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, 11-4)
[R32] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,38) bt Manush Utpalbhai Shah (IND,761) 4-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8)

[R16] Harmeet Desai (IND,87) bt (3) Omar Assar (EGY,35) 4-3 (7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8)
[R16] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,38) bt Aliaksandr Khanin (BLR,156) 4-1 (5-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7)

[QF] Harmeet Desai (IND,87) bt Alvaro Robles (ESP,79) 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1)
[QF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,38) bt Benedek Olah (FIN,95) 4-1 (11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6)

[SF] Harmeet Desai (IND,87) l (1) Marcos Freitas (POR,26) 3-4 (11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-13, 5-11)
[SF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,38) bt Kirill Skachkov (RUS,66) 4-3 (11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7)

[F] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,38) bt (1) Marcos Freitas (POR,26) 4-2 (6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 17-15)

37-yeard old Sharath lifted the Oman Open title beating a WR #26 Marcos Freitas in the final ... This is a first title for Sharath after 10 years, previously he won the Egypt Open in 2009 ... Here in the final, he saved 5 game points before winning the 6th game for a win.

Harmeet also had an excellent outing ... He scored a couple of good wins like; he defeated Wr #35 Omar Assar and the top-80 Spaniard, Alvaro Robles.

Badminton News

At $1.1M YONEX All England Open 2020, Birmingham (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[QF] (6) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,6) l (4) Nozomi Okuhara (JPN,4) 21-12 15-21 13-21

Sindhu again lost in a long mach against Nozomi Okuhara after winning the first game ... With this loss Indian challenge got over in the All England Open.

Athletic News

At the ACNW meeting 2020, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Shivpal Singh (IND) 85.47m (85m qualification mark)

24-year-old Shivpal Singh becomes a second javelin thrower to qualify for Tokyo Olympic after Neeraj Chopra ... In the South Africa event, Shivpal crossed the qualifying distance on his 5th attempt throw.

Tennis News

At $35K+H Potchefstroom Challenger 2020, South Africa

[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,445) l (1) Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,241) 36 57

A decent performance by Sid against his top-250 opponent, Bonzi.

Badminton News

At $1.1M YONEX All England Open 2020, Birmingham (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[R2] Lakshya Sen (IND,29) l (2) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,7) 17-21 18-21

[R2] (6) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,6) bt Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,12) 21-19 21-15

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (7) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 13-21 14-21

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

Another good win by Sindhu against a Korean Ji Hyun Sung in straight games ... Next, she is facing a WR #4 Nozomi Okuhara.
Lakshya gave a decent performance against an experienced Viktor Axelsen in his loss.
In the doubles, Ashwini and Sikki lost easily against the 7th seed Japanese pair.

Boxing News

At 2020 Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman, Jordan

Women Lightweight (60 kg) (4 quota places)
[F] Simranjit Kaur (IND) l Oh Yeon-ji (KOR) 0-5

Men Lightweight (63 kg) (6 quota places)
[Olympic box-off match] Manish Kaushik (IND) bt Harrison Garside (AUS) 4-1

Men Welterweight (69 kg) (5 quota places)
[F] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) l (4) Zeyad Ishaish (JOR) WO

Men Light heavyweight (81 kg) (5 quota places)
[Olympic box-off match] Sachin Kumar (IND) l Shabbos Negmatulloev (TJK) 0-5

Manish Kaushik becomes the 9th boxer to capture Olympic quota from the men Lightweight category ... He defeated a seeded Australian boxer, Harrison Garside, in the Olympic box-off match.

Vikas Krishan gave a walkover to a local boxer, Zeyad Ishaish, in the men Welterweight final.
In the women's Lightweight category final, Simranjit Kaur lost easily against a Korean Oh Yeon-ji.

A surprising one-sided loss of Sachin Kumar against Shabbos Negmatulloev in the Olympic box-off match.

India ended with healthy haul of the 2 silver medals and the 6 bronze medals with 9 Olympic quota places.

Badminton News

At $1.1M YONEX All England Open 2020, Birmingham (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000)

[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,24) l Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (INA,17) 0-3
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,10) l Jun Peng Zhao (CHN,36) 12-21 13-21
[R1] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,14) l (3) Long Chen (CHN,5) 14-21 17-21
[R1] Lakshya Sen (IND,29) bt Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG,18) 17-21 21-8 21-17

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,20) l (3) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,3) 11-21 8-21
[R1] (6) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,6) bt Beiwen Zhang (USA,14) 21-14 21-17

[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Jenny Moore (ENG)/ Victoria Williams (ENG) 5-4 retd.

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (1) Si Wei Zheng (CHN)/ Ya Qiong Huang (CHN) 13-21 21-11 17-21

[R2] Lakshya Sen (IND,29) vs (2) Viktor Axelsen (DEN,7)

[R2] (6) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,6) vs Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,12)

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (7) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)

Sindhu started with straight games win over Zhang ... Next, she is facing a Korean Ji Hyun Sung, both players share an 8-all win-loss record.
A young Lakshya scored an excellent comeback win over a top-20 Cheuk Yiu Lee ... Next, he is facing a former WR #1 Danish player, Viktor Axelsen.
Srikanth and Saina had tough matches ... Srikanth lost in straight games against Long Chen and Saina also failed to challenge Akane Yamaguchi in the one-sided loss ... Sai also lost poorly against his Chinese opponent.
In the doubles, Ashwini and Sikki got a lucky break as their local opponents retired in the first game ... In the second round, they r facing the 7th seed Japanese pair.
In MXD, Pranaav and Sikki gave a fighting performance against a WR #1 Chinese pair.

Tennis News

At $54K+H Nur-Sultan Challenger 2020, Kazakhstan

[R2] (10) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,185) l Jesper De Jong (NED,400) 26 26

A bad loss for Ram against a lower-ranked De Jong ... Ram and Purav gave a walkover in the doubles as Purav failed to reach Nur-Sultan.

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At $35K+H Potchefstroom Challenger 2020, South Africa

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,445) bt Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR,463) 57 63 62

[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,445) vs (1) Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,241)

Doubles
[QF] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Mick Veldheer (NED) l (2) Dustin Brown (GER)/ Lucas Miedler (AUT) 67(2) 26

Sid lost the first set against Kalenichenko but produced an excellent comeback for winning the next 2 sets ... In the second round, he is facing a top-seed Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
But in the doubles, Sid and Veldheer lost in straight sets against the 2nd seed pair.

Boxing News

At 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman, Jordan

Women Flyweight (51 kg) (6 quota places)
[SF] (2) Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (IND) l Chang Yuan (CHN) 0-5

Women Lightweight (60 kg) (4 quota places)
[SF] Simranjit Kaur (IND) bt (3) Wu Shih-yi (TPE) 3-2

[F] Simranjit Kaur (IND) vs Oh Yeon-ji (KOR)

Women Welterweight (69 kg) (4 quota places)
[SF] (2) Lovlina Borgohain (IND) l (3) Gu Hong (CHN) 0-5

Women Middleweight (75 kg) (4 quota places)
[SF] (4) Pooja Rani (IND) l (1) Li Qian (CHN) 0-5

Men Flyweight (52 kg) (6 quota places)
[SF] (1) Amit Panghal (IND) l Hu Jianguan (CHN) 2-3

Men Welterweight (69 kg) (5 quota places)
[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt (2) Ablaikhan Zhussupov (KAZ) 3-2

[F] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs (4) Zeyad Ishaish (JOR)

Men Middleweight (75 kg) (5 quota places)
[SF] Ashish Kumar (IND) l (1) Eumir Marcial (PHI) 1-4

Men Light heavyweight (81 kg) (5 quota places)
[Olympic box-off R1] Sachin Kumar (IND) bt Nguyễn Mạnh Cường (VIE) 4-1

[Olympic box-off R2] Sachin Kumar (IND) vs Shabbos Negmatulloev (TJK)

Men Super heavyweight (+91 kg) (4 quota places)
[SF] (4) Satish Kumar (IND) l (1) Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB) 0-5

In the women's Lightweight category, Simranjit Kaur enters into the final with an upset fighting win over a seeded Taipei boxer, Wu Shih-yi ... In the final bout, she is facing a Korean Oh Yeon-ji

Our all other women boxers; Mary Kom, Lovlina Borgohain and Pooja Rani; lost one-sided matches to their Chinese opponents.

Vikas Krishan continues with his good form and he scored an upset win over his 2nd seed Kazakh boxer, Ablaikhan Zhussupov, in a close match ... In the final, he is facing a local boxer, Zeyad Ishaish.

In this tournament, Amit Panghal struggled in his all matches and in the semis, he lost his bout 2-3 against his Chinese opponent.
Sachin Kumar enters into the final box-off in the Light heavyweight category ... He defeated his Vietnamese opponent 4-1 and he will face Shabbos Negmatulloev for an Olympic quota place.
Ashish Kumar gave a fighting performance against the top-seed Filipino Eumir Marcial in his loss ... Satish Kumar failed to challenge his superior Uzbek opponent, Bakhodir Jalolov.

Tennis News

At $35K+H Potchefstroom Challenger 2020, South Africa

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Mick Veldheer (NED) bt (WC) Gerhardt Marius Becker (RSA)/ Pierre Malan (RSA) 63 3-2 retd.

[QF] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Mick Veldheer (NED) vs (2) Dustin Brown (GER)/ Lucas Miedler (AUT)

Sia and Mick r in the quarters and r facing the 2nd seed Brown and Miedler.

Boxing News

At 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman, Jordan

Women Flyweight (51 kg) (6 quota places)
[QF] (2) Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (IND) bt Irish Magno (PHI) 5-0

[SF] (2) Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (IND) vs Chang Yuan (CHN)

Women Featherweight (57 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] Sakshi Chaudhary (IND) l Im Ae-ji (KOR) 0-5

Women Lightweight (60 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] Simranjit Kaur (IND) bt (2) Monkhoryn Namuun (MGL) 5-0

[SF] Simranjit Kaur (IND) vs (3) Wu Shih-yi (TPE)

Men Flyweight (52 kg) (6 quota places)
[QF] (1) Amit Panghal (IND) bt Carlo Paalam (PHI) 4-1

[SF] (1) Amit Panghal (IND) vs Hu Jianguan (CHN)

Men Lightweight (63 kg) (6 quota places)
[QF] Manish Kaushik (IND) l (3) Baatarsükhiin Chinzorig (MGL) 2-3

[Olympic box-off R1] Manish Kaushik (IND) vs Harrison Garside (AUS)

Amit Panghal gives a sixth Olympic quota for India when he defeated a Filipino Carlo Paalam ... In the semis, he is facing a Chinese boxer, Hu Jianguan.
Mary Kom becomes the 7th Indian boxer to qualifies for the Olympic ... She defeated her Filipino opponent convincingly ... In the semis, she is facing a Chinese boxer, Chang Yuan.
And Simranjit Kaur captures the 8th Olympic quota for India as she convincingly defeated the 2nd seed Mongolian boxer ... In the semis bout, she is facing the 3rd seed Taipei boxer, Wu Shih-yi.
Manish lost a close bout against his seeded Mongolian opponent, 2-3 ... He is facing the 2nd seed Aussie boxer, Harrison Garside, for an Olympic quota in the Olympic box-off bout.

Sakshi lost easily against her Korean opponent.

Tennis News

At $54K+H Nur-Sultan Challenger 2020, Kazakhstan

[R1] (10) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) bye

Doubles
[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Denis Yevseyev (KAZ)/ Alexey Zakharov (RUS)

Ram is playing in the Nur-Sultan Challenger ... As a seeded player, he has a bye in the first round ... In the doubles, he is the top-seed with Purav and they r facing Yevseyev and Zakharov.

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At $35K+H Potchefstroom Challenger 2020, South Africa

[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,501) vs Danylo Kalenichenko (UKR)

Doubles
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Mick Veldheer (NED) vs (WC) Gerhardt Marius Becker (RSA)/ Pierre Malan (RSA)

Sid is playing in the South African challenger ... He faces Kalenichenko in the first round ... In the doubles, he is playing with Veldheer and facing a local wild-card pair.

Golf News

At $1.75M Commercial Bank Qatar Masters 2020, Doha, Qatar (European Tour)

T28 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 67 69 68 74 -6 € 12,741.66
------ Cut @ PAR ------
T126 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 71 78 +7

SSP's last 3-over round ended his chance of the top-10 finish on the European tour ... Shubhankar still not able to find his touch on the course.

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At $1M Bandar Malaysia Open 2020, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia (Asian Tour)

T16 Chikkarangappa S (IND) 68 73 67 -8 $11,383.33
T31 Rashid Khan (IND) 76 67 67 -6 $7,614.29
T38 Shiv Kapur (IND) 71 70 70 -5 $6,038.89
T53 Aman Raj 69 72 72 -3 $3,820
T53 Rahil Gangjee 71 69 73 -3 $3,820

A decent finish for Chikka as he finished in the top-20 in this Malaysia Open.

Boxing News

At 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman, Jordan

Women Welterweight (69 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (2) Lovlina Borgohain (IND) bt Maftunakhon Melieva (UZB) 5-0

[SF] (2) Lovlina Borgohain (IND) vs (3) Gu Hong (CHN)

Women Middleweight (75 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (4) Pooja Rani (IND) bt Pornnipa Chutee (THA) 5-0

[SF] (4) Pooja Rani (IND) vs (1) Li Qian (CHN)

Men Welterweight (69 kg) (5 quota places)
[QF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt (3) Sewon Okazawa (JPN) 5-0

[SF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs (2) Ablaikhan Zhussupov (KAZ)

Men Middleweight (75 kg) (5 quota places)
[QF] Ashish Kumar (IND) bt Michael Roberrd Muskita (INA) 5-0

[SF] Ashish Kumar (IND) vs (1) Eumir Marcial (PHI)

Men Light heavyweight (81 kg) (5 quota places)
[QF] Sachin Kumar (IND) l Chen Daxaing (CHN) 2-3

[Olympic box-off R1] Sachin Kumar (IND) vs Nguyễn Mạnh Cường (VIE)

Men Super heavyweight (+91 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (4) Satish Kumar (IND) bt Daavii Otgonbayar (MGL) 5-0

[SF] (4) Satish Kumar (IND) vs (1) Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB)

Our boxers won 5 of 6 quarter-final bouts in which they participated to seal 5 Olympic quotas for India.

In the women's Middleweight category, Pooja Rani became the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic quota When she defeated Thai boxer Chutee with a unanimous verdict... In the semis, she is facing the top-seed Chinese boxer, Li Qian. In the women's Welterweight category, Lovlina Borgohain captured an Olympic quota beating her Uzbek opponent with a unanimous verdict ... In the semis, she is facing the 3rd seed Chinese boxer, Gu Hong.

In the Welterweight category, Vikas Krishan Yadav won an Olympic quota when he defeated the 3rd seed Japanese boxer Sewon Okazawa with a unanimous verdict ... In the semis, he is facing the 2nd seed Kazakh boxer, Ablaikhan Zhussupov.
In the Middleweight category, Ashish Kumar became the 4th Indian boxer to win an Olympic quota ... He scored a win over an Indonesian boxer Muskita with a unanimous verdict ... In the semis, he is facing the top-seed Filipino boxer, Eumir Marcial.
In the Super heavyweight category, Satish Kumar took a fifth Olympic quota, when he defeated his Mongolian opponent with a unanimous decision ... In the semis, he is facing the top-seed Uzbek boxer, Bakhodir Jalolov.
Sachin Kumar lost a close bout against his Chinese opponent in the Light heavyweight category ... He still has a chance but needs to win the next 2 bouts ... He is facing a Vietnamese boxer, Nguyễn Mạnh Cường.

Tennis News

At Fed Cup 2020 - Asia/ Oceania Group I, Dubai, UAE

P.C. to Sunil Yajaman FB page

Group A
India bt Indonesia 2-1

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,433) l Priska Madelyn Nugroho (INA,UNR) 36 60 36
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,160) bt Aldila Sutjiadi (INA,370) 63 63
[R3] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Priska Madelyn Nugroho (INA)/ Aldila Sutjiadi (INA) 76(4) 60

What a gift by our Fed Cup team on the Women's Day!
Our women created a history in the Fed Cup, for the first-ever time in history, (last evening in Dubai) Indian Fed Cup Team qualified for the World Group Play-offs ... Congratulation to Sania Mirza, Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bhosale, Sowjanya Bavisetti, and Riya Bhatia for making the country proud ... Also a terrific job by our captain Vishaal Uppal and coach Ankita Bhambri.

Rutuja lost her first match in this Fed Cup when she lost in 3 sets against a talented junior WR #15 Indonesian girl, Priska Madelyn Nugroho ... Ankita raised to an occasion after her previous 2 losses in the last 2 ties, she defeated Sutjiadi comfortably and made this tie 1-all ... In the doubles, Sania and Ankita were 1-4 down before making an excellent comeback in the match ... After winning the first set in the tie-break they trounced their Indonesian opponents in the second set ... With this win, we finished the 2nd behind a solid Chinese team and qualify for the World Group Play-offs as a top 2 teams.

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At the 2020 Davis Cup Qualifiers, Dom Sportova, Zagreb, Croatia

India l Croatia 1-3
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,132) l Borna Gojo (CRO,277) 63 46 26
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) l Marin Cilic (CRO,37) 67(8) 67(8)

[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Mate Pavic (CRO)/ Franko Skugor (CRO) 63 67(9) 75

[R4] Sumit Nagal (IND,127) l Marin Cilic (CRO,37) 06 16

After first day results as an expected loss against a superior Croatian team ... But there was a silver lining, in his last Davis Cup appearance Leander scored a victory with Rohan against a higher-ranked Croatian pair in an exciting match ... With this win, Leander ended his World record doubles wins in the Davis Cup to 45 wins.

Lee and Rohan won the first set, but the second set was a lot closer and our pair missed 2 match-points before losing the set in a long 20 points tie-break ... In the third set, our pair was 2-4 down before they dug deep and fought back to win this match. In the reverse singles, our non-playing captain made a change and played Sumit in the place of Prajnesh ... That was a wrong move considering Sumit's lack of service speed and the game which suited to the clay ... Cilic destroyed him in 56 minutes losing a single game.

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At $108K+H Monterrey Challenger 2020, Mexico

[QF] (5) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Federico Gaio (ITA)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 26 63 15-13

[SF] (5) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l (4) Orlando Luz (BRA)/ Rafael Matos (BRA) 57 46

Bala and Jeevan won their quarter-finals against an Italian pair, but they lost in the semis against the 4th seed Brazilian pair.

Boxing News

At 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, Amman, Jordan

Women Flyweight (51 kg) (6 quota places)
[R16] (2) Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (IND) bt Tasmyn Benny (NZL) 5-0

[QF] (2) Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (IND) vs Irish Magno (PHI)

Women Featherweight (57 kg) (4 quota places)
[R16] Sakshi Chaudhary (IND) bt (4) Nilawan Techasuep (THA) 4-1

[QF] Sakshi Chaudhary (IND) vs Im Ae-ji (KOR)

Women Lightweight (60 kg) (4 quota places)
[R16] Simranjit Kaur (IND) bt Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) 5-0

[QF] Simranjit Kaur (IND) vs (2) Monkhoryn Namuun (MGL)

Women Welterweight (69 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (2) Lovlina Borgohain (IND) vs Maftunakhon Melieva (UZB)

Women Middleweight (75 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (4) Pooja Rani (IND) vs Pornnipa Chutee (THA)

Men Flyweight (52 kg) (6 quota places)
[R16] (1) Amit Panghal (IND) bt Kharkhüügiin Enkhmandakh (MGL) 3-2

[QF] (1) Amit Panghal (IND) vs Carlo Paalam (PHI)

Men Featherweight (57 kg) (6 quota places)
[Pre] Gaurav Solanki (IND) bt Akylbek Esenbek Uulu (KGZ) 5-0

[R16] Gaurav Solanki (IND) l (1) Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov (UZB) 1-4

Men Lightweight (63 kg) (6 quota places)
[R16] Manish Kaushik (IND) bt John Ume (PNG) 5-0

[QF] Manish Kaushik (IND) vs (3) Baatarsükhiin Chinzorig (MGL)

Men Welterweight (69 kg) (5 quota places)
[R16] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) bt Nursultan Mamataly (KGZ) 5-0

[QF] Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) vs (3) Sewon Okazawa (JPN)

Men Middleweight (75 kg) (5 quota places)
[Pre] Ashish Kumar (IND) bt Kan Chia-wei (TPE) 5-0

[R16] Ashish Kumar (IND) bt (4) Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu (KGZ) 5-0

[QF] Ashish Kumar (IND) vs Michael Roberrd Muskita (INA)

Men Light heavyweight (81 kg) (5 quota places)
[R16] Sachin Kumar (IND) bt Dee Ioapo (SAM) 5-0

[QF] Sachin Kumar (IND) vs Chen Daxaing (CHN)

Men Heavyweight (91 kg) (4 quota places)
[R16] Naman Tanwar (IND) l Alaa Aldin Ghousoon (SYR) 0-5

Men Super heavyweight (+91 kg) (4 quota places)
[QF] (4) Satish Kumar (IND) vs Daavii Otgonbayar (MGL)

Excited to see our 11 boxers from 13 boxers (all categories) r still in a chance of capturing Olympic quota places ... All boxers are one win away fro a direct qualification.

Some interesting results, our main hope Amit Panghal had a tough draw as he faced a Mangolian Kharkhüügiin Enkhmandakh ... In their last bout at Military World Games, he lost against Enkhmandakh ... Here, Amit started aggressively and scored a lot of points in counter-attacking in the first 2 rounds, but Kharhuu put pressure in the final round but Amit prevailed in this close bout.

In men Middleweight, Ashish Kumar created an upset after convincingly beating the 4th seed Kyrgyzstani boxer, Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu.

In women Featherweight, Sakshi Chaudhary created an upset after beating the 4th seed Thai boxer, Nilawan Techasuep.

Tennis News

At Fed Cup 2020 - Asia/ Oceania Group I, Dubai, UAE

Group A
India bt Chinese Taipei 2-1

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,433) bt Ya Yi Yang (TPE,852) 63 36 76(8)
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,160) l En Shuo Liang (TPE,205) 63 26 36
[R3] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Latisha Chan (TPE)/En Shuo Liang (TPE) 64 46 64

What a fighting win by our Indian women's over talented Taipei women ... Rutuja again raised to occasion and delivered when required ... She defeated a talented 15 yrs old Ya Yi Yang in a closely fought 2 hours and 46 minutes match ... Rutuja saved 3 match-points before converting her 2nd match-point for an important win ... Ankita again lost her match after winning the first set against En Shuo Liang ... In the important doubles rubber, Sania and Ankita raised to their game to complete win in 3 sets which lasted for 2 hours and 35 minutes ... The WR #14 Latisha Chan with En Shuo Liang pushed Sania and Ankita to the fullest.

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At the 2020 Davis Cup Qualifiers, Dom Sportova, Zagreb, Croatia

India vs Croatia 0-2
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,132) l Borna Gojo (CRO,277) 63 46 26
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (182) l Marin Cilic (CRO,37) 67(8) 67(8)

Prajnesh started with winning the first set, but after that, he failed to complete win as a lowly-ranked Borna Gojo made a strong comeback for a win.

Ram gave a strong performance against Cilic and didn't lose a single game on his serve ... Cilic used his vast experience to win this match in the 2 tie-breaks which went to 18 points ... He didn't fail a single break-point on his serve but he also failed to break Cilic and lost the first set in a long tie-break ... The second set was the same story, here Ram saved a couple of break-points but again Cilic prevailed in the tie-break to give a huge advantage to the Croatian side after 2 rubbers.

Tennis News

At Fed Cup 2020 - Asia/ Oceania Group I, Dubai, UAE

Group A
India bt Korea 2-1

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,433) bt Su Jeong Jang (KOR,309) 75 64
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,160) l Na-Lae Han (KOR,184) 46 06
[R3] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Na-Lae Han (KOR)/ Na Ri Kim (KOR) 64 64

Another good win by our girls against the Korean girls ... Rutuja again gave a superb start with a win over her higher-ranked Korean opponent, Su Jeong Jang ... But Na-Lae Han proved too strong to Ankita ... Sania and Ankita won a closely fought doubles match to help us for winning this tie ... Both pairs faced a multiple service breaks but or pair prevailed to give us an important win.

Tennis News

At Fed Cup 2020 - Asia/ Oceania Group I, Dubai, UAE

Group A
India bt Uzbekistan 3-0

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,433) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB,398) 26 62 75
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,160) bt Sabina Sharipova (UZB,355) 75 61
[R3] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND)/ Riya Bhatia (IND) bt Yasmina Karimjanova (UZB)/ Sitora Normuradova (UZB) 63 61

A good solid win by the Indian women against the Uzbek women ... Rutuja scored a superb comeback win over a former top-50 Akgul Amanmuradova to give us a winning start ... Ankita scored a straight-sets win over Sharipova and then, Riya and Sowjanya scored a comfortable win in the doubles.

Tennis News

At Fed Cup 2020 - Asia/ Oceania Group I, Dubai, UAE

Group A
India l China 0-3

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,433) l Shuai Zhang (CHN,35) 46 26
[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,160) l Qiang Wang (CHN,29) 61 26 46
[R3] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND)/ Riya Bhatia (IND) l Shuai Peng (CHN)/ YiFan Xu (CHN) 06 16

The expected loss against a higher-ranked Chinese team ... Moreover, Karman withdrew from the team due to injury ... Rutuja gave a decent performance against her WR #35 opponent ... Ankita showed improvement in her game as she won the first set against the top-30 Qyang Wang, she lost the next 2 sets but gave a fighting performance.

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At $108K+H Monterrey Challenger 2020, Mexico

[R1] (5) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Milledge Cossu (USA)/ Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 46 63 10-6

Bala and Jeevan started with a comeback win after losing the first set against Mannarino and Cossu.

Golf News

At €210K Women's NSW Open 2020, Australia (Ladies European Tour)

T4 Aditi Ashok (IND) 73 68 70 67 -10 € 8,505.00
T7 Diksha Dagar (IND) 69 68 71 74 -6 € 5,565.00

Aditi scored a superb final 5-under round to finish inside the top-5 in the final standing ... Diksha also had a chance of the top-5 finish, but she managed 2-over final round ... Still, a good top-10 finish for Diksha.

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At $1.75M Oman Open 2020, Muscat, Oman (European Tour)

T25 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 68 75 72 67 -6 € 15,589.49
------ Cut @ +1 ------
T110 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 74 74 +4

SSP scored an excellent 5-under final round to finish inside the top-25 ... But Shubhankar's struggle continues on the course, as he again missed a cut.

Squash News

At $250K Women's Windy City Open 2020, Chicago, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R2] (11) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) l Donna Lobban (AUS,37) 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11 (39m)

Hoping for a better outing for Joshna as she lost in 4 games against Lobban.

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At $250K Men's Windy City Open 2020, Chicago, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R2] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,13) l Mathieu Castagnet (FRA,27) 9-11, 11-8, 16-14, 13-15, 10-12 (100m)

Saurav played another marathon match of his career against a Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet, but this was another close loss for him ... The match duration was an exact 100 minutes and Saurav had his chances in the match ... He missed match-balls in the final 2 games and Castagnet took full advantage of it for completing the win.

Squash News

At $250K Women's Windy City Open 2020, Chicago, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R1] (11) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) bye

[R2] (11) Joshna Chinappa (IND,12) vs Donna Lobban (AUS,37)

Joshna is facing an Aussie girl, Donna Lobban.

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At $250K Men's Windy City Open 2020, Chicago, USA (PSA World Tour Platinum)

[R1] Ramit Tandon (IND,52) l Omar Mosaad (EGY,17) 10-12 10-12 3-11 (41m)
[R1] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,13) bye
[R1] Vikram Malhotra (IND,57) l Cesar Salazar (MEX,23) 11-6, 11-13, 13-11, 6-11 4-11 (53m)

[R2] (9/16) Saurav Ghosal (IND,13) vs Mathieu Castagnet (FRA,27)

Fighting performances from Ramit and Vikram against their respective higher ranked opponents ... Saurav is facing a former top-10 French guy, Mathieu Castagnet.

Tennis News

At $2.95M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[QF] (WC) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (Q) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 36 36

Lee's Dubai Open journey eneded with a straight-sets loss against Kontinen and Struff.

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At $54K+H Columbus Challenger 2020, Ohio, USA

[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)l (4) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Nathaniel Lammons (USA) 36 26

Bala and Jeevan failed to challenge Lammons and Huey in their one-sided loss.

Tennis News

At $674K Chile Dove Men+Care Open 2020, Santiago, Chile (Clay)

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) l Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 36 63 4-10

A Spanish pair proved better on the clay as Divij and Artem lost in the match tie-break.

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At €92K+H Pau Challenger 2020, France

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) l Antonio Sancic (CRO)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 16 57

Purav and Adil lost in the first round against Weissborn and Sancic.

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At $54K+H Columbus Challenger 2020, Ohio, USA

[R2] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,180) l (Q) Zhe Li (CHN,208) 67(7) 67(3)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (4) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Nathaniel Lammons (USA) 57 46

Ram lost in 2 tie-break against Li ... Ram served well but Li played important points lot better for a win ... Ram missed 4 set points in the first set and also missed a break-point in the second set.

Ram and VSP also lost their doubles match in straight sets against Huey and Lammons.

Tennis News

At $2.95M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R1] (Q) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,134) l (Q) Dennis Novak (AUT,95) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) Ivan Dodig(CRO)/ Filip Polasek (SVK) 64 63

[QF] (WC) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (Q) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

I was hoping better results from Prajnesh as he lost in straight-sets against Novak.

Other hands, an excellent upset win from Lee and Ebden against the 2nd seed Dodig and Polasek ... Next, they r having a tricky match against Kontinen and Struff.

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At $2.9M Qatar Total Open 2020, Doha, Qatar

[R1] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (WC) Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 46 57

Sania and Caroline lost in straight sets against another wildcard pair.

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At $674K Chile Dove Men+Care Open 2020, Santiago, Chile (Clay)

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) bt Thiago Monteiro (BRA)/ Fernando Romboli (BRA) 76(5) 76(2)

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) vs Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)

Divij and Artem required 2 tie-breaks to beat a Brazilian pair ... Next, they r facing the Spanish pair for a place in the semis.

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At €92K+H Pau Challenger 2020, France

[R2] (3) Sumit Nagal (IND,122) l Hugo Grenier (FRA,250) 16 62 36
[R2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,279) l (8) Lukas Lacko (SVK,168) 46 67(3)

A very lackluster performance by Sumit in this loss ... He played error-prone game and gave easy points to Grenier ... After a really bad first set Sumit controlled his unforced errors to win the second set ... But he again struggled in the third to lose this match.

MuKund gave a decent fighting performance against Lacko in his straight sets loss.

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At $54K+H Columbus Challenger 2020, Ohio, USA

[R1] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,180) vs (Q) Zhe Li (CHN,208)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Alexander Cozbinov (MDA)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 63 64

Ram is facing Zhe Li in the second round.
Bala and Jeevan scored straight sets win over Istomin and Cozbinov.

Squash News

At $79.5K Men's Canada Cup 2020, Toronto, Canada (World Tour Silver)

[R1] Ramit Tandon (IND,52) bt (9/16) Campbell Grayson (NZL,25) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (44m)

[R2] Ramit Tandon (IND,52) l (6) Daryl Selby (ENG,25) 11-6, 6-11, 7-11, 7-11 (46m)

Ramit played in this big Canada Cup ... In the first round, he scored an upset win over the top-25 Grayson in 4 games ... Next, he lost against the top-25 Britisher Selby in 4 games.

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At $51.25K Women's Cincinnati Cup 2020, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (World Tour Bronze)

[R1] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND,67) l (9/16) Nada Abbas (EGY,27) 11-8, 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 6-11 (41m)

Sunayna played in this bronze tournament level Cincinnati Cup ... She lost in the first round but gave a fighting performance against the top-30 Egyptian Nada Abbas.

Tennis News

At €92K+H Pau Challenger 2020, France

[R1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,279) bt (PR) Arthur De Greef (BEL,288) 67(5) 76(3) 76(2)

[R2] (3) Sumit Nagal (IND,122) vs Hugo Grenier (FRA,250)
[R2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,279) vs (8) Lukas Lacko (SVK,168)

Mukund scored an impressive and a gritty win over a solid former top-200 player, who was out due to injury ... The match was very close as all 3 sets went to the tie-breaks ... Mukund lost the first set tie-break but he fought back to win the next 2 sets in the tie-breaks and completed win in almost 2 hours and 50 mins ... Next, he is facing the top-175 and 8th seed Lukas Lacko ... Sumit is facing a Frenchman Hugo Grenier.

This week, the first-time Sumit becomes India's #1 singles player as Prajnesh failed to defend his points and slides to #134.

Golf News

At €240K Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic 2020, Bonville, Australia (Ladies European Tour)

T24 Aditi Ashok (IND) 69 75 69 72 -3 € 3,072.00
T32 Diksha Dagar (IND) 73 72 71 71 -1 € 2,094.86
T57 Tvesa Malik (IND) 74 68 74 76 +4 € 804.00

Aditi managed the top-25 finish in Australia ... Diksha and Tvesa also managed to make cut.

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At $3M Puerto Rico Open 2020, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (PGA Tour)

T44 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 70 70 70 70 -8 $9,220
T50 Arjun Atwal (IND) 73 67 72 69 -7 $7,620

Anirban and Arjun played in the Puerto Rico Open but failed to give desired result.

Tennis News

At $2.9M Qatar Total Open 2020, Doha, Qatar

[R1] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (WC) Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR)/ Laura Siegemund (GER)

Sania has received a wildcard with her French partner Caroline Garcia in Doha ... They r facing another wildcard pairing of Cagla Buyukakcay and Laura Siegemund.

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At $2.95M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R1] (Q) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,125) vs (Q) Dennis Novak (AUT,95)

Doubles
[F-Q] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) l (1) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 36 63 6-10

Prajnesh is facing the top-100 Austrian player, Dennis Novak ... A decent draw considering this big tournament.

Rohan and Pablo lost in the match tie-break against Kontinen and Struff in the final qualifying.

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At $674K Chile Dove Men+Care Open 2020, Santiago, Chile (clay)

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) vs Thiago Monteiro (BRA)/ Fernando Romboli (BRA)

Divij and Artem r playing in Chile and they r facing a Brazilian pair in the first round.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2020, Jodhpur, India

Singles Final
(1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) bt (7) Berfu Cengiz (TUR,451) 75 61

As expected, Ankita lifted the singles title beating a Turkish girl Berfu Cengiz in straight sets ... This was her 7th $25K title and the 2nd title of the year.

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At €92K+H Pau Challenger 2020, France

[R1] (3) Sumit Nagal (IND,126) bye
[R1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) vs (PR) Arthur De Greef (BEL,288)

Doubles
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) vs Antonio Sancic (CRO)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT)

Sumit and Mukund r playing in the French challenger ... Sumit is the 3rd seed and Mukund is playing against Arthur De Greef.

In the doubles, Purav and Adil r facing Weissborn and Sancic.

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At $54K+H Columbus Challenger 2020, Ohio, USA

[R1] (9) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,179) bye

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (4) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Nathaniel Lammons (USA)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Alexander Cozbinov (MDA)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)

Ram is playing in the Columbus Challenger and he is the 9th seed ... In the doubles, he is partnering VSP and they r facing the 4th seed Huey and Lammons ... Bala and Jeevan r facing Istomin and Cozbinov.

Table Tennis News

At $170K ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open 2020, Budapest, Hungary

Men's Doubles Final
Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) l (2) Benedikt Duda (GER)/ Patrick Franziska (GER) 1-3 (5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11)

Sathiyan and Sharath ended with silver, but they became a first Indian pair to reach the final of such big ITTF World Tour tournament ... After losing the first game easily our pair gave a fighting performance and stretched the 2nd seed German pair ... Our pair tried to fight back but the German pair used their experience to complete win in 4 games.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020, Bhubaneswar, India

India bt Australia 2-2 (HT 2-1) (3-1 shoot-out)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 25' PC, Harmanpreet Singh (IND) 27' PC and Trent Mitton (AUS) 23', Aran Zalewski (AUS) 46'

A good win for us in the shoot-out against a strong Australian team ... Sreejesh was a hero of the match, he conceded 2 penalty strokes in the shoot-out but saved 3 shots also ... We played a lot better hockey than yesterday, though we were making a lot of defensive errors ... We conceded 9 penalty corners but Aussie players failed to convert, on other hands we scored 2 goals from 4 penalty corners ... In this match, we played the pressing game and managed to keep the pressure on the Aussie team ... After conceding the goal we scored 2 goals in 2 minutes from 2 penalty corners to lead at the half-time ... Tim Brand missed a penalty stroke in an early 3rd quarter but the Aussie team equalized on the 1st minute of the 4th quarter ... After that, both teams tried to score, we conceded a penalty corner in the final seconds but managed to save it to end match 2-all ... Again we showed mastery in the shoot-out to earn a bonus point from this match.

Badminton News

At $170K Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, Spain (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300)

[SF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) l Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA,32) 20-22 12-21

Ajay matched Vitidsarn in the first game but after that Vitidsarn didn't give much chance to him.

Tennis News

At $2.95M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R1] (WC) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,125) vs Qualifier

Doubles
[Q1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) bt (WC) Lukas Rosol (CZE)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB) 64 75

[F-Q] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs (1) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

[R1] (WC) Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (2) Ivan Dodig(CRO)/ Filip Polasek (SVK)

Prajnesh has received a wildcard for the singles main-draw and he is facing a qualifier in the first round ... Lee also has received the doubles main-draw wildcard with Matthew Ebden ... They r having a tough match against the 2nd seed Dodig and Polasek.

Rohan is playing in the doubles qualifying with his Spanish partner Pablo Carreno Busta ... They started with a straight-sets win over Troicki and Rosol ... In the final qualifying, they r facing a tough match against the in-form pairing of Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2020, Jodhpur, India

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) bt (4) Nudnida Luangnam (THA,347) 63 62

[F] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) vs (7) Berfu Cengiz (TUR,451)

Doubles Final
(1) Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Miyabi Inoue (JPN) bt (4) Snehal Mane (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) 46 64 10-8

Ankita is in the final with a comfortable win over her Thai opponent, Luangnam ... In the final, Ankita is facing the 7th seed Turkish girl, Berfu Cengiz.

Ankita missed a chance of double crown but she really helped a young Snehal Mane to earn a load of points to push her doubles ranking ... Ankita and Snehal lost the final against Rutuja and her Japanese partner Inoue after winning the first set.

Table Tennis News

At $170K ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open 2020, Budapest, Hungary

Women's Singles
[R16] Manika Batra (IND,67) l (4) Miu Hirano (JPN,11) 0-4 (9-11, 1-11, 7-11, 7-11)

Men's Singles
[R16] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,30) l (1) Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN,5) 0-4 (8-11, 5-11, 4-11, 8-11)

Men's Doubles
[PR2] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) bt Ibrahim Gunduz (TUR)/ Abdullah Yigenler (TUR) 3-1 (9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4)

[R16] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) bt Shunsuke Togami (JPN)/ Yukiya Uda (JPN) 3-2 (11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11 11-9)
[QF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) bt (4) Nandor Ecseki (HUN)/ Adam Szudi (HUN) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-8)
[SF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) bt (1) Kwan Kit Ho (HKG)/ Chun Ting Wong (HKG) 3-2 (11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 4-11, 11-9)

[F] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) vs (2) Benedikt Duda (GER)/ Patrick Franziska (GER)

Mixed Doubles
[PR2] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/ Manika Batra (IND) bt Aliaksandr Khanin (BLR)/ Daria Trigolos (BLR) 3-1 (11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11)

[R16] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/ Manika Batra (IND) bt Adam Szudi (HUN)/ Szandra Pergel (HUN) 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7)
[QF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/ Manika Batra (IND) bt Jun Mizutani (JPN)/ Mima Ito (JPN) w/o

[SF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/ Manika Batra (IND) l Patrick Franziska (GER)/ Petrissa Solja (GER) 0-3 (6-11, 8-11, 6-11)

Expected losses of Manika and Sathiyan in the singles against their respective superior Japanese opponents.

In the doubles, Sathiyan and Sharath reach into the final ... They scored a couple of exciting wins over higher ranked Japanese and Hong Kong pairs ... In the final, they r facing a German pair.

In MXD, Sharat and Manika lost in the semis against the German pair ... Before that, they received a walkover in the quarters from a higher-ranked Japanese pair.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020, Bhubaneswar, India

India l Australia 3-4 (HT 0-2)
Goal Scorers - Raj Kumar Pal (IND) 36' PC and 42', Rupinder Pal Singh (IND) 52' PC and Dylan Wotherspoon (AUS) 6', Tom Wickham (AUS) 18', Lachlan Sharp (AUS) 41', Jacob Anderson (AUS) 42'

After struggling in the first 3 quarters we managed to play our game in the final quarters ... We scored 2 goals and Rupinder missed a chance in the final minute to equalize so we lost by a goal ... In the first 3 quarters, Australians were in control and was dictating the game ... In the 4th quarter, our team played a more organize game and were putting pressure on the Aussie team ... For tomorrow's match, we need to play good hockey in all quarters and show improvement in the defense.

Badminton News

At $170K Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, Spain (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300)

[QF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) bt Thomas Rouxel (FRA,62) 21-14 21-15
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) l Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA,32) 21-17 17-21 12-21

[QF] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,18) l (3) Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA,15) 20-22 19-21

[SF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA,32)

Ajay is in the semis with a comfortable win over Frenchman Rouxel ... Next, he is facing a young Thai challenge of Vitidsarn, who defeated Sameer after losing the first game.
Saina lost in two tight games against Busanan Ongbamrungphan ... Saina missed a game point in the first game.

Tennis News

At $673K Delray Beach Open 2020, U.S.A.

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) l (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 62 46 3-10

Divij and Artem lost in the quarters against Bryans ... After losing the first set they tried to fight back and won the second set ... But our pair failed to cope with Bryans in the match tie-break.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2020, Jodhpur, India

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) bt (6) Riya Bhatia (IND,349) 61 61
[QF] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,458) l (4) Nudnida Luangnam (THA,347) 67(4) 67(1)

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) vs (4) Nudnida Luangnam (THA,347)

Ankita scored a dominating win over Riya for entering into the semis ... Next, she is facing a Thai challenge of Luangnam ...Rutuja gave a fighting performance against Luangnam before losing in the two tie-breaks.

Table Tennis News

At $170K ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open 2020, Budapest, Hungary

Women's Singles
[PR1] Manika Batra (IND,67) bt Margo Degraef (BEL,156) 4-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9)
[PR2] Manika Batra (IND,67) bt Jamila Laurenti (ITA,196) 4-1 (9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4)
[PR3] Manika Batra (IND,67) bt Aikaterini Toliou (GRE,180) 4-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7)

[R32] Manika Batra (IND,67) bt Szu-Yu Chen (TPE,26) 4-3 (9-11, 4-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7, 14-12)

[R16] Manika Batra (IND,67) vs (4) Miu Hirano (JPN,11)

Men's Singles
[R32] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,30) bt Noshad Alamiyan (IRI,61) 4-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2)

[R16] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,30) vs (1) Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN,5)

Our players r playing in the Hungarian Open to qualify for Tokyo Olympics ... Manika Batra produced the biggest win of her career when she defeated the top-30 Taipei player, Szu-Yu Chen ... She was facing a defeat after losing the first 3 games and faced a match-point ... From here, she made a remarkable comeback in the match ... She saved a match point and won the next 3 games ... And completed win after a closely fought final game ... Next, she is facing the WR #11 Miu Hirano.

Sathiyan also started with a comfortable win over his Iranian opponent, Noshad Alamiyan ... Next, Sathiyan is having a real tough match against the WR #5 Tomokazu Harimoto.

Tennis News

At €46.6K+H Koblenz Challenger 2020, Germany

[R3] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) l (2) Yannick Hanfmann (GER,149) 57 46

Another commendable performance by Mukund against a top-150 Yannick Hanfmann in his 2 sets loss.

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At €46.6K+H Bergamo Challenger 2020, Italy

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) l Zdenek Kolar (CZE)/ Julian Ocleppo (ITA) 36 57

A disappointing loss of Purav and Adil against Ocleppo and Kolar in straight sets.

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At $54K+H Morelos Open Credito Real 2020, Mexico

[QF] Harry Bourchier (AUS)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l (1) Luke Saville (AUS)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 36 46

The top-seed Aussie pair defeated Ram and Harry in straight sets.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2020, Jodhpur, India

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) bt Sakura Hondo (JPN,562) 62 63
[R2] (6) Riya Bhatia (IND,349) bt (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,937) 64 67(3) 64
[R2] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,458) bt Anchisa Chanta (THA,731) 64 61
[R2] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,626) l Miyabi Inoue (JPN,592) 36 16
[R2] Sathwika Sama (IND,892) l (2) Jodie Anna Burrage (GBR,306) 06 57

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) vs (6) Riya Bhatia (IND,349)
[QF] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,458) vs (4) Nudnida Luangnam (THA,347)

The results were as per their rankings, so our 3 seeded players r in the quarters ... Ankita is facing Riya and Rutuja having a tough match against Luangnam.

Badminton News

At $170K Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, Spain (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300)

[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) bt Kai Schaefer (GER,77) 21-14 16-21 21-15
[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) bt (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,12) 21-6 21-17

[R2] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,18) bt Maria Ulitina (UKR,101) 21-10 21-19

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (3) Gabriela Stoeva (BUL)/ Stefani Stoeva (BUL) 18-21 14-21

[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (1) Soon Huat Goh (MAS)/ Shevon Jemie Lai (MAS) 16-21 21-17 11-21

[QF] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) vs Thomas Rouxel (FRA,62)
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA,32)

[QF] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,18) vs (3) Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA,15)

Ajay scored a thumping win over Srikanth for entering into the quarters ... He is facing a similar ranked Frenchman Rouxel.
Sameer also joins him with 3 games win over his German opponent ... Next, he is facing a former junior World Champion Vitidsarn.
Saina scored straight games win over Ulitina ... Next, she is facing a Thai girl, Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Pranaav and Sikki gave a fighting performance against their top-seed Malaysian opponents in 3 games loss ... Stoeva sisters proved a better pair on the court than Ashwini and Sikki.

Tennis News

At $2.6M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R2] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (5) Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Saisai Zheng (CHN) 46 26

Krejcikova and Zheng proved a better pair on the court as they convincingly defeated Sania and Caroline.

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At €770K Open 13 Provence 2020, Marseille, France

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) l Frederik Nielsen (DEN)/ Tim Puetz (GER) 57 76(3) 8-10

A very close loss for Rohan and Shapo against Puetz and Nielsen ... After losing the first set they tried fightback but lost in the match tie-break.

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At $673K Delray Beach Open 2020, U.S.A.

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) bt Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA) 57 64 10-7

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) vs (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA)

Divij and Artem needed comeback for a win over Goransson and Humbert ... Next, they r facing Bryans.

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At $54K+H Morelos Open Credito Real 2020, Mexico

[R2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,174) l Guilherme Clezar (BRA,297) 67(5) 64 46

Doubles
[R1] Harry Bourchier (AUS)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) Guilherme Clezar (BRA)/ Manuel Sanchez (MEX) 57 64 10-0

Ram's struggle in the singles continues ... Another disappointing loss for Ram against the top-300 Brazilian, Guilherme Clezar.

In the doubles, Ram and Harry scored a comeback win over Clezar and Sanchez.

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At €46.6K+H Koblenz Challenger 2020, Germany

[R2] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) bt (15) Lucas Miedler (AUT,280) 76(1) 64

[R3] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) vs (2) Yannick Hanfmann (GER,149)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) 67(6) 64 6-10

Mukund continues with his good form and scored a straight-sets win over a similar ranked Miedler ... Next, he is having a tough match against the top-150 local player, Yannick Hanfmann.

But Bala and Jeevan lost their first-round match against the 3rd seed Begemann and Mergea.

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At €46.6K+H Bergamo Challenger 2020, Italy

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) bt Nino Serdarusic (CRO)/ Chun-hsin Tseng (TPE) 64 36 10-3

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) vs Zdenek Kolar (CZE)/ Julian Ocleppo (ITA)

Purav and Adil r in the quarters with the match tie-break win over Tseng and Serdarusic ... Next, they r facing Ocleppo and Kolar.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2020, Jodhpur, India

[R1] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) bt Bojana Marinkovic (SRB,809) 75 61
[R1] (Q) Nidhi Chilumula (IND,UNR) l Sakura Hondo (JPN,562) 57 06
[R1] (6) Riya Bhatia (IND,349) bt Jennifer Luikham (IND,906) 64 76(4)
[R1] (Q) Humera Begum Shaik (IND,UNR) l Michika Ozeki (JPN,516) 57 26
[R1] (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,937) bt (WC) Nikola Breckova (CZE,944) 75 63
[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,626) bt (5) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,373) 63 64
[R1] Zeel Desai (IND,675) l Miyabi Inoue (JPN,592) 63 57 26
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,587) l (7) Berfu Cengiz (TUR,451) 63 36 26
[R1] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,458) bt (Q) Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy (IND,1282) 63 62
[R1] Sathwika Sama (IND,892) bt (Q) Saumya Vig (IND,1282) 63 64
[R1] (Q) Soha Sadiq (IND,UNR) l (2) Jodie Anna Burrage (GBR,306) 16 26

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,176) vs Sakura Hondo (JPN,562)
[R2] (6) Riya Bhatia (IND,349) vs (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,937)
[R2] (8) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,458) vs Anchisa Chanta (THA,731)
[R2] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,626) vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN,592)
[R2] Sathwika Sama (IND,892) vs (2) Jodie Anna Burrage (GBR,306)

I was hoping for a better outing for Karman as she lost in 3 sets ... A good upset win by Sowjanya Bavisetti against the 5th seed Ukrainian.

Badminton News

At $170K Barcelona Spain Masters 2020, Spain (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300)

[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,27) l Daren Liew (MAS,42) 18-21 15-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,25) l Ygor Coelho (BRA,48) 21-9 18-21 12-14 retd.
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,68) bt Christo Popov (RUS,80) 21-14 21-12
[R1] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,12) bt Subhankar Dey (IND,45) 23-21 21-18
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,30) bt Lucas Claerbout (FRA,79) 21-12 21-9

[R1] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,18) bt Yvonne Li (GER,42) 21-16 21-14

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ Krishna Prasad Garaga (IND) l Ben Lane (ENG)/ Sean Vendy (ENG) 21-19 16-21 7-21

[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Lu Chen (CHN)/ Ya Xu (CHN) w/o

[R1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) bt Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Alexandra Bøje (DEN) 10-21 21-16 21-17

[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,30) vs Kai Schaefer (GER,77)
[R2] (3) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,12) vs Ajay Jayaram (IND,68)

[R2] (5) Saina Nehwal (IND,18) vs Maria Ulitina (UKR,101)

[R2] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (3) Gabriela Stoeva (BUL)/ Stefani Stoeva (BUL)

[R2] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs (1) Soon Huat Goh (MAS)/ Shevon Jemie Lai (MAS)

Sania started with straight games win over her German opponent ... Saina is facing Ukrainian Maria Ulitina ... In their last meeting in the Rio Olympics group stage, she defeated Saina in straight games.
Srikanth had a favorable draw ... In the first round, he defeated Shubhankar in 2 tight games ... Next, he is facing another Indian, Ajay Jayaram, who scored a comfortable win over against his Russian opponent ... But Prannoy lost in straight games and Sania's beau Kashyap retired in the third game.
Sameer scored a comfortable win over a Frenchman Claerbout ... Next, he is facing a German challenge.

In the doubles, Ashwini and Sikki received a walkover by their Chinese opponents ... Next, they r facing the 3rd seed Stoeva sisters.

In MXD, Pranaav and Sikki scored a hard-fought comeback win over a similar ranked Danish pair ... Next, they r facing the top-seed Malaysian pair.

Tennis News

At $2.6M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R1] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 64 46 10-8

[R2] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (5) Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/ Saisai Zheng (CHN)

Sania and Garcia started with the match tie-break win over Srebotnik and Kudryavtseva ... In the second round, they r facing the 5th seed Zheng and Krejcikova.

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At €770K Open 13 Provence 2020, Marseille, France

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Jannik Sinner (ITA) 67(6) 63 10-6

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Frederik Nielsen (DEN)/ Tim Puetz (GER)

Rohan and Shapo needed a comeback after losing the first set ... But they controlled the match from the second set for a win ... In the quarters, they r facing Puetz and Nielsen.

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At €46.6K+H Koblenz Challenger 2020, Germany

[R1] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) bt Filip Cristian Jianu (ROU,410) 63 62

[R2] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) vs (15) Lucas Miedler (AUT,280)

Mukund stared a comfortable win over a teenager Jianu ... In the second round, he is facing an Austrian Miedler.

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Tennis News

At $2.6M Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships 2020, UAE

[R1] (WC) Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

An early comeback for Sania ... She has received a wild-card with her French partner, Caroline Garcia and they r facing Srebotnik and Kudryavtseva.

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At €770K Open 13 Provence 2020, Marseille, France

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Jannik Sinner (ITA)

Rohan and Shapo playing in the Open 13 Provence tournament ... They r facing an Italian pairing of Sinner and Bolelli.

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At $673K Delray Beach Open 2020, U.S.A.

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) vs Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Ugo Humbert (FRA)

Divij and Artem r playing in the Delray Beach Open and they r facing Humbert and Goransson.

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At $54K+H Morelos Open Credito Real 2020, Mexico

[R1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,174) bye

Doubles
[R1] Harry Bourchier (AUS)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (WC) Guilherme Clezar (BRA)/ Manuel Sanchez (MEX)

Our 'globetrotter' Ram is playing in the Mexican challenger ... He is the 4th seed in the singles, and in the doubles, he is playing with his Aussie partner, Harry Bourchier ... They r facing a wild-card pairing of Guilherme Clezar and Manuel Sanchez.

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At €46.6K+H Koblenz Challenger 2020, Germany

[Q1] (1) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) bt Ergi Kirkin (TUR,539) 46 64 63

[R1] (Q) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,282) vs Filip Cristian Jianu (ROU,410)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Florin Mergea (ROU)

Mukund started slowly but after losing the first set he managed to win his match ... In the first round, he is facing a former junior top-5 Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu.

In the doubles, Jeevan and Bala r facing the third-seed Begemann and Mergea.

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At €46.6K+H Bergamo Challenger 2020, Italy

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) vs Nino Serdarusic (CRO)/ Chun-hsin Tseng (TPE)

Purav is back with Adil and they r the top-seed ... They r facing Tseng and Serdarusic.

Badminton News

At Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020, Manila, Philippines

Semi-Finals
India l Indonesia 2-3

[S1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,11) l Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA,5) 6-21 retd.
[S2] Lakshya Sen (IND,31) bt Jonatan Christie (INA,7) 21-18 22-20
[D2] Arjun M.R. (IND)/ Dhruv Kapila (IND) l Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA) 10-21 21-14 21-23
[S3] Subhankar Dey (IND,47) bt Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (INA,20) 21-17 21-15
[D1] Lakshya Sen (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 6-21 13-21

It was a very tough match for us against the last 2 times winner, Indonesian team ... But Lakshya and Shubhankar made a match out of it beating higher-ranked opponents … We missed the presence of Satwik, but very valuable experience to our young team… We have won a Bronze medal for reaching in the semis.

In the first rubber, Sai retired after losing the first game due to injury … Lakshya produced an amazing performance to produce the biggest win of his career … He defeated a WR #7 Jonathan Christie in tight 2 games to make it 1 match-all … Our new pair, Arjun and Dhruv, played a match in their life … They were so close to beat the WR #2 pair, after losing the first game our pair made a strong comeback in the match and won the second game … From 17-20 down they saved 4 match points before failing to save the 5th match point … Really good performance by our #125 ranked pair … Shubhankar took this match to the 5th rubber with a superb straight-games win over a WR #20 Shesar Hiren Rhustavito … But in the final rubber, the WR #1 Indonesian pair scored a dominating win over a scratch pairing of Chirag and Lakshya and helped the Indonesian team to reach the final.

Tennis News

At €2.1M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament 2020, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) l (Q) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 75 26 8-10

Rohan and Shapo lost in the match tie-break after winning the first set against Kontinen and Struff.

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At $162.5K Bengaluru Challenger 2020, Karnataka, India

Doubles Final
(4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) 60 63

Purav and Ram's terrific form continues as they won their 3rd challenger title in 3 challengers they participated ... They didn't give a chance to the pairing of Lee and Ebden in this match.

Hockey News

At the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2019,

Men's FIH Player of the Year 2019: Manpreet Singh (IND)
T2019 FIH Men's Rising Star of the Year: Vivek Prasad (IND)
2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year: Lalremsiami (IND)

What a 2019 year for Indian hockey as we won 3 prestigious awards for the first time in the declared FIH Stars Awards 2019.

India’s Manpreet Singh becomes the first Indian player to win the Best Player award since the awards were instigated in 1999 ... Manpreet won the award ahead of Belgium’s Arthur van Doren and Lucas Vila of Argentina, who finished second and third respectively.
The 2019 FIH Men’s Rising Star of the Year declared to a 19-year-old Vivek Prasad of India ... Vivek won the award ahead of Argentina’s Maico Casella and Blake Govers of Australia, who finished second and third respectively.
India’s Lalremsiami has been named as the 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year ... The 19-year-old attacker took the prize ahead of Argentina’s Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands, who finished second and third respectively.

Tennis News

At €2.1M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament 2020, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs (Q) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

Rohan and Shapo will be facing a qualifier pairing of Kontinen and Struff.

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At $252K GSB Thailand Open 2020, Hua Hin, Thailand

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) l Arina Rodionova (AUS)/ Storm Sanders (AUS) 16 0-3 retd.

Ankita and Van Der Hoek terrific run ended in the semis ... After losing the first set and was break-down 0-3, Ankita and Van Der Hoek retired from the match.

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At $162.5K Bengaluru Challenger 2020, Karnataka, India

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 75 retd.
[SF] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 64 36 10-7

Lee and Ebden's dream run continues as they r in the final ... They defeated in-form pairing of Erlich and Vasilevski in the match tie-break ... They r facing Purav and Ram in the final, who won their match after Saki and his partner retired after losing the first set.

Badminton News

At Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020, Manila, Philippines

Quarter-Finals
India bt Thailand 3-2

[S1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,11) l Kantaphon Wangcharoen (THA,12) 14-21 21-14 12-21
[S2] Kidambi Srikanth (IND,15) l Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA,35) 20-22 14-21
[D2] Arjun M.R. (IND)/ Dhruv Kapila (IND) bt Kittinupong Kedren (THA)/ Tanupat Viriyangkura (THA) 21-18 22-20
[S3] Lakshya Sen (IND,31) bt Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,45) 21-19 21-18
[D1] Kidambi Srikanth (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Maneepong Jongjit (THA)/ Nipitphon Phuangphuapet (THA) 21-15 16-21 21-15

An excellent comeback win by Indians against their Thai opponents ... After losing the first 2 matches of Sai and Srikanth in their singles matches, we were under pressure ... But Arjun and Dhruv won their doubles match to give Indians their first point ... A young Lakshya made it 2-all with a close straight games win over Avihingsanon ... In the decider, our coach took a gamble and introduced the first-time pairing of Chirag and Srikanth ... They defeated a Thai pair in three games for a memorable win for the Indian team ... In the semis, we are facing the top-seed Indonesian team.

Tennis News

At €2.1M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament 2020, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt (4) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 62 36 10-7

Rohan and Shapo in the semis with a match tie-break win over the 4th seed Rojer and Tecau.

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At $804K New York Open 2020, U.S.A.

[QF] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) l Steve Johnson (USA)/ Reilly Opelka (USA) 36 46

Divij and Artem again failed to build on their excellent upset win over the top-seed pair ... They lost in straight sets against Opelka and Johnson.

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At $252K GSB Thailand Open 2020, Hua Hin, Thailand

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) bt Fang Ying Xun (CHN)/ Saisai Zheng (CHN) 76(5) 64

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) vs (4) Arina Rodionova (AUS)/ Storm Sanders (AUS)

Ankita and Van Der Hoek in the semis with a straight-sets win over a Chinese pair ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Aussie pair.

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At $162.5K Bengaluru Challenger 2020, Karnataka, India

[R3] (17) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) l (13) Ilya Ivashka (BLR,148) 67(2) 16
[R3] Sidharth Rawat (IND,479) l Julian Ocleppo (ITA,391) 57 46
[R3] Saketh Myneni (IND,406) l (9) Thomas Fabbiano (ITA,133) 46 75 26
[R3] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,122) l Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,368) 67(5) 06
[R3] (WC) Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,1105) l (3) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,82) 57 36
[R3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,125) l (11) Blaz Rola (SLO,149) 36 36

Doubles
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Matt Reid (AUS) bt (1) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 36 64 10-8
[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR)/ Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 64 64
[QF] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (3) Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) 75 06 10-7

[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Matt Reid (AUS)
[SF] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

A terrible terrible terrible day for Indian players ... Our all players lost their singles matches ... Shocking losses of Prajnesh and Sumit against respective lower-ranked opponents.

In the doubles, our all players win their respective quarter-finals ... Saki and Matt scored a comeback win over the first seed Molchanov and Hsieh ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Purav and Ram, who scored a straight-sets win over Ferreira Silva and Milojevic ... Lee and Ebden scored an excellent win over the 3rd seed Goransson and Rungkat ... Next, they r facing the 2nd seed Erlich and Vasilevski.

Badminton News

At Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020, Manila, Philippines

Group B
India l Malaysia 1-4

[S1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,11) l Zii Jia Lee (MAS,14) 18-21 15-21
[D1] Arjun M.R. (IND)/ Dhruv Kapila (IND) l Aaron Chia (MAS)/ Wooi Yik Soh (MAS) 18-21 15-21
[S2] Kidambi Srikanth (IND,15) bt June Wei Cheam (MAS,72) 14-21 21-16 21-19
[D2] Dhruv Kapila (IND)/ Lakshya Sen (IND) l Yew Sin Ong (MAS)/ Ee Yi Teo (MAS) 14-21 14-21
[S3] Prannoy H. S. (IND,27) l Jun Hao Leong (MAS,179) 10-21 15-21

Some poor results for us against Malaysia in the loss ... Our 2 higher ranked singles players lost against their lower-ranked Malaysian opponents in straight games.

Tennis News

At $162.5K Bengaluru Challenger 2020, Karnataka, India

[R2] (17) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) bt (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1097) 61 63
[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,479) bt (LL) Rishi Reddy (IND,UNR) 62 62
[R2] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,122) bt (Alt) Sebastian Fanselow (GER,609) 62 46 64

[R3] (17) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) vs (13) Ilya Ivashka (BLR,148)
[R3] Sidharth Rawat (IND,479) vs Julian Ocleppo (ITA,391)
[R3] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,122) vs Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,368)

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Matt Reid (AUS) bt (WC) Nikshep Ballekere Ravikumar (IND)/ Vasisht Cheruku (IND) 63 61
[R1] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Blaz Rola (SLO)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 76(2) 64
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) l (3) Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) 36 46

[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Matt Reid (AUS) vs (1) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR)
[QF] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Andre Goransson (SWE)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA)

Expected comfortable wins for Ram and Sid against Abhinav and Rishi ... Prajnesh stretched to 3 sets by Fanselow ... Next, Ram is facing Ivashka, Prajnesh is facing Bonzi and Sid is facing Ocleppo.

In the doubles, Lee and Ebden started with a straight-sets win over Rola and Zhang ... Next, they r facing in-form pairing of Rungkat and Goransson, who defeated Prajnesh and Sumit comfortably ... Saki and Reid also in the quarters, they r facing the top-seed Hsieh and Molchanov.

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At $252K GSB Thailand Open 2020, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) bt Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/ Xiaodi You (CHN) 64 64

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Rosalie Van Der Hoek (NED) vs Fang Ying Xun (CHN)/ Saisai Zheng (CHN)

Ankita started with a win with Van Der Hoek against Krawczyk and You ... In the quarters, they r facing a Chinese pair.

Tennis News

At €2.1M ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament 2020, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt John Peers (AUS)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 76(0) 67(5) 10-8

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs (4) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

A tight hard-fought win for Rohan and Shapo in the match tie-break ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Rojer and Tecau.

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At $252K GSB Thailand Open 2020, Hua Hin, Thailand

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,198) l Katarzyna Kawa (POL,127) 63 06 16

Kawa dominated the last 2 sets as Ankita managed to win a single game, but before that Ankita managed to win the first set ... I hope, not any injury issue as she lost last 10 games in a row.

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At $162.5K Bengaluru Challenger 2020, Karnataka, India

[R1] (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1097) bt Daniel Masur (GER,253) 75 63
[R1] (Alt) Manish Sureshkumar (IND,664) l Benjamin Bonzi (FRA,368) 26 36
[R1] (Q) Julian Ocleppo (ITA,391) l (Q) Anirudh Chandrasekhar (IND,1057) 16 26

[R2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,263) l (13) Ilya Ivashka (BLR,148) 57 36
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,406) bt (6) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,111) 63 63
[R2] (WC) Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,1105) bt (16) Lukas Rosol (CZE,168) 64 26 63
[R2] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,125) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN,242) 60 64
[R2] (17) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,182) vs (Q) Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND,1097)
[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,479) vs (LL) Rishi Reddy (IND,UNR)
[R2] (7) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,122) vs (Alt) Sebastian Fanselow (GER,609)

[R3] Saketh Myneni (IND,406) vs (9) Thomas Fabbiano (ITA,133)
[R3] (WC) Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,1105) vs (3) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,82)
[R3] (8) Sumit Nagal (IND,125) vs (11) Blaz Rola (SLO,149)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (1) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Denys Molchanov (UKR) 36 67(6)
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) SD Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Adil Kalyanpur (IND) 62 62
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR)/ Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 76(1) 57 8-10

[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR)/ Nikola Milojevic (SRB)

Excellent performances from Indians continue in this challenger ... Niki produced the biggest upset beating a former top-30 Lukas Rosol in 3 sets ... Next, he is facing the top-90 Japanese, Yuichi Sugita ... Saki also continues with his terrific performance and defeated Evgeny Donskoy comfortably ... He was down 1-3 in the first set and from that, he won 11 games from the next 15 games ... Next, he is facing an Italian Thomas Fabbiano ... Sumit also in the third round with a straight-sets win ... Next, he is facing a Slovanian Blaz Rola ... Another surprising winner was Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam, who defeated a German Daniel Masur in straight sets ... In the second round, he is facing Ram.

In the doubles, expected winning start for Purav and Ram ... But a very close loss of Jeevan and Bala in the match tie-break ... Vishnu and VSP also lost against the top-seed pair.