Saturday, June 29, 2019

Tennis News

At $54K+H Milan Challenger 2019, Italy

[SF] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) l Danilo Petrovic (SRB,285) 57 26

Sumit lost his fifth semi-final of this season ... He failed to put pressure on a Serbian big-serving giant ... In the first set, Sumit tried to match Petrovic but he struggled with his serve ... Petrovic returning game was better and he dominated the second set ... Still, this semi-final appearance will push Sumit's ranking to his career best.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2019, London, Great Britain

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,94) vs (15) Milos Raonic (CAN,17)

Doubles
[R1] Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (13) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Andreas Mies (GER)
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Wesley Koolhof (NED)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) vs Alexander Bublik (KAZ)/ Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)

A tough match for Prajnesh, but Milos Raonic also coming out of long injury break ... He missed all clay season and played last 2 weeks on the grass ... He had good results, with wins over Tsonga and Cecchinato ... If Prajnesh manages to take Raonic to the 5th set then anything can happen considering Raonic's fitness issue ... A tall ask from me.

The doubles draw is out ... Tough matches for Divij, Jeevan and Purav ... Divij and Marcelo r facing a current French Open champions German pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies ... Purav and Jeevan r facing an Aussie pairing of Lleyton Hewitt and Jordan Thompson ... Rohan and Pablo r facing a pairing of Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof ... Lee and Benoit r facing the Kazakh pair.


At $54K+H Milan Challenger 2019, Italy

[QF] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) bt Aslan Karatsev (RUS,343) 64 76(4)

[SF] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) vs Danilo Petrovic (SRB,285)

A tight two sets win for Sumit against Aslan ... Sumit won the first set, he was a break up at 4-1 but Aslan broke back to make it 4-all ... Sumit again broke him in the 10th game for winning the set ... In the second set, Sumit was a break down at 2-3 but he broke Aslan in the 6th game for 3-all ... Sumit again got broken in the 7th game and he fought back from 3-5 down ... He broke Aslan in the 10th game, when he was serving for the set, to make it 5-all ... Both players held their respective service games to take into the tie-break ... Sumit played control game for completing the win in two sets after comfortably winning the tie-break ... In the semis, Sumit is facing a Serbian giant, Danilo Petrovic.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Tennis News

At $54K+H Milan Challenger 2019, Italy

[R3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) bt Martin Cuevas (URU,329) 63 2-1 retd.

[QF] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) vs Aslan Karatsev (RUS,343)

Sumit comfortably moves into the quarters as Martin Cuevas retired in the middle of the second set after losing the first set ... Next, he is facing a Russian Karatsev.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2019, London, Great Britain

[Q2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) l (11) Kamil Majchrzak (POL,111) 67(5) 36

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,171) l (WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER,283) 16 67(4)

Ram lost in straight sets against the higher-ranked Majchrzak ... Ram stretched Majchrzak to the first set tie-break but after losing it he failed to keep the same level of play.
After losing the first set easily Ankita gave fighting performance in the second against the former Wimbledon finalist ... Ankita was break up and serving for the set at 5-3, but she failed to hold her serve ... Lisicki completed the victory after winning the tie-break.


At € 507K Turkish Airlines Open 2019, Antalya, Turkey

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) l (4) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 67(11) 46
[QF] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK) 26 57

The 2nd seed Divij and Marcelo lost in straight sets against Molchanov and Zelenay.
Lee and Benoit also lost in straight sets against the 4th seeds ... They missed 6 set points in the long tie-break and Oswald-Jebavy took a crucial break on Lee's serve in the 9th game of the 2nd set.


At € 745K Nature Valley International 2019, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) l (2) Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 36 36

Rohan and Pablo failed to challenge their 2nd seed Argentine opponents in straight sets loss.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2019, London, Great Britain

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,171) bt Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR,247) 64 63

[Q2] Ankita Raina (IND,171) vs (WC) Sabine Lisicki (GER,283)

Ankita starts with straight sets win over Buyukakcay ... Ankita gave a clinical performance in her win and will face the former Wimbledon finalist, Sabine Lisicki.

At € 507K Turkish Airlines Open 2019, Antalya, Turkey

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,94) l Lorenzo Sonego (ITA,75) 76(3) 06 57

Doubles
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) bt Sander Arends (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 63 64

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) vs (4) Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT)
[QF] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK)

Prajnesh lost in the second round against Sonego ... I would say this loss was, the blessing in disguise before Wimbledon, as he is recovering from 2 months long injury ... Prajnesh won the first set in the tie-break, Sonego bageled him in the second losing only 3 points ... In the third set, both players held their service games till 10th game ... Prajnesh lost his serve in the 11th game and Sonego held his serve in the 12th for a win.

In the doubles, Lee and Benoit start their campaign with straight sets win over a Dutch pair ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Jebavy and Oswald ... Divij and Marcelo r facing Zelenay and Molchanov.


At € 745K Nature Valley International 2019, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 62 75

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (2) Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

The reunited pairing of Rohan and Cuevas started with straight sets win over Lajovic and Cecchinato ... Next, they r facing the 2nd seed Argentine pair.

At $54K+H Milan Challenger 2019, Italy

[R2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) bt Laurynas Grigelis (LTU,293) 62 63

[R3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,224) vs Martin Cuevas (URU,329)

Sumit enters into the third round with an easy straight sets win over Grigelis ... Next, he is facing Martin Cuevas.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2019, London, Great Britain

[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) bt Lukas Lacko (SLO,144) 63 62
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,249) l Guillermo Garcia Lopez (ESP,152) 46 64 57

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,171) vs Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR,247)

[Q2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,154) vs (11) Kamil Majchrzak (POL,111)

Ram scored a comfortable win over a similar ranked Lacko ... This year, Lacko had good results on the grass but Ram played well ... In the second qualifying, he is facing a Polish youngster, Kamil Majchrzak.
Saki lost in a close match against a veteran Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia Lopez ... After losing the first set Saki fought back to win the second ... In the third set, both players tried but Lopez managed to win.
In the women's qualifying, Ankita is facing a Turkish girl, Cagla Buyukakcay.


At € 507K Turkish Airlines Open 2019, Antalya, Turkey

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,94) bt (PR) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB,286) 60 76(6)

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,94) vs Lorenzo Sonego (ITA,75)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Cem Ilkel (TUR) 75 62

Prajnesh scored straight sets win over the former top-10 Tipsarevic ... After winning the first set easily Prajnesh failed a challenge in the second, but he won the close tie-break for completing victory ... Next, he is facing an Italian youngster, Sonego.

An expected winning start for Divij and Marcelo against a local pair.


Sunday, June 23, 2019

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Hiroshima, Japan

Final
India bt Japan 3-1 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Rani Rampal (IND) 3', Gurjit Kaur (IND) 45' PC and 60' PC and Kanon Mori (JPN) 11'

The Indian women overcame a stiff challenge from the Asian champions to lift the title ... Rani gave a perfect start after scoring in the 3rd minute, the Japanese team equalized in the first half through Kanon Mori ... After that, both teams failed to score in the next 30 minutes ... Gurjit gave a lead through the penalty corner at the end of the third quarter ... She scored another in the last minute of the game, which gave us hard-fought win over the Japanese women.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Tennis News

At Wimbledon 2019, London, Great Britain

Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU)
Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND)
Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND)

The doubles direct entries r announced ... Purav and Jeevan r the last pair to make as a direct entry ... Lee is playing with Benoit Paire and Rohan is back with Pablo Cuevas.

At € 507K Turkish Airlines Open 2019, Antalya, Turkey

[Q1] (8) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,281) l Roberto Ortega-Olmedo (ESP,283) 26 16

[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,95) vs (PR) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB,289)

Doubles
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) vs Sander Arends (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED)
[R1] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Tuna Altuna (TUR)/ Cem Ilkel (TUR)

Mukund had a bad loss against a similar ranked Ortega-Olmedo.

Prajnesh is playing in Turkey and facing the former top-10 Tipsarevic ... In the doubles, Divij and Marcelo r the 2nd seed and facing a local pair ... Lee is playing with Benoit and they r facing a Dutch pair.


At € 745K Nature Valley International 2019, Eastbourne, Great Britain

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Marco Cecchinato (ITA)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB)

Rohan is playing with Cuevas and they r facing a pairing of Cecchinato and Lajovic.

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

Doubles Final
(2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 36 46

Lee and Marcus lost in straight sets in the Ilkley Challenger final against Aisam and Santiago.

At € 69K+H Bratislava Challenger 2019, Slovakia

[SF] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) l (8) Norbert Gombos (SVK,202) 16 64 26

Sumit's terrific run ended in the semis against Norbert ... After losing the first set easily Sumit tried fightback and won the second set ... But Norbert overpowered him in the third ... Still another good week for Sumit.

At $54K+H Milan Challenger 2019, Italy

[R1] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) bye

Next week, Sumit is having a bye as a seeded player in the Milan Challenger.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Hiroshima, Japan

Semi Finals
India bt Chile 4-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Gurjit Kaur (IND) 22' PC and 37' PC, Navneet Kaur (IND) 31', Rani Rampal (IND) 57' and Carolina Garcia (CHI) 18', Manuela Urroz (CHI) 43'

The Indian women’s hockey team confirmed their place in the final round of Tokyo Olympic qualifiers after beating lower-ranked Chile 4-2 in the semifinals of FIH Series Finals ... The Chile women team gave a surprisingly tough fight to the Indians ... The Chilean women took a lead in the 18th minutes but our women managed parity within five minutes ... In the third quarter, we scored 2 goals but the Chilean scored their 2nd goal late in the quarter ... Rani scored the fourth goal for India to avoid any tense end ... In the final, they r facing a host Japan.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Tennis News

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[SF] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) 63 76(4)

[F] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Lee and Marcus r in the final with a straight-sets win over Jeevan and Purav ... In the final, they r facing the top-seeds.

At € 69K+H Bratislava Challenger 2019, Slovakia

[QF] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) bt (5) Andrej Martin (SLO,126) 64 62

[SF] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) vs (8) Norbert Gombos (SVK,202)

Sumit is in the semis with another exciting win over an in-form Martin in straight sets, who had a good clay court season with a couple of title on the Challengers ... In the first set, Sumit didn't face a single break point and converted an opportunity on Martin's serve for winning the set ... In the second set, both players exchanged break but Sumit was in the control ... He completed win breaking Martin 3rd time while he was serving for staying in the set ... With this dominating win, Sumit has booked his place for the US qualifying ... Next, he is facing another Slovakian Norbert Gombos.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Tennis News

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Sander Arends (NED)/ David Pel (NED) 64 26 10-4
[QF] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Matt Reid (AUS)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 67(4) 76(3) 10-7

Jeevan and Purav r in the semis and will face Lee and Marcus ... They defeated a Dutch pair in the match tie-break.
Lee and Marcus scored a hard-fought comeback win over a tricky Aussie pair in the match tie-break.


At € 69K+H Bratislava Challenger 2019, Slovakia

[R3] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) bt (1) Martin Klizan (SVK,56) 16 61 76(3)

[QF] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) vs (5) Andrej Martin (SLO,126)

Sumit scores his biggest career win and first top-100 win ... He made a superb comeback to beat a WR #56 and a local favorite Martin Klizan ... In the first set, Sumit failed to hold his serve, he broke Klizan's serve once but got broken 4 times to lose the set ... Sumit made an excellent comeback in the second set ... After losing the 1st game he won next 6 games to win the set, breaking Klizan in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th games ... In the third set, he lost his serve in the 3rd game, 1-2, but broke Klizan in the next game, 2-all ... After that, both players held their respective service games ... Sumit controlled the tie-break from the start and completed an excellent win after winning it comfortably ... Next, he is facing an in-form Andrej Martin.

At $54K+H Fergana Challenger 2019, Uzbekistan

[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l (2) Nikola Cacic (SRB)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) 57 36

Arjun and VSP lost in straight sets against the 2nd seeds.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Tennis News

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) l Marius Copil (ROU)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA) 16 57
[R1] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Jan Choinski (GBR)/ Evan Hoyt (GBR) 62 36 10-7

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sander Arends (NED)/ David Pel (NED)
[QF] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Matt Reid (AUS)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)

Lee and Marcus required a match tie-break for completing win against a local wild card pair ... Next, they r facing an Aussie pairing of Reid and Smith.
But bad loss for Bala with Cerretani against Humbert and Copil.


At € 69K+H Bratislava Challenger 2019, Slovakia

[R2] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) bt Gerard Granollers (ESP,445) 63 61

[R3] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,251) vs (1) Martin Klizan (SVK,56)

Sumit scored a comfortable win over his Spanish opponent ... Next, he is having a tough match against the top-60 local player, Martin Klizan.

At $54K+H Fergana Challenger 2019, Uzbekistan

[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,492) l (7) Pavel Kotov (RUS,286) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Pavel Kotov (RUS)/ Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS) 62 76(2)

[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs (2) Nikola Cacic (SRB)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)

Sid lost in the second round against Kotov.

Arjun and VSP started with straight sets win over their Russian opponents ... Next, they r facing the 2nd seeds Cacic and Yang.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Tennis News

At € 2.2M Halle Open 2019, Germany

[R1] (Q) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 57 67(5)

A very close loss in straight sets for Divij and Marcelo against an experienced Austrian pair.

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Scott Clayton (GBR) 76(6) 63

Jeevan and Purav scored their first win in the grass court season against a British pair ... Next, they r facing the Dutch pair.

At $54K+H Fergana Challenger 2019, Uzbekistan

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,492)< bt Vladyslav Manafov (UKR,527) 76(2) 62

[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,282) l Altug Celikbilek (TUR,480) 63 67(2) 26
[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,492) vs (7) Pavel Kotov (RUS,286)

Sid is in the second round with a win over Manafov in straight sets ... Next, he is facing the top-300 Russian, Pavel Kotov.

Mukund had a surprising loss against a lowly-ranked Celikbilek ... Mukund won the first set but failed to capitalize on that ... He lost the second set in the tie-break and after that, it was a downfall for him.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Hiroshima, Japan

Pool A
India bt Fiji 11-0 (8-0)
Goal Scorers - Lalremsiami (IND) 4', Rani Rampal (IND) 10' PC, Monika (IND) 11' and 33', Vandana Katariya (IND) 12', Gurjant Kaur (IND) 15' PC, 19' PC, 21' PC and 22' PC, Lilima Minz (IND) 51', Navneet Kaur (IND) 57'

A dominating performance by Indian girls against lowly-ranked Fijian girls to qualify for the semis ... The stats show the dominance, Fiji managed only one circle entry in the entire 60 minutes, other hand Indians made 74 entries into the opposition’s striking area ... In the first half, we scored 8 goals but in the second half, our conversion rate was low.

Monday, June 17, 2019

Tennis News

At $54K+H Fergana Challenger 2019, Uzbekistan

[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND,401) l Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,433) 26 46
[R1] (Alt) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,610) l Altug Celikbilek (TUR,480) 36 46

[R2] (5) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,282) vs Altug Celikbilek (TUR,480)

Arjun's struggle continues as he lost in straight sets against a lower ranked Uzbek opponent ... VSP also lost in straight sets against Celikbilek ... Mukund will be facing Celikbilek in the second round.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Golf News

At $2M Meijer LPGA Classic 2019, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.

T36 Aditi Ashok (IND) 71 65 74 70 -8 $11,689

The third round cost Aditi for a strong finish in the Meijer LPGA Classic.

At 119th U.S. Open Championship 2019, Pebble Beach, California

----------- Cut @ +2 ----------
Anirban Lahiri (IND) 74 77 +9

Anirban failed to make a cut and his struggle in the U.S. Open continues.

Archery News

At the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

P.C. to OGQ India twitter handle
Recurve Men’s Team Final
India l China 2-6 (53-53, 51-58, 56-56, 52-57

Indian Men's Recurve Archery Team of Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav & Tarundeep Rai won the Silver medal at the 2019 Archery World Championships ... The last time Indian men's team had won a medal at World Championships was a Silver in 2005 ... In the final, our archers struggled against the young Chinese archers in the windy condition.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Hiroshima, Japan

Pool A
India bt Poland 5-0 (3-0)
Goal Scorers - Jyoti (IND) 21', Vandana Katariya (IND) 26' PC, Gurjant Kaur (IND) 28' PC and 35' PS, Navneet Kaur (IND) 56'

A comfortable win for Indian women ... They started slowly but afterward control the match ... Gurjant scored a brace to give Indians a dominating win.

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

Doubles Final
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) l (1) John Peers (AUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 57 36

Rohan and Shapo lose the final against the top-seed Peers and Soares ... Still, a good week for Rohan.

At € 2.2M Halle Open 2019, Germany

[Q2] (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (2) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Denis Kudla (USA) 64 64

[R1] (Q) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT)

A straight sets win for Divij and Marcelo against Ebden and Kudla ... In the main draw, they r facing an experienced Austrian pair.

At $1M Nature Valley Classic 2019, Birmingham, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] Ankita Raina (IND,173) l (3) Jessica Pegula (USA,75) 16 06

Not a good preparation for Wimbledon qualifying for Ankita.

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[SF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) l (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 64 16 7-10

Bala and Cerretani gave a decent fighting performance against the top-seeds, Aisam and Santiago.

At €137K+H Ilkley Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) vs Marius Copil (ROU)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA)
[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Liam Broady (GBR)/ Scott Clayton (GBR)
[R1] (2) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Jan Choinski (GBR)/ Evan Hoyt (GBR)

Our no players in the singles ... In the doubles, Lee is the 2nd seed with Marcus Daniell and they r facing a local pair ... Jeevan and Purav r the 4th seed and they r also facing a local pair ... Bala is again playing with Cerretani and they r facing Copil and Humbert.

At € 69K+H Bratislava Challenger 2019, Slovakia

[R1] (16) Sumit Nagal (IND,272) bye

Sumit is playing in Slovakia and receives a bye as a seeded player.

At $54K+H Fergana Challenger 2019, Uzbekistan

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,492) vs Vladyslav Manafov (UKR,527)
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND,401) vs Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,433)
[R1] (5) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,282) bye
[R1] (Alt) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,610) vs Altug Celikbilek (TUR,480)

Doubles
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Pavel Kotov (RUS)/ Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS)

Our lot of players r playing in the Uzbek challenger.

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Bhubaneswar, India

Final
India bt South Africa 5-1 (3-0)
Goal Scorers - Varun Kumar (IND) 2' PC and 49' PC, Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 11' PC and 25' PS, Vivek Sagar Prasad (IND) 35' and Richard Pautz (RSA) 53' PC

As expected the Indians completed dominant performance in this tournament and wins the title ... They were untested in this 8-nations tournament ... In the final, they converted 3 of 5 penalty corners ... We need a lot of improvement in our performance like; the goal scoring ability of our forwarders, the sloppy defending and getting basic right.

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Hiroshima, Japan

Pool A
India bt Uruguay 4-1 (2-0)
Goal Scorers - Rani Rampal (IND) 10', Gurjant Kaur (IND) 21' PC, Jyoti (IND) 40', Lalremsiami (IND) 56' and Maria Teresa Viana Ache (URU) 51'

Indian women started their campaign with a comfortable win over the Uruguayan girls ... The South American team pressed hard but our players held them and completed the win in a good game.

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 63 64

[F] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs (1) John Peers (AUS)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Rohan and Shapo r in the final with an easy win over an Aussie pair ... In the final, they r facing the top-seed pairing of Soares and Peers.

At € 2.2M Queen's Club Open 2019, London, Great Britain

[Q1] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,91) l (WC) James Ward (GBR,204) 16 46

James Ward gave a grass court game lesson to Prajnesh in his straight-sets win ... So not great preparation for the Wimbledon for our top 2 players<./span>


At € 2.2M Halle Open 2019, Germany

[Q1] (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Laslo Djere (SRB)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 62 67(1) 10-8

[Q2] (1) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (2) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Denis Kudla (USA)

Divij and Marcelo r playing in the qualifying of the Halle Open ... They started with a win over Paire and Djere in the match tie-break ... In the final qualifying round, they r facing the 2nd seed Kudla and Ebden.

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) bt (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) 36 63 10-7

[SF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) vs (1) Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Bala and Cerretani r in the semis and facing the top-seed Aisam and Santiago ... Bala and Cerretani scored a comeback win after losing the first set against Purav and Jeevan ... This also means Purav and Jeevan doesn't have an ideal preparation on the grass before Wimbledon.

At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[SF] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) l (4) Elias Ymer (SWE,140) 16 16

In this match, Sumit failed to challenge Ymer in this one-sided loss ... Still, overall a good week for Sumit.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Bhubaneswar, India

Semi-Finals
India bt Japan 7-2 (4-2)
Goal Scorers - Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 7' PC, Varun Kumar (IND) 14' PC, Ramandeep Singh (IND) 23' and 37', Hardik Singh (IND) 25', Gursahibjit Singh (IND) 43', Vivek Sagar Prasad (IND) 47' and Kenji Kitazato (JPN) 2', Kota Watanabe (JPN) 20'

Much improved performance by Indians to beat the Asian Games champion, Japan ... The Japanese team drew first blood in the 2nd minute, we converted back to back penalty corners but the Japanese equalized to 2-all after 20 mins ... After that, it was all Indian show as our players were creating chances and scoring the goals ... The Japanese team tried to fightback in the late but we defended well ... In the final, we are meating South Africa, who defeated the Americans 2-1 ... With this wins, the both finalists qualify for the 14-team Olympic qualifiers in October-November this year.

Tennis News

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) w/o
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) bt (WC) Evan Hoyt (GBR)/ Luke Johnson (GBR) 64 46 10-8

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA)

Bala and Cerretani required the match tie-break for a win over the British pair ... Next, they r facing Purav and Jeevan, who received a walkover from Evans and Glasspool.

At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[QF] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) bt (1) Albert Ramos-Viñolas (ESP,101) 75 76(2)

[SF] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) vs (4) Elias Ymer (SWE,140)

This is a huge win by Sumit against the former top-20 (2 yrs. back), Albert Ramos Viñolas, who was the 2016 French Open quarter-finalist and the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters finalist ... A hard fought win for Sumit, after winning the tight first set he was 5-2 up in the second set ... But broken twice while serving for the set, Sumit kept his composure and completed win over Ramos-Viñolas after winning the tie-break ... Sumit is facing a top-150 Elias Ymer for a place in the final.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Archery News

At the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

[QF] India bt Chinese Taipei 6-0 (55-52, 55-48, 55-54)
[SF] India bt The Netherlands 5-4 (54-56, 52-49, 56-57, 57-55, 29-28)

[F] India vs China

A day after securing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics three-man quota, the India trio of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav made their way into the finals, where they will be up against China ... Our team reached in the final of World Archery Championships for the first time since 2005 ... Our team faced a stiff challenge by the Dutch team, where the formidable Dutch team was up a couple of time 0-2 and 2-4 ... But both time our Archers fought back to win the match.

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt (WC) Lucas Pouille (FRA)/ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 64 63

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

Rohan and Shapo r in the semis with straight sets win over a French pair ... Next, they r facing an Aussie pairing of Kyrgios and Reid.

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,229) l (10) Sebastian Ofner (AUT,145) 46 57

Doubles
[R1] Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (3) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 46 67(4)

Saki gave a decent performance against a top-150 Ofner in his loss.

Lee lost in the first round with Junaid against the 3rd seeds.

At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[R3] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) bt Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR,263) 61 36 63

[QF] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) vs (1) Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP,101)

Doubles
[R1] Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andrea Pellegrino (ITA) 46 46

Sumit required three sets to win over Ignatik ... After winning the first set comfortably Sumit lost the second ... He recovered to win the final set ... In the quarters, Sumit having a tough match against the former top20 player, Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Vishnu and his partner lost in straight sets against an Italian pair.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Archery News

At the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

P.C. to OGQ_India twitter handle
Recurve Men Team
[R1] India bt Norway 5-1 (55-55, 59-56, 57-56)
[R2] India bt Canada 5-3 (56-55, 57-56, 54-58, 57-57)

[QF] India vs Chinese Taipei

Big congrats to Indian men archers! Indian Men's Recurve Archery team of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav defeated the Canadian team to reach the quarterfinals of World Archery Championships ... With that, they secured a full 3 member Quota for India for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

But our women Recurve team lost in the pre-quarterfinals to the Belarusian team 2-6.

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt (3) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 64 36 10-6

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs (WC) Lucas Pouille (FRA)/ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

A superb upset win for Rohan and Shapo against Bryans in the match tie-break ... Next, they r facing a French pairing of Tsonga and Pouille.

At $250K Nature Valley Open 2019, Nottingham, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] (LL) Ankita Raina (IND,173) l (LL) Chloe Paqyet (FRA,168) 75 46 26

Ankita got a chance to play as a lucky loser and faced another lucky loser a French girl, Paqyet ... But Ankita lost after winning the first set on the indoors.

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R2] (11) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,143) l Ruben Bemelmans (BEL,185) 16 06

A bad loss for Ram against Bemelmans on the indoors.

At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) bt (8) Quentin Halys (FRA,159) 63 62

[R3] Sumit Nagal (IND,272) vs Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR,263)

Doubles
[R1] Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andrea Pellegrino (ITA)

Sumit continues with his good form, he defeated the top-160 ranked Frenchman, Quentin Halys, comfortably ... Next, he is facing a similar ranked Belarusian, Uladzimir Ignatik.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Tennis News

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,229) bt Mats Moraing (GER,219) 76 63

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,229) vs (10) Sebastian Ofner (AUT,145)

The matches shifted to the indoors due to rain … Saki started with a win over similar ranked Moraing … Next, he is facing the top-150 ranked Ofner.

At $54K+H Columbus-2 Challenger 2019, Ohio, U.S.A.

[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Volodoymyr Uzhylovskyi (UKR) l (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yatusaka Uchiyama (JPN) 46 36

A disappointing US tour for Arjun, as he failed to win a single match.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Bhubaneswar, India

India bt Uzbekistan 10-0 (7-0)
Goal Scorers - Varun Kumar (IND) 4' PC and 22' PC, Akashdeep Singh (IND) 11', 26' and 53', Amit Rohidas (IND) 15', Nilkanta Sharma (IND) 27', Mandeep Singh (IND) 30' and 60' and Gursahibjit Singh (IND) 45'

We scored an expected comfortable win over the Uzbek team ... But not impressed with our performance as we missed a hell of chances and again saw stupid passes, missed interceptions and poor defending ... Sad to see our players repeating the same mistakes again and again.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[R1] Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 75 67(14) 9-11

A heartbreaking loss for Divij and Marcelo ... They missed multiple match points in their first-round loss against Sitak and Molchanov.

At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) bt (Alt) Hugo Nys (MON,337) 64 62

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) vs (8) Quentin Halys (FRA,159)

Doubles
[R1] Ruben Gonzales (PHI)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Andrea Pellegrino (ITA)

Sumit started with a comfortable win over Nys ... Next, he is facing the top-160 Frenchman, Quentin Halys.

In the doubles, Vishnu is having a tough match against the Italian pair with Ruben Gonzales.


At $54K+H Columbus-2 Challenger 2019, Ohio, U.S.A.

[Q1] Arjun Kadhe (IND,401) l (2) Dennis Novikov (USA,400) 16 0-3

Doubles
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Volodoymyr Uzhylovskyi (UKR) vs (4) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yatusaka Uchiyama (JPN)

Arjun's struggle continues ... He retired in the second set in this one-sided match.

Sunday, June 09, 2019

Tennis News

At $250K Nature Valley Open 2019, Nottingham, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,170) bt Kai-Lin Zhang (CHN,204) 63 retd.

[Q2] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,170) l Ellen Perez (AUS,207) 16 63 36

Ankita lost in the final qualifying round against an Aussie, Ellen Perez, in three sets ... After losing the first set easily Ankita tried fightback and won the second set ... But she failed to keep momentum in the third to lose the match ... Before that, she defeated Kai-Lin, when she retired from the match after losing the first set.

At €137K+H Surbiton Challenger 2019, Great Britain

Doubles Final
Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Ben McLachlan (JPN) 64 36 2-10

Ram and Soonwoo lost in the final after winning the first set ... The top-seed pairing of Granollers and McLachlan dominated the final after losing the first set.

At €137K+H Nottingham Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,223) vs Mats Moraing (GER,219)
[R1] (11) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,143) bye

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) vs (WC) Evan Hoyt (GBR)/ Luke Johnson (GBR)
[R1] Rameez Junaid (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Ken Skupski (GBR)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS)

Good to see Saki is playing on the grass before Wimbledon qualifying ... He is facing a similar ranked German, Mats Moraing and Ram is having a bye as a seeded player.

In the doubles, tough matches for our pairs ... Jeevan and Purav are getting a big grass court match practice against the in-form British pair ... Bala and Cerretani r facing another British wild-card pair ... Lee is playing with Junaid and they r facing the 3rd seed, Ken Skupski and John-Patrick Smith.


At € 92K+H Lyon Challenger 2019, France

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) vs (Alt) Hugo Nys (MON,337)

Sumit is playing in the French challenger and facing Hugo Nys in the first round.

Saturday, June 08, 2019

Football News

At the 47th King's Cup 2019, Buriram, Thailand

The 3rd Place play-off
India bt Thailand 1-0 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Anirudh Thapa (IND) 17'

A new-look Indian football team defeated hosts Thailand 1-0 to give our head coach Igor Stimac his first win and finish third in the King’s Cup tournament ... Stimac made wholesome changes, as eight changes from the starting eleven which lost to Curacao 1-3 in their previous match ... Stimac rested key players like Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu ... This was our 2nd win over Thai team in 6 months as we defeated them in AFC Cup in January.

Tennis News

At € 754K Mercedes Cup 2019, Stuttgart, Germany (Grass)

[Q1] (1) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,88) l Matteo Viola (ITA,250) 76(6) 67(0) 1-2 retd.
[Q1] (WC) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,283) l (8) Gregoire Barrere (FRA,127) 36 46

Doubles
[R1] Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs (3) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA)

I am worried about Prajnesh's injury ... His clay court season already wasted due to injury and here also he retired after playing two tie-breaks ... Hopefully, he will recover before big W ... Mukund played a decent match against his higher ranked French opponent.

A tough doubles match for Rohan with Shapo against Bryans ... Divij and Marcelo r facing Sitak and Molchanov.


At $250K Nature Valley Open 2019, Nottingham, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] (8) Ankita Raina (IND,170) vs Kai-Lin Zhang (CHN,204)

Ankita is facing a Chinese challenge of Kai-Lin.

At €137K+H Surbiton Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[SF] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) 64 67(3) 10-4

[F] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Ben McLachlan (JPN)

Ram is in the doubles final with Kwon ... They defeated a British pair in the match tie-break, after losing the second set tie-break they dominated a super tie-break ... In the final, they r facing the top-seed pairing of McLachlan and Granollers.

Friday, June 07, 2019

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Bhubaneswar, India

Pool B
India bt Poland 3-1 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Manpreet Singh (IND) 21' and 26', Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 36' PC and Mateusz Hulboj (POL) 25'

The Indians scored a very unimpressive win over the Polish team ... They were slow and playing with a lack of ideas on the field ... The Indian captain Manpreet scored 2 goals in the second period to give a lead and also helped to earn a penalty corner in the 35th minute ... He was deservingly man of the match.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Series Final 2019, Bhubaneswar, India

Pool B
India bt Russia 10-0 (3-0)
Goal Scorers - Nilkanata Sharma (IND) 13', Simaranjeet Singh (IND) 19', Amit Rohidas (IND) 20', Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 32' PC and 48' PC, Varun Kumar (IND) 33' PC, Gursahibjit Singh (IND) 38', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 41' and 55', Vivek Sagar Prasad (IND) 45'

The Indian team demolished the helpless Russian side in the lop-sided match ... They started slowly but from the second period, they took control of the match ... In that, they showed the difference between the 6th ranked team and the 22nd ranked team.

Thursday, June 06, 2019

Tennis News

At € 137K + H Surbiton Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[QF] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) / Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR) / Artem Sitak (NZL) 62 76(5)

[SF] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR)

Ram and Soonwoo scored an excellent straight sets win over the 4th seed Erlich and Sitak for entering into the semis on this grass court challenger ... In the semis, they r facing a British wild-card pairing of Evans and Glasspool.

Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Football News

At the 47th King's Cup 2019, Buriram, Thailand

India l Curacao 1-3 (1-3)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 30' P and Luis Bonevacia (CUR) 15', Elson Oohoi (CUR) 18', Leandro Bacuna (CUR) 33'

Igor Stimac's reign as the head coach of the Indian team got off to a losing start as India succumbed to a 1-3 defeat to Curacao in the opening fixture of the 47th King's Cup ... In the first half, we committed too many defensive errors and that cost us the match ... In the second half, we showed improve performance and played a structured game to hold the Carribean side.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women Tournament 2019, Surbiton, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,170) l (WC) Katy Dunne (GBR,262) 36 36

Ankita failed to repeat her qualifying performance and lost easily against Katy Dunne.

At €137K+H Surbiton Challenger 2019, Great Britain

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,144) l (15) Matthias Bachinger (GER,126) 64 46 36

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) l (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Ben McLachlan (JPN) 36 16
[R1] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) 64 63
[R1] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) 57 76(5) 8-10

[QF] Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)

Ram failed to convert his good start against an experienced Bachinger ... Ram won the first set but failed to keep momentum in the next two sets.

In the doubles, Ram scored a victory with his Korean partner Kwon ... They defeated a good pairing of Jeevan and Purav in straight sets ... Next Ram and Kwon will be facing the 4th seed Erlich and Sitak.
Divij-Marcelo lost in the match tie-break against the British pair in their first match on the grass ... Bala and Cerretani failed to challenge the top-seeds in their one-sided loss.


At €69K+H Poznan Challenger 2019, Poland

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) l (13) Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,164) 57 63 36

Sumit gave another excellent fighting performance against an in-form Alessandro Giannessi in three sets loss ... The last week, Giannessi won the Challenger title in Italy without losing a set, so Sumit really played well against him ... After losing the first set Sumit fought back to win the second ... But he failed to complete win in this long match.

Tuesday, June 04, 2019

Golf News

At Sectional Qualifying - 2019 U.S. Open Championship, Columbus, Ohio

2 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 67 65 -10
-----Failed to qualify--------------
T30 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 69 71 -2

Anirban Lahiri qualifies for the 119th US Open, which will be played on June 13-16, 2019 ... He and Shubhankar played in the Sectional qualifying held in Columbus, Ohio ... The top-14 were going to qualify, Anirban showed top form and qualified with a 2nd place finish with the 10-under final score ... Shubhankar missed as he managed only 2-under final score to finish way behind in the standing ... This will be Anirban's third major of the year.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women Tournament 2019, Surbiton, Great Britain (Grass)

[Q1] (5) Ankita Raina (IND,170) bt Myrtille Georges (FRA,234) 76(6) 61
[Q2] (5) Ankita Raina (IND,170) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER,297) 63 61

[R1] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,170) vs (WC) Katy Dunne (GBR,262)

Ankita started her grass court season with a bang ... She played 2 qualifying matches in a day ... In the first qualifying round, she defeated a Frenchwoman Myrtille Georges ... Next, she faced a former Wimbledon finalist and former WR #12 Sabine Lisicki ... Ankita showed dominating performance against Lisicki and won the match losing only 4 games ... In the first round, she is facing a British wild-card player, Katy Dunne.

At €137K+H Surbiton Challenger 2019, Great Britain (Grass)

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,144) bt Tobias Kamke (GER,255) 63 36 61

[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,144) vs (15) Matthias Bachinger (GER,126)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA) vs (1) Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Ben McLachlan (JPN)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Soonwoo Kwon (KOR)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)
[R1] (2) Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Daniel Evans (GBR)/ Lloyd Glasspool (GBR)

Ram started with a win in his first grass court season match ... He defeated an experienced German, Tobias Kamke, in three sets ... Next, he is facing a German top-130 player, Matthias Bachinger.

In the doubles, Divij and Marcelo r the 2nd seeds and they r facing a British wild-card pair ... Jeevan is back with Purav and they r facing Ram and Kwon ... Bala is playing with an experienced Cerretani, but having a tough match against the top-seeds.


At €69K+H Poznan Challenger 2019, Poland

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) bt Constant Lestienne (FRA,192) 63 57 63

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,280) vs (13) Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,164)

An excellent win by Sumit against the top-200 Frenchman, Lestienne, in three sets ... Next, another tough match against the top-175 Italian, Alessandro Giannessi.

At €92K+H Prostejov Challenger 2019, Czech Republic

[R1] Nikola Cacic (SRB)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (2) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK) 26 64 8-10

Vishnu and his partner Nikola stretched the 2nd seeds till the match tie-break ... In the MTB, they were leading 7-6 but failed to complete the win.

At $81K+H Little Rock Challenger 2019, U.S.A.

[Q1] (1) Arjun Kadhe (IND,399) l Orlando Luz (BRA,457) 46 46

Doubles
[R1] (4) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Volodoymyr Uzhylovskyi (UKR) l (PR) Zhe Li (CHN)/ Dudi Sela (ISR) 26 57

After losing in the singles qualifying, Arjun played in the doubles in this US challenger ... He was the 4th seed with his Ukrainian partner and they faced Dudi Sela and Zhe Li in the first round ... Sela and Li defeated them comfortably in straight sets.

Sunday, June 02, 2019

Golf News

At $9.1M the Memorial Tournament 2019, Dublin, Ohio, USA

T52 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 67 76 75 71 +1 $21,221
T62 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 73 71 69 78 +3 $19,474

Anirban's two over par rounds cost him a good finish in his favorite Memorial tournament ... At least a single poor round vow continued for Shubhankar ... After the third round, he was 3-under but the final round of 6-over pushed him down in the final standing.

At $5M U.S. Women's Open 2019, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.

T39 Aditi Ashok (IND) 72 71 75 71 +5 $19,492

Aditi failed to score under par round and 4-over third round cost her finish inside the top-25.

Tennis News

At French Open 2019, Roland Garros, Paris, France

[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Marius Copil (ROU) l Dusan Lajovic (SRB)/ Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 61 57 67(8)

Rohan and Marius lost in a close match against the Serbian pair ... After winning the first set easily Rohan and Marius failed to complete win in two sets ... They lost the second set and missed match point in the third to lose close tie-break and match.

At $25K M25 Nonthaburi 2019, Thailand

[R1] (3) Sidharth Rawat (IND,510,ITF-447) bt Jirat Navasirisomboon (THA,ITF-869) 62 75
[R2] (3) Sidharth Rawat (IND,510,ITF-447) bt Kasidit Samrej (THA,UNR) 46 61 63
[QF] (3) Sidharth Rawat (IND,510,ITF-447) bt Rishab Agarwal (IND,ITF-1778) 57 62 64
[SF] (3) Sidharth Rawat (IND,510,ITF-447) bt (8) Yu Hsiou Hsu (TPE,625, ITF-189) 64 62

Singles Final
(3) Sidharth Rawat (IND,510,ITF-447) bt (5) Rio Noguchi (JPN,566,ITF-101) 75 60

Sid lifted his first ITF title in Thailand ... After so many years of struggle, he managed to lift title, hats off to his perseverance and hoping few more titles to him ... Here in the final, he defeated a Japanese youngster, Rio Noguchi in straight sets.

Saturday, June 01, 2019

Tennis News

At French Open 2019, Roland Garros, Paris, France

[R2] Leander Paes (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) l (3) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 06 64 36

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (Alt) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l (6) Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 75 46 5-10

Lee and Benoit lost after giving a decent fight to the in-form Colombian pair ... They lost first set easily but fought back to win the second set ... Our pair failed to keep momentum in the third and Cabal-Farah took advantage for completing the win.

Jeevan got chance to play the MxD with Jessica Moore as an alternate pair ... They started well after winning the first set against the 6th seed, Chan and Marach ... Chan and Marach raised their game to win the second set and completed win after winning the match tie-break comfortably.

Table Tennis News

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