Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Kofu, Japan

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND,255) l (8) Bianca Andreesceu (CAN,196) 26 16

Ankita lost one-sided match against Canadian Bianca ... Ankita failed to challenge her in this loss, but still this semi-final appearance will give a huge reward to Ankita ... She will be playing her first grand slam qualifying at French Open.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[SF] Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (4) Guido Andreozzi (ARG)/ Ariel Behar (URU) 36 57

RamK and Lopez Perez lost in straight sets against South American seeded pair.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Kofu, Japan

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt Giulia Gatto-Monticone (ITA,266) 75 63
[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) l (8) Bianca Andreesceu (CAN,196) 26 36

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs (8) Bianca Andreesceu (CAN,196)

Ankita is in the semis with straight sets win over Italian girl Giulia ... In the first set, Ankita was up with a break at 4-1 but Giulia broke her in the 7th game for 4-all ... At 5-all Ankita was 3 break points down at 0-40 but she held and then broke Giulia for winning the set ... In the second set, Ankita took a crucial break in the 8th game and then held for a win ... Next, she is facing talented 17 yrs old Canadian Bianca, who defeated Karman comfortably in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) l (3) Marco Cecchinato (ITA,97) 16 46

In-form Cecchinato proved too strong to RamK ... Cecchinato broke RamK in the 2nd and the 6th games to win the first set comfortably ... RamK performed better in the second set, Cecchinato broke him in the 1st game taking 0-2 lead ... After that RamK held his service games but failed to break Cecchinato.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Kofu, Japan

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt Ayla Aksu (TUR,225) 64 63
[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) bt (Q) Julia Wachaczyk (GER,454) 75 75

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs Giulia Gatto-Monticone (ITA,266)
[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) vs (8) Bianca Andreesceu (CAN,196)

Doubles
[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Chin-Wei Chan (TPE) l (WC) Haruka Kaji (JPN)/ Aiko Yoshitomi (JPN) 46 26

Our both players impressive win in contrasting style for entering in to the quarters ... Ankita won the first set with a single break in the 10th game ... In the second set, Ankita took an early break in the 4th game to lead 4-1 ... Ayla broke back in the 7th game for 4-3, but Ankita immediately broke and then held her serve for a win ... Next, she is facing Italian Gatto-Monticone, who has received a walkover from the 2nd seed.

KArman struggled with her serve in this match as she committed 8 double faults in the first set ... Bur still she managed to win the first set as Karman broke Julia in the 12th game ... In the second set, Karman reduced double faults but she was 3-5 down ... Karman broke Julia in the 10th game when Julia was serving for the set ... After that again broke her when Julia was serving for the staying in the match in the 12th game for a victory ... Next, she is facing talented top-200 17 yrs old Canadian Bianca.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) bt (LL) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) 62 63

[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) vs (3) Marco Cecchinato (ITA,97)

Doubles
[QF] Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Andre Begemann (GER)/ Lukas Rosol (CZE) 76(5) 67(4) 10-8

A very confident win by RamK against India's clay court specialist Sumit ... I am really happy to see that he has rediscovering form before our important Davis cup tie against China ... Next, he is facing top-100 Italian Marco Cecchinato.

RamK and Lopez Perez scored a hard fought win in almost two hours over experienced Rosol and Begemann ... In the match tie-break, they were behind from the start from 4-7 down they won 6 points from next 7 for a win.

---

At $50K+H St. Brieuc Challenger 2018, France

[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 67(5) 63 8-10

Disappointing loss for Jeevan-Purav in the match tie-break against aging Ratiwatana twins.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Kofu, Japan

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) bt (Q) Risa Ushijama (JPN,552)

[R2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) vs (Q) Julia Wachaczyk (GER,454)

Karman also joined Ankita in the second round with a comfortable win over Japanese qualifier ... Next, she is facing German qualifier, who scored an upset win over 4th seed.

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - Third Round Qualification, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Group A
Kyrgyzstan bt India 2-1 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Anton Zemlianukhin (KGZ) 2', Mirlan Murzaev (KGZ) 72' and Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 88'

The Indians lost against the Kyrgyz Republic and with that our 13-match unbeaten run got broken ... Sunil Chhetri was suspended due to double booking ... Zemlianukhin gave a lead after 2nd minute but Balwant Singh's 2 goals disallowed due to off-side and foul ... In the second half, Murzaev doubled the lead for the Kyrgyz ... Jeje scoread an important goal in the late to ensure India finished the group qualifying engagements at the top with 13 points.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[R1] (LL) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) bt (8) Marcel Granollers (ESP,131) 64 61
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) bt Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161) 64 36 63

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) vs (LL) Sumit Nagal (IND,218)

RamK will face Sumit in the second round ... RamK started confidently and with a single break advantage won the first set ... In the second set, Giannessi took an early break, 1-3, but RamK immediately broke back, 2-3 ... Giannessi again broke RamK for winning the set ... In the final set, RamK took a crucial break in the 6th game and kept that advantage for winning the match.

Sumit scored a huge upset win over former top-20 clay court specialist Spaniard Marcel Granollers in straight sets ... In the first set, both players broke each other twice but Sumit took a crucial break in the 9th game and held his serve for winning the set ... Sumit dominated the second set, he broke Marcel in the 2nd and the 4th games to lead 4-0 ... But Sumit lost his serve in the 5th game, 4-1, Sumit again broke in the 6th game and then held his serve for a really good win.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Kofu, Japan

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt (WC) Mai Hontama (JPN,856) 61 76(3)
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,273) vs (Q) Rija Ushijama (JPN,552)

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs Ayla Aksu (TUR,225)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND) / Chin-Wei Chan (TPE) bt (WC) Kiko Nishizato (JPN) / Sayaka Suzuki (JPN) 63 60

For next two weeks, Ankita and Karman r playing in Japan ... Ankita started with straight sets win over her Japanese opponent ... Next, she is facing another Japanese challenge of Ayla Aksu, Ankita lost against her in their previous meeting.

In the doubles also, Ankita started with a comfortable win with her Taipei partner.

Tennis News

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

Indian team receives a injury blow as Yuki has pulled out from Davis cup tie against China owing to a minor abdominal tissue tear and impingement in the shoulder ... Prajnesh will be Yuki's replacement as he is the next best singles ranked player.

---

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[Q3] (2) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) l (8) Pedro Cachin (ARG,266) 64 36 46

[R1] (LL) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) vs (8) Marcel Granollers (ESP,131)

Doubles
[R1] Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (2) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 36 64 10-8

After winning the first set Sumit game deteriorated from 2-all of the second set ... After losing the third set he was double break down at 1-4, Sumit tried to fightback breaking Cachin but that wasn't enough ... Bad loss with load of unforced errors but Sumit has got chance as a lucky loser ... He is having a tough match against top-130 Spaniard Granollers.

RamK and his partner Lopez Perez scored a superb comeback win over highly ranked opponents in the match tie-break.

Golf News

At $1.8M Kia Classic 2018, Carlsbad, California, USA (LPGA Tour)

T14 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 72 71 65 -10 $25,177.00

Aditi scored the best round of the final round, which consisted of 8 birdies and 1 bogey ... With a 7 under final round, she finished inside top-15 at Kia Classic ... With this performance, Aditi has jumped to a career high ranking of 74 and also has qualified for the 1st major of the year of ANA Inspiration.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l Steve Johnson (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 67(5) 26

Rohan-Edouard lost in straight sets against American pair ... This pairing is still struggling, hoping for a better clay court season.

---

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[Q2] (2) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) bt Marko Djokovic (SRB,UNR) 63 46 61

[Q3] (2) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) vs (8) Pedro Cachin (ARG,266)

Doubles
[R1] Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (2) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO)

Sumit scored three sets win over Novak Djokovic's ypunger brother Marko ... Next, he is facing Argentine Pedro Cachin.

RamK playing the doubles with Spaniard Enrique Lopez Perez, but they rn having a tough match against top-75 doubles players.

---

At $50K+H St. Brieuc Challenger 2018, France

[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)

Purav and Jeevan r the 2nd seed but facing tricky opponents in the first round, Ratiwatana twins.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) l (8) Jack Sock (USA,11) 36 67(3)

Yuki lost in straight sets but after giving fight to Jack Sock ... But still really good two Masters tournaments for Yuki, as he qualified in both and won three main draw matches.

Sock took a first break of the match when he broke Yuki in the 4th game to lead 1-3 ... Yuki broke him in the 7th game for 3-4 but failed to his serve in the next for 3-5 ... Sock held his serve for winning the first set ... In the second set, Sock broke Yuki in the 3rd game to lead 1-3 ... After that both players held their respective service games till 9th game ... Yuki broke Sock in the 10th game when he was serving for the match, 5-all ... But Sock immediately broke back in the next, 5-6 ... This time again Yuki broke Sock in the 12th game when he was serving for the match, 6-all ... Sock dominated the tie-break with his big serve and won it comfortably for winning the match.

---

At $50K+H Lille Challenger 2018, France

Doubles Final
(4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Hugo Nys (FRA)/ Tim Puetz (GER) 67(3) 61 7-10

Jeevan-Purav lost in the match tie-break against Nys-Puetz ... So Jeevan's wait for re-entering into top-100 will continues.

---

At $50K+H Marbella Challenger 2018, Spain

[Q1] (2) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) bt Gianluigi Quinzi (ITA,283) 63 36 63

[Q2] (2) Sumit Nagal (IND,218) vs Marko Djokovic (SRB,UNR)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) vs Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161)

Sumit scored a hard fought win over Quinzi for entering into the second qualifying round ... The match lasted for two hours and was lot closer than what score suggest ... Next, he is facing Novak Djokovic's younger brother Marko.

RamK is in the main draw and facing Italian Giannessi in the first round.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Match Play 2018, Austin, Texas, USA

GROUP 7
Shubhankar Sharma (IND) l Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 1 down

Shubhankar lost in the last match against South African Dylan Frittelli ... In this match, Dylan took a lead early and put pressure on Shubhankar ... The 2 bogeys also didn't help Shubhankar when he tried to catch Dylan ... But this will be good experience for Shubhankar in his first-ever match play.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA)/ Daniil Medvedev RUS) 46 62 14-12

[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Steve Johnson (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Rohan-Edouard started with a comeback win over Mannarino-Medvedev ... After losing the first set they won the second set comfortably ... In the match tie-break, Rohan-Edouard faced stiff challenge from their opponents but they prevailed in extra points ... Next, they r facing big serving American pair, who defeated WR #1 pairing of Melo and Kubot in the first round.

---

At $50K+H Lille Challenger 2018, France

[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 76(2) 64

[F] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Hugo Nys (FRA)/ Tim Puetz (GER)

Jeevan-Purav scored straight sets win over British pair for entering into the final ... They will face Nys-Puetz for the title.

---

At $15K India F4 Futures 2018, Trivandrum

[R1] (4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,519) bt Anurag Nenwani (IND,1252) 63 64
[R2] (4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,519) bt Olly Sadler (NZL,1926) 61 63
[QF] (4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,519) bt Manish Sureshkumar (IND,856) 60 64

[SF] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,423) bt (1) Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP,281) 46 63 62
[SF] (4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,519) bt Thales Turini (BRA,1054) 75 61

Singles Final
(4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,519) bt (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,423) 63 63

Doubles Final
(2) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt (1) Caio Silva (BRA)/Thales Turini (BRA) 67(5) 64 10-7

VSP surprised Arjun to score a comfortable win and lifted the title ... This win helped him to re-enter into top-500 ranking ... Arjun will enter into the top-400 (around 390s) after these four weeks ... Overall good performance by Arjun in these four weeks ... In the semis, Arjun pulled a terrific win over top-300 Boluda-Purkiss in three sets ... In last two weeks, he lost against him in the quarters and the semis but third time he managed to turn table on him.

In the doubles, Arjun-VSP lifted their third title in four weeks, beating top-seed Brazilian pair ... Our pair scored a comeback win after losing the first set tie-break ... With this win Arjun will climbed into top-350 ranking in the doubles.

Badminton News

At the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2018, Bangkok, Thailand

Thomas Cup
Group A: China, India, France, Australia
Group B: Indonesia, Korea, Canada, Thailand
Group C: Chinese Taipei, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong
Group D: Denmark, Malaysia, Russia, Algeria

Uber Cup
Group A: Japan, India, Canada, Australia
Group B: Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Hong Kong
Group C: Korea, Denmark, Russia, Mauritius
Group D: China, Indonesia, France, Malaysia

India has a good chance of reaching the knockout stage after getting relatively favorable draws ... The top two teams in each group at the end of the group stage will make it to the knock-out round ... Our both teams are seeded 5/8th in their respective events.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Match Play 2018, Austin, Texas, USA

GROUP 7
Shubhankar Sharma (IND) l Xander Schauffele (USA) 3 down and 1 hole

Shubhankar lost against Xander Schauffele when one hold was reamining ... In this match he struggled on the greens and Schauffele took advantage of it.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) bt (LL) Mirza Basic (BIH,75) 75 63

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) vs (8) Jack Sock (USA,11)

Yuki continue with his terrific form and scored another straight sets win over top-75 Mirza Basic ... In this match, he could have played better but in end, he wins and that matter the most ... Next, he is facing top American player Jack Sock.

As expected the match started on even term ... Yuki tok a first break in the 7th game to lead 4-3 but lost his serve in the next with unforced errors, 4-all ... He again took a break in the 11th game and this Yuki held his serve comfortably for winning the first set ... In the second set, Yuki broke Mirza in the 1st game to lead 2-0 ... Mirza took advantage of Yuki's erratic play to break back in the 4th game, 2-all ... Yuki again raised his game to break Mirza in the 5th, 3-2 ... When Mirza was serving for staying in the match, Yuki broke him the 9th game for straight sets win.

---

At $50K+H Lille Challenger 2018, France

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Quentin Halys (FRA)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA) w/o

[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Raja and Jeevan r in the semis without hitting a ball as their opponents gave walkover ... In the semis, they r facing British pair, who scored an upset win over top-seed pair.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Match Play 2018, Austin, Texas, USA

GROUP 7
Shubhankar Sharma (IND) l Sergio Garcia (ESP) 1 down

Shubhankar lost in an evenly played match play against former WR #1 Sergio Garcia ... After early 2 down he fought back to take a lead ... He missed chance in last few holes and Garcia used his experience to win after winning the 18th hole.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[Q2] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) bt (19) Elias Ymer (SWE,133) 75 62

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) vs (LL) Mirza Basic (BIH,75)

Back to back the Masters main draw for Yuki ... Yuki comfortably handled Swedish challenge of Elias Ymer in straight sets for a place in the main draw ... In the first set, both players were fighting hard and held their respective service games till the 10th game ... Yuki broke Ymer in the 11th game after winning 5 points in a row from 40-0 and then held his serve for winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki broke Ymer in the 3rd game to lead 2-1 and then again broke him in the 5th game to extend his lead to 5-1 ... And then held his serve in the 8th game for another good win ... In the main draw, he is facing lucky loser W #75 Mirza Basic.

---

At $50K+H Lille Challenger 2018, France

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Sander Arends (NED)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 46 61 11-9

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Quentin Halys (FRA)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA)

Purav-Jeevan scored a good comeback win against Arends-Weissborn ... After losing the first set they fought back for winning the second comfortably ... But they stretched in the match tie-break to win it on extra points ... In the quarters, they r facing French wild-card pair.

Tennis News

At $8.9M Miami Open 2018 ATP 1000, Florida, USA

[Q1] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) bt Renzo Olivo (ARG,184) 64 61
[Q1] (22) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,136) l Michael Mmoh (USA,176) 67(4) 46

[Q2] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,107) vs (19) Elias Ymer (SWE,133)

Yuki continues with his good form and scored a comfortable straight sets win over Olivo ... In the first set, both players were holding their respective serves ... Yuki took a crucial break in 10th game when Olivo was serving for staying in the set to win the set ... In the second set, Yuki overpowered Olivo from 1-all breaking him in 4th and 6th games for winning the set ... Next, he is facing Swedish challenge of Elias Ymer for place in the main draw.

But RamK failed to repeat last week's result and lost in straight sets against Mmoh ... RamK took a break in the 8th game to lead 5-3 but failed to hold his serve in the 9th, 5-4 ... Mmoh with a mini-break won the first set tie-break ... In the second set, both players had break point chances which they failed to convert ... But while serving for staying in the match in the 10th game RamK failed to hold and lost the match.

---

At $75K Qujing Challenger 2018, China

[R1] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,507) l Zhe Li (CHN,320) 46 64 16
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,246) l Andrea Pellegrino (ITA,354) 57 26

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) l (4) Gerard Granollers (ESP)/ Zhe Li (CHN) 36 67(2)

turn to be forgatable China- Japan tour for Bala as he failed to gained more points to reduce gap between him and Vishnu in the doubles ranking ... Bad loss for Prajnesh and Bala gave fight to Li but he proved a better player in the third.

Golf News

At $7.2M Bank of Hope Founders Cup 2018, Phoenix, Arizona (LPGA Tour)

T26 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 72 70 68 -8 $12,697.00

Aditi scored a final 4 under round to finish inside top-30 at Founders Cup.

---

At $8.9M Arnold Palmer Invitational 2018, Orlando, Florida, USA (PGA Tour)

T75 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 73 72 74 78 +9 $17,177.00

Anirban struggled in Arnold Palmer Invitational ... With a final 6 over round he finished almost bottom of the field ... As per report, Anirban is taking three weeks break and plan to work on his game with his coach in Florida.

Tennis News

At $75K Qujing Challenger 2018, China

[Q2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,459) bt Rui-Xuan Wang (CHN,1908) 63 62

[R1] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,459) vs Zhe Li (CHN,327)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) vs (4) Gerard Granollers (ESP)/ Zhe Li (CHN)

Bala qualified for the main draw with a comfortable win over local player ... In the main draw, he is facing another local challenge of experienced Zhe Li ... This week in the doubles, he is partnering Prajnesh and facing 4th seed Spanish-Chinese combination.

---

At $50K+H Lille Challenger 2018, France

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sander Arends (NED)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT)

Purav-Jeevan r playing in French challenger and facing Arends-Weissborn.

Badminton News

At $1M YONEX All England Open 2018, Birmingham, England (BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[SF] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) l (2) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,2) 21-19 19-21 18-21

Sindhu lost in a long match against Yamaguchi, must be tired after playing long matches ... In the first game, Sindhu started confidently to take 6-0 lead ... She was leading 17-10 when Yamaguchi fought back to make it 17-all but Sindhu kept composure for winning this game ... In the second game, both players were neck to neck till middle of the game ... After that Yamaguchi opened couple of points lead and kept that advantage for winning it ... In the final game, Sindhu opened an early lead, 7-3, which she extended to 13-7 ... Yamaguchi made a strong comeback and caught Sindhu at 14-all ... From 17-18, Yamaguchi won last 4 points for an excellent comeback win.

Squash News

At $100K Men's Grasshopper Cup 2018, Zurich, Switzerland

[R1] (8) Saurav Ghosal (IND,14) l James Willstrop (ENG,15) 10-12 9-11 4-11 (49m)

Saurav lost in well fought match against former WR #1 James Willstrop.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Gwalior, India

P.C. to Kamesh Srinivasan FB page

Singles Final
(4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt (2) Amandine Hesse (FRA,215) 62 75

Ankita won her second $25K title beating Amandine Hesse in straight sets ... Ankita didn't face a break point on her serve in this match ... She won the first set breaking Hesse twice and in the second set, a crucial break came in the 12th game on Hesse's serve ... With this win Ankita also took a revenge of her loss against Hesse in Mumbai WTA.

---

At $15K India F3 Futures 2018, Chandigarh

[R1] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) bt Goran Markovic (SRB,959) 64 62
[R2] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) bt Thales Turini (BRA,1022) 61 63
[QF] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) bt Dalwinder Singh (IND,1041) 75 63
[SF] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) bt (8) Manuel Pena Lopez (ARG,656) 61 64

Singles Final
(1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) bt (3) Hoang Nam Ly (VIE,475) 63 64

Doubles Final
(1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (IND)/ Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND) 63 61

As expected a comfortable title win for Prajnesh against his Vietnamese opponent Ly in straight sets.

In the doubles, Arjun-VSP lifted their 2nd title in a row in three finals ... Kaza and Mohit failed to challenge them into the final.

---

At $75K Qujing Challenger 2018, China

[Q1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,459) bt Andreas Siljestrom (SWE,UNR) 63 75

[Q2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,459) vs Rui-Xuan Wang (CHN,1908)

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,235) vs Andrea Pellegrino (ITA,353)

Bala started with straight sets win over Swede ... Next, he is facing local player for a place in the man draw ... Prajnesh is in the main draw and facing Italian Pellegrino.

Badminton News

At $1M YONEX All England Open 2018, Birmingham, England (BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[QF] Prannoy H. S. (IND,16) l Yuxiang Huang (CHN,42) 22-20 16-21 21-23

[QF] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt (7) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,6) 20-22 21-18 21-18

[SF] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (2) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,2)

Sindhu is in the semis with another memorable match against Okuhara ... After losing the first game Sindhu was down 16-18 in the second ... But Sindhu won next 5 points for winning the game ... In the third game, Sindhu was down 12-16 but she again showed her fighting spirit and won 9 points from next 11 points and completed the win ... Next, Sindhu is playing top Japanese girl, Akane Yamaguchi.

Prannoy also missed a huge opportunity of entering the semis of All England Open ... He lost in three games against Huang after winning the first game ... In the third game, Prannoy took an early control of the game, 10-3 ... Huang was reducing the lead but Prannoy was leading until 19-17 ... After that Huang put pressure on Prannoy and converted the 3rd match point.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Gwalior, India

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt Yana Sizikova (RUS,474) 62 4-0 retd.

[F] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs (2) Amandine Hesse (FRA,215)

Ankita is in the final after her opponent Sizikova retired in the second set after 4-0 down ... In the final, she is facing Hesse, against her she lost in their last meeting at Mumbai WTA.

Badminton News

At $1M YONEX All England Open 2018, Birmingham, England (BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[R2] Prannoy H. S. (IND,16) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,33) 21-10 21-19
[R2] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) l Yuxiang Huang (CHN,42) 11-21 21-15 20-22

[R2] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Nitchaon Jindapol (THA,11) 21-13 13-21 21-18

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l (2) Mathias Boe (DEN)/ Carsten Mogensen (DEN) 16-21 21-16 21-23
[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (2) Yilyu Wang (CHN)/ Dongping Huang (CHN) 6-21 10-21

[QF] Prannoy H. S. (IND,16) vs Yuxiang Huang (CHN,42)

[QF] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (7) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,6)

Sindhu scored three games win over Jindapol for entering into the quarters ... Sindhu is facing Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, so we can expect another close match between these two.
Prannoy scored a comfortable straight games win over Sugiarto ... In the quarters, he is facing Huang.
Srikanth needs to blame himself for this loss against Huang ... After another slow start he fought back to win the second ... In the third game, both players were neck to neck before Huang took a lead ... Srikanth took a lead 18-16 from 13-16 down, he had two match points at 20-18 ... But he lost next 4 points to lose this match.
Another close loss for Satwik-Chirag against top Danish pair in three games ... After losing the first game our pair fought back for winning the second ... In the third game, both pairs were exchanging lead ... Danish pair had a match point at 19-20, which our pair saved and Satwik-Chirag had a match point ... But Danish pair saved it and converted 2nd match point.
Chinese pair proved too strong for Pranaav-Sikki.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Irving 2018, Texas, USA

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) l (4) Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA) 36 26

Divij-Scott failed to challenge 4th seed American pair.

---

At $75K+H Shenzhen Challenger 2018, China

[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS) 75 46 8-10

Bala and Chris lost in the match tie-break against Hsieh-Junaid after winning the first set.

---

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Gwalior, India

[QF] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) l Yana Sizikova (RUS,474) 57 36
[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt (Q) Monica Robinson (USA,1151) w/o

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs Yana Sizikova (RUS,474)

Ankita lost against Russian Sizikova after leading 5-2 in the first set ... Sizikova will faced Ankita in the semis, who received walkover from Robinson.

---

At $25K Spain F6 Futures 2018, Xabia, Spain (Clay)

[R2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) l Joao Lucas Magalhaes Hueb de Menezes (BRA,529) 16 64 46

Menezes had some good wins on clay, but still I consider this loss as a bad loss for Sumit ... Sumit is showing inconsistency in these early tournaments.

Badminton News

At $1M YONEX All England Open 2018, Birmingham, England (BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,14) l (5) Son Wan Ho (KOR,4) 21-13 15-21 11-21
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,16) bt (8) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,7) 9-21 21-18 21-18
[R1] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) bt Brice Leverdez (FRA,23) 7-21 21-14 22-20

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) l (1) Tai Tzu Ying (TPE,1) 14-21 18-21
[R1] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,22) 20-22 21-17 21-9

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Marcus Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG) 20-22 12-21
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Takuro Hoki (JPN)/ Yugo Kobayashi (JPN) 21-19 21-18
[R1] Jakkampudi Meghana (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) l (5) Shiho Tanaka (JPN)/ Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) 14-21 11-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (2) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 14-21 13-21
[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Marvin Emil Seidel (GER)/ Linda Efler (GER) 21-19 21-13

[R2] Prannoy H. S. (IND,16) vs Tommy Sugiarto (INA,33)
[R2] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) vs Yuxiang Huang (CHN,42)

[R2] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Nitchaon Jindapol (THA,12)

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (2) Mathias Boe (DEN)/ Carsten Mogensen (DEN)
[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (2) Yilyu Wang (CHN)/ Dongping Huang (CHN)

Early all over expected results for Indians as nobody managed to upset their opponents ... Tai scored a comfortable win over Saina ... Our doubles pairs lost one-sided matches ... Sai won the first game but afterward Son Wan Ho dominated the match.
Sindhu and Srikanth scored a comeback win after losing the first game ... Pranaav-Sikki also started with a win over German pair.
Evening session was exciting, as Prannoy scored an excellent comeback win over top-10 Taipei player, Chou Tien Chen, after losing the first game cheaply ... Young Satwik and Chirag scored straight games win over higher ranked Japanese pair.

In the second round, our doubles and mixed doubles pairs r facing WR #2 pairs in their respective categories ... Prannoy is facing Sugiarto and Srikanth having Chinese challenge of Huang ... Sindhu is facing another Thai opponent Jindapol.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Gwalior, India

[R2] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) bt Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,482) 63 61
[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) bt Berfu Cengiz (TUR,505) 76(6) 36 62
[R2] (Q) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,1127) l (7) Despina Papamichail (GRE,366) 64 36 46

[QF] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,278) vs Yana Sizikova (RUS,474)
[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,255) vs (Q) Monica Robinson (USA,1151)

Very dominating win by Karman over Pranjala ... Next, she is facing Russian Sizikova, who scored an upset win over top-seed ... Berfu stretched Ankita to three sets, in the quarters, she is facing a qualifier American Robinson.

---

At $25K Spain F6 Futures 2018, Xabia, Spain (Clay)

[R1] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) bt (WC) Dariusz Lipka (POL,UNR) 60 62

[R2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) vs Joao Menezes (BRA,529)

Sumit started with a dominating win over Polish opponent ... Next, he will face Brazilian Menezes.

Tennis News

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[R3] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) l (18) Sam Querrey (USA,21) 76(4) 46 46

Yuki played a superb match against Querrey, but lost in the three sets after winning the first set ... In this match, he served well and his returning game was also better ... He struggled in long rallies and was looking tired in the third ... But this experience and performance will help him to achieve more in 2018.

In the first set, Querrey broke Yuki in the 2nd game for taking 2-0 lead but after that yuki broke Querrey in 3rd and 5th games to take 3-2 lead ... While serving for the set at 5-4 Yuki failed to hold his serve, 5-all ... Yuki played an excellent tie-break, he took three mini-breaks on Querrey's serve for winning it ... In the second set, Querrey stepped up his serving ... He broke Yuki in the 5th game, 2-3 and kept that lead for making 1 set-all ... A bad start for Yuki in the third as Querrey broke him the 1st game, 0-1 ... After Yuki tried to put pressure on Querrey's serve but failed to break ... So again with one break advantage Querrey won the set and match.

---

At $150K+H Irving 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Scot Lipsky (USA) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Purav Raja (IND) 64 76(6)

Divij-Scott defeated Purav and Huey in straight sets, though last set went to the tie-break.

---

At $75K+H Shenzhen Challenger 2018, China

[R1] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Yecong He (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 64 64

[QF] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS)

Bala and Chris started with straight sets win over their Chinese opponents ... Next, they r facing Hsieh-Junaid.

---

At $25K ITF Women Tournament 2017, Gwalior, India

[R1] (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND) l (1) Valentyna Ivakhnenko (RUS) 06 26
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt (WC) Sara Yadav (IND) 64 64
[R1] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) bt (Q) Albina Khabibulina (UZB) 64 62
[R1] (4) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND) 62 61
[R1] (WC) Isha Budwal (IND) l Berfu Cengiz (TUR) 06 06
[R1] (WC) Prakriti Banwani (IND) l (7) Despina Papamichail (GRE) 26 26
[R1] (Q) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) bt (Q) Riya Bhatia (IND) 63 62
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND) l (8) Ana Veselinovic (MNE) 63 36 46
[R1] (Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) l Karin Kennel (SUI) 36 46
[R1] Nidhi Chilumula (IND) l Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 26 46
[R1] (Q) Zeel Desai (IND,790) l (2) Amandine Hesse (FRA) 46 67(5)

[R2] (5) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) vs Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND)
[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND) vs Berfu Cengiz (TUR)
[R2] (Q) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) vs (7) Despina Papamichail (GRE)

So only 4 Indians in the second round ... Pranjala and Karman r facing each other and Ankita is facing young Turkish girl, Berfu Cengiz.

XXI Commonwealth Games News

At the XXI Commonwealth Games - Gold Coast 2018, Australia

Goalkeepers - 1. Sreejesh PR 2. Suraj Karkera
Defenders - 3. Rupinder Pal Singh 4. Harmanpreet Singh 5. Varun Kumar 6. Kothajit Singh Kadangbam 7. Gurinder Singh 8. Amit Rohidas
Midfielders - 9. Manpreet Singh(C) 10. Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (VC) 11. Sumit 12. Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards - 13. Akashdeep Singh 14. Sunil SV 15. Gurjant Singh 16. Mandeep Singh 17. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay 18. Dilpreet Singh

Reasonably good team selection with mixture of experienced and youngsters ... My only worry is, we look less equipped in mid-fields, so our defenders need to help them.

Badminton News

At $1M YONEX All England Open 2018, Birmingham, England (BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,14) vs (5) Son Wan Ho (KOR,4)
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,12) vs (8) Chou Tien Chen (TPE,8)
[R1] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,3) vs Brice Leverdez (FRA,23)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs (1) Tai Tzu Ying (TPE,1)
[R1] (4) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,4) vs Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,22)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs Marcus Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG)
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs Takuro Hoki (JPN)/ Yugo Kobayashi (JPN)
[R1] Jakkampudi Meghana (IND)/ Poorvisha S Ram (IND) vs (5) Shiho Tanaka (JPN)/ Koharu Yonemoto (JPN)
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (2) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Marvin Emil Seidel (GER)/ Linda Efler (GER)

Really tough matches for our most of the players ... Almost all playing seeded opponents, if they r not.

Tennis News

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

Indian Team - Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal, Bopanna and Leander Paes
Non-playing captain - Mahesh Bhupathi
Coach - Zeeshan Ali
Reserve member - Divij Sharan

India team is announced for China tie in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania second round tie on April 6 and 7 ... After poor doubles performance in Canada, the selectors decided to pick experienced players ... So they selected Leander Paes to partner rohan for the doubles tie ... Interesting to see how this turned up, as Rohan is still carrying baggage about Lee and that's why no court chemistry between them ... So that means, Lee needs to communicate with him and sort out this matter ...

---

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) bt (9) Lucas Pouille (FRA,12) 64 64

[R3] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) bt (18) Sam Querrey (USA,21)

What a huge win for Yuki against WR #12 Lucas Pouille in a straight sets! Yuki started confidently and broke Pouille in the 1st game to lead 2-0 ... Yuki again broke Pouille in the 5th game to lead 4-1, but Pouille broke back in the next for 4-2 ... After that both players held their services, Yuki won the set with a break advantage ... In the second set also, Yuki took a first break in the 3rd game to lead 1-3 ... Pouille broke Yuki in the 6th game for 3-all ... Yuki broke him, when matters, in the 9th game and then comfortably held his serve for a memorable victory ... Next, he is facing American giant Sam Querrey.

Golf News

At $1.75M Hero Indian Open 2018,New Delhi, India

T7 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 73 64 72 75 -4 € 38,857
T32 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 72 72 76 73 +5 € 11,728
T32 Kshitij Naveed Kaul (AM) (IND) 70 76 77 70 +5 No prizemoney
T34 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 72 73 75 74 +6 € 10,480
T40 Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 68 76 74 778 +7 € 8,761
T40 Khalin Joshi (IND) 72 68 81 74 +7 € 8,761
T48 Karandeep Kochhar(IND) 75 72 76 74 +9 € 6,924
52 Udayan Mane (IND) 72 75 79 73 +11 € 6,076

Poor final round cost Shubhankar a top finish ... He started the final round as a co-leader but struggled in a demanding condition and managed 3 over ... This round pushed him outside top-5, but only Shubhankar managed top-10 finish in Indian Open.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Guadalajara, Mexico

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Gold - Akhil Sheoran (IND) 455.6 pts
Silver - Bernhard Pickl (AUT) 452.0 pts
Bronze - Istvan Peni (HUN) 442.3 pts

The fifth and last Rifle event of the ISSF World Cup Stage 1 in Guadalajara gave India their fourth gold medal of the competition ... In his first-ever World Cup participation, 22-year-old Akhil Sheoran won Gold of the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions podium, adding his name to the ones of Shahzar Rizvi, Manu Bhaker and Om Prakash Mitharval: the other Indian gold medalists in Guadalajara ... Akhil was in 4th place after the kneeling position and 2nd at the end of the prone one fired two 10.8s during the elimination phase for taking the lead and distancing himself from Austria’s Bernhard Pickl ... Our other two shooters also reached in the final ... Sanjeev Rajput finished in 4th place with 430.9 points ... Another first-time participant 22-year-old Swapnil Kusale, finished in 7th position with 407.2 points ... 16 yrs old Manu Bhaker finished on the 5th position with 19 hits in women’s 25m Pistol.

Snooker News

At £153K Gibraltar Open 2018, Gibraltar

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,80) bt Kurt Dunham (AUS,115) 4-1 (68-37, 85-45, 15-67, 65-23, 68-67(54))

[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,80) l Tian Pengfei (CHN,69) 2-4 (79(62)-1, 80(79)-9, 71-78, 0-68, 14-66(60), 30-71)

Aditya lost against his Chinese opponent Tian Pengfei after winning first 2 frames ... He failed to take advantage of his good start ... Before that in the second round, he scored comfortable win over Aussie Kurt Dunham.

Tennis News

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l Gilles Muller (LUX)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 75 26 4-10

Rohan-Edouard lost after winning the first set ... Querrey and Muller dominated last two sets.

---

At $25K Italy F2 Futures, Santa Margherita Di Pula

[SF] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) l (6) Thiemo De Bakker (NED,340) 36 36

Sumit needs to win these matches against former top players ... Thiemo De Bakker scored a comfortable win over Sumit.

Snooker News

At £153K Gibraltar Open 2018, Gibraltar

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,80) bt (a) Brian Ochoiski (FRA) 4-2 (69-30, 22-64, 38-85, 66-37, 79-0, 78-1)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,80) vs Kurt Dunham (AUS,115)

Aditya didn't find his regular rhythm but he completed win in a six frames against French amateur player Ochoiski ... Next, he is facing Australian Kurt Dunham.

Tennis News

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) bt (Q) Nicolas Mahut (FRA,101) 75 63

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) vs (9) Lucas Pouille (FRA,12)

Yuki scored a fighting win over crafty Mahut in a straight sets ... In the first set, Mahut broke Yuki in the 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... From 1-4 down Yuki fought back as Mahut was also making lot of forehand unforced errors ... Yuki broke him in the 7th game and held for 4-all ... Yuki again broke Mahut in the 9th game to lead 5-4, but he failed to hold his serve while serving for the set, 5-all ... Yuki took a crucial break in the 11th game and this time held his serve for a winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki was putting lot of pressure on Mahut's serve, still Mahut took an early break ... Mahut broke Yuki in the 4th game to lead 3-1 but from here Yuki took total control of the match ... He broke Mahut in the 5th, 7th and 9th games and held his serve comfortably for his first win in the main draw of Indian Wells Masters ... Next, he is facing top Frenchman Lucas Pouille.

---

At $25K Italy F2 Futures, Santa Margherita Di Pula

[R2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) bt (Q) Franco Capalbo (ARG,1958) 60 61
[QF] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) bt Walter Trusendi (ITA,670) 61 60

[SF] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) vs (6) Thiemo De Bakker (NED,340)

Sumit scored an emphatic back to back wins over Argentine qualifier and former top-300 Italian Walter Trusendi losing a single game in both matches ... Next, he is facing former top-50 player, Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker.

---

At $15K India F2 Futures 2018, Kolkata

[R1] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,518) bt Kazuma Kawachi (JPN,1157) 61 61
[R2] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,518) bt Aryan Goveas (IND,764) 60 62
[QF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,518) bt (3) Nam Hoang Ly (VIE,475) 76(3) 64
[SF] (5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,518) bt (7) Saketh Myneni (IND,619) 63 1-0 retd.

Singles Final
(5) Arjun Kadhe (IND,518) l (1) Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP,308) 06 46

Doubles Final
(1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP)/ Nam Hoang Ly (VIE) 62 57 10-5

Arjun was in a chance of double crown after winning the doubles in the match tie-break with VSP ... But in the singles, Spanish top-seed Carlos Boluda-Purkiss proved too strong for him ... Still creditable performance from Arjun ... Other hand, I felt sorry for Saki as he retired in the second set against Arjun.

---

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament 2018, Bhopal, India

Doubles Final
(4) Kanika Vaidya (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) bt (1) Tereza Mihalikova (SVK)/ Ana Veselinovic (MNE) 1-2 retd.

Kanika and her Dutch partner lifted the doubles title, when their top-seed opponents withdrew when score was 1-2 ... In the singles, Kanika and Dhruthi reached in the semis.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Guadalajara, Mexico

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org

50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Gold - Ruijiao Pei (CHN) 455.4 pts
Silver - Anjum Moudgil (IND) 454.2 pts
Bronze - Ting Sun (CHN) 442.2 pts

China’s 22-year-old Pei Ruijiao took gold at the end of a tight duel with India’s Anjum Moudgil, who finished with the silver medal ... Anjum temporarily took the lead at the end of the prone position, but Ruijiao sealed the win with a consistent performance in the standing position ... So with that, India is still keeping top position with a Gold, a Silver and four Bronze medals.

Tennis News

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[Q2] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) bt (20) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,135)

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) vs (Q) Nicolas Mahut (FRA,101)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Gilles Muller (LUX)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Yuki scored a comfortable straight sets win over Ramk and becomes a second Indian after Buji to play in the main draw of Indian Wells Masters ... In the first set, both players broke each other twice but Yuki took a crucial break in the 9th game and then held his own serve for winning it ... In the second set, Yuki broke RamK twice for completing comfortable win ... In the main draw, he is facing another qualifier but experienced and crafty Nicolas Mahut.
In the doubles, Rohan-Edouard r facing experienced Sam Querrey with Muller.

---

At $25K Italy F2 Futures, Santa Margherita Di Pula

[R1] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) bt (Q) Tommaso Gabrieli (ITA,1190) 64 67(4) 63

[R2] (1) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) vs (Q) Franco Capalbo (ARG,1958)

Sumit needed almost three hours to beat local qualifier ... Next, he is facing Argentine qualifier.

Tennis News

At $8.9M BNP Paribas Open 2018, Indian Wells, USA

[Q1] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) bt Dennis Novikov (USA,165) 75 75
[Q1] (20) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,135) bt Michael Mmoh (USA,181) 63 75

[Q2] (9) Yuki Bhambri (IND,110) vs (20) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,135)

Superb wins by our players against in-form American youngsters in a straight sets ... But next, they will face eachother for a place in the main draw ... Yuki broke Novikov in the 11th game and then held his serve for winning the first set ... Yuki was a break down at 2-5, he broke Novikov when he was serving for the set in the 9th game, 4-5 ... Yuki again broke Novikov in the 11th game and then held his serve for a win ... RamK took an early break for winning the first set ... In the second set, RamK took a crucial break in the 11th game on Mmoh's serve and then held his serve for winning the match.

---

At $75K Zuzhai Challenger 2018, China

Bala was unlucky as his partner Uchiyama withdrew due to neck injury.

---

At $60K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Zuzhai, China

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Kimberley Zimmermann (GER) l (4) Xinyu Jiang (CHN)/ Qianhui Tang (CHN) 36 46

Ankita-Zimmermann lost in a straight sets against 4th seed Chinese pair.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Guadalajara, Mexico

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team
Gold - Manu Bhaker (IND)/ Om Prakash Mitharval (IND) 476.1 pts
Silver - Sandra Reitz (GER)/ Christian Reitz (GER) 475.2 pts
Bronze - Celine Goberville (FRA)/ Florian Fouquet (FRA) 415.1 pts

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Rifle Mixed Team
Gold - Hong Xu (CHN)/ Keduo Chen (CHN) 502.0 pts WR
Silver - Laura-Georgeta Coman (ROU)/ Alin George Moldoveanu (ROU) 498.4 pts
Bronze - Mehuli Ghosh (IND)/ Deepak Kumar (IND) 435.1 pts

The 16-year-old Manu Bhaker won her second gold medal in Air Pistol Mixed Team final ... Once again Manu Bhaker shined teaming up with Om Prakash Mitharval and they overtook their German rivals in the final phase of the match to win by 0.9 points ... India’s second team — Mahima Turhi Agrawal and Shahzar Rizvi — finished in the 4th position with 372.4 points.

In the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team final, Mehuli Ghosh and Deepak Kumar added another bronze to India’s medal count ... They were just 0.7-point away from Coman and Moldoveanu at the 42nd-shot mark, when top 2 pairs moved for a gold medal battle ... China’s Xu Hong and Chen Keduo bettered previous Word Record by 3.7 points for winning a gold ... Thanks to Manu’s second gold, India's medal tally now counts three golds — all won in the Air Pistol events — and four bronzes.

Tennis News

At $60K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Zuzhai, China

[R1] Jing-Jing Lu (CHN)/ Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) l Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Danka Kovinic (MNE) 57 26
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Kimberley Zimmermann (GER) bt Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE)/ Polina Monova (RUS) 16 63 10-7

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Kimberley Zimmermann (GER) vs (4) Xinyu Jiang (CHN)/ Qianhui Tang (CHN)

Ankita and her German partner Zimmermann scored a comeback win over their opponents ... Next, they r facing 4th seed Chinese pair ... Prarthana and her partner lost in a straight sets against top-50 Japanese player Hibino and her partner.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Guadalajara, Mexico

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Pistol Women
Gold - Manu Bhaker (IND) 237.5 pts
Silver - Alejandra Zavala Vazquez (MEX)237.1 pts
Bronze - Celine Goberville (FRA) 217.0 pts

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Rifel Men
Gold - Istvan Peni (HUN) 249.5 pts
Silver - Alexander Schmirl (AUT) 248.7 pts
Bronze - Ravi Kumar (IND) 226.4 pts

The 16-year-old Manu Bhaker, World Cup debutant, shocked the world and marked her international debut with the gold in the women’s 10m Air Pistol final ... Making her absolute debut in an ISSF competition, Manu showed excellent concentration taking gold with an incredible comeback in her final two shots ... Despite sitting on a 1.9-point advantage before last two shots, Vazquez fired twice inside the 8th ring, while Manu first reduced the gap with an 8.5, and then secured the brightest medal with a fantastic 10.6 ... Yashaswini Singh Deswal finished on the 4th position with 196.1 pts.

In 10m Air Rifel Men, Ravi Kumar took a Bronze with 226.4 points and secured the first World Cup medal of his career ... He was ahead of Deepak Kumar, who finished on the 4th position with 205.8 pts ... Thanks to Manu’s gold, India's medal tally now counts two golds — both won in the Air Pistol individual events — and three bronzes.

Tennis News

At $60K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Zuzhai, China

[Q2] (5) Ankita Raina (IND,250) l Shuo Feng (CHN,736) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] Jing-Jing Lu (CHN)/ Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) vs Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Danka Kovinic (MNE)
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Kimberley Zimmermann (GER) vs Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE)/ Polina Monova (RUS)

Ankita lost in a straight sets against local girl, Shuo Feng.

Prarthana and Ankita r participating in the doubles with their different partners.

---

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship 2018, Mexico City

T9 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 65 66 69 74 -10 $182,000.00

Shubhankar, who started with a two-shot lead, didn't make his first birdie until the 12th hole ... In this round he scored five bogeys and two birdies ... He finished with consecutive bogeys for a 74, six shots behind in a three-way tie for the ninth ... That will leave him on the bubble at #66 in the world for making it back to the next World Golf Championship, the Dell Match Play, in three weeks in Texas ... Next, he plays the Hero Indian Open next week.

---

At AUD $150K Women's NSW Open 2018, Australia (LET Tour)

T27 Amandeep Drall (IND) 71 74 72 69 AUD $1,148.29
T44 Sharmila Nicollet (IND) 73 71 74 72 +6 AUD $627.64
T49 Gaurika Bishnoi (IND) 75 70 76 70 +7 AUD $589.60

Our three players made a cut but they didn't manage to put decent rounds to finish inside top-20 in the final standings.

Chess News

At the Tal Memorial 2018, Moscow, Russia

1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2776) 6.0 pts

Anand lifted the Tal Memorial rapid title by a point over GM Mamedyarov in 9 rounds ... Here, Anand scored a win over GM Nakamura, GM Grischuk, GM Dubov and GM Nepomniachtchi.

Shooting News

At ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun, Guadalajara, Mexico

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Pistol Men
Gold - Shahzar Rizvi (IND) 242.3 pts
Silver - Christian Reitz (GER) 239.7 pts
Bronze - Jitu Rai (IND) 219.0 pts

P.C. to http://www.issf-sports.org/

10m Air Rifle Women
Gold - Laura-Georgeta Coman (ROU) 251.5 pts
Silver - Hong Xu (CHN) 251.0 pts
Bronze - Mehuli Ghosh (IND) 228.4 pts

Shahzar Rizvi claimed the 10m Air Pistol Men gold in Guadalajara (MEX), where the first stage of the ISSF World Cup Series has started ... Making his debut in an ISSF World Cup, Rizvi shot consistently good through the whole match, grabbing the lead after the 14th shot and maintaining it until the very end ... Shahzar also signed a new World Record in this event, finishing with 242.3 points and the gold medal ... Jitu Rai took a bronze with 219.0 points ... Om Prakash Mitharval finished just outside of the podium, placing 4th in his first World Cup appearance and sealing his debut with 198.4.

In women's event, another World Cup debutante a 17-year-old Mehuli Ghosh took bronze with 228.4 points ... She also scored a World junior record in qualifications with 629.1 points ... Her teammate Anjum Moudgil finished in 4th position with 208.6 points and Apurvi Chandela finished on 7th position with 144.1 points.

Tennis News

At $60K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Zuzhai, China

[Q1] (5) Ankita Raina (IND,250) bt Ziyue Sun (CHN,875) 64 57 76(2)

[Q2] (5) Ankita Raina (IND,250) vs Shuo Feng (CHN,736)

Really hard fought win for Ankita against local Chinese player ... Next, she is facing another Chinese challenge of Shuo Feng.

---

At $75K Zuzhai Challenger 2018, China

[Q2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,409) l (4) Maverick Banes (AUS,313) w/o (due to back problem)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs (WC) Chuhan Wang (CHN)/ Di Wu (CHN)

Hopefully precautionary withdrawal for Bala from his singles match ... This week also, he and Uchiyama having tricky match against Chinese opponents.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship 2018, Mexico City - Second Round

1 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 65 66 69 -13

Shubhankar Sharma held his nerve to the end and held a two-shot lead going into the final round of the WGC-Mexico Championship ... In the third round, Shubhankar struggled with his putting on back 9 but he kept his composure for keeping the lead ... He scored a 5 birdies and a 3 bogeys in his round.

Wrestling News

At 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

In Men's Freestyle, we won two bronze medals ...Bajrang Punia won a bronze in 65kg and Om Prakash Vinod Kumar won it in 70kg ... So till now, India win a Gold, a Silver and six Bronze medals.

Tennis News

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

Doubles Final
(WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (2) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 26 67(2)

Lee-Cerretani lost the final against 2nd seed Rojer-Tecau in a straight sets but overall, really a good week for Lee ... This was his 97th tour level final and with this performance he will re-enter into top-50.

---

At $15K India F1 Futures 2018, Bhubneswar

[R1] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,510) bt (WC) Kunal Anand (IND,1162) 64 62
[R2] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,510) bt (WC) Suraj R Prabodh (IND,1200) 75 64
[QF] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,510) bt (Q) Vijayant Malik (IND,1362) 64 30 retd.
[SF] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,510) bt Patrik Rikl (CZE,761) 76(6) 46 64

Singles Final
(3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,510) bt (4) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,531) 63 62

Doubles Final
Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Manish Sureshkumar (IND) bt (1) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) 63 62

Arjun won his second ITF futures title beating VSP comfortably ... Overall, not as such great opposition but Arjun raised his game when required, like in the semis against Patrik Rikl ... With this win he will rise around 450 in ATP ranking ... VSP, young Dhruv Sunish and Aryan Goveas also had a good tournament.

In the doubles, Sid and Manish lifted their first doubles ITF title beating top-seed Arjun and VSP in a straight sets.

---

At $75K Zuzhai Challenger 2018, China

[Q1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,409) bt Chuhan Wang (CHN,467) 67(3) 75 64

[Q2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,409) vs (4) Maverick Banes (AUS,313)

Bala scored a comeback win over his Chinese opponent ... Next, he is facing Australian Banes.

Wrestling News

At 2018 Asian Wrestling Championships, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

P.C. to unitedworldwrestling.org

Women's freestyle-65 kg - Gold Medal match
Navjot Kaur (IND) bt Miyu Imai (JPN) 9-1

Navjot Kaur became the first Indian woman in the history to win a gold medal at the Asian Championships when she won the 65kg crown with a 9-1 victory in the final over Miyu Imai ... Only six wrestlers were participated, so first all wrestlers played the round-robin ... In that, Miyu defeated Navjot in the 1st bout, 4-4 (last point won by Miyu) but in the final, Navjot played attacking wrestling and didn't give any chance to Miyu.

In 50kg, Vinesh Phogat captured a silver as she lost the final against Chinese wrestler Lei Chun ... Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik lost in the 1st bout against Chinese girl Luo Xiaojuan after taking 6-0 lead, match ended on 6-all ... Sakshi fought back and won all her next matches to win a bronze in 62kg ... Sangeeta Phogat also won a bronze in 59kg.
In Men's Greco-Roman, Rajender Kumar won a bronze in 55kg and Harpreet Singh won a bronze in 82kg.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship 2018, Mexico City - Second Round

1 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 65 66 -11

Shubhankar continues with his terrific start in WGC tournament ... In the second round, he started with another eagle on the 1st hole but then scored back to back bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes ... On back nine, he scored five birdies on 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th holes taking 2 strokes lead after 36 holes.

Tennis News

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

[SF] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH)/ Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 64 62

[F] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (2) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Lee-Cerretani reached into the final with a straight sets win over Dzumhur-Krajinovic ... In the final, they r facing defending champions Rojer-Tecau.

Golf News

At $10M World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship 2018, Mexico City - First Round

T2 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 65 -6

An impressive debut for Shubhankar Sharma in WGC tournament ... He scored an umblemished 6 under round for tying 2nd place after the first round ... He managed to score four birdies and a eagle on the 1st hole.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (4) Raven Klaasen (RSA)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 26 64 10-7

[SF] (WC) Jamie Cerretani (USA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Damir Dzumhur (BIH)/ Filip Krajinovic (SRB)

Lee-Cerretani scored another impressive over 4th seed Klaasen-Venus ... After losing the first set they made an excellent comeback for winning the match in the match tie-break ... In the semis, they r facing Dzumhur-Krajinovic.

Snooker News

At £366K Welsh Open 2018, Cardiff, Wales

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,81) l (7) Mark Williams (WAL,6) 3-4 (38-83(79), 0-106(106), 99(54)-27, 63(63)-3, 72-48, 0-89(89), 0-76(75))

Aditya lost a close match against local favorite and former WR #1 Mark Williams ... After losing first 2 frames Aditya tried fight back and won the third frame after 73 mins battle ... People are talking lot about this frame on snooker curcuit ... Aditya won next two frames for taking 3-2 lead ... After that Williams took control of last two frames and didn't give much chance to Aditya and won it to complete exciting win.