Hockey News

At Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2018, Bhubaneswar, India

Pool A
Argentina (WR #2), Spain (WR #8), New Zealand (WR #9) and France (WR# 18)

Pool B
Australia (WR #1), England (WR #7), Ireland (WR #10) and China (WR #17)

Pool C
Belgium (WR #3), India (WR #6), Canada (WR #11) and South Africa (WR #15)

Pool D
The Netherlands (WR #4), Germany (WR #5), Malaysia (WR #12) and Pakistan (WR #13)

Indian Pool Matches Schedule
Against South Africa - 28th November 2018
Against Belgium - 2nd December 2018
Against Canada - 8th December 2018

Men's World Cup 2018 will be played between November 28th to December 16th 2018 at Bhubaneswar ... A decent draw for us as we r in Group C with Belgium, Canada and South Africa.

Tennis News

At $3M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2018, UAE

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (4) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 46 63 6-10
[R1] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (LL) Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)/ Florian Mayer (GER) 63 61
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN) l Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 57 16

[QF] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (4) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

The wild-card paring of Lee and Cerretani started with a dominating win over Haider-Maurer and Mayer ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Klaasen and Venus.

Rohan-Edouard lost in the match tie-break against 4th seed pair ... Divij-Sugita lost in a straight sets against veterans Aisam-Matkowski.

---

At $150K+H Indian Wells Challenger 2018, USA

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Liam Broady (GBR)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 36 46

Jeevan-Purav lost in a straight sets against Reid-Broady.

Snooker News

At £366K Welsh Open 2018, Cardiff, Wales

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,79) bt Martin O'Donnell (ENG,84) 4-3 (46-90(70), 0-77(52), 34-69(58), 80(80)-1, 62-28, 65-18, 59-20)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,81) vs (7) Mark Williams (WAL,6)

Aditya scored a superb comeback win over O'Donnell after 0-3 down ... O'Donnell scored a three 50+ breaks in first 3 frames to win it ... Aditya kept his composure and scored 80 points break to win the fourth frame ... Aditya played a smart game on the green and won next three frames for winning this match ... In the second round, Aditya having a tough match against former WR #1 Mark Williams.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Indian Wells Challenger 2018, USA

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Taylor Fritz (USA)/ Reilly Opelka (USA) 62 76(7)

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Liam Broady (GBR)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

Purav-Jeevan scored a straight sets win over big serving American youngsters ... In the quarters, they r facing British-Aussie pairing of Broady and Reid.

---

At $75K Yokohama Challenger 2018, Japan

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) l (1) Jordan Thompson (AUS,95) 62 46 36

Doubles
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l Tobias Kamke (GER)/ Tim Puetz (GER)

Prajnesh missed a big opportunity of scoring top-100 win ... After winning the first set he was 4-2 break up, but he lost next four games to lose the set ... Jordan kept this momentum for winning the third.

In the doubles, German pair proved a strong to Bala and Uchiyama.

Golf News

At $6.6M The Honda Classic 2018, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA (PGA Tour)

T59 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 73 71 71 74 +9 $14,388.00

Anirban's struggle in the last round continues ... Here also he managed 4 over and ended up above 50 in the final standing.

---

At AUD $350K Ladies Classic Bonville 2018, Australia (LET Tour)

T31 Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 70 76 72 74 +4 AUD $2,203.85

Sharmila missed a top-25 finish as she managed 2 over in the final round.

Tennis News

At $3M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2018, UAE

[Q2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,101) l (7) Yannick Maden (BEL,142) 16 16

This was a winnable match for Yuki ... I am shocked seeing this one-sided loss of Yuki against Maden ... Big missed opportunity of qualifying and earning chunk of ranking points.

---

At $150K+H Indian Wells Challenger 2018, USA

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Taylor Fritz (USA)/ Reilly Opelka (USA)

This week, Jeevan is partnering Purav in big challenger and they r facing big serving American youngsters in the first round.

Badminton News

At $150K YONEX Swiss Open 2018, Basel, Switzerland (BWF World Tour Super 300)

[R1] (2) Sameer Verma (IND,46) bt Thomas Rouxel (FRA,74) 22-20 21-10
[R2] (2) Sameer Verma (IND,46) bt Yu Igarashi (JPN,58) 11-21 21-18 21-16
[QF] (2) Sameer Verma (IND,46) bt Kento Momota (JPN,42)
[SF] (2) Sameer Verma (IND,46) bt Kantaphon Wangcharoen (THA,49) 21-14 11-21 21-12

Men's Singles Final
(2) Sameer Verma (IND,46) bt Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,112) 21-15 21-13

Sameer Verma lifted his big title after beating Danish Jan O Jorgensen in straight games ... Before that, he scored a couple of good win against Japanese and Thai opponents ... Guru also played qualifying and reached into the quarters.

---

At $25K YONEX Austrian Open 2018, Vienna, Austria (International Challenge)

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt Gergely Krausz (HUN,91) 21-14 21-16
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt Jia Wei Tan (MAS,119) 21-15 22-20
[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (7) Victor Svendsen (SUI,77) 21-17 21-19
[SF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (5) Raul Must (EST,66) 21-18 21-4

Men's Singles Final
Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt June Wei Cheam (MAS,126) 23-21 21-14

Kashyap lifted International challenge title in Austria beating Malaysian in straight sets ... In this tournament, Kashyap didn't lose a single game in this match ... Subhankar Dey also reached in the semis in this tournament.

Tennis News

At $3M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2018, UAE

[Q1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,101) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO,UNR) 62 61
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,216) l (4) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,109) 62 26 0-4 retd.

[Q2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,101) vs (7) Yannick Maden (BEL,142)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs (4) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Michael Venus (NZL)
[R1] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN) vs Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Yuki scored a impressive win against top doubles and former top-30 singles player Dodig ... IN the first set, Yuki was a break down 0-2 but after that, he won 12 games from next 13 games played ... In the final qualifying, he is facing Belgian Maden ... Sumit started with winning the first set but after that he lost the second and retired from the match with respartory infection, when he was 0-4 down.

In the doubles, Lee has received the wild-card with Cerretani and they r playing Khachanov and Paire ... Divij is playing with Japanese Sugita and they r facing experienced Aisam and Matkowski.

---

At $1.7M Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC 2018, Acapulco, Mexico

[Q1] (6) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,140) l Kevin King (USA,179) 36 06

Pretty bad loss for RamK against Kevin King.

---

At $75K Yokohama Challenger 2018, Japan

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs (1) Jrdan Thompson (AUS,95)

Doubles
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Tobias Kamke (GER)/ Tim Puetz (GER)

A tough match for Prajnesh against in-form Thompson.
This week, Bala is playing with Uchiyama and they r the 2nd seeds ... They can struggle against German pair as this is new pairing.

Tennis News

At €718K Open 13 Provence 2018, Marseille, France

[SF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 16 46

A disappointing straight sets loss for Rohan-Edouard against Inglot-Daniell.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[SF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) l Go Soeda (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 46 67(6)

Bala-Prajnesh lost in a close straight sets against experienced Japanese pair.

Squash News

At $250K Men's Windy City Open 2018, Chicago, USA

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) l (7) Simon Rösner (GER,6) 7-11, 8-11, 4-11 (40m)

Saurav lost in straight games against Rösner ... He tried in the first 2 games but Rösner ws a better player.

---

At $250K Women's Windy City Open 2018, Chicago, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) l (1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,1) 5-11, 8-11, 1-11 (20m)
[R1] (15) Joshna Chinappa (IND,17) l Mariam Metwally (EGY,21) 5-11.6-11, 4-11 (26m)

In women's section also our challenge got over in the first round ... Dipika tried hard in the second game but WR #1 El Sherbini proved too strong for her in the third ... Joshna also lost in straight games against young Egyptian Metwally.

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) l (3) Ben McLachlan (JPN)/ Hugo Nys (FRA) 63 36 5-10

Divij-Scott lost in the match tie-break against third seeds after winning the first set.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) l Tim Puetz (GER,293) 67(5) 26

Doubles
[SF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) vs Go Soeda (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)

Prajnesh failed to capitalize on his first round win but it seems he lost against a better player on the court ... In the doubles, Bala and Prajnesh r facing experienced Japanese pair.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) l (8) Tereza Mrdeza (CRO,220) 75 67(3) 57

Doubles
[SF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU) l (3) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS) 67(6) 16

Karman lost in the singles and the doubles against seeded players ... In the singles, she fought tooth and nail against experienced and top-225 Mrdeza in her close loss after almost 4 hours match ... Karman won the first set but Mrdeza fought back for winning the second set in the tie-break ... Mrdeza kept momentum to win a close third set ... In the doubles, she lost in straight sets against seeded Aussie pair with her Romanian partner

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) bt Wesley Koolhof (NED)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 76(3) 62

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) vs (3) Ben McLachlan (JPN)/ Hugo Nys (FRA)

Divij-Scott started with a good win against Sitak-Koolhof, who r very regular pair on ATP tour ... Next, they r facing 3rd seed Japnese-French pair.

---

At €718K Open 13 Provence 2018, Marseille, France

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 36 76(3) 10-4

Rohan-Edouard in the semis after another comeback win against Cerretani-Shamasdin.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) bt Zhe Li (CHN)/ Stephane Robert (FRA) 64 64

Bala-Prajnesh r in the semis, they defeated Li-Robert in the straight sets.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) bt (LL) Jia-Qi Kang (CHN,370) 63 63

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) vs (8) Tereza Mrdeza (CRO,220)

Doubles
[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU) bt (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) 64 61

[SF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU) vs (3) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS)

Karmam scored a comfortable win over Chinese lucky loser Kang in the first round and in the doubles, partnering Adina Cristian defeated top-seeds Prarthana and her Croatian partner in the straight sets ... Next, she is facing experienced Croatian girl, Tereza Mrdeza and in the doubles, they r facing 3rd seed Aussie pair.

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Jack Sock (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA) 36 26

A bad loss for Lee-Purav ... In this match, they struggled to return Americans serve and American dominated on our players weak serve.

---

At €718K Open 13 Provence 2018, Marseille, France

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 26 63 10-6

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN)

Rohan-Edouard scored a comeback win over Skupski-Tsitsipas ... Next, they r facing pairing of Cerretani-Shamasdin.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) bt (4) Stephane Robert (FRA,162) 63 16 64

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs Tim Puetz (GER,293)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Zhe Li (CHN)/ Stephane Robert (FRA) 36 16

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) vs Zhe Li (CHN)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)

Prajnesh scored an upset win over in-form and experienced Frenchman Robert in three sets ... With this win Prajnesh opens draw for him, so hopefully he will took advantage of it ... Next, he is facing German Tim Puetz.

A surprising loss for Jeevan-Chris against Li-Robert ... Now, Bala-Prajnesh will be facing Lee-Robert.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) bt Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN) 63 62
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU) bt Jia-Qi Kang (CHN)/ Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) 64 46 10-7

[QF] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) vs Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU)

The top-seeds Prarthana and Tereza started with a comfortable win against Japanese pair ... In the quarters, they r facing Karman and her partner Adina Cristian, who scored a win in the match tie-break against Asian pair.

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[R1] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,141) l Donald Young (USA,75) 16 26

I was hoping better performance by RamK but somehow he failed to solve Young puzzle in this match ... Young kept attacking on RamK's serve and was breaking his serve at ease ... A really bad day at office for RamK.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) bt (WC) Daiki Hayashi (JPN)/ Kosuke Shibano (JPN) 75 61

Bala-Prajnesh started with a straight sets win over local wild-card pair.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) vs (LL) Jia-Qi Kang (CHN,370)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) vs Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN)
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU) vs Jia-Qi Kang (CHN)/ Peangtarn Plipuech (THA)

Karmam is facing Chinese lucky loser Kang in the first round and facing her in the doubles also with their respective partners ... Hoping for a better week for Prarthana with her Croatian partner.

Golf News

At $7.2M Genesis Open 2018, California, USA (PGA Tour)

T26 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 69 67 74 -2 $46,996.00

Anirban had a couple of good rounds to push him inside top-15 after three rounds ... But he struggled in the last round to score three over, which pushed him outside top-25 in the end.

---

At $7.2M Genesis Open 2018, California, USA (PGA Tour)

T53 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 73 69 76 71 +1 € 5,178

The four over third round cost a decent finish for SSP on the European tour.

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[Q2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,141) bt (1) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA,109) 63 63

[R1] (Q) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,141) vs Donald Young (USA,75)

Doubles
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Jack Sock (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) vs Wesley Koolhof (NED)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)

RamK continued with his good performance and scored a comfortable win over top-110 ranked Fratangelo in the straight sets ... Fratangelo never found his rhythm as RamK mixed his backhand slice and net game to unsettle him ... Next, he is facing experienced American Donald Young.

A tough match for Lee-Purav against American pair ... Divij-Scott r having a decent draw.

---

At €718K Open 13 Provence 2018, Marseille, France

[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Ken Skupski (GBR)/ Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Rohan-Edouard r the second seeds in Open 13 Provence.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger 2018, Japan

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs (4) Stephane Robert (FRA,162)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) vs (WC) Daiki Hayashi (JPN)/ Kosuke Shibano (JPN)
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Zhe Li (CHN)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)

Only Prajnesh is in the singles main-draw and having a tough match against 4th seed Robert.

This week, Vishnu is not playing so Bala is partnering Prajnesh and they r playing local wild-cards ... Jeevan and Chris r 2nd seed and our both pairs can face each-other in the quarters if they win the first round.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) vs Qualifier

Karman is facing a qualifier in the first round.

Squash News

At $10K Men's 20th Atlanta Open 2018 2018, USA

[R1] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,68) bt Syed Hamzah Shah Bukhari (PAK,161) 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6
[QF] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,68) bt (5) Michael McCue (CAN,103) 11-4, 11-0, 11-4
[SF] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,68) bt (Q) Edgar Zayas (MEX,212) 8-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8

Final
(2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,68) bt Mohamed Reda (EGY,58) 13-11, 11-9, 15-13

In the last week, Vikram lifted a $10K title in US after beating higher ranked Egyptian in a closely fought three games.

Tennis News

At $622K Delray Beach Open 2018, Florida, USA

[Q1] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,141) bt Stefan Kozlov (USA,158) 63 62

[Q2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,141) vs (1) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA,109)

In their last meeting Kozlov defeated RamK losing three games ... This time, RamK turned a table and scored a dominating win over Kozlov ... RamK showed a lot of improvement in his game, so his training stint is showing improvements in his game ... Next, he is facing top-110 Fratangelo for place in the main-draw.

---

At $733K Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2018, UAE

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,253) l (3) Samantha Stosur (AUS,44) 46 46

A decent fight from Ankita against former top-5 player ... In this match, both players created ten break point chances, Stosur converted four and Ankita managed to convert only two.

---

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

Singles Final
(2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) l (1) Jordan Thompson (AUS,107) 57 63 57

Yuki had a poor service day and Thompson took advantage of it to win the title ... In this match, both players had a lot of service breaks, exactly 8 breaks each ... In the first set, both players exchanged couple of breaks and Thompson took a crucial break in the 12th game for winning it ... In the second set, Yuki broke Thompson in the 1st game to lead 2-0 but lost his serve in the 4th game for 2-all ... Yuki again broke Thompson in the 5th game and won the set breaking him in the 9th game when he was serving to stay in the set ... In the third set, Thompson was a double break up after breaking Yuki in the 1st and the 3rd game, 0-3 ... Yuki fought back and broke Thompson in the 4th and the 6th games for 3-all ... Thompson again broke Yuki in the 7th game but this time also Yuki broke him in the next for 4-all ... Yuki missed a match point in the 10th game on Thompson's serve ... Then, Thompson took a crucial break in the 11th game and hold comfortably for a win.

Winter Olympics 2018

At the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, Pyeongchang, South Korea

P.C. to scroll.in

Men's 15-km free cross-country skiing race
103 Jagdish Singh (IND) 43.03 minutes

India’s Jagdish Singh finished 103rd out of 119 athletes who took part in the men’s 15 km free cross-country skiing race at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea ... His finish time of 43:00.3 was nine minutes and 16.4 seconds slower than the gold medallist, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (33:43.9) ... This was the 26-year-old Jagdish’s first Winter Olympics campaign ... It was quite amazing that he have even managed to reach Pyeongchang ... Jagdish did not have a proper racing suit and equipment two days prior to the race ... He bought equipment and gear worth Rs 72,000 in Pyeongchang and doesn’t know whether he will be reimbursed for it.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

P.C. to Balaji's FB page

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) bt (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207)

[F] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) vs (1) Jordan Thompson (AUS,107)

Doubles Final
(2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Cem Ilkel (TUR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 76(5) 57 10-5

Yuki scored a straight sets win over Duckhee ... In the first set, Yuki needed to wait till the 11th game for breaking Duckhee's serve and then he hold his serve in the 12th game for winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki broke Duckhee in the 3rd game to lead 3-1 and then he again broke Duckhee in 7th game and then hold his serve for winning the match ... In the final, the top two seeds will be playing for entering into the top-100, as winner will entered into the top-100.

Bala and Vishnu lifted their first title of 2018 ... In the final, they defeated Ilkel-Petrovic in the match tie-break ... The first 2 sets were closely fought which split between both pairs ... Bala-Vishnu won the first set in tie-break, but Ilkel-Petrovic won the second set breaking Bala-Vishnu in the 12th game ... Bala-Vishnu recovered for winning the match tie-break comfortably.

---

At $15K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Mallorca, Spain

[Q1] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) bt Nora Ayala Serra (ESP,UNR) 63 63
[Q2] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) bt (4) Lucia Marzal Martinez (ESP,1014) 76(2) 63
[Q3] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) bt (13) Angeles Moreno Barranquero (ESP,1223) 76(2) 63

[R1] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) bt Rosa Vicens Mas (ESP,863) 63 retd.
[R2] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) bt (2) Estrella Cabeza-Candela (ESP,343) 63 46 62

[QF] Snehadevi S.Reddy (IND,UNR) l (5) Irene Burillo Escorihuela (ESP,441) 26 36

Snehadevi produced some excellent results this week in Spain ... She defeated talented five Spanish girls, in that top-350 Cabeza-Candela, before losing in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) bt (6) Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,222) 57 62 64

[SF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) vs (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207)

Doubles
[SF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) 63 75

[F] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Cem Ilkel (TUR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB)

Yuki's game looks rusty as this is his first tournament after Australian open ... Against Uchiyama he started slowly as he lost the first set ... But after that he recovered for winning next two set for booking his semi-final clash against Duckhee Lee.

In the doubles, Bala and Vishnu scored a straight sets win over Saki and Luca ... In the final they r facing Ilkel and Petrovic, who scored an upset win over Ratiwatanas.

Tennis News

At $748K New York Open 2018, USA

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR) /Philip Oswald (AUT) 36 46

Turning to be a bad week for Indians as Lee-Purav also lost in the straight sets.

---

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

[R2] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,565) l Mohamed Safwat (EGY,218) 46 26
[R2] (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1367) l (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207) 26 46
[R2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) bt (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,533) 62 63

[QF] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) vs (6) Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,222)

Doubles
[QF] (WC) Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) l (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 06 26
[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Cem Ilkel (TUR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 46 62 4-10
[QF] (4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 67(4) 63 13-11
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Alessandro Bega (ITA)/ Kimmer Coppejanes (BEL) 75 63

[SF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs(4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND)

Only Yuki remains in the singles draw at quarter-final stage ... Really bad performance from Indians in Chennai ... Abhinav and Arjun gave decent fight in their losses against top-220 players ... In the quarters, Yuki is facing Japanese Uchiyama.

In the doubles, our seeded pairs into the semis with the contrasting win ... Vishnu-Bala scored straight sets win over their opponents ... Next, they r facing Saki and Luca, who made a comeback win over after losing the first set.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) l Gabriella Taylor (GBR,277) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Valeria Savinykh (RUS) l Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN) 63 67(1) 2-10

Karman gave decent fighting performance against in-form Taylor.

Prarthana and her Russian partner lost in the first round against Japanese pair.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2018 - Asia / Oceania 2nd Round, Tianjin, China

India will take on China on outdoor hard courts at the Tianjin Tennis Centre in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania second round tie on April 6 and 7.

---

At € 2M ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2018, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Lucas Pouille (FRA) 46 76(5) 5-10

In the match of big servers, Rohan-Edouard lost in the match tie-break ... After losing the first set they tried comeback winning the second set tie-break ... But failed to keep momentum and lost four points in a row from 5-6 to lose the match.

---

At $748K New York Open 2018, USA

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) l Ryan Harrison (USA) / Steve Johnson (USA) 57 36

Divij-Scott lost in the first round against Americans in the straight sets.

---

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

[R1] (WC) Manish Sureshkumar (IND,876) l Danilo Petrovic (SRB,250) 46 26
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) l Pedro Martinez (ESP,252) 16 46
[R1] (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1367) bt Ivan Nedelko (RUS,275) 36 5-4 retd. (Nedelko - Dehydration)
[R1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) bt Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP,270) 61 76(3)

[R2] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,565) vs Mohamed Safwat (EGY,218)
[R2] (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1367) vs (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207)
[R2] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) vs (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,533)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) bt Nikola Cacic (SRB)/ Ivan Nedelko (RUS) 2-0 retd. (Nedelko - Dehydration)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Dhakshineswar Suresh (IND) 76(3) 61
[R1] Pedro Martinez (ESP)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) l Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 36 retd. (Martinez - Gastro)

[QF] Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[QF] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Cem Ilkel (TUR)/ Danilo Petrovic (SRB)
[QF] (4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Mohamed Safwat (EGY)
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Alessandro Bega (ITA)/ Kimmer Coppejanes (BEL)

Only Yuki and Abhinav, who again got lucky as his opponent retired but importantly he kept fighting till late of the second set, won their matches on the second day ... This turn to be terrible challenger for Indian contingent as only 4 players moved into the second round from 13 players ... In that, our two seeded players - Sumit and Prajnesh - lost cheaply in the first round ... I am thoroughly disappointed seeing our players performance in their home challenger.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Perth, Australia

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) vs Gabriella Taylor (GBR,277)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND)/ Valeria Savinykh (RUS) vs Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN)

A tough match for Karman against in-form Taylor, who won two titles in her last two tournaments.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,388) l (Q) Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,457) 46 63 57
[R1] (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,565) bt (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND,623) 67(5) 63 64
[R1] (WC) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1132) l Lucas Catarina (MON,365) 36 46
[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,429) l Gerard Granollers (ESP,357) 36 26
[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,220) l Antoine Escoffier (FRA,371) 36 36
[R1] (WC) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,524) l (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207) 36 46
[R1] (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,533) bt (WC) Dhakshineswar Suresh (IND,1886) 62 60

Doubles
[R1] Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) l (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 06 36
[R1] (4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (WC) Adil Kalyanpur (IND)/ Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) 64 63
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Dmitry Popko (KAZ)/ Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 76(8) 61

Arjun scored a big comeback win over Saki ... After losing the first set tie-break Arjun made a strong comeback for winning next two sets ... This win simply shows his overall progress ... id scored an expected comfortable win over Suresh.

A bad loss for Sumit against lower ranked Frenchman in the straight sets ... Also disapointing losses of Baa and Sasi in their home challenger.

In the doubles, an expected wins for our seeded pairs but a reality check for Sood twins against very experienced ATP tour pair, Ratiwatana twins.

Squash News

At $35K Men's Indian Open 2018, Mumbai, India

P.C. to squashsite.co.uk

Final
(1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) bt (2) Nicolas Müller (SUI,24) 11-9, 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10 (67m)

Saurav continues with his rich form and lifted another title after winning $35K Indian Open ... He defeated 2nd seed Müller in the thrilling match ... After 1-2 games down Saurav needed to dig deep to fightback ... He won the fourth game and then won nail-biting final game on extra points.

Tennis News

At $748K New York Open 2018, USA

[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,140) l (7) Eenesto Escobedo (USA,133) 57 36

Doubles
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) vs Ryan Harrison (USA) / Steve Johnson (USA)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR) /Philip Oswald (AUT)

RamK lost in the straight sets against big server Escobedo in the first qualifying ... Hopefully, from next week we will see different results..

In the doubles, our both pairs having tough matches.

---

At € 2M ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2018, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS)/ Lucas Pouille (FRA)

Rohan-Edouard r playing in Rotterdam open.

Winter Olympics 2018

At the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, Pyeongchang, South Korea

Luge
Run one - 36th Shiva Keshavan (IND) 50.578 secs.
Run two - 31st Shiva Keshavan (IND) 48.710 secs.
Run three - 30th Shiva Keshavan (IND) 48.900 secs.

Shiva Keshavan had a terrific last two luge ride below 49 seconds but that wasn't enough as only top-20 get selected for the final luge run ... So with that an end of the all time great Indian winter Olympics athlete Shiva Keshavan after participating in his sixth Olympics.

Twitter moments on Shiva Keshavan - Meet India's Winter Olympics luge pioneer

Golf News

At AUD 150K ActewAGL Canberra Classic 2018, Australia (LET 2018)

T7 Aditi Ashok (IND) 71 70 69 -7 AUD 2,531.40

The decent start for Aditi in her first tournament of the year .. She scored a 7 under for top-10 finish on European our.

---

At CLPGA Tour Qualifying School 2018, Wanning, China (China LPGA Tour 2018)

T21 Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 77 73 72 +6

Sharmila Nicollet has become the first Indian golfer to qualify for the China Ladies PGA Tour ... Importanty this tour provides Women's World rankings points also ... She played the CLPGA Tour Qualifying School to finish in tied 21st and pick one of the 30 cards available in the 88-player field.

Squash News

At $35K Men's Indian Open 2018, Mumbai, India

[SF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) bt (3) Greg Lobban (SCO,33) 11-8, 13-11, 11-6 (54m)

[F] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) vs (2) Nicolas Müller (SUI,24)

Saurav is in the final with the straight games win over Greg Lobban ... In the 1st two games Lobban stretched Saurav but he kept his copsure for finishing match in three games .. In the final, he is facing top-25 Swiss player Müller.

Tennis News

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

Relegation Play-off
India bt Chinese Taipei 2-0

[M1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,284) bt Pei-Chi Lee (TPE,454) 76(4) 63
[M2] Ankita Raina (IND,253) bt Chieh-Yu Hsu (TPE,377) 64 57 61

Ankita scored a win after almost 3 hours over Hsu ... Ankita must be tired as this was her 6th match in four days ... Both players made numerous errors and traded lot of breaks but in end Ankita prevailed, and keeping India safe in Group I ... Before that, Karman scored straight sets win over Lee.

---

At $561K Sofia Open 2018, Bulgaria

[SF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (4) Robin Haase (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 46 26

Divij-Scott lost against more experienced tour pair n the straight sets.

---

At $50K+H Chennai Challenger 2018, India

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,388) vs (Q) Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,457)
[R1] (WC) Manish Sureshkumar (IND,876) vs Danilo Petrovic (SRB,250)
[R1] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND,623) vs (Q) Arjun Kadhe (IND,565)
[R1] (WC) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1132) vs Lucas Catarina (MON,365)
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,242) vs Pedro Martinez (ESP,252)
[R1] (5) Sumit Nagal (IND,220) vs Antoine Escoffier (FRA,371)
[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,429) vs Gerard Granollers (ESP,357)
[R1] (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1367) vs Ivan Nedelko (RUS,275)
[R1] (WC) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,524) vs (3) Duckhee Lee (KOR,207)
[R1] (WC) Dhakshineswar Suresh (IND,1886) vs (Q) Siddharth Rawat (IND,533)
[R1] (2) Yuki Bhambri (IND,112) vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP,270)

Doubles
[R1] Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) vs (1) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[R1] Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) vs Nikola Cacic (SRB)/ Ivan Nedelko (RUS)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Dhakshineswar Suresh (IND)
[R1] Pedro Martinez (ESP)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) vs Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Mohamed Safwat (EGY)
[R1] (4) Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (WC) Adil Kalyanpur (IND)/ Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND)
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Dmitry Popko (KAZ)/ Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP)

Good to see big Indian contingent playing in this home challenger and our three players are seeded ... RamK has skipped this challenger as he is training in US and planning to play ew York ATP qualifying.

Arjun, Siddharth and Abhinav qualified for the main-draw ... Arjun and Saki's match will be the match of first round ... Sid is facing Suresh and young Abhinav having tough one against Russian.

Squash News

At $35K Men's Indian Open 2018, Mumbai, India

[QF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) bt (5) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY,39) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (37m)
[QF] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,49) l (3) Greg Lobban (SCO,33) 11-9, 5-11, 9-11 7-11 (53m)
[QF] (WC) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,64) l (2) Nicolas Müller (SUI,24) 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11 (49m)

[SF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) vs (3) Greg Lobban (SCO,33)

Saurav is in the semis with the straight games win over Karim Ali Fathi ... In the semis, he will be facing Scottish Greg Lobban, who defeated Harry in four games ... Mahesh also lost against top-25 Swiss player Müller, but he also stretched Müller to four games in closely fought match.

Tennis News

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

Pool A
India bt Hong Kong 2-0

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,284) bt Eudice Chong (HKG,761) 63 64
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,253) bt Ling Zhang (HKG,331) 63 62
[R3] Prarthana Thombare / Pranjala Yadlapalli vs Kwan Yau Ng / Ho Ching Wu

Ankita scored another convincing win over former top-200 player Ling Zhang to win this tie for India ... Before that, Karman scored her first win in Fed Cup against Chong ... So with this win we have finished the third in the Pool.

---

At $100K San Francisco Challenger 2018, California, USA

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l (2) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 26 26

British pair proved too strong for Jeevan-Chris in their loss.

Badminton News

At the Asia Team Badminton Championship 2018, Alor Setar, Malaysia

Men's Quarter Final
India l China 1-3
Kidambi Srikanth bt Yuqi Shi 14-21 21-17 21-7
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty l Jiting He / Qiang Tan 17-21 18-21
B Sai Praneeth l Bin Qiao 21-9 11-21 17-21
Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy l Chengkai Han / Haodong Zhou 21-14 19-21 14-21

Women's Quarter Final
India l Indonesia 1-3
Pusarla V. Sindhu bt Fitriani Fitriani 21-13 24-22
Ashwini Ponappa / Sikki Reddy l Greysia Polii / Apriyani Rahayu 5-21 16-21
Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli l Hanna Ramadini 8-21 15-21
Sanyogita Ghorpade / Pusarla V. Sindhu l Anggia Shitta Awanda / Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani 9-21 18-21

Again only Sindhu managed to win her match ... Otherwise higher-ranked Indonesian team proved too strong for our players.

Indian men also lost in the quarters against Chinese men ... Srikanth started with a comeback win over Yuqi Shi ... Satwik-Chirag failed to overcome Chinese lower ranked pair ... Sai started with a winning the first game but he failed to keep this momentum in next two games against Bin Qiao ... Manu-Sumeeth also started with a winning the first game but they also lost next two games for losing the match and tie.

Squash News

At $35K Men's Indian Open 2018, Mumbai, India

[R1] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) bt (Q) Karim El Hammamy (EGY,69) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (44m)
[R1] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,49) bt (8) Nathan Lake (ENG,53) 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 11-8 (51m)
[R1] (WC) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,64) bt (6) Lucas Serme (FRA,37) 11-6, 12-10, 11-8

[QF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) vs (5) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY,39)
[QF] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,49) bt (3) Greg Lobban (SCO,33)
[QF] (WC) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,64) vs (2) Nicolas Müller (SUI,24)

Mahesh scored an upset win over top-40 Frenchman Serme in the straight games ... Next, he is facing 2nd seed Swiss player Müller ... Saurav started with a comfortable straight games win over a Egyptian qualifier ... Next, he is facing top-40 another Egyptian, Karim Ali Fathi ... Harry also joined him into the quarters with four games win over similar ranked British player ... Next, he is facing top-35 Scottish player Lobban.

Tennis News

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

Pool A
India l Kazakhstan 1-2

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,284) l Zarina Diyas (KAZ,55) 36 26
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,253) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ,81) 63 16 64.
[R3] Prarthana Thombare / Ankita Raina l Yulia Putintseva / Zarina Diyas 06 46

Ankita continues with her purple patch as she scored another upset win, this time she defeated top-100 Kazakh girl Yulia Putintseva in three sets ... Before that, Karman lost against Kazakh's top-50 type Zarina Diyas in the straight sets ... Again we lost our doubles match as Kazakhs proved better pair, if Sania has played this then we had good opportunity for upset due to Ankita's performance.

---

At $561K Sofia Open 2018, Bulgaria

[QF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 64 67(4) 10-5

[SF] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (4) Robin Haase (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED)

Divij and Scott r in the semis with the match tie-break win over Arneodo and Weissborn ... Divij-Scott had two match points on Weissborn's serve in the 12th game of the second set ... They missed that and lost the tie-break, but they recovered to win the match tie-break comfortbly ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Dutch pair.

---

At $100K San Francisco Challenger 2018, California, USA

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Goncalo Oliveira (POR) 46 61 11-9

[SF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (2) Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Jeevan-Chris scored a comeback win over Novikov and Oliveira after losing the first set ... In the semis, they r facing 2nd seed British pair.

Badminton News

At the Asia Team Badminton Championship 2018, Alor Setar, Malaysia

Men's Group D
India l Indonesia 2-3
Kidambi Srikanth l Jonatan Christie 17-21 17-21
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty bt Mohammad Ahsan / Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21 21-18 24-22
B Sai Praneeth bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-18 21-19
Arjun M.R. / Ramchandran Shlok l Angga Pratama / Rian Agung Saputro 21-14 16-21 12-21
B. Sumeeth Reddy l Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 12-21 7-21

Women's Group W
India l Japan 1-4
Pusarla V. Sindhu bt Akane Yamaguchi 21-19 21-15
Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli l Sayaka Sato 12-21 12-21
Ashwini Ponappa l Aya Ohori 14-21 12-21
Sanyogita Ghorpade / Prajakta Sawant l Shiho Tanaka / Koharu Yonemoto 17-21 17-21
Ashwini Ponappa / Sikki Reddy l Misaki Matsutomo / Ayaka Takahashi 18-21 18-21

Japanese women proved too strong for Indians ... Only Sindhu managed to win her match and in Saina's absence it was difficult to expect any other win in the singles ... We tried Ashwini in the third singles but that didn't help ... In the doubles, both top-10 Japanese pairs proved better for our pairs ... In the quarters, our team will be facing Indonesian girls.

Due to some injury issues we failed to play regular players in this tie and that cost us ... Against Indonesia, Srikanth lost in the first match against Christie ... In next match, Satwik-Chirag scored a comeback win over their higher ranked opponents after losing the first game ... Sai defeated top-10 player Ginting in the straight game and gave 2-1 lead to India ... But after that, Arjun and Ram lost against higher ranked Indonesian players after winning the first game and Sumeeth was no match to top-40 Indonesian player ... This loss put us in a tough match against China.

Badminton News

At the Asia Team Badminton Championship 2018, Alor Setar, Malaysia

Men's Group D
India bt Maldives 5-0
Kidambi Srikanth bt Hussein Zayan Shaheed 21-5 21-6
B Sai Praneeth bt Ahmed Nibal 21-10 21-4
Sameer Verma bt Mohamed Arsalaan Ali 21-5 21-1
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty bt Hussein Zayan Shaheed / Hassan Afsheem Shaheem 21-8 21-8
Arjun M.R. / Ramchandran Shlok bt Mohamed Arsalaan Ali / Ahmed Nibal 21-2 21-5

The Maldives players were no fight for our higher ranked talented players ... Tomorrow, we r having crucial match with Indonesian team to decide Group winner and Thomas Cup qualification.

Tennis News

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

Pool A
India l China 1-2

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,284) l Yafan Wang (CHN,125) 26 26
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,253) bt Lin Zhu (CHN,120) 63 62
[R3] Prarthana Thombare / Ankita Raina vs Zhaoxuan Yang / Yafan Wang 26 67

A fighting performance by Indian team with the help of Ankita's performance ... She scored an upset dominating win over more than 125 places higher Chinese opponent for keeping the doubles match alive ... Before that, Yafan Wang started with expected win over Karman, but was expecting better fighting performance from her ... In the doubles, Ankita partnered Prarthana but they lost in the straight sets against superior Chinese pair.

---

At $561K Ecuador Open 2018, Quito

[R1] (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Dorian Descloix (FRA)/ Gael Monfils (FRA) 76(2) 46 12-14

Purav-Demoliner lost in a close match against French pair ... After winning the first set in the tie-break Purav-Demoliner lost the second set ... They tried in the match tie-break but lost it on an extra points.

---

At $100K San Francisco Challenger 2018, California, USA

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (WC) Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Florian Lakat (FRA) 64 46 10-7

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Goncalo Oliveira (POR)

Jeevan-Chris in the quarters with a win in the match tie-break ... Next, they r facing Novikov and Oliveira, whom they defeated last week.

---

At $75K Launceston Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Max Putcell (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS) 16 46

VSP and Coppejans lost in the straight sets against Aussie pair.

Tennis News

At $561K Sofia Open 2018, Bulgaria

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL)/ Vasko Mladenov (BUL) 64 64

An expected straight sets winning start for Divij and Scott against local pair.

Badminton News

At the Asia Team Badminton Championship 2018, Alor Setar, Malaysia

Men's Group D
India bt Philippines 5-0
Kidambi Srikanth bt Ros Leonard Pedrosa 21-11 21-12
Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy bt Carlos Antonie Cayanan / Philip Joper Escueta 21-15 21-13
B Sai Praneeth bt Arthur Samuel Salvado 21-6 21-10
Arjun M.R. / Ramchandran Shlok bt Peter Gabriel Magnaye / Alvin Morada 21-18 21-17
Sameer Verma bt Lanz Ralf Zafra 21-15 21-12

Women's Group W
India bt Hong Kong 3-2
Pusarla V. Sindhu bt Yip Pui Yin 21-12 21-18
Ashwini Ponappa / Prajakta Sawant l Ng Wing Yung / Yeung Nga Ting 22-20 20-22 10-21
Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli l Cheung Ying Mei 19-21 21-18 20-22
Pusarla V. Sindhu / Sikki Reddy bt Ng Tsz Yau / Yuen Sin Ying 21-15 15-21 21-14
Gadde Ruthvika Shivani bt Yeung Sum Yee 16-21 21-16 21-13

The Asia Team Championship will also act as a qualifier for the Thomas and Uber Cup tournaments, which to be held in Bangkok from May 20 to 27 with the teams finishing at the semifinals qualifying for the prestigious tournament ... It will be an uphill task for the Indian women's team, which have been clubbed with formidable Japan and Hong Kong in Group W ... Indian men's team, which has been clubbed with Maldives, Philippines and strong Indonesia in Group D.

Indian women struggled against lowly seeded Hong Kong in their first match ... Sindhu started with a comfortable win but our makeshift doubles pairing of Ashwini and Prajakta lost in three games ... Sri Krishna Priya also lost her match against lowly ranked Hong Kong player ... Sindhu won the second point for India, partnering Sikki in the doubles ... In the fifth match, Ruthvika scored a win after losing the first game ... Very tough task for this team against Japanese team.

Indian men trounced hapless Philippines team in one-sided match.

Golf News

Current top-8 Indian Golfers 2018,

72 Shubhankar Sharma
76 Anirban Lahiri
155 Gaganjeet Bhullar
192 Shiv Kapur
199 Ajeetesh Sandhu
226 SSP Chawrasia
377 Arjun Atwal
387 Khalin Josh

After winning Maybank Championship, Shubhankar has achieved a career high ranking, #72, and with that he becomes India's #1 golfer ... He is also secured a place at the WGC-Mexico Championship which is to be played on March 1-4.

Badminton News

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

Women's Singles Final
(1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,11) 18-21 21-11 20-22

Beiwen Zhang completed her terrific run in India Open with a title beating India #1 Sindhu in the three games ... Before in the quarters, she defeated Saina convincingly ... Here also she started well and won the first game ... But Sindhu fought back to dominate the second game and won it comfortably ... In the third game, whenever Zhang took a lead Sindhu was catching her ... From 17-19 Sindhu won next 3 points and had a match point ... Zhang saved that and converted her first match point for a memorable win.

Golf News

At $3M Maybank Championship 2018, Pun Hlaing Golf Club (Co-saction on European and Asian Tours)

P.C. to Asian tour

1 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 70 69 66 62 -21 $500,000.00
T5 Khalin Joshi (IND) 67 70 65 70 -16 $92,880.00
T23 Shiv Kapur (IND) 70 67 67 72 -12 $31,650.00
T27 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 68 71 66 72 -11 $26,700.00
T34 Arjun Atwal (IND) 67 71 68 72 -10 $21,900.00
T50 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 67 71 71 71 -8 $12,300.00
T55 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 69 71 71 70 -7 $9,480.00

21 yrs old Shubhankar Sharma fired 10 birdies for a remarkable 10-under-par 62 to claim a stunning two-shot victory at the US$3 million Maybank Championship on Sunday ... He started the final round on T19th place and overcame a four-shot deficit with a dominant display to clinch his second Asian Tour and European Tour title with a winning total of 21-under-par 267 in windy conditions ... Khalin Joshi finished in a tied fifth place to earn US$92,880 and has virtually secured his Asian Tour card for next season.

Some titbits from Asian tour -

• Shubhankar’s winning total of 21-under is the lowest winning score at the Maybank Championship. His two-shot victory equals the largest winning margin in the event. Marcus Fraser also won by two shots in the inaugural edition in 2016.
• Shubhankar is the first Asian to win the Maybank Championship and second Asian Tour member after Fraser to clinch the title.
• The victory will likely push Shubhankar to 70th place on the Official World Golf Ranking. He will potentially be the highest ranked Indian in the world.

Shubhankar Sharma - "To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about the leaderboard. I wanted to set a target in my mind and try to achieve it. On the 13th I knew I was somewhere near the leaders but on 16 I knew I had a two-shot lead. I told myself if I can make two more birdies, that would give me a good chance to win.
The last two months have changed my life. I’ve been a member on the Asian Tour for a while and I will continue to be a member on the Asian Tour. I’ve always dreamt of winning and now I’m a two-time winner on the Asian Tour and European Tour.
I’m over the moon. The last two months have been fantastic for me. I’m playing in The Open championship this year so I can’t ask for anything more. Whatever happened today was fantastic.
I had a few 10-under-pars before. I shot my first one in the Philippines two years ago to safe my Asian Tour card and I shot another one before winning the Joburg Open. I made a brilliant birdie on the nine. I pushed my tee shot to the right but I hit a brilliant second shot holed my birdie from about 15 feet.
It is still early in the season and I haven’t thought about winning the Habitat for Humanity Standings. I’m also leading in the Race to Dubai but I’m not thinking about it because there are so many events left. If I play well enough, I will have a good chance to win the Habitat for Humanity Standings. This win is great because it opens so many doors for me. I’m also playing in The Open so I’m excited about that. All and all, it is a great day.
My dad was in the army and we pretty much went all over the place in India. We were in many places. Dad used to be posted all around and we as a family followed him. I got into the game when I was seven. I turned professional when I was still in school. My dad is one of the biggest reasons that I could take this step. He has been a great inspiration. I’m 21 but this is my sixth season as a professional. I already feel like a veteran.
Both my wins now are very special. Joburg Open was obviously my first win and it was a different atmosphere because I was the only Indian there. It was very calm. I was more in the zone. The first wins are always special. I was leading going into the final round of the Joburg Open so I was expected to win. Today, I had no expectations. I didn’t even know I was going to win until the 16th leaderboard. Both wins are different but very special."

Tennis News

At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

Doubles Final
(4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 64 36 10-7

Jeevan-Chris lifted their first challenger title as a pair in their sixth try as they lost five finals together ... This time Lee-Joe failed to win the match tie-break as their first two matches they won epic match ti-breaks.

---

At $561K Sofia Open 2018, Bulgaria

[R1] Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL)/ Vasko Mladenov (BUL)

Divij is playing with Scott in Sofia and they r facing local pair in the first round.

---

At $561K Ecuador Open 2018, Quito

[R1] (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Dorian Descloix (FRA)/ Gael Monfils (FRA)

This week Purav is playing with Demoliner in Ecuador and they r facing French pair.

---

At $75K Launceston Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Max Putcell (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)

VSP is in the doubles draw with Coppejans ... But not sure about his participation as he retired from his single qualifying match.

Badminton News

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

[SF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt (3) Intanon Ratchanok (THA,3) 21-13 21-15

[SF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 16-21 19-21

[F] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,11)

Sindhu is in the final of India open and will be faced American Zhang for the title ... In the semis, she defeated Ratchanok convincingly ... In the first game, Sindhu won a 12 points in a row from 1-3 to 13-3 lead ... And after that she kept that advantage for a winning this game ... In the second game, both players were neck to neck till 14-13 ... From her Sindhu took control for a comfortable win.

Christiansen and Pedersen completed back to back victories over India's top 2 MXD pairs ... They defeated Pranaav and Sikki in the straight games.

Tennis News

At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) bt (3) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA) 76(3) 64
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Goncalo Oliveira (POR) 63 63

[F] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) vs (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA)

Lee is in back to back final of American challengers as with Joe he defeated the 3rd seed American pair in the straight sets ... In the final, they r facing Jeevan and Chris, who scored a convincing win over Novikov and Oliveira.

Badminton News

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

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) l Qiao Bin (CHN,35) 16-21 18-21
[QF] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) l (3) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7) 15-21 13-21
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) l Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85) 17-21 14-21

[QF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 21-12 19-21 21-11
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10) 10-21 13-21

[QF] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 19-21 19-21
[QF] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Du Yue (CHN)/ Li Yinhui (CHN) 17-21 21-23
[QF] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) l (2) Jongkolphan Kititharakul (THA)/ Rawinda Prajongjai (THA) 10-21 15-21

[QF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Han Chengkai (CHN)/ Cao Tong Wei (CHN) 21-8 21-13
[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 17-21 11-21

[SF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10)

[SF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

Only Sindhu in the singles and Pranaav-Sikki in MXD managed to win their quarter final matches ... Surprising losses of Sameer and Ashwini-Sikki against lower ranked opponents.

Tennis News

At $125K Dallas Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) bt Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Hunter Reese (USA) 63 26 17-15
[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Denis Kudla (USA) 63 36 10-4

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) vs (3) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA)
[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Dennis Novikov (USA)/ Goncalo Oliveira (POR)

Lee and Joe scored a win in another long match tie-break, this time 32 points, for entering into the semis ... After winning the first set they lost the second set easily after 0-4 down ... In the match tie-break, Lee-Joe were up 6-0 with an early mini-breaks but they lost the advantage ... They had a match point at 10-9 on their service but failed to convert ... From 14-15, they won next two points on opponent's serve and then converted 6th match point for a win ... In the semis, they r facing 3rd seed American pair.

Jeevan and Chris r in the semis with completing win in the match tie-break ... Next, they r facing unseeded pairing of Oliveira and Novikov, who defeated 2nd seed pair in the quarters.

---

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

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,282) l (8) Georgina Garcia-Perez (ESP,161) 46 26

Karman lost in the straight sets against Garcia-Perez.

Badminton News

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

[R2] (Q) Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (IND,198) l Qiao Bin (CHN,35) 7-21 3-21
[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) bt (Q) Shreyansh Jaiswal (IND,167) 21-19 19-21 21-12
[R2] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) bt Hu Yun (HKG,34) 21-10 21-15
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,29) 21-18 19-21 21-17
[R2] (2) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) l Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85) 19-21 17-21

[R2] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Linda Zetchiri (BUL,40) 21-10 21-14
[R2] Gadde Ruthvika Shivani (IND,79) l (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34) 19-21 16-21
[R2] (Q) Aakarshi Kashyap (IND,241) l (3) Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 11-21 12-21
[R2] Mugdha Agrey (IND,105) l (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10) 12-21 16-21
[R2] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) bt Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN,42) 21-12 21-11

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) bt Adarsh Kumar (IND)/ Jagadish Yadav (IND) 21-7 21-13
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Chang Tak Ching (HKG)/ Hee Chun Mak (HKG) 21-18 21-14
[R1] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Shenan Christian (IND)/ Riya Gajjar (IND) 21-9 21-11
[R1] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) bt Saruni Sharma (IND)/ Mayuri Yadav (IND) 21-12 21-12
[R1] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Hafiz Faizal (INA)/ Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA) 16-21 21-17 21-17
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Raju Mohamed Rehan (IND)/ J. Anees Kowsar (IND) 21-9 21-10

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) bt Tushar Sharma (IND)/ Chandrabhusan Tripathi (IND) 21-11 21-15
[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Chai Biao (CHN)/ Wang Zekang (CHN) 21-13 18-21 20-22
[R2] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Megha Morchana Bora (IND)/ Sanghamitra Saikia (IND) 21-9 21-2
[R2] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) bt Rutaparna Panda (IND)/ Mithula U K (IND) 21-12 21-18
[R2] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Yogendran Khrishnan (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) 21-10 21-19
[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt (3) Tan Kian Meng (MAS)/ Lai Pei Jing (MAS) 21-16 15-21 23-21

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,55) vs Qiao Bin (CHN,35)
[QF] (8) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,15) vs (3) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7)
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,85)

[QF] (1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (8) Beatriz Corrales (ESP,34)
[QF] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,12) vs (5) Beiwen Zhang (USA,10)

[QF] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
[QF] (6) Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Du Yue (CHN)/ Li Yinhui (CHN)
[QF] (7) Meghana Jakkampudi (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) vs (2) Jongkolphan Kititharakul (THA)/ Rawinda Prajongjai (THA)
[QF] (8) Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Han Chengkai (CHN)/ Cao Tong Wei (CHN)
[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (5) Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

Srikanth lost in the straight games against Malaysian Zulkarnain, so he needs to work hard on his game and take as much match practice before All England Open ... Otherwise expected results for Indian players in the singles.

In the doubles, our to pairs in the quarters ... In MXD, Satwik and Ashwin scored an upset win over WR #11 Malaysian pair ... Our pair missed four match points from 20-16 and then saved a match point at 20-21 before converting the 5th match point ... In men's doubles, Satwik and Chirag missed a match point, 20-19, in the third game before losing the match.