in the first game but after that he showed fighting performance against Omar Mosaad and won two games from next three ... But he failed to keep same level of performance in the fifth which Omar Mosaad won comfortably.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Tennis News

At $1M St. Petersburg Open 2017, Russia

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (4) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 62 64

[SF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (1) Julio Peralta (CHI) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

Another comfotable win for Purav and Lee against seeded pair ... Next they r facing top-seed South American pair.

At $75K Columbus Challenger 2017, Ohio, USA

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,153) l Filip Peliwo (CAN,267) 26 16

And today Ramk lost tamely against this lower ranked Canadian ... Turned to be poor challenger for Indians.

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

[QF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) vs Hua-Chen Lee (TPE,707) 16 26

This time one-sided loss for Rutuja against Hua-Chen ... Last week, she defeated Hua-Chen for lifting the title ... May be she was tired after playing in the singles and doubles in last two weeks ... But still I consider this as a bad loss.

Squash News

At $50K Men's Macau Open 2017, Taipa, Macau

[Q1] Abhay Singh (IND) bt Wong Chi Him (HKG,88) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (36m)
[Q1] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt Manuel Chan de Oliveira (MAC,514) 11-1, 11-1, 11-2 (17m)

[Q2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt Abhay Singh (IND,426) 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 (35m)

[R1] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) vs (5) Omar Mosaad (EGY,25)
[R1] (4) Saurav Ghosal (IND,28) vs (Q) Mazen Gamal (EGY,56)

Harry qualified for the main-draw with two straight games win ... In the qualifying, young Abhay Singh also scored a good win over top-100 Hong Kong player ... In the main-draw, Saurav having a winnable match and Harry is facing former WR #3 Omar Mosaad.

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX Japan Open 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Superseries)

[R2] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) bt Yun Hu (HKG,28) 21-12 21-11
[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) bt Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,27) 21-16 23-21
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,25) l (2) Yuqi Shi (CHN,4) 21-10 17-21 15-21

[R2] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) l Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,9) 18-21 8-21
[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) l (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,5) 16-21 13-21

[R2] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (4) Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA) 27-29 21-16 12-21
[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Yuki Kaneko (JPN)/ Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) 21-13 21-17

[QF] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs (3) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,2)
[QF] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) vs (2) Yuqi Shi (CHN,4)

[QF] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Seung Jae Seo (KOR)/ Ha Na Kim (KOR)

Prannoy entered into the quarters with straight games win over en Hao Hsu ... Next, he is facing 2nd seed Yuqi Shi, who defeated Sameer Verma in three games ... In that match, Sameer started well and won the first game comfortably but Yuqi recovered and fought back to win next two games.

Dominating win by Srikanth against Yun Hu losing only 23 points ... Next, he is facing WR #2 Danish player, Viktor Axelsen.

Good to see Pranaav and Sikki taking advantage of the weaker draw for entering into the quarters of Superseries tournament ... They scored straight games win over lower ranked local pair ... Next, they r facing Korean pair.

After longtime our women singles challenge got over in the second round when Sindhu and Saina were plying ... I expected a tough match for Sindhu but she folded easily in the second game against Nozomi Okuhara ... Saina is still long from her top performance as she failed to challenge Carolina Marin in her loss.

Satwik with Ashwin missed a huge opportunity of scoring an upset win over WR #5 Indonesian pair ... In the first game, they had 4 game points at 20-16, which they failed to convert ... They missed total 7 game points before losing the game ... Our pair won the second game with an ease but failed to challenge experienced Indonesian game in the decider.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Tennis News

At $1M St. Petersburg Open 2017, Russia

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA) 63 64

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (4) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)

The winning start for Lee and Purav ... Next, they r facing 4th seed Demoliner and Daniell.

At $75K Columbus Challenger 2017, Ohio, USA

[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l Jose Hernandez-Fernandez (DOM,341) 64 67(5) 0-2 retd.
[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) bt Sekou Bangoura (USA,386) 76(7) 64

[R2] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) vs Filip Peliwo (CAN,267)

Doubles
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (2) Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 57 57

RamK started with straight sets win over Bangoura ... In the first set, RamK had multiple chances for winning the set ... He was two times serving for the set at 5-4 and 6-5, but both time failed to hold ... In the tie-break, he had 2 set points at 6-4 but again failed to convert ... Bangoura committed double fault at 8-7 to help RamK for winning the set ... In the second set, both players exchanged early breaks ... RamK took crucial break in 9th game and this time hold his serve for completing the victory ... Next, he is facing Canadian Filip Peliwo.

In this match from the beginning Yuki struggled with his regular game and was making numerous unforced errors ... He broke Jose in 1st game but was under pressure on his serve ... He saved 7 break points and managed to win the first set with a single break advantage ... In the second set also Yuki broke Jose early to take a lead bu got broken in the 8th game, 4-all ... Yuki broke Jose in 11th game for 6-5 lead but failed to hold his serve while serving for the match ... In the tie-break, he was up 5-2 before losing next 5 points and lost the set ... Yuki got broken in the 1st game of the third set and he retired from the match due to hip injury when he was 0-2 down ... This time almost 12 months Yuki avoided any injury but once again he got injured ... Feeling sad and angry with his injury/ fitness issues as I feel he has got potential of top-75 but instead remains stuck around 125-225 range.

In the doubles, RamK-Prajnesh gave fighting performance against British pair in their straight sets loss.


At $25K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Lubbock, Texas, USA

[R2] (2) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) vs Alisa Kleybanova (RUS,628) 26 26

And former top-20 Kleybanova proved too strong to Karman as she managed to win only 4 games.

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

[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,755) l (1) Julia Glushko (ISR,292) 26 26
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) bt (Q) Jiaxue Zang (CHN,1121) 63 64
[R2] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) l (2) Jia-Qi Kang (CHN,346) 67(7) 67(4)

[QF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) vs Hua-Chen Lee (TPE,707)

Rutuja entered into the quarter with straight sets victory and facing Taipei's Hua-Chen Lee, last week Rutuja defeated Lee in the final in closely fought match.

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX Japan Open 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Superseries)

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,33) l (7) Lin Dan (CHN,3) 21-11 15-21 13-21
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) l (Q) Dong Keun Lee (KOR,50) 23-21 17-21 14-21
[R1] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) bt Tian Houwei (CHN,10) 21-15 12-21 21-11
[R1] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) bt Anders Antonsen (DEN,15) 21-12 21-14
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,25) bt (Q) Khosit Phetpradab (THA,32) 21-12 21-19

[R1] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Minatsu Mitani (JPN,19) 12-21 21-15 21-17
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,25) 21-17 21-9

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth B. Reddy (IND) l (8) Lee Jhe-Huei (TPE)/ Lee Yang (TPE) 18-21 15-21
[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l (3) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 23-25 15-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (3) Ye Na Chang (KOR)/ So Hee Lee (KOR) 17-21 12-21

[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Tinn Isriyanet (THA)/ Pacharapun Chochuwong (THA) 21-17 21-13

[R2] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs Yun Hu (HKG,28)
[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) vs Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,27)
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,25) vs (2) Yuqi Shi (CHN,4)

[R2] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,9)
[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs (5) Carolina Marin (ESP,5)

[R2] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (4) Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA)
[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Yuki Kaneko (JPN)/ Koharu Yonemoto (JPN)

Young Satwik with Ashwin started with straight games win over Thai pair ... Next, they r facing top-10 Indonesian pair.

Srikanth scored a really good win against similar ranked Chinese opponent, Tian Houwei, in three games ... Next, he is facing Hong Kong player, Yun Hu ... Thumping straight games win by Prannoy against top-15 Danish player, Anders Antonsen ... Sameer also scored straight games win over his Thai opponent ... Next, Prannoy is facing Jen Hao Hsu and Sameer is facing tough challenge of WR #4 Chinese Yuqi Shi.

Saina started with a comfortable win over Thai girl ... Next match is between two former WR #1 as Saina is facing Carolina Marin ... Sindhu scored an excellent comeback win over local girl Mitani, but her next match is against current World Champion Nozomi Okuhara ... Last week in Korean open Sindhu defeated her but this time with local support Okuhara's challenge will be tougher.

Sourabh started dominantly against Lin Dan and won the first game comfortably but afterward, Lin Dan recovered and won next two games without much trouble ... Disappointing loss of Sai against Korean qualifier ... After winning the first game Sai failed to keep momentum.

Manu-Summeth lost in straight games against seeded Taipei pair ... Satwik and Chirag gave fighting performance against 3rd seed Indonesian pair in their loss ... Ashwini-Sikki failed to challenge 3rd seed Korean pair.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Tennis News

At €540K Moselle Open 2017, Metz, France

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) l Treat Huey (PHI)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) 46 26

Divij and his British partner Neal Skupski lost in the straight sets against Huey and Martin.

At $75K Columbus Challenger 2017, Ohio, USA

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,227) l (WC) Martin Joyce (USA,1882) 67(4) 67(1)

Poor loss, somehow Prajnesh has failed to adjust challenger level matches but this match was futures qualifying level ... I don't have any comment about how top-225 ranked player lost against 1800+ ranked player.

At $25K ITF Womens Tournament 2017, Lubbock, Texas, USA

[R1] (2) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) bt Thaisa Grana Pedretti (BRA,739) 62 61

[R2] (2) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,315) vs Alisa Kleybanova (RUS,628)

Karman started with a comfortable win over junior top-40 Brazilian girl Pedretti ... Next, she is facing former top-20 singles and former top-10 doubles Russian player, Alisa Kleybanova ... She was Sania's partner when they won Wimbledon Junior Girl's Doubles crown way back in 2003 ... After that in 2011, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer), she recovered from it but struggled to fulfill her potential, still very inspiring story.

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

[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,755) bt (Q) Watsachol Sawasdee (THA,UNR) 75 26 76(6)
[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,787) l (5) Ching-Wen Hsu (TPE,510) 46 06
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) bt (8) Ao Gai (CHN,557) 57 60 64

[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,755) vs (1) Julia Glushko (ISR,292)
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) vs (Q) Jiaxue Zang (CHN,1121)
[R2] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) vs (2) Jia-Qi Kang (CHN,346)

Rutuja continued with her terrific form and scored comeback win over her seeded Chinese opponent ... Natasha saved couple of match points against Thai girl Sawasdee, who reached in the quarters last week, before completing the victory.

In the second round Natasha and Pranjala r facing top 2 seeds and Rutuja is facing an qualifier.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX Japan Open 2017, Tokyo, Japan (Superseries)

[Q1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,45) bt Emil Holst (DEN,37) 21-15 21-14
[Q1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto (JPN)/ Hiroyuki Saeki (JPN) 14-21 22-20 21-18
[Q1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Hiroki Midorikawa (JPN)/ Natsu Saito (JPN) 21-13 21-15

[Q2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,45) l Yu Igarashi (JPN,74) 11-21 21-18 14-21
[Q2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Keiichiro Matsui (JPN)/ Yoshinori Takeuchi (JPN) 21-18 21-12
[Q2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Hiroki Okamura (JPN)/ Naru Shinoya (JPN) 21-18 21-9

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,33) vs (7) Lin Dan (CHN,3)
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) vs (Q) Dong Keun Lee (KOR,)
[R1] (8) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs Tian Houwei (CHN,10)
[R1] Prannoy H.S. (IND,18) vs Anders Antonsen (DEN,15)
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,26) vs (Q) Khosit Phetpradab (THA,32)

[R1] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Minatsu Mitani (JPN,19)
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,25)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth B. Reddy (IND) vs (8) Lee Jhe-Huei (TPE)/ Lee Yang (TPE)
[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (3) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (3) Ye Na Chang (KOR)/ So Hee Lee (KOR)

[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Tinn Isriyanet (THA)/ Pacharapun Chochuwong (THA)
[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Tomoya Takashina (JPN)/ Rie Etoh (JPN) 21-19 17-21 21-15

Big Indian contingent is participating in Japan open ... Saina and Srikanth r back on the court ... Tough matches for Sourabh, Prannoy and Srikanth.

Pranaav and Sikki started with a win over local pair in three games.

Young Satwik with Ashwin qualified for the main-draw with two comfortable wins over local pairs ... In the doubles qualifying, Satwik-Chirag started with comeback win over local pair ... Later in the day, they defeated another local pair and qualify for the main-draw.

Kashyap started with a comfortable win over his higher ranked Danish opponent, but disappointing loss against lower ranked local player in the final qualifying round.

Tennis News

At $75K Columbus Challenger 2017, Ohio, USA

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (2) Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

RamK and Prajnesh r playing in the doubles but having tough match against 2nd seed British pair.

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

[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,755) vs (Q) Watsachol Sawasdee (THA,UNR)
[R1] Zeel Desai (IND,695) l (4) Yue Yuan (CHN,457) 76(5) 26 26
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) bt Aiko Yoshitomi (JPN,687) 61 64

[R2] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) vs (2) Jia-Qi Kang (CHN,346)

Pranjala started with straight sets win ... Next, she is facing top-350 Chinese girl Kang.

Zeel lost in three sets but I don't like the way she lost last two sets easily after winning the first set.

Hockey News

At 10th Asia Cup 2017, Bangladesh

Goalkeepers - Akash Chikte, Suraj Karkera
Defenders - Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar
Midfielders - SK Uthappa, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Chinglensana Singh, Sumit
Forwards - SV Sunil (Vice Captain), Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Satbir Singh.

The team has been announced for 10th Asia Cup ... Midfielder Manpreet Singh will be leading Indian men's hockey team and forward SV Sunil will be his deputy ... Good mixture of experienced and youth in the team ... But I m still not conviced with selection likes Akashdeep, Uthappa and Satbir.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Golf News

At 8.75M BMW Championship 2017, Lake Forest, Illinois, USA (PGA Tour)

T9 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 67 71 68 66 -12 $236,250.00

Anirban finished strongly in his last tournament of the season ... In the final round, he managed six birdies and a bogey to give himself top-10 finish ... So final FedEx standing of Anirban was #51 and only top-30 get participated in Tour Finals.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

India l Canada 2-3

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,202) 57 76(4) 75 75
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51) 67(2) 46 76(6) 64 16

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 57 57 75 36

Day Three
[R4] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) l Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51) 36 67(1) 36
[R5] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,202) 64 46 64

RamK struggled with his first serve in this match and considering his return game is a liability then outcome of the match was already written on the wall ... Shapo took an early break to lead but while serving for the set RamK had break points which he failed to convert ... In the second set, at 6-5 RamK had a set point on Shapo's serve but again failed to convert ... He lost the tie-break cheaply ... With a single break of serve Shapo completed victory for the team Canada ... Though in this match, Shapo wasn't sharp and struggled with his first serve.

After this Yuki and Brayden Schnur played the 5th rubber, which didn't make any impact on overall tie ... Yuki kept his motivation of playing for the country and completed win in three sets ... With this loss we r back in Asia/ Oceania Group I.


At $1M St. Petersburg Open 2017, Russia

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA)

This week Purav and Lee r playing at St. Petersburg and facing Cerretani-Fognini.

At €540K Moselle Open 2017, Metz, France

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA)

Divij is playing in Metz ATP with British partner Neal Skupski ... They r facing Huey and Martin.

At $75K Columbus Challenger 2017, Ohio, USA

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,227) vs (WC) Martin Joyce (USA,1882)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) vs Jose Hernandez-Fernandez (DOM,341)
[R1] (2) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) vs Sekou Bangoura (USA,386)

RamK and Yuki r top-3 seeds but both r in the bottom draw and they can face each other in the semis ... Prajnesh having winnable first round against Joyce.

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

[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,755) vs Qualifier
[R1] Zeel Desai (IND,695) vs (4) Yue Yuan (CHN,457)
[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,787) vs (5) Ching-Wen Hsu (TPE,510)
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,738) vs (8) Ao Gai (CHN,557)
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) vs Aiko Yoshitomi (JPN,687)

Zeel, Sowjanya and Rutuja r facing seeded players in the first round.

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

Women's Singles Final
(5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt (8) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,9) 22-20 11-21 21-18 (83m)

Sindhu became first Indian to win Korean Superseries title beating World Champion Nozomi Okuhara in a quality match ... With that Sindhu took a revenge of World Championship loss against the same player in the final.

In the first game, Sindhu took an early couple of points lead but Nozomi caught her and then both players were neck to neck till 17-all ... Nozomi had two game points at 18-20, but Sindhu kept fighting and won next four points to capture this game ... Nozomi took control of the second game from the beginning and won it comfortably ... In the final game, from 4-all Sindhu took a control with her half smashes and better net game ... At the changeover, she was leading 11-5, but World champion Nozomi raised her game and made sure every point extended to long rally ... Sindhu was visibly tired but kept fighting and at 18-16 she won 56 shots long rally ... Sindhu had 3 match points at 2017 and she converted 2nd when Nozomi hit out.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

India vs Canada 1-2

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,202) 57 76(4) 75 75
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51) 67(2) 46 76(6) 64 16

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 57 57 75 36

Indians failed to overcome the challenge of Canadians and lost in the four sets ... Now, RamK having Hercules task to beat in-form Shapo to keep Indian challenge alive after the fourth rubber ... About this match, Vasek Pospisil was the best player on the court ... He carried the team well and he helped legend Nestor a lot ... Purav was playing his first Davis cup tie so he was nervous but I felt, Rohan didn't help him much for coming out of it ... Canadians played as per their plan and put pressure on Purav's serve from the start ... They won the first two sets despite losing their own serve as they were breaking Purav's serve as per their liking ... In the third set, Bopanna-Raja saved match point and came back from a break down to win it ... But Canadian again took control and broke Purav in the fourth ... After that Canadian kept holding their service games to give important rubber point for the Canadian team.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

[SF] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt (7) Bingjiao He (CHN,7) 21-10 17-21 21-16

[F] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs (8) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,9)

Sindhu is in the final with three games win over Chinese girl, Bingjiao He ... After easily winning the first game Sindhu lost the second but she recovered and won the final game ... In the final, she is facing Japanese girl, Nozomi Okuhara ... Repeat of World Championship final.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

India vs Canada 1-1

Courtesy Davis cup site
Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,202) 57 76(4) 75 75
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,157) l Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51) 67(2) 46 76(6) 64 16

RamK gave gutsy performance for winning this tight first rubber in four sets ... The debutant Schnur gave a fighting performance against experienced RamK ... Schnur won the first set and after that RamK needed to dig deep for fightback ... RamK gave huge efforts for winning the second set in the tie-break ... In the fourth set also both players were playing the matching game ... RamK saved six set points to even things up at 5-all and then immediately broke Schnur in the next game ... RamK holds it to take 2-1 sets lead ... In the fourth set, both players traded early breaks ... RamK was serving for the match at 5-4 but Schnur showed grit and broke for 5-all ... RamK again broke him in 11th game and then hold for giving India 1-0 lead in this tie.
Ramkumar Ramanathan - "To play a Davis Cup is something special. I fought hard for every point. It could have gone either way, especially in that third set. I kept going. That paid off. Victory feels good when you have your team. I like team competition. Denis (Shapovalov) is playing really well, but he’s going to feel the pressure a little bit because they are down 1-0. It’s a good place to be at for us now."

In this match, #NextGen rising star Denis Shapovalov was a favorite against Yuki, but Yuki stretched him to five setter after losing first 2 sets ... In the first set, Yuki hanged up with Shapo to take it into the tie-break ... Shapo played perfect tie-break for winning it comfortably ... In the second set, Shapo managed to put extra pressure on Yuki and took an important break in 7th game ... That break was enough for Shapo for winning this set ... In the start of the third set, Yuki played a loose game for 0-1 down, but Yuki fought back and broke Shapo for the first time in the match for 1-all ... Yuki saved few break points on his serve but Shapo broke him in 7th game when Yuki played another loose game ... But this time also Yuki raised his game to broke Shapo in the next game, 4-all ... The match went to the tie-break, Shapo was a mini-break up at 3-0 but Yuki got back at 3-all ... Shapo again took a mini-break at 5-3 but again Yuki equalled at 5-all ... Yuki saved a match point at 5-6 and then converted a first set point on Shapo's serve for taking this match into the fourth ... In the fourth set, Yuki saved a break point in the 2nd game and then broke Shapo in next game with excellent defensive game, 2-1 ... After that Yuki served really smartly and mixed a lot ... He hold his service games comfortably, in 10th game Shapo saved 2 set points but Yuki converted 4th set for 2 sets-all ... After the fourth set Yuki took almost 10 mins MTO and I felt after that momentum shifted ... Shapo broke Yuki in 4th game for 1-3 lead and Shapo took full control on the set as he again broke Yuki in 6th game with good shots making and unforced errors from Yuki, 1-5 ... And Shapo hold it comfortably to make 1-all for Cananda.

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

Courtesy to Rutuja
Singles Final
Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) bt Hua-Chen Lee (TPE,708) 64 26 75

Doubles Final
Zeel Desai (IND)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt (2) Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Alexandra Walters (AUS) 62 75

Rutuja won her 2nd ITF title beating in-form Taipei player, Hua-Chen Lee ... In the final, after winning the first set Rutuja lost the focus to lose the second set easily ... Rutuja was leading 5-2 in the third before losing next three games, in that losing her serve twice ... Rutuja broke Hua-Chen in 11th game and then hold for completing the victory.

No double crown for Rutuja as she and her Aussie partner lost against young Indian duo of Pranjala and Zeel ... Good title win for our youngsters.


At $15K At $15K India F8 Futures 2017, Chennai

[R1] (2) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,486) bt (Q) Vijayant Malik (IND,1582) 61 64
[R2] (2) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,486) bt Dalwinder Singh (IND,1038) 61 63
[QF] (2) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,486) bt (6) Haadin Bava (IND,758) 75 76(6)
[SF] (2) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,486) bt (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,UNR) 62 60

Singles Final
(2) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,486) bt (4) Colin van Beem (NED,725) 46 63 63

Doubles Final
[R1] (1) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Rishabdev Raman (IND) 46 63 12-10

Sasi lifted another futures title after a long gap ... In the final, after losing the first set Sasi made strong comeback for winning next two ... This week also Arjun had a good week ans he lost in the semis, which will helped him to be back in top-1000 rankings.

Sood won their naother futures title ... They scored comeback win over Arjun and Rishabdev in the match tie-break.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,26) l (1) Wan Ho Son (KOR,1) 22-20 10-21 13-21

[QF] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Minatsu Mitani (JPN,19) 21-19 16-21 21-10

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l (3) Takeshi Kamura (JPN)/ Keigo Sonoda (JPN) 14-21 21-17 15-21

[SF] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs (7) Bingjiao He (CHN,7)

Sameer started well against WR #1 Wan Ho Son, but afterwards Son proved too strong for him.

Sindhu reached into the semis with three games win over Minatsu Mitani ... Next, she is facing Chinese girl, Bingjiao He.

Another impressive performance by young Satwik and Chirag against WR #4 Japanese pair in their loss.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

Day One
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) vs Brayden Schnur (CAN,202)
[R2] Yuki BHambri (IND,157) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51)

Day Two
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN)

Day Three
[R4] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN,51)
[R5] Yuki BHambri (IND,157) vs Brayden Schnur (CAN,202)

The schedule is out and the Canadian team give surprised playing unheard Brayden Schnur in the singles ... He will play RamK in the first rubber and Yuki is facing in-form Shapovalov in the second rubber ... The Canadian team's plan is simple, if require then Vasek Pospisil can replace Schnur for the fifth rubber.

At $75K+H Istanbul Challenger 2017, Turkey

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (2) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Jonathan Eysseric (FRA) 46 46

The straight sets loss for Jeevan-Divij against 2nd seed pair.

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Redding, California, USA

[QF] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) l Robin Anderson (USA,369) 76(6) 16 36

Former top-200 Anderson proved a strong player for Karman ... Karman won the first set in a tight tie-break but afterward, Anderson gave a solid performance.

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

[SF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) bt Lulu Sun (SUI,1004) 61 67(3) 63

[F] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) vs Hua-Chen Lee (TPE,708)

Rutuja is in the final after beating Swiss girl Lulu in three sets ... After comfortably winning the first set Rutuja was up with an early break in the second set .. But she failed to close it as Lulu broke back and won this set in the tie-break ... Rutuja recovered in the final set after 0-3 down ... She won the final six games in a row for completing excellent win ... Next, Rutuja is facing in-form Hua-Chen Lee, who already won the title at same venue.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

[R2] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) l (1) Wan Ho Son (KOR,1) 16-21 21-16 16-21
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,26) bt Wing Ki Vincent Wong (HKG,14) 21-19 21-13
[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) l (7) Tzu Wei Wang (TPE,12) 13-21 24-26

[R2] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Nitchaon Jindapol (THA,16) 22-20 21-17

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt (7) Jhe-Huei Lee (TPE)/ Yang Lee (TPE) 23-21 16-21 21-8

[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,26) vs (1) Wan Ho Son (KOR,1)

[QF] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Minatsu Mitani (JPN,19)

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (3) Takeshi Kamura (JPN)/ Keigo Sonoda (JPN)

Sameer scored another excellent solid straight games win over top-15 opponent ... Next, he is facing WR #1 Wan Ho Son, who required three games to beat Kashyap ... Sai lost in two games against Wang, Sai missed couple of game points in the second game.

Sindhu scored straight games win over her tricky Thai opponent, Nitchaon Jindapol ... Next, she is facing Japanese girl, Minatsu Mitani.

Impressive upset win by young Satwik and Chirag against WR #9 Taipei pair in three games ... Next, they r facing WR #4 Japanese pair.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

Change of the nomination for India ahead of the #DavisCup World Group play-off against Canada with Purav Raja replacing Saketh Myneni.

At $75K+H Istanbul Challenger 2017, Turkey

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (ALT) Robin Kem (GER)/ Marc Sieber (GER) 46 60 10-8

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (2) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)

Excellent comeback win by Divij and Jeevan ... After losing the first set our pair made a strong comeback for winning next two ... In the semis, they r facing 2nd seed Begemann and Eysseric.

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Redding, California, USA

[R2] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) bt (WC) Anna Bright (USA,UNR) 61 61

[QF] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) vs Robin Anderson (USA,369)

Karman scored dominating win over un-ranked Anna Bright .. Next, she is having first real test against former top-200 player, Robin Anderson.

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

[QF] Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,986) l Lulu Sun (SUI,1004) 67(5) 46
[QF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) bt Mi Zhuoma You (CHN,995) 62 61

[SF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) vs Lulu Sun (SUI,1004)

Rutuja is in the semis with dominating win over her Chinese opponent You ... Next, she is facing Swiss girl Lulu Sun, who scored straight sets win over Sai.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

[R1] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) bt Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,28) 21-13 21-16
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,26) bt (8) Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,13) 21-13 21-23 21-9
[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,32) l Kenta Nishimoto (JPN,60) 21-18 13-21 19-21
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,18) l (6) Ka Long Angus Ng (HKG,9) 17-21 23-21 14-21
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) bt Yun Hu (HKG,29) 21-15 21-10

[R1] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Ngan Yi Cheung (HKG,17) 21-13 21-8

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth B. Reddy (IND) l DukYoung Kim (KOR)/ Eui Seok Chung (KOR) 11-21 10-21
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Sheng Mu Lee (TPE)/ Chia Yu Lin (TPE) 21-9 22-24 21-12

[R1] N. Sikki Reddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Jing Yi Tee (MAS)/ Fie Cho Soong (MAS) 21-19 13-21 17-21

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (4) Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA) 21-13 19-21 15-21
[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Chun Man Tang (HKG)/ Ying Suet Tse (HKG) 18-21 19-21

[R2] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) vs (1) Wan Ho Son (KOR,1)
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,26) vs Wing Ki Vincent Wong (HKG,14)
[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) vs (7) Tzu Wei Wang (TPE,12)

[R2] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Nitchaon Jindapol (THA,16)

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (7) Jhe-Huei Lee (TPE)/ Yang Lee (TPE)

Kashyap and Sameer started with an upset win over higher ranked opponents ... Sameer scored upset win over top-15 Saensomboonsuk in three games ... Kashyap having tough second round against WR #1 and local favorite Wan Ho Son and Sameer will be facing WR #14 Wing Ki Vincent Wong.

Sindhu scored comfortable win over her top-20 opponent ... Next, she is facing Thai girl, Nitchaon Jindapol.

Sai scored dominating win against Yun Hu and nexr facing WR #12 Tzu Wei Wang.

Disappointing loss of Sourabh against his Japanese opponents after winning the first game ... Prannoy also lost in three games against top-10 Ka Long Angus Ng.

In MXD, Pranaav and Sikki lost after winning the first game against 4th seed Indonasian pair ... Satwik and Ashwini also lost in straight games against top-15 Hong Kong pair.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

Purav Raja has been replaced Balaji as reserve player in the Indian team due to injury.

At $75K+H Istanbul Challenger 2017, Turkey

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH) 63 64

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (ALT) Robin Kem (GER)/ Marc Sieber (GER)

Jeevan and Divij started with straight sets win and next facing German pair.

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Redding, California, USA

[R1] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) bt (WC) Salma Ewing (USA,1140) 64 62

[R2] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) vs (WC) Anna Bright (USA,UNR)

Karman started with comfortable win over American opponent, Next, she is facing another local wild-card player, 17yrs old Anna Bright.

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

[R2] (4) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,618) l (Q) Watsachol Sawasdee (THA,UNR) 26 67(4)
[R2] Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,986) bt (3) Tori Kinard (USA,569) 63 61
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) bt (2) Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,547) 64 63

[QF] Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,986) vs Lulu Sun (SUI,1004)
[QF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) vs Mi Zhuoma You (CHN,995)

Rutuja and Sai scored straight sets upset win over 2nd and 3rd seeds but Pranjala lost against local qualifier in straight sets.

Badminton News

At $600K VICTOR Korea Open 2017, Seoul (Superseries)

[Q1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) bt Yu Hsien Lin (TPE,44) 21-19 21-9
[Q1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Peter Kaesbauer (GER)/ Olga Konon (GER) 21-12 21-15

[Q2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) bt Chao Yu Kan (TPE,405) 21-19 21-18
[Q2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Ronald Ronald (INA)/ Annisa Saufika (INA) 27-25 21-17

[R1] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,46) vs Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,28)
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,26) vs (8) Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (THA,13)
[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,32) vs Kenta Nishimoto (JPN,60)
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,18) vs (6) Ka Long Angus Ng (HKG,9)
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,17) vs Yun Hu (HKG,29)

[R1] (5) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,5) vs Ngan Yi Cheung (HKG,17)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ Sumeeth B. Reddy (IND) vs DukYoung Kim (KOR)/ Eui Seok Chung (KOR)
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs Sheng Mu Lee (TPE)/ Chia Yu Lin (TPE)

[R1] N. Sikki Reddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Jing Yi Tee (MAS)/ Fie Cho Soong (MAS)

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (ND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (4) Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Debby Susanto (INA)
[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Chun Man Tang (HKG)/ Ying Suet Tse (HKG)

In Korean Superseries, Kashyap qualified for the main-draw with straight games win and next, facing taipei player ... Satwik and Ashwini also qualified in MXD and they r facing top-20 Hong Kong pair.

Sameer and Prannoy r facing seeded opponents but Sai and Sourabh having winnable matches ... Sindhu is facing Cheung bu Saina and Srikanth has skiped this tournament due to minor injuries.

Monday, September 11, 2017

Tennis News

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

[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,790) l (Q) Jia Qi Ren (CHN,1171) 06 16
[R1] (4) Pranjala YADLAPALLI (IND,618) bt (WC) Natthapat PIWBANGRUK (THA,UNR) 60 60
[R1] (8) Zeel DESAI (IND,699) l Emma HURST (GBR,1061) 57 36
[R1] Sai Samhitha CHAMARTHI (IND,986) bt Zhuoma NI MA (CHN,909) 63 63
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,989) l Mi Zhuoma YOU (CHN,998) 06 06
[R1] Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,743) bt (WC) Natcharee TEERACHODJIRANON (THA,UNR) 60 60

[R2] (4) Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,6188) vs (Q) Watsachol Sawasdee (THA,UNR)
[R2] Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,986) vs (3) Tori Kinard (USA,569)
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,743) vs (2) Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,547)

Pranjala and Rutuja scored dominating win with a double bagle but Rishika lost in a double bagel and Sowjanya also lost one-sided match ... Zeel's five months break from professional tennis hurt her as she faced disappointing loss against lowly ranked British player ... In the first set, she was 5-1 up but afterwards everything changed.

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Redding, California, USA

[R1] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,324) vs (WC) Salma Ewing (USA,1140)

Karman is playing next three weeks in US tournaments ... Good to see that she is trying on tougher tournaments.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Golf News

At € 2.7M Omega European Masters 2017, Crans Montana, Switzerland

T20 Shiv Kapur (IND) 68 67 71 68 -6 € 28,512

The consistent four rounds helped Shiv Kapur to finish inside top 25.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Istanbul Challenger 2017, Turkey

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR)/ Aldin Setkic (BIH)

This week Divij and Jeevan r playing together and facing Ignatik and Setkic in the first round ... Is this a formation of new pairing?

Squash News

At $25K Women's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

Final
(3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) l (2) Nour El Tayeb (EGY,14) 4-11, 4-11, 4-11 (26m)

Joshna's stuggle against Egyptian players continues as she lost in the straight games against El Tayeb.

At $5K Men's North Coast Open 2017, New South Wales, Australia

[R1] (Q) Abhay Singh (IND,426) bt (4) Ben Grindrod (NZL,139) 11-9, 12-10, 11-6 (36m)
[QF] (Q) Abhay Singh (IND,426) bt Solayman Nowrozi (AUS,217) 12-10, 11-2, 11-4 (29m)
[SF] (Q) Abhay Singh (IND,426) bt (1) Rhys Dowling (AUS,118) 6-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (53m)

Final
(Q) Abhay Singh (IND,426) l (3) Dimitri Steinmann (SUI,129) 5-11, 1-11, 5-11 (29m)

Terrific run of young Abhay Singh ended in the final ... He qualified for the main-draw and then scored upset wins including 4th seed and top-seed players ... In the semis, he defeated top-seed Aussie after losing the first 2 games ... But that long match took a toll on him and he struggled in the final ... Still, great result for Abhay Singh.

Saturday, September 09, 2017

Tennis News

At US Open 2017, New York

[SF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) l (2) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) 46 46

Hingis and Chan proved better pair on the court, as they scored straight sets win over Sania and Shuai Peng.

At $15K At $15K India F7 Futures 2017, Chennai

[R1] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,262) bt Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,1069) 36 63 60
[R2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,262) bt (Q) Paramveer Singh Bajwa (IND,1434) 62 60
[QF] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,262) bt Jayesh Pungliya (IND,1268) 75 61
[SF] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,262) bt (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,UNR) 62 36 62

Singles Final
(1) Sumit Nagal (IND,262) bt (3) Colin Van Beem (NED,718) 63 60

Sumit won his 4th futures title of the year, comfortably beating Dutch opponent Colin Van Beem in the final.

A couple of notable performances from Indians, Arjun Kadhe had a terrific run as he defeated three foreigners, including 4th and 7 seeds ... In the semis, he stretched Sumit to three sets so good start for his professional career after completion of his US college ... Haadin Bava also reached the semis before losing to Van Beem in three sets.


At $75K+H Istanbul Challenger 2017, Turkey

[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) bt (WC) Mustafa Erdogan (TUR,UNR) 76(6) 62

[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,UNR) l (2) Roman Safiullin (RUS,353) 76(9) 46 06

Divij started well against top-350 Russian and won the first set after a long tie-break ... But after that it seems lack of the singles matches took a toll on him ... He lost the second set and failed to win a single game in the final set ... Before that, an expected win for Divij against 17 yrs old local junior player.

Friday, September 08, 2017

Squash News

At $25K Women's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[SF] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) bt (1) Annie Au (HKG,10) 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 (71m)

[F] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) vs (2) Nour El Tayeb (EGY,14)

Joshna scored upset win over local favorite and top-10 Annie Au in a long match ... Both were exchanging a game after game and Joshna won the tight fifth game for exiting win ... Next, she is facing former top-5 Egyptian Nour El Tayeb.

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

Courtesy Cyrus Poncha FB page
[R1] (1) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt (WC) Ong Sai Hung (MAS,422) 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 (18m)
[R1] (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,276) bt (7) Ravi Dixit (IND,189) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (21m)

[QF] (1) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt (Q) Ramit Tandon (IND,276) 12-10, 12-10, 11-8 (40m)
[SF] (1) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt (Q) Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS,355) 11-1, 11-8, 11-8 (23m)

Final
(1) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,66) bt (2) Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS,97) 11-8, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6 (57m)

Harry won the 5th consecutive PSA title of the year ... On the Malaysian tour, he scored five games win over local player for winning the title.

Thursday, September 07, 2017

Tennis News

At US Open 2017, New York

[QF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) bt (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) 76(5) 64

[SF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) vs (2) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)

Sania-Shuai completed the win in straight sets against Babos and Hlavackova ... After winning the first set in the tie-break they were cruising and serving for the match at 5-2 ... But they failed to hold in the 8th game and missed six match points on opponent's serve in almost 15 mins long 9th game ... Sania-Shuai kept their composure and completed victory after converting 7th match point but before that, they needed to save a break point ... Next, they r facing 2nd seed Hingis and Chan.

At $50K+H Zhangjiagang Challenger 2017, China

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Zhe Li (CHN)/ Di Wu (CHN) 57 63 10-7
[QF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) l Xin Gao (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 46 36

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Xin Gao (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 46 26

VSP and Jeevan lost in the semis against Zhang-Gao in the straight sets ... Before that, VSP and Jeevan moved into the semis with comeback win over Wu and Li in the match tie-break ... In the quarters, Zhang-Gao defeated 2nd sed Vishnu and Matsui in the straight sets.

Squash News

At $25K Women's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[QF] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) bt (8) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG,33) 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-3 (50m)
[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) l (4) Tesni Evans (WAL,15) 12-10, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 3-11 (62m)

[SF] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) vs Annie Au (HKG,10)

Joshna and Dipika's matches went to five games but in contrasting results ... Hong Kong girl Tsz-Ling stretched Joshna to five games ... After closely fought first 4 games Joshna comfortably won the fifth game ... Next, she is facing local favorite Annie Au.

Dipika tried hard but was tired in the fifth for loing the match.


At $25K Men's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[QF] (Q) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) l (7) Leo Au (HKG,34) 8-11, 7-11, 8-11 (38m)

Vikram failed to build on his yesterday's upset win and lost in straight games against local player.

Golf News

At the Presidents Cup 2017, New Jersey, USA

Anirban Lahiri will be making his second appearance at the Presidents Cup after being picked by International captain Nick Price for the September 26-October 1 event ... In his maiden appearance in 2015, Lahiri had missed a three-foot putt on the 18th hole on the final day and Anirban said he wants to redeem himself this year.

Tennis News

At US Open 2017, New York, USA

[QF] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) vs (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) 2-2 (Suspended)

The match was supended due to persistent rain.

At $50K+H Zhangjiagang Challenger 2017, China

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 61 64
[R1] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) bt (WC) Fajing Sun (CHN)/ Chuhan Wang (CHN) 76(2) 63

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Zhe Li (CHN)/ Di Wu (CHN)
[QF] (2) Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) vs Xin Gao (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN)

Jeevan with VSP started with a comfortable win in the doubles ... Vishnu and Matsui also started with straight sets win ... Next, our both pairs r facing Chinese opponents.

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Squash News

At $25K Women's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[R1] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) bt (Q) Li Sum Yin (HKG,UNR) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (16m)
[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) bt (Q) Tang Yan Yi (HKG,UNR) 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 (21m)

[QF] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) vs (8) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG,33)
[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) vs (4) Tesni Evans (WAL,15)

Joshna and Dipika started with expected comfortable wins against local qualifiers ... In the qurters, Joshna is facing 8th sed local player and Dipika having tough match against top-15 Wales player, Tesni Evans.

At $25K Men's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[R1] (Q) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) bt (1) Zahed Mohamed (EGY,20) 13-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8 (46m)
[R1] (Q) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,67) l (3) Omar Mosaad (EGY,25) 3-11, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11 (48m)

[QF] (Q) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) vs (7) Leo Au (HKG,34)

Huge upset win by Vikram against Egyptian top-seed and WR #20 Zahed Mohamed in four games ... This is really good win and next, he is facing local 7th seed Leo Au ... Mahesh also gave fighting performance against former WR #3 Egyptian Omar Mosaad in his loss.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - World Group Play-off, Edmonton, Canada

Canadian Davis Cup team - Denis Shapovalov (#69), Vasek Pospisil (#78), Brayden Schnur (#192), Daniel Nestor (D #42)
Captain - Martin Laurendeau

The Canadian team is announced for Davis Cup tie ... Shapovalov will be around top-50 when new rankings will get updated next Monday ... With their current form this will be really tough tie for us.

At US Open 2017, New York, USA

Junior
[R1] Mahak Jain (IND)/ Mihika Yadav (IND) l Sofia Munera Sanchez (COL)/ Sada Nahimana (BDI) 36 26

[R2] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Shinji Hazawa (JPN) l Jesper De Jong (NED)/ Ryan Nijboer (NED) 67(2) 62 10-12

Our junior challenge got over after respective losses of Siddhant and Mahak-Mihika in the doubles ... Siddhant-Shinji lost very close match against Dutch kids in the second round ... But Mahak-Mihika lost cheaply in the first round.

At $125K WTA Series 2017, Dalian, China

[R1] Chin-Wei Chan (TPE)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (4) Xinyu Jiang (CHN)/ Jia-Jing Lu (CHN) 36 26

Prarthana and Chan lost in the straight sets against Chinese seeded pair.

Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - Third Round Qualification, Macau

Group A
Macau l India 0-2 (0-0)
Goal Scored - Balwant Singh (IND) 57' and 82'

A brace from Balwant Singh in the second half helped India to score another win and also cementing top spot in their Group with 3 wins in 3 matches ... In the first half, Jeje and Sunil missed few sitters.

Squash News

At $25K Women's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[R1] (3) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) vs (Q) Li Sum Yin (HKG,UNR)
[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,21) vs (Q) Tang Yan Yi (HKG,UNR)

Joshna and Dipika r playing against local wild card players.

At $25K Men's HKFC International 2017, Hong Kong China

[Q1] (1) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) bt Arnold Phatraprasit (THA,358) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (19m)
[Q1] (2) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,67) bt Tang Ming Hong (HKG,120) 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (30m)

[Q2] (1) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) bt Evan Williams (NZL,85) 11-9, 11-6, 3-11, 11-3 (40m)
[Q2] (2) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,67) bt Lau Tsz Kwan (HKG,127) 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3 (41m)

[R1] (Q) Vikram Malhotra (IND,62) vs (1) Zahed Mohamed (EGY,20)
[R1] (Q) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,67) vs (3) Omar Mosaad (EGY,25)

Vikram and Mahesh qualified for the main-draw but both r facing tough matches in the first round ... Both playing against top-25 Egyptian players.

Golf News

At $8.75M Dell Technologies Championship 2017, Norton, Massachusetts, USA (PGA Tour)

T56 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 70 73 71 +2 $19,600.00

In the last round, Anirban managed PAR to finished on T56 ... And with that he qualify for the third Fedex cup playoff event as 70th means last qualifier.

Table Tennis News

At $70K ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open 2020 , Muscat, Oman [R32] Harmeet Desai (IND,87) bt Jeremy Hazin (CAN,164) 4-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-4,...