Tennis News

At $226K Taiwan Open 2018, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei

[R1] Peangtarn Plipuech (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) 63 26 2-10

Prarthana and Plipuech failed to take advantage after winning the first set ... It seems, after losing the first set Taipei girls dominated the match.

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At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) bt Aliaksandr Bury (BLR)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 46 61 18-16

Leander with Salisbury moved into the quarters after winning 34 points long match tie-break ... After losing the first set they made a strong comeback to win the second set ... In the match tie-break also, they were cruising towards victory at 8-4, but afterward, they faced a strong resistance from Bury and Peng before winning it.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Glasgow, Great Britain (Indoor hard)

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,282) bt Georgia Brescia (ITA,202) 64 61

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,282) vs (8) Georgina Garcia-Perez (ESP,161)

A really good convincing win by Karman against top-200 type Italian Brescia ... But next, she is facing in-form Spanish girl Garcia-Perez, who defeated Karman in their last meeting in Pune and last week, she won the title in $60K ITF title in France.

Badminton News

At $350K YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2018, New Delhi (BWF World Tour Super 500)

[R1] (Q) Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) bt Subhankar Dey (IND,63) 21-17 14-21 21-13
[R1] (Q) Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167) bt (5) Prannoy H. S. (IND,10) 21-4 21-6
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) bt Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (DEN,17) 21-14 21-18
[R1] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) bt Rajiv Ouseph (ENG,23) 21-11 17-21 21-17
[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,52) l (4) Shi Yuqi (CHN,8) 19-21 11-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,44) l Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29) 0-2 retd.
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,30) bt (7) Anders Antonsen (DEN,12) 22-20 21-8
[R1] (2) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG,43) 21-17 21-18

[R1] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Natalia Koch Rohde (DEN,43) 21-10 21-13
[R1] Vaidehi Choudhari (IND,96) l Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40) 19-21 15-21
[R1] (Q) Riya Mukherjee (IND,194) l (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 22-20 18-21 12-21
[R1] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) bt (Q) Amalie Hertz (DEN,210) 21-17 21-10
[R1] Rasika Raje (IND,97) l (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 4-21 6-21
[R1] (Q) Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) bt Anura Prabhudesai (IND,106) 14-21 21-18 21-14
[R1] Rituparna Das (IND,54) l (7) Yip Pui Yin (HKG,35) 22-20 13-21 12-21
[R1] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) bt Ksenia Polikarpova (ISR,58) 16-21 21-17 21-12
[R1] Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka (IND,89) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10) 19-21 22-20 12-21
[R1] Reshma Karthik (IND,112) l Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42) 12-21 14-21
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt Sofie Holmboe Dahl (DEN,55) 21-15 21-9
[R1] Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli (IND,60) l Thamolwan Poopradubsil (THA,120) 17-21 21-16 15-21
[R1] Saili Rane (IND,101) l (6) Cheung Ngan Yi (HKG,29) 14-21 5-21
[R1] Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka (IND,92) l Gao Fangjie (CHN,50) 13-21 9-21

[R2] (Q) Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) vs Qiao Bin (CHN,35)
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) vs (Q) Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167)
[R2] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) vs Hu Yun (HKG,34)
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29)
[R2] (2) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) vs Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85)

[R2] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40)
[R2] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) vs (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34)
[R2] (Q) Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) vs (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4)
[R2] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10)
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42)

The biggest upset of the day was, one-sided loss of Prannoy against Shreyansh Jaiswal ... I feel Prannoy is still coming out of his injury after a long break ... Otherwise expected victories for our seeded players ... Some excellent upsets by Sameer Verma over top-15 Danish player, Anders Antonsen and Kashyap over top-20 Danish player, Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus ... In women's side, Mugdha Agrey scored an upset win over top-60 Israeli girl ... Expected wins for top Indian pairs.

Tennis News

At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Ante Pavic (CRO) 16 76(5) 10-7

Jeevan and Chris scored a superb comeback win over a strong pairing of Cerretani and Pavic ... After losing the first set easily, they fought back to win the second set tie-break and kept momentum for winning the match tie-break.

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At $50K+H Quimper Challenger 2018, France

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (4) Gille Sander (BEL)/ Joran Vliegen (BEL) 67(5) 36

They need to win these matches, but here they lost in the straight sets against similar ranked Belgian pair.

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At $75K Burnie Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] (LL) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,527) l Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN,170) 16 16

VSP got a chance to play in the main-draw as a lucky loser, but he failed to challenge Nishioka in his loss.

Snooker News

At £1M China Open Qualifiers 2018, Barnsley, England

[Q1] Aditya Mehta (IND,81) l Ricky Walden (ENG,23) 2-5 (38-79, 1-70, 11-66(57), 70-0, 20-69, 80-35, 55-63)

Aditya tried hard against higher ranked Walden but lost in seven frames.

Chess News

At Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament 2018, Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands

Viswanathan Anand finished on the 5th position in Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament with 8 points ... In that he scored wins over Fabiano Caruana, Maxim Matlakov, Yifan Hou and Gawain C B Jones ... And drew against Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Wesley So, Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Yi Wei and Adhiban ... His only lost come against Vladimir Kramnik ... Overall, good performance by Anand.

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At Tata Steel Chess Candidates tournament 2018, Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands

Vidit Gujrathi capped off a phenomenal week with a draw that secured a first place with 9 points ... And with that, he will received invitation for Masters tournament in 2019 ... He scored five wins and 8 draws.

Golf News

At $6.9M Farmers Insurance Open 2018, San Diego, California, USA (PGA Tour)

T54 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 72 72 75 +2

Anirban struggled in these demanding conditions and failed to break inside top-50 standings.

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At $3M Omega Dubai Desert Classic 2018, UAE (EPGA Tour)

T61 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 69 69 71 73 -6 € 6,293

Shubhankar managed to make a cut in this tough field ... So it must be a really good experience for him to rub shoulders with these top players in developing his game.

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At $700K Myanmar Open 2018, Pun Hlaing Golf Club (Asian Tour)

T10 Arjun Atwal (IND) 70 68 68 71 -7 $12,740.63
T10 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 70 72 66 69 -7 $12,740.63
T21 Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 70 70 70 70 -4 $7,387.50
T48 Rashid Khan (IND) 71 71 72 71 +1 $3,375.00
T57 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70 72 71 75 +4 $2,550.00
T57 Shiv Kapur (IND) 72 69 73 74 +4 $2,550.00

Gaganjeet and Arjun finished inside top-10 in the Asian tour opener.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles Final
(5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (8) Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 62 46 9-11

Rohan-Timea lost in the Championship match against Dabrowski-Pavic after winning the first set ... In the first set, Rohan-Timea were in the control and they broke Dabrowski two times in the 4th and the 8th games for winning it comfortably ... In the second set, Rohan-Timea made some unforced errors to lose Timea's serve in the 7th game and that break was enough for Dabrowski-Pavic to win the set ... In the match ti-break, Dabrowski-Pavic took a mini-break on the 1st point to lead 3-0 ... From 2-5 down Rohan-Timea took mini-break back at 6-7 ... Rohan-Timea had a championship point at 9-8 on Pavic's serve, but he served two big aces to give them a championship point, 10-9 ... Dabrowski hit superb backhand cross-court service winner on Timea's serve to lift the Championship.

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At $226K Taiwan Open 2018, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei

[R1] Peangtarn Plipuech (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)

Good to see Prarthana is getting opportunities of playing lower level WTA tournaments, but she requires big break to move ahead in the ranking ... This week, Prarthana is playing in Taipei open with Thai partner, Peangtarn Plipuech ... They r facing a local pair.

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At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) vs Aliaksandr Bury (BLR)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Ante Pavic (CRO)

This week, Lee is partnering Salisbury and they r the top-seeds ... Jeevan and Chris r the 4th seed and facing last week's half winner Cerretani and Pavic.

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At $50K+H Quimper Challenger 2018, France

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (4) Gille Sander (BEL)/ Joran Vliegen (BEL)

This week, Bala-Vishnu r facing 4th seed Belgian pair.

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At $75K Burnie Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Dane Propoggia (AUS) l (WC) Andrew Harris (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS) 57 67(3)

VSP with Propoggia lost in the first round in two tight sets.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2018, Jakarta (BWF World Tour Super 500)

Women's Singles Final
Saina Nehwal (IND,12) l (1) Tai Tzu-ying (TPE,1) 9-21 13-21

Tzu-ying overpowered Saina inside an half hour ... Saina failed to challenge her in this one-sided loss, but still good performance by Saina in this tournament.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2018, USA

P.C. to Oracle Challenger Series FB page

Doubles Final
(2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Denis Kudla (USA) 64 75

Lee lifted his first title of 2018 season, with James Cerretani, that's also on the challenger tour ... Salute to Lee's motivation for playing and winning the challenger at 45 ... They defeated Treat Huey and Danis Kudla in the straight sets ... More importantly, this win gives him 125 ranking points.

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At $226K Taiwan Open 2018, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei

[Q1] (12) Ankita Raina (IND,259) bt Cornelia Lister (SWE,422) 62 60

[Q2] (12) Ankita Raina (IND,259) l (2) Anna Blinkova (RUS,160) 36 46

Ankita lost against 2015 junior Wimbledon finalist, Russian Anna Blinkova, after giving a decent fight in the final qualifying ... Before that, she scored her first win of 2018 season, as she comfortably defeated Lister in Taiwan Open qualifying.

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At $75K Burnie Challenger 2018, Australia

[Q1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,524) bt (7) Sekou Bangoura (USA,444) 36 64 63
[Q2] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,524) bt Takuto Niki (JPN,501) 64 63

[Q3] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,524) l Gianni Mina (FRA,556) 26 46

Doubles
[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Dane Propoggia (AUS) vs (WC) Andrew Harris (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)

Vijay is playing in the Australian challenger ... He lost in the final qualifying round against Frenchman Gianni in the straight sets ... Before that, he scored back to back wins over higher ranked opponents.

In the doubles, VSP is playing with Aussie Dane Propoggia and facing a tough challenge of top-150 doubles player, Luke Saville and his partner.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2018, Jakarta (BWF World Tour Super 500)

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt (4) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 21-19 21-19

[SF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 14-21 11-21

[F] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs (1) Tai Tzu-ying (TPE,1)

This turnout to be a breakthrough tournament for Saina after her career threatening injury ... In the semis, she defeated Intanon in well fought two games ... In the first game, Intanon opened 2-3 points lead from 5-all .. From 10-13 down Saina won next four points to take a lead, but Intanon recaptured lead at 16-18 ... Saina made it 18-all and won three points in a row from 18-19 for winning this game ... In the second game, Saina opened a big lead 6-1 and she was leading throughout the game ... But Intanon tried a fightback winning six points in a row to 17-all from 11-17 down ... Saina refocused and took 20-18 lead and converted the 2nd match point for a win ... In the final, she is facing in-form WR #1 Tai Tzu-ying.

Indonesian WR #1 pair proved too strong for our young Satwik and Chirag, but still really good tournament for them.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[SF] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 75 57 10-6

[F] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (8) Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Rohan is in the another mixed doubles grand slam final with Hungarian Timea Babos ... In the semis, they defeated Sánchez and Demoliner in the tight match ... After winning the first set Rohan and Timea lost the second but they recovered to win the match tie-break comfortably ... In the final, they r facing 8th seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic.

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At $150K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2018, USA

[SF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) bt (4) Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) 63 63

[F] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Denis Kudla (USA)

Lee-Cerretani in the final with a comfortable win over the 4th seeds ... In the final, they r facing Huey and Kudla for the title.

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At $75K+H Rennes Challenger 2018, France

[SF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (2) Sander Arends (NED)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 46 46

Bala and Vishnu lost in the straight sets against the 2nd seed pair.

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At $15K China F3 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[SF] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) l (7) Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,639) 16 36

P.C. to Hemant Bendrey Tennis Academy FB page

Doubles Final
(1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt (3) Florent Diep (FRA)/ Goran Markovic (SRB) 63 76(4)

[SF] (1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt Tyler Lu (USA)/ Issei Okamura (JPN) 62 26 10-6
[QF] (1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND)/ Manish Sureshkumar (IND) 75 76(5)
[R1] (1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) bt Yu Hsiang Chiu (TPE)/ Yuanfeng Li (CHN) 62 63

Manish's terrific run ended against Lee with one-sided loss in the semis.

In the doubles, Arjun lifted his first title of 2018 season partnering Lakshit Sood ... In the final, they defeated the 3rd seed French-Serbian pair in the straight sets.

Badminton News

At $350K DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2018, Jakarta (BWF World Tour Super 500)

[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,30) l Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,21) 16-21 21-12 10-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) l Wei Feng Chong (MAS,47) 18-21 18-21
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt (7) Yufei Chen (CHN,8) 22-24 21-15 21-14
[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Hanna Ramadini (INA,33) 21-13 21-10

[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt (8) Takuto Inoue (JPN)/ Yuki Kaneko (JPN) 21-15 21-17
[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Ching Yao Lu (TPE)/ Po Han Yang (TPE) 18-21 21-16 16-21
Kidambi Srikanth (IND,4)

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt Xiaoxin Chen (CHN,20) 21-12 21-18
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Jin Wei Goh (MAS,38) 21-12 21-9

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Min Chun Liao (TPE)/ Ching Heng Su (TPE) 21-17 21-16

[QF] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) 21-13 21-19

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt (4) Mads Conrad-Petersen (DEN)/ Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 23-21 15-21 21-19

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs (4) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4)

[SF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)

The BWF has renamed Superseries to 'World Tour Super 500' ... So 2018 season's first World Tour Super 500 tournament is played in Indonesia.

Saina has started with a bang ... She defeated her compatriot Sindhu in the straight games for entering into the semis ... And in the first 2 rounds, she defeated Chinese opponents, including a comeback win over top-10 Chinese girl, Yufei Chen ... In the semis, she will faced WR #4 Thai girl, Ratchanok Intanon.

Satwik-Chirag r in the semis with hard fought win over an experienced WR #6 Danish pair in three games ... In closely fought first game, they needed four game points for winning it ... In the second game, Danish pair took a control from the start for winning it comfortably ... In the final game, Danish pair opened 3 points advantage after 8-all ... Satwik-Chirag fought back from 12-16 to win next 5 points and from 19-all, they won next two points for a fighting win ... Before that, they started with a confident win over WR #10 Japanese pair in the first round and then defeated WR #17 Taipei pair in the second round ... In the semis, they r facing local favorite and WR #1 Gideon and Sukamuljo.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2018, USA

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l (3) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ David Marrero (ESP) 76(4) 46 8-10
[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) bt Michael Mmoh (USA)/ Frances Tiafoe (USA) w/o

[SF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) vs Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX)

Lee-Cerretani in the semis without hitting a ball, as their opponents gave walkover due to Mmoh's shoulder injury ... In the semis, they will be facing the 4th seed pair.

Jeevan-Chris lost in the match tie-break against the 3rd seed pair of Lipsky and Marrero after winning the first set.

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At $15K China F3 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[QF] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) l (7) Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,639) 36 26
[QF] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) bt (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) 46 63 61

[SF] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) vs (7) Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,639)

An excellent upset win by Manish over in-form Arjun in three sets ... May be something was wrong with Arjun as after winning the first set he was up 3-1 in the second ... But afterwards Arjun only managed to win a single game from next 12 games ... Manish will be facing Lee, who defeated Nitin easily.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[QF] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Abigail Spears (USA)/ Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) 64 76(5)

Rohan and Timea r in the semis with a straight sets win over Spears and Cabal.

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At $150K+H Newport Beach Challenger 2018, USA

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (WC) Hunter Reese (USA)/ Raymond Sarmiento (USA) 36 63 10-5
[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) bt Ariel Behar (URU)/ Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) 75 63

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (3) (3) Scott Lipsky (USA)/ David Marrero (ESP)
[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ James Cerretani (USA) vs Michael Mmoh (USA)/ Frances Tiafoe (USA)

This week, Lee is playing Cerretani and started with comfortable straight sets win ... Next, facing experienced American pair of Mmoh and Tiafoe ... Jeevan-Chris scored a comeback win in the match tie-break against wild-card pair ... Next, they r playing the 3rd seed pair of Lipsky and Marrero.

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At $75K+H Rennes Challenger 2018, France

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Manuel Guinard (FRA)/ Maxime Janvier (FRA) 62 46 10-6
[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (3) Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 36 76(4) 10-7

Vishnu-Bala r in the semis with the first 2 wins of year ... In the both matches, they won in the match tie-break ... In the quarters, after losing the first set they made a comeback to win in the tie-break against the 3rd seeds.

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At $15K China F3 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) bt (Q) Huixin Wang (CHN,1543) 62 63
[R2] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) bt (4) Steven Diez (CAN,312) 61 64
[R2] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) bt (Q) Rhett Purcell (NZL,1162) 64 67(5) 61

[QF] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) vs (7) Kuan-Yi Lee (TPE,639)
[QF] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) vs Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033)

An excellent upset win by young Manish against an experienced top-300 type Diez ... Nitin also in the quarters with a straight sets win over Wang ... Manish will be faced Arjun, who needed three sets against Purcell.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Vania King (USA)/ Franko Skugor (CRO) 64 64

Juniors
[R2] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Christian Didier Chin (MAS) l (2) Sebastian Korda (USA)/ Nicolas Mejia (COL) 46 46

Rohan-Timea moved into the quarters with the straight sets win .. In junior, Siddhant lost in the doubles second round against the 2nd seed pair.

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At $15K China F3 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[R1] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) bt (WC) Ruixuan Wang (CHN,1522) 62 64
[R1] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) bt (Q) Alberto Lim (PHI,1373) 62 63

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) vs (Q) Huixin Wang (CHN,1543)
[R2] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) vs (4) Steven Diez (CAN,312)
[R2] (6) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) vs (Q) Rhett Purcell (NZL,1162)

Arjun and Nitin r in the second round with comfortable wins.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (1) Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 63 67(4) 46
[R3] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (7) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 46 76(5) 36

Our both players lost in close matches and with that our challenge got over in the men's doubles ... Divij-Ram started positively winning the first set ... In the second, Sharan got broken in the 3rd game, 1-2, but our pair immediately broke back for 2-all ... In the tie-break, Rajeev-Divij were up mini-break 3-1, but lost the tie-break as managed to win only a single point from next seven points ... After that top-seed kept control for winning the third set.

Rohan-Edouard tried fightback after losing the first set, but failed to keep momentum in the thirs.

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At $15K China F3 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[Q1] (4) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) bye
[Q2] (4) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) bt Yong Jia Cai (CHN) 63 61
[Q3] (4) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) bt Sheng Tang (CHN) 75 46 62

[R1] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,1033) bt Bruno Mardones (ESP,1160) 62 63
[R1] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) vs (WC) Ruixuan Wang (CHN,1522)
[R1] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) vs (Q) Alberto Lim (PHI,1373)

Third continuous week, Nitin qualified for the main-draw ... Manish started with a good win over his Spanish opponent on the clay ... Arjun and Nitin having winnable first round matches.

Squash News

At $165K Women's Tournament of Champions 2018, New York, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) l (8) Nour El Tayeb (EGY,7) 2-11, 5-11, 4-11 (18m)

El Tayeb scored a really dominating win over Dipika and didn't giver any chance in this match.

Golf News

At $3M Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2018, UAE (European tour)

T48 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 71 70 70 72 -5 € 11,032

The decent finish for young Shubhankar on European tour.

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At $1M SMBC Singapore Open 2018, Sentosa Golf Club (Asian tour)

T23 Shiv Kapur (IND) 70 67 71 74 -2 $10,450.00
T27 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 68 70 72 73 -1 $8,950.00
T27 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 66 72 75 70 -1 $8,950.00
T47 Arjun Atwal (IND) 73 67 74 72 +2 $5,400.00
T60 Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 72 68 76 73 +5 $3,450.00

This tournament was The Open qualifying - Four players who finish inside the top-12 and ties, who are not already exempt, will earn places in the field at the Open ... Our players missed opportunity of taking advantage of it and they struggled in the wet condition.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (11) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 16 26

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt (WC) Ellen Perez (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) 62 64

[R2] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Vania King (USA)/ Franko Skugor (CRO)

Juniors
[R1] (Q) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) l (6) Joanna Garland (TPE,17) 67(2) 06
[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND,41) l (5) Hugo Gaston (FRA,5) 26 06

[R1] Akanksha A Bhan (IND)/ Sakura Hosogi (JPN) l (2) Simona Waltert (SUI)/ Xiyu Wang (CHN) 16 67(2)
[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Christian Didier Chin (MAS) bt Adrian Andreev (BUL)/ Lodewijk Weststrate (NED) 61 76(5)

[R2] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Christian Didier Chin (MAS) vs (2) Sebastian Korda (USA)/ Nicolas Mejia (COL)

I sympathizes with Lee and Purav in their one-sided loss against Colombian pair ... Yesterday, they played high quality and high tempo match, beating defending champions in almost 3 hours match ... But due to cruel scheduling they needed to play their next match within 24 hrs ... On the court they were looking tired and sluggish, they played good tennis in patches ... And that wasn't enough against Colombians, who dominated the match from the start and won both sets with a double breaks.

Expected easy victory for Rohan and Timea Babos against local wild-card pair ... Next, they r facing Vania King and Franko Skugor.

Expected one-sided loss for Siddhant against junior WR #5 Gaston ... But in the doubles, he started with a win partnering Malaysian Chin .. In the doubles second round, they r having a tough match against the 2nd seeds.

Akanksha tried hard in the first set, she was up break, 4-2 ... But afterwards Joanna took control and won it in the straight sets ... In the doubles, Akanksha with Hosogi lost against the 2nd seeds pair.

Squash News

At $165K Women's Tournament of Champions 2018, New York, USA

[R1] (16) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l (Q) Mariam Metwally (EGY,22) 13-15 11-13 11-7 9-11 (58m)

Joshna lost in closely fought match against rising 21 yrs. old Metwally in four games ... Metwally won 1st two games in extra points, Joshna tried fightback winning the third ... But Metwally kept her focus to complete win in four games.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

P.C. to Lee's FB page

[R2] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (5) Jamie Murray (ENG)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 76(3) 57 76(6)

[R3] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Lukasz Kubot (POL)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (11) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL)

What a win by Lee and Purav over defending AO champions, remembered old days of Lee ... The crowd support was an amazing, as the stadium was almost 70% full and crowd received worth of their time and money ... The match duration was 2 hours and 54 minutes, but not a single dull moment in this match ... In this match, Lee did not face a break point on his serve and Purav played superb return game ... In the first set, Purav lost his serve in the 4th game, 1-3, but they immediately broke back ... Murray and Soares again broke Purav in the 8th game, 3-5, this time also Lee-Purav broke them in the next ... Our pair played solid tie-break to win it comfortably ... In the second set, both pairs hold their respective service games until 10th game ... Murray and Soares broke Purav in the 11th game, 5-6 ... Our pair had a three break point chances in the next game but failed to convert it to lose the set ... In the final set, again our pair had around 5 break point chances which they failed to convert ... In the tie-break, Murray and Soares took a mini-break on the 5th point, 2-3 ... Our pair took mini-break back to make it 5-all ... Murray and Soares had a match point on Purav's serve at 5-6 ... Purav played an amazing last three points using his backhands to perfection ... He won 2 points on his serve for giving 1st match point chance to our pair ... And then hit superb down the line backhand service return for a win ... Our both players played really good doubles game; with a smart shot placing, shot selections and their serve placement ... Though our pair failed to convert numerous break point chances, they kept trying and played their natural game without affecting their game ... Overall impressed by Purav and Lee's approach in this match and their game.

Next, they r facing the 11th seeds Colombian pair ... Divij and Ram will be faced the top-seed Melo and Kubot.

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At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[SF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) l (3) Steven Diez (CAN,312) 63 16 57

A fighting performance by Arjun against experienced Diez ... After winning the first set Arjun failed to keep momentum and lost the second set cheaply ... He tried fightback in the third and was serving for the match at 5-3 but Diez made a superb comeback and won next four games for a win.

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At $60K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Andrezieux-Boutheon , France

[Q1] (1) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,287) l Cristina Bucsa (ESP,493) 61 26 16

Bad loss for Karman after winning the first set, so started 2018 season with a loss.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[R2] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) 46 76(4) 62
[R2] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/ Joao Sousa (POR) 62 76(3)

[R3] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs (7) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Juniors
[R1] (Q) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) vs (6) Joanna Garland (TPE,17)
[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND,41) vs (5) Hugo Gaston (FRA,5)

Our both pairs in the third round with a contrasting win ... Divij lost his serve in the first game and with that a single break advantage Fognini and Granollers won the first set ... In the second set, our pair was a break down at crucial stage, 5-6 ... But they broke opponents when Fognini-Granollers were serving for the match ... Divij raised his game and our pair won the tie-break easily ... They kept momentum in the third and up early with a double break at 4-1 ... They kept that advantage for winning the match.

Rohan-Edouard won in the straight sets against Mayer-Sousa ... After winning the first set comfortably, Rohan made too many unforced errors in the second ... But that didn't cost them as they won the tie-break convincingly ... In the third round, they r facing 7th seed Marach and Pavic.

The junior draw is out and our both players facing tough matches ... Siddhant is facing junior WR #5 French boy, Hugo Gaston and Akanksha is facing 6th seed Taipei girl, Joanna Garland.

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At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[QF] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) l (3) Steven Diez (CAN,312) 46 06
[QF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) bt (2) Ivan Nedelko (RUS,275)

[SF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) vs (3) Steven Diez (CAN,312)

Arjun scored a biggest win of his career as he defeated top-275 Russian, Ivan Nedelko, in three sets ... Arjun lost the first set when he was serving for staying in the set in the 12th game ... In the second set, Arjun broke Nedelko in the 11th game and hold his serve for winning the set ... Arjun kept momentum in the third and win the set with a single break advantage ... Next, he is facing experienced Canadian, Steven Diez ... Who defeated young Nitin in dominating fashion.

Squash News

At $165K Women's Tournament of Champions 2018, New York, USA

[R1] (16) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) vs Qualifier
[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) vs (8) Nour El Tayeb (EGY,7)

Dipika having a tough match against Egyptian top-10 player, El Tayeb.

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At $165K Men's Tournament of Champions 2018, New York, USA

[Q1] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,49) l Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT,34) 8-11, 2-11, 7-11 (35m)
[Q1] Ramit Tandon (IND,80) bt Arturo Salazar (MEX,44) 11-7, 11-13, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5 (77m)

[Q2] Ramit Tandon (IND,80) l Adrian Waller (ENG,38) 5-11, 11-7, 3-11, 2-11 (44m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,16) l (Q) Tom Richards (ENG,40) 8-11, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11 (49m)

A surprising loss of Saurav against Britsh journeyman Waller in four games ... It seems, Saurav didn't settled in the match.

Ramit lost in the final qualifying but scored hard fought win over Salazar in the first qualifying ... Saurav is facing a British qualifier.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[R1] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Marius Copil (ROU)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 76(5) 64
[R1] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Ryan Harrison (USA)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 62 76(5)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)/ Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 62 63

[R2] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP)
[R2] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/ Joao Sousa (POR)
[R2] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (5) Jamie Murray (ENG)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Juniors
[Q2] (10) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) bt (8) Rina Saigo (JPN,111) 62 64

Rohan-Edouard started with the straight sets win over potentially dangerous floaters ... Lee-Purav started with a confident win over Basilashvili and Haider-Maurer ... Rajeev-Divij also crossed the first hurdle with a straight sets win over Troicki and Copil.

Akanksha Bhan qaulified for the main-draw with a comfortable win over her Japanese opponent.

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At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[R2] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) bt Cing-Yang Meng (TPE,931) 62 62

[QF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,610) vs (2) Ivan Nedelko (RUS,275)

Arjun is in the quarters with a dominating win over his Taipei opponent ... Next, he is facing top-300 experienced Russian player, Ivan Nedelko.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (WC) Ellen Perez (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)

Juniors
[Q1] (10) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) bt Lisa Mays (AUS,216) 63 36 61

[Q2] (10) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) vs (8) Rina Saigo (JPN,111)

Only Rohan is playing in the MXD ... He is partnering Hungarian Timea Babos and they r facing Australian wild-card pair in the first round.

Good to see Akanksha Bhan is participating in the junior qualifying ... She started with a win against local player ... In the final qualifying, she is facing higher ranked Japanese girl, Rina Saigo.

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At $50K+H Koblenz Challenger 2018, Germany

[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (WC) Jan Choinski (GER)/ Marvin Moeller (GER) 46 67(7)

Vishnu-Bala's new season didn't started on the right note, as another first round loss for them against local wild-card pair.

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At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) bt Mats Rosenkranz (GER,951) 76(4) 67(2) 60

[QF] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) vs (3) Steven Diez (CAN,312)

Another upset win by young Nitin against top-1000 ranked his German opponent ... The first 2 sets went to the tie-breaks, which both players split ... But Nitin runaway in the third and bagelled his opponent ... In the quarters, he is facing top-300 type Canadian Diez.

Tennis News

At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[Q1] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bye
[Q2] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bt He FENG (CHN) 64 60
[Q3] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bt (11) Haitong XIA (CHN) 62 60

[R1] Manish SURESHKUMAR (IND,1033) l (4) Yan BAI (CHN,474) 26 46
[R1] (Q) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND,1444) bt (WC) Aoran WANG (CHN,1132) 63 63
[R1] (5) Arjun KADHE (IND,610) bt Huixin WANG (CHN,1543) 63 64

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND,1444) vs Mats ROSENKRANZ (GER,951)
[R2] (5) Arjun KADHE (IND,610) vs Cing-Yang MENG (TPE,931)

Nitin qualified and won the first round ... Arjun also started with a win.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) l Marcos Baghdatis (CYP,101) 67(4) 46 36

Yuki had a numerous opportunities against Marcos Baghdatis in the first round, but he failed to capitalize ... In the first set, Yuki started confidently and broke Baghdatis in the 1st to lead 2-0 ... Baghdatis broke him in the 4th, then Yuki broke him in the 5th, but failed to hold the next game, 3-all ... Yuki broke Baghdatis again in the 9th but failed to hold in the 10th when serving for the set ... In the tie-break Yuki was up 3-1 but again lost the momentum to lost the set ... This missed chances continued in the next two sets ... Baghdatis broke him in the 9th game and then hold his serve for winning the second set ... And then lost the third set easily ... Yuki committed 54 unforced errors in this match and poor 1st serve percentage which tells the story of the match

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q3] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) l (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,108) 46 64 46
[Q3] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt (26) Peter Polanksy (CAN,140) 16 63 63

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP,101)

Doubles
[R1] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Marius Copil (ROU)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)
[R1] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Ryan Harrison (USA)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)/ Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)

Yuki will face Marcos Baghdatis in the first round ... Yuki can fancy his chances against temperamental Baghdatis.

Before that, Yuki qualified for the main-draw of AO 2018 after comeback win over Polanksy ... Yuki started tentatively and wasn't played his usual game ... Polanksy took advantage of it and won six games in a row from 0-1, he broke Yuki in the 3rd, the 5th and the 7th games ... Yuki showed improvement from the second set and he reduced unforced errors ... The first time in the match Yuki broke Polanksy in the 7th game to lead 4-3 and then again broke him in the 9th game for taking the match in to the decider ... In the final set, Yuki hold in the 6th game after 0-30 down for 4-3 and immediately broke Polanksy in the 8th game for 5-3 ... Yuki comfortably hold for an excellent comeback win after forgettable start.

RamK missed an opportunity for qualifying to the main-draw ... In the first set, RamK missed four break point chances on Pospisil's serve and Pospisil made him to pay as he broke RamK in the 10th game when he was serving to remain in the set ... In the second set, RamK took a crucial break in the 3rd game and kept that break advantage for winning the set ... In the decider, RamK missed a break point opportunity in the 5th game ... Again while serving for staying in the match, RamK failed to hold as Pospisil won it with backhand down the line passing shot.

The doubles draw is out and our players have decent first round matches ... Divij gets first-time seeded in the grand slam partnering Rajeev Ram ... Divij-Rajeev r in the top-draw and r facing pairing of Troicki-Copil ... Rohan and Edouard r 10th seeds and they r facing Harrison-Pospisil in the first round ... Lee-Purav r facing Basilashvili and Haider-Maurer in the first round.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q2] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) bt Gleb Sakharov (FRA,153) 64 76(10)

[Q3] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,108)

RamK moved into the final qualifying round with the straight sets win over Sakharov ... This match moved to the indoor court due to persistent rains in Melbourne for last two days ... The match was a lot closer than score suggest ... RamK took first break in the 5th game but Sakharov immediately broke Ramk in the next game for 3-all ... RamK again broke him in the 7th game to lead 4-3 and kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, RamK broke Sakharov in the 3rd game to lead 2-1 ... But Sakharov broke back in the 6th game for 3-all ... After that both players failed to other's serve despite having break points ... In the tie-break, after exchanging mini-breaks RamK was leading 5-3 but Sakharov made 5-all ... After that, both players were winning points on their serves ... RamK took a crucial mini-break on 21st point and then served a big for converting 4th match point ... In the final qualifying round, RamK is also facing Canadian challenge, Vasek Pospisil.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q2] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt Carlos Taberner (ESP,186) 60 62

[Q3] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs (26) Peter Polanksy (CAN,140)

Expected an easy win for Yuki but wasn't expected this type of thrashing to Taberner in the grand slam qualifying ... He gave a bagel, losing only four points in the first set and continued with a this trend for a comfotable win ... In the final qualifying round, he is facing another Canadian challenge of Peter Polanksy.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

Picture Credit to Divij's FB page

Doubles Final
(2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castilo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 76(1) 62

Divij lifted his first title of 2018 season with Jonathan Erlich ... They defeated top-seeds Podlipnik-Castilo and Vasilevski in the straight sets.

Tennis News

At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (1) Lukasz Kubot (AUT)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 46 75 8-10

Rohan and Edouard gave fighting performance against WR #1 Kubot and Melo ... After losing the first set they fought back for winning the second ... But Kubot and Melo won closely fought the match tie-break for the win.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[QF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS) 64 63
[SF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN) 64 67(5) 10-4

[F] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castilo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

Divij-Erlich required the match tie-break against Li-Watanuki for entering into the final ... Before that, another comfortable the straight sets win for them against Seppi and Van Peperzeel ... In the final, they r facing top-seeds Podlipnik-Castilo and Vasilevski.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Pedro Martinez (ESP) 67(4) 67(3)

Jeevan-Chris lost in the two tie-breaks against unseeded Spanish pair.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) l (1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,1) 5-11, 8-11, 4-11 (20m)

Both played attacking game but Nour was too strong for Dipika, though she tried hard in the second game.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q1] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) bt Bradley Klahn (USA,219) 67(6) 76(3) 62
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) vs Tobias Kamke (GER,229) 64 16 26
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,216) l Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161) 67(5) 63 36
[Q1] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,185) 16 63 64

[Q2] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Gleb Sakharov (FRA,153)
[Q2] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Carlos Taberner (ESP,186)

RamK handled superbly pressure of losing to win a match ... RamK and Klahn hold their respective service games to take the first set in the tie-break ... Klahn took a crucial mini-break on the 14th points for winning the set ... In the second set, Klahn broke RamK in the 5th game, 2-4, but RamK broke him when he was serving for the match in the 10th game, 5-all ... RamK won the tie-break comfortably ... In the third set, from 2-all RamK won next 4 games in a row breaking Klahn in 5ht and 7th games ... This was an amazing comeback from RamK against solid player ... RamK will be faced top-150 type Frenchman Sakharov in the second qualifying.

Yuki moved into the second qualifying round with a comeback win over his tricky Canadian opponent, Brayden Schnur ... In the first set, Yuki failed to challenge Schnur's big serve and powerful shots and lost it easily ... Yuki started to read Schnur's game from the second set ... Yuki broke Schnur in the 6th game to lead 4-2 and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the third set, both players hold their respective service games until 2-all ... Yuki broke Schnur in the 5th game but failed to hold in the next, 3-all ... Yuki took a crucial break in the 9th game to lead 5-4 ... Schnur saved a couple of match point from 40-15 down but Yuki converted third match point for completing the win ... On the paper, Yuki's next match looks winnable against Spanish Taberner.

Prajnesh missed a big opportunity for scoring a win in the grand slam qualifying ... He started well and won the first set with a single break advantage after saving 2 break points in the 10th game ... From the second set, Prajnesh struggled with his game and failed to keep a ball in the court ... Kamke took advantage of it and won next two sets comfortably.

The loss for Sumit was a case of missed opportunities ... In the first set, Giannessi broke Sumit in 6th game to lead 2-4 but Sumit immediately broke back for 3-4 ... Sumit again broke him in the 9th game to lead 5-4 ... While serving for the set, Sumit had two set points at 40-15 but he failed to convert ... Giannessi broke him and then won the tie-break ... In the second set, Sumit took an early break and kept that advantage for winning it ... In the final set, Sumit broke Giannessi in the 1st game for 2-0 lead but from 3-1 Sumit lost next five games .. In that, Sumit lost his serve in the 6th and the 8th games ... Sumit missed a huge opportunity of making a winning start on his grand slam debut.

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At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 64 64
[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Nicholas Monroe (USA) 76(5) 76(5)

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs (1) Lukasz Kubot (AUT)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Rohan and Edouard r in the semis and will be facing top-seed Kubot and Melo ... In the quarters, they defeated Martin and Monroe in the two tie-breaks ... Before that, they started with the straight sets win over Dodig and Verdasco in the first round.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Jeremy Beale (AUS)/ Thomas Fancutt (AUS) 63 61

[QF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS)

Divij and Erlich scored an easy win over a local wild-card pair in the first round ... Next, they r facing Seppi and Van Peperzeel.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Ti Chen (TPE)/ Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Pedro Martinez (ESP)

Jeevan-Chris started with a dominating win losing only two games against experienced Ti Chen and Cipolla ... Next, they r facing Spanish pair.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) bt (7) Alison Waters (ENG,10) 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 (30m)
[R2] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l (5) Nicol David (MAS,6) 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 7-11 (38m)

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) vs (1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,1)

Dipika played attacking game to beat top-10 Alison Waters in the straight games ... After longtime we r seeing win over top-10 player by Dipika ... The first 2 games were very close but Dipika won it keeping her composure ... Next, she is facing in-form WR #1 Nour El Sherbini.

Joshna is still searching for her first win against Nicol, after this loss she has 0-14 win-loss record against Nicol ... Joshna started well and won the first game comfortably but from the second game, Nicol changed her tactics ... She matched Joshna's fast game and covered a lot of court for completing win in four games.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q1] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Bradley Klahn (USA,219)
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) vs Tobias Kamke (GER,229)
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,216) vs Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161)
[Q1] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Brayden Schnur (CAN,185)

Australian open qualifying draw is out ... Yuki is 15th seed so he is highest seeded in his draw and having good chance to move in the maindraw ... RamK is 28th seed and also having a favorable draw ... Prajnesh and Sumit r having winnable first round matches.

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At $501K ASB Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (WC) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 76(4) 67(8) 7-10

Lee-Purav lost a close match in two hours against Aisam and Marcin ... Our pair had a match point in the second set tie-break which they failed to convert.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,428) l (7) Yusuke Takahashi (JPN,282) 26 75 06
[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) l Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,487) 67(3) 36

Sasi lost in the three sets against top-300 Japanese Takahashi ... Sid lost in the straight sets against local player.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R1] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bt Samantha Cornett (CAN,26) 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5 (49m)

[R2] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) vs (5) Nicol David (MAS,6)

This was Joshna's 350th PSA match and she won this close match against Sam Cornett ... Both players played fast-paced squash and Sam was a more active player on the court ... But after four games Sam was tired and Joshna took advantage of it ... Next, she is having a tough match against a legendary Nicol David.

Tennis News

At $250K Hobart WTA International 2018, Australia

[R1] Kaitlyn Christian (G) (USA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (4) Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Makoto Ninomiya (JPN) 26 57

The 4th seed pair proved better of Prarthana and her American partner.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[Q3] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bt (8) Timur Khabibulin (KAZ,788) 26 76(5) 4-4 retd.

[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) vs Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,487)

Sid moved into the maindraw when Khabibulin retired in the third set ... He will be facing Thai Trongcharoenchaikul in the first round.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) bt (16) Salma Hany (EGY,18) 11-6, 12-10, 11-2 (23m)
[R1] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) vs Samantha Cornett (CAN,26)

[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) vs (7) Alison Waters (ENG,10)

Joshna and Dipika r playing in Riyadh Masters ... Dipika started the new season with straight games win over a talented young Egyptian Hany ... In the second round, she will be facing WR #10, Alison Waters.

Tennis News

At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Rohan and Edouard partnership for 2018 season begin in Sydney International ... They r facing an experienced Dodig and Verdasco in the first round.

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At $501K ASB Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (WC) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Lee and Purav have received wild-card in Auckland ... They r facing Aisam-Marcin in the first round.

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At $250K Hobart WTA International 2018, Australia

[R1] Kaitlyn Christian (G) (USA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (4) Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Makoto Ninomiya (JPN)

This week Prarthana is playing with American Kaitlyn Christian ... They r having a tough match against top-50 ranked doubles players.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[Q1] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bye
[Q2] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bt Wei-De Lin (TPE,1415) 46 61 76(6)

[Q3] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) vs (8) Timur Khabibulin (KAZ,788)

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,428) vs (7) Yusuke Takahashi (JPN,282)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

Sasi is in the main-draw and facing 7th seed Takahashi ... Sid is also in the final qualifying and facing Timur Khabibulin.

In the doubles, Jeevan is back with Rungkat and they r facing Ti Chen and Cipolla.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Jeremy Beale (AUS)/ Thomas Fancutt (AUS)

Divij is in Australia and partnering Erlich ... They r facing a local wild-card pair in the first round.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA) 46 67(2)

The French pair of Herbert and Simon proved strong for Divij and Yuki as they scored the straight sets win over our pair.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[QF] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (2) Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Darija Jurak (CRO) 64 67(3) 3-10

Prarthana gave fighting performance with Frech against the 2nd seed pair ... They won the first set but failed to complete win in the second set tie-break ... The 2nd seeds dominated the match tie-break.

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At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

As per update, Divij Sharan will be partnered Rajeev Ram at the Australian Open ... So Divij having solid partner in Rajeev and with a favorable draw they can go deep in the first grand slam of 2018.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Group I in Fed Cup 2018, New Delhi, India

Indian Women's Team - Ankita Raina (259), Karman Kaur Thandi (285), Pranjala Yadlapalli (482) and Prarthana Thombare (D 144)
Reserved - Rutuja Bhosale (536), Zeel Desai (625)

No surprise in Fed Cup selection as our all top three singles players get selected and the second best doubles player Prarthana selected after Sania withdrew due to injury ... Rutuja and Zeel get selected as the reserve players.

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At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Franko Skugor (CRO) 75 26 10-6
[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA) 36 57

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA)

Divij scored an huge upset win with Yuki against the top-seeds in the match tie-break ... After winning the tight first set our pair lost the second set easily ... But they recovered to win the match tie-break convincingly ... Next, they r facing big serving French pair of Simon-Herbert ... Simon-Herbert defeated defending champions Rohan and Jeevan in the straight sets.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) l (1) Marin Cilic (CRO,6) 46 36
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) l (8) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA,81) 64 36 46

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Laslo Djere (SRB)/ Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 62 62

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Franko Skugor (CRO)

RamK gave spirited performance against WR #6 Cilic in his straight sets loss ... In the first set, Cilic broke RamK in the 8th game and was serving for the set ... RamK put pressure on Cilic's serve and with the help of Cilic's unforced errors broke him in the 9th game ... RamK failed to hold in the next for losing the set ... In thr second set, Cilic played control game and with a break advantage completed win.

Yuki missed big opportunities in this match as he had numerous chances in the third set ... In the first set, Yuki broke Herbert early and kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki lost focus and dipped his game ... Herbert broke him in the 2nd game to lead 3-0 and Herbert kept that advantage for winning it comfortably ... In the third, Yuki was putting pressure on Herbert's serve ... In 2nd and 4th games Yuki had 3 break points at 0-40, but he missed all six break points ... Yuki lost his serve in the 5th game, after that Herbert served big and didn't give chance to Yuki for winning the match.

Yuki-Divij scored a dominating win over their opponents inside 55 mins ... Next, they r facing top-seed Lindstedt-Skugor for place in the semis.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[QF] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (2) Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Darija Jurak (CRO)

Prarthana and her Polish partner will be faced 2nd seeds in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) l (Q) Ilya Ivashka (BLR,230) 36 36
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) bt (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,603) 63 64

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) vs (8) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA,81)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) 63 62

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA)

As expected win for Yuki but Arjun won hearts with his game ... Really good service action, better net game and hit good groundies on both side flanks ... Yuki also was delight to watch and he was a better player on the court but Arjun gave fighting performance ... Next, he is facing 8th seed Frenchman Herbert ... But a disappointing straight sets loss of Sumit against fellow qualifier ... Sumit missed a big opportunity to go deep in this ATP tournament.

Again it showed if Jeevan finds regular good partner then he can be top-25 doubles player ... A dominating win with Rohan by Jeevan over Leander and Purav ... Jeevan played superb tennis and Rohan complemented his game ... Purav struggled with his game and Lee looked a bit slow near net ... Next, they r facing French pair.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) bt Mona Barthel (GER)/ Donna Vekic (CRO) 57 63 10-8.

Prarthana started her 2018 season with a win on the tour with her Polish partner ... They scored a comeback win over their German-Croatian opponents.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) bt Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP,106) 76(4) 62

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) vs (1) Marin Cilic (CRO,6)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Adil Shamasdin (CAN)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 63 67(8) 6-10
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) l (2) Robin Haase (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 61 57 7-10

RamK books his next match with another top-10 player, WR #6 Marin Cilic ... He defeated Roberto in the straight sets ... Both players played a close first set, but RamK served well and managed to put pressure on Roberto's serve ... Ramk had a couple of break points but failed to convert but he won the tie-break comfortably ... In the second set, RamK broke Roberto in 3rd game to lead 2-1, but he was 15-40 down on his serve in the next game ... RamK saved both break points to keep advantage, 3-1 ... RamK missed a break point in the 5th game but he again broke Roberto in the 7th game and hold his serve for comfortable victory.

Our both doubles pairs lost in the match tie-breaks, I was hoping at least a win for Bala and Vishnu considering home advantage ... They missed match points in the second set tie-break and that cost them the match ... Arjun-Benoit gave spirited performance, they won the first set comfortably ... But from the second set, Dutch pair started putting pressure on Arjun and Benoit's services and that paid dividend ... It was heartening to see Arjun matched these top players on the court but lost the match due to some unforced errors from Arjun-Benoit in the match tie-break.