Tennis News

At $100K+H Bangalore Challenger 2017, Karnataka, India

[QF] Sumit Nagal (IND,321) bt (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102) 63 64
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) 75 62

[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) vs Sumit Nagal (IND,321)

Doubles
[SF] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 64 46 10-8

[F] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Ivan Sabanov (CRO)/ Matej Sabanov (CRO)

Expected the straight sets win for Yuki against Prajnesh ... In the first set, both players hold their respective service games until 10th game ... Yuki took a crucial break in the 11th game and while serving for the set, Yuki saved a couple of break point before winning it ... In the second set, Yuki took 4-1 lead with double break and kept that advantage for easy win.

Sumit joined Yuki in the semis and guaranteed Indian finalist ... He defeated top-seed Blaz Kavcic in the straight sets ... In the first set, Sumit broke Kavcic in the 4th game to lead 4-1 ... Sumit kept one break advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, Sumit started with a breaking Kacic's serve but in the next game, Kavcic broke Sumit for 1-all ... Sumit again broke him in the 3rd game, 3-1, and then hold his service games for completing victory ... Superb win, which will help him to re-enter into top-300.

Divij with Elgin scored win in the match tie-break against Vishnu and Balaji ... In the final, they r facing Sabanov twins.

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At $115K L and T Mumbai Open 2017, Maharashtra, India

[R2] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,281) bt Peangtam Plipuech (THA,245) 62 62

[QF] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,281) vs Amandine Hesse (FRA,256)

Doubles
[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) l (2) Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Irina Khromacheva (RUS) 46 26

Ankita scored very convincing win over Plipuech ... Ankita played attacking game in this match ... In the first set, she broke Plipuech in the 6th and the 8th games for winning it comfortably ... In the second set, Ankita broke Plipuech in the 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... She again broke Plipuech in the 6th game to lead 5-1 but lost her serve in the next game ... Ankita again broke Plipuech in the 8th game when she was serving for staying in the match and completed victory ... In the quarters, Ankita will face French girl, Amandine Hesse.

Young Pranjala and Karman lost in the straight sets against experienced 2nd seed pair.

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2017, Kowloon (World Superseries)

[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,10) l Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,23) 21-11 10-21 15-21

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) l (8) Yufei Chen (CHN,8) 21-18 19-21 10-21
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) bt Aya Ohori (JPN,13) 21-14 21-17

[QF] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (5) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,2)

Comfortable win for Sindhu against Japanese top-15 player, Aya Ohori ... Next, she will face new WR #2 Japanese player, Akane Yamaguchi.

Another loss for Prannoy against Sakai after winning the first game ... With this loss, Prannoys chances of qualifying for Dubai Final got over.

Saina also lost in three games after winning the first game against Yufei Chen ... After winning the first game Saina lost closely fought the second but in the third, Chen dominated her.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Bangalore Challenger 2017, Karnataka, India

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,321) bt Brydan Klein (GBR,282) 64 46 75
[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) bt Marc Polmans (AUS,322) 62 67(1) 61
[R2] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) bt Pedro Martinez (ESP,258) 62 76(0)
[R2] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) l Jay Clarke (GBR,279) 76(3) 26 46

[QF] Sumit Nagal (IND,321) vs (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102)
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) vs Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE) 63 63
[QF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 63 63

[SF] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND)

Prajnesh is in the quarters with a good win over young Polmans ... After comfortably winning the first set Prajnesh had an opportunity for completing win in the two sets ... He broke Polmans in 11th game but failed to hold while serving for the set ... Polmans won the tie-break comfortably ... Prajnesh recovered, he broke Polmans in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... Prajnesh again broke him in 6th game and then hold to complete the victory.

Sumit also joined Prajnesh in the quarters of this big challenger with topsy-turvy win ... After exchanging an early breaks Sumit took crucial break for winning the first set ... In the second set, Sumit was 4-2 up and moving towards a win, but he lost next four games and lost the set ... In the third set also, he was up 4-2 and had a couple of break points on Brydan's serve in the 7th game ... Sumit failed to break and Brydan broke him in 8th game for 4-all ... Sumit took a crucial break in 11th game and this time he hold after saving a break point for a win after almost 3 hours ... In the quarters, Sumit will be facing top-seed Kavcic.

Yuki entered into the quarters with the straight sets win over Spaniard ... After winning the first set comfortably Yuki faced resistant from Martinez in the second ... Martinez broke him in 8th game for 3-5 lead but Yuki broke him immediately when Martinez was serving for the set ... Yuki played near perfect the tie-break and book his match with Prajnesh.

In the first set, RamK and Jay failed to create a break point opportunity on other's serve but RamK dominated the tie-break for winning it comfortably ... In the second set, RamK struggled with his service games and Jay took advantage of it ... He broke RamK twice for winning it comfortably ... In the third set, RamK missed five break point chances on Jay's serve but Jay with a single break advantage completed the victory.

In the doubles, top-seed Divij-Elgin scored the straight sets victory over Sumit-Ymer ... Vishnu-Bala also scored a win with similar scoreline against Prajnesh-RamK ... Next, they r facing top-seed Divij-Elgin.

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At $115K L and T Mumbai Open 2017, Maharashtra, India

[R1] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,281) bt Veronika Kudermetova (RUS,255) 76(2) 63

[R2] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,281) vs Peangtam Plipuech (THA,245)

Ankita gave much needed win for Indians in the singles ... Ankita started positively and broke Kudermetova in 2nd and 4th game for 4-0 lead ... Kudermetova broke Ankita in 5th game but Ankita immediately broke her in the next, 5-1 ... From here, Ankita lost four games in a row, 5-all ... Ankita recovered to win the tie-break comfortably ... In the second set also, Ankita kept pressure on her serve and broke her three times for winning it ... Next, she will be facing Thai girl, Plipuech.

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2017, Kowloon (World Superseries)

[R1] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,47) l Dong Keun Lee (KOR,52) 21-15 9-21 20-22
[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,58) l Tommy Sugiarto (INA,27) 15-21 9-21
[R1] Prannoy H.S. (IND,10) bt Yun Hu (HKG,24) 19-21 21-17 21-15
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,16) l (2) Wan Ho Son (KOR,3) 8-21 16-21

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) bt Mette Poulsen (DEN,44) 21-19 23-21
[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) bt (Q) Yuet Yee Leung (HKG,786) 21-18 21-10

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (Q) Khim Wah Lim (MAS)/ Yeon Seong Yoo (KOR) 17-21 17-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Dongping Huang (CHN)/ Wenmei Li (CHN) 11-21 21-19 19-21

[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,10) vs Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,25)

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs (8) Yufei Chen (CHN,9)
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) vs Aya Ohori (JPN,14)

Sindhu scored comfortable win over a local qualifier ... Saina won in the straight games, but Mette troubled her in both games ... In the second round, Saina will be facing Chinese girl, Yufei Chen and Sindhu will be facing Japanese Aya Ohori.

Prannoy scored a comeback win over a local player, Yun Hu ... After losing the first game Prannoy fought back for winning next two games ... Next, his opponent is Japanese Kazumasa Sakai, who have winning record against Prannoy, 0-2.

Kashyap lost to similar ranked Korean ... In the final game, Kashyap missed three match points before losing it ... Sourabh also lost in the straight games against Sugiarto ... Son proved too strong for Sai.
In the doubles, Ashwini-Sikki lost in the three games against their Chinese opponents ... Manu-Sumeeth lost in the straight games against Lim-Yoo.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Bangalore Challenger 2017, Karnataka, India

[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,509) l Mario Vilella Martinez (ESP,403) 36 36
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) bt N.Sriram Balaji (IND,355) 63 63
[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) bt Hugo Grenier (FRA,412) 46 64 63
[R1] (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND,1208) l (4) Elias Ymer (SWE,147) 46 67(2)
[R1] (LL) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,420) l (WC) Dalwinder Singh (IND,1015) 36 46

[R2] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) vs Pedro Martinez (ESP,258)
[R2] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Jay Clarke (GBR,279)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA)/ Jay Clarke (ENG) 57 64 10-5
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) 64 16 7-10

[QF] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE)

Saketh withdrew due to injury and Yuki took a medical time-out in his match .. So injury concrens for Indian players continue.

Yuki scored the straight sets win over Bala, though it wasn't straightforward ... RamK scored a comeback win over Frenchman ... After losing the first set RamK recovered for winning next two sets ... Next, Yuki faces Martinez and RamK faces Clarke.

Terrific fighting performance by Suraj against in-form Ymer in his loss ... Vishnu lost in the straight sets against Spanish opponent.

In the doubles, Divij-Elgin scored comeback win over Blancaneaux-Clarke ... Sumit-Ymer scored upset win over Jeevan-VSP.

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At $115K L and T Mumbai Open 2017, Maharashtra, India

[R1] (WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,604) l (Q) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR,270) 46 36

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Riya Bhatia (IND)/ Natasha Palha (IND) l (1) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO)/ Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 16 26
[R1] Hiroko Kuwata (JPN)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (4) Julia Glushko (ISR)/ Priscilla Hon (AUS) 26 36
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt Naiktha Bains (AUS)/ Fanny Stollar (HUN) 63 75

[QF] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs (2) Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Irina Khromacheva (RUS)

Rutuja gave spirited performance against top-300 Israeli opponent ... In the doubles, Karman-Pranjala gave a first win for Indians a they defeated Bains-Stollar after converting 10th match point ... But, Prarthana failed to take home court advantage.

Badminton News

At $400K Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2017, Kowloon (World Superseries)

[Q1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,47) bt Chao Yu Kan (TPE,293) 21-12 21-10
[Q1] (2) Arjun M.R. (IND)/ Ramchandran Shlok (IND) bt Kuen Hon Li (HKG)/ Shing Choi Yeung (HKG) 21-14 21-18
[Q1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Hafiz Faizal (INA)/ Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA) 18-21 11-21

[Q2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,47) bt Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG,50) 21-13 21-19
[Q2] (2) Arjun M.R. (IND)/ Ramchandran Shlok (IND) l Won Ho Kim (KOR)/ Seung Jae Seo (KOR) 19-21 17-21

[R1] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,47) vs Dong Keun Lee (KOR,52)

[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) vs (Q) Yuet Yee Leung (HKG,786)

Kashyap won the final qualifying in the straight games against a similar ranked opponent ... Next, he is facing similar ranked Korean and Sindhu is facing a lowly ranked local qualifier.

Before that, Surprising loss of Satwik and Ashiwini in the first qualifying round ... Kashyap and Arjun-Ramchandran easily moved into the final qualifying round.

Tennis News

At $100K+H Bangalore Challenger 2017, Karnataka, India

[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,321) bt (Q) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,588) 62 60
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran(IND,252) bt (6) Evan King (USA,197) 64 64
[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,524) l Jay Clarke (GBR,279) 36 36

[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,321) vs Brydan Klein (GBR,282)
[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) vs Marc Polmans (AUS,322)

Doubles
[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (ALT) Mario Vilella Martinez (ESP)/ Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 60 63
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) 62 62
[R1] (WC) Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) l Ivan Sabanov (CRO)/ Matej Sabanov (CRO) 76(3) 46 7-10
[R1] (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) l (2) Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Marc Polmans (AUS) 26 57

[QF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)

Prajnesh took revenge of his last week's loss and defeated King in the straight sets ... In the both sets, with a single break advantage he completed a win ... Prajnesh needs these points as Austalian open qualifying cut-off is near on 4th December.

Sumit demolished VSP inside an hour for a win ... Next, Sumit and Prajnesh r facing Klein and Polmans respectively.

Sid lost in the straight sets against superior Jay Clarke.

In the doubles, expected comfortable wins for our higher ranked doubles pair ... Bala-Vishnu scored comfortable win over their Spanish opponents ... RamK-Prajnesh also scored dominating win over Suraj and Nitin ... Next, RamK-Prajnesh r facing Vishnu-Bala ... Kunal-Anvit started well against Sabanov twins but failed to keep the momentum until end ... Sood twins gave fighting performance against 2nd seed pair.

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At $115K L&T Mumbai Open 2017, Maharashtra, India

[R1] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,790) l (7) Carol Zhao (CAN,150) 36 16
[R1] (WC) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,312) l Dalila Jakupovic (SLO,242) 26 46

Doubles
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) l Victoria Rodriguez (MEX)/ Bibiane Schoofs (NED) 46 36

Carol Zhao proved too strong to Zeel in her match ... Karman also failed to overcome the challenge of 'retriever' Jakupovic.

In the doubles also, our pair lost against Mexican-Dutch pair in the straight sets.

Golf News

At $2.5M CME Tour Championship 2017, Naples, Florida, USA (LPGA Tour 2017)

61 Aditi Ashok (IND) 71 75 75 72 +5 $5803.00

After the first round, Aditi struggled in the Tour Championship and finished below 60 in the final standing.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

Courtesy of Kamesh Srinivasan FB page

Singles Final
(3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) bt (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) 46 63 64

This was Yuki's 1st Challenger title of 2017 and overall the 6th Challenger title ... It was an interesting match between India's top 2 players, Yuki scored a comeback win over RamKafter losing the first set ... In the first set, after exchanging early breaks RamK took crucial break in the 10th game when Yuki was serving for staying in the set ... In the second set, RamK committed five double faults to get broken in the 3rd game ... Yuki again broke RamK when he served for staying in the set in the 9th game for winning this set ... RamK played much control game in the third set ... At 5-4 Yuki took a medical timeout and after restarting he completed a win breaking RamK in the 10th game.

In this match, RamK tried too many things on the court ... He tried to finish point as early as possible, and tried to serve big ... Trying that he made a lot of unforced errors and committed double faults ... Other hand, Yuki played his normal game ... He constructed points and was hitting some excellent passing shots ... A medical time out was worrying sign but hopefully, that was minor injury issue ... So hoping for another cracking final between these two in Banglore.

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At $75K Champaign Challenger 2017, Illinois, USA

Doubles Final
(1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 63 67(5) 10-5

Lee-Purav lifted their second Challenger title in two weeks ... They defeated Roelofse-Salisbury in the match tie-break ... These two titles will keep Lee and Purav around 60s in the ranking ... This was Lee's 5th challenger title of the year and Purav's 3rd Challenger title.

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At $100K+H Bangalore Challenger 2017, Karnataka, India

[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,513) vs Mario Vilella Martinez (ESP,395)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,328) vs (Q) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,622)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs N.Sriram Balaji (IND,352)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran(IND,253) vs (6) Evan King (USA,197)
[R1] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) vs Hugo Grenier (FRA,431)
[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,527) vs Jay Clarke (GBR,288)
[R1] (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND,1219) vs (4) Elias Ymer (SWE,146)
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) vs (WC) Dalwinder Singh (IND,1015)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA)/ Jay Clarke (ENG)
[R1] N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE)
[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Pedja Krstin (SRB)/ Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND)
[R1] (WC) Kunal Anand (IND)/ Anvit Bendre (IND) vs Ivan Sabanov (CRO)/ Matej Sabanov (CRO)
[R1] (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) vs (2) Brydan Klein (GBR)/ Marc Polmans (AUS)

The main draw is out, this week also Yuki and RamK r different draw and can meet in the final only ... Prajnesh is again facing Evan King ... Saki is facing another wildcard entrant Dalwinder ... Vishnu is facing Spaniard Vilella Martinez ... RamK is facing below 400 ranked Frenchman Hugo ... Yuki is facing Bala in the first round ... VSP and Sidharth qualified for the main draw taking advantage of a weaker draw ... VSP is facing Sumit and Sid is facing Jay Clarke.

In the doubles, our seeded pairs and all top doubles players r in the top draw ... So, chances r high of Indian pair in the final from the top draw ... Sood twins have received a wild card but facing 2nd seed pair.

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At $115K L&T Mumbai Open 2017, Maharashtra, India

[Q1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,497) l (1) Ana Bogdan (ROU,110) 06 06
[Q1] (WC) Natasha Palha (IND,767) l (2) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR,270) 16 06
[Q1] Nidhi Chilumula (IND,871) l (7) Anna Morgina (RUS,330) 16 36
[Q1] Riya Bhatia (IND,544) l (5) Alize Lim (FRA,305) 36 06

[R1] (WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND,604) vs (Q) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR,270)
[R1] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,281) vs Veronika Kudermetova (RUS,255)
[R1] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,790) vs (7) Carol Zhao (CAN,150)
[R1] (WC) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,312) vs Dalila Jakupovic (SLO,242)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Riya Bhatia (IND)/ Natasha Palha (IND) vs (1) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO)/ Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs Victoria Rodriguez (MEX)/ Bibiane Schoofs (NED)
[R1] Hiroko Kuwata (JPN)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (4) Julia Glushko (ISR)/ Priscilla Hon (AUS)
[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND)\ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs Naiktha Bains (AUS)/ Fanny Stollar (HUN)

In main draw, we can hope upsets from Karman and Ankita ... Zeel and Rutuja having lot tougher matches considering their current level of play.

In the doubles, Prarthana and her Japanese partner r facing 4th seed pair ... Rutuja and Ankita can be a good pair, let's see how they perform ... Another interesting pairing is of Karman and Pranjala, they r facing Bains-Stollar.

Feeling bad that the organizers didn't give main draw wild card to Pranjala ... She faced a tough match against the last-minute enterant top-100 type Bogdan and bagelled by her ... Our all players lost in the one-sided matches.

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At $15K Vietnam F2 Futures 2017, Thu Dau Mot City

[SF] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) l Jonathan Gray (GBR,650) 16 16

The one-sided bad loss for Sasi.

Hockey News

At Hockey World League Final 2017, Bhubaneswar, India

Indian Team
Goalkeepers - Akash Anil Chikte, Suraj Karkera
Defenders - Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Rupinderpal Singh, Birendra Lakra
Midfielders - Manpreet Singh (Capt), Chinglensana Singh (Vice-Capt), SK Uthappa, Sumit, Kothajit Singh
Forwards - SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh.

The Indian team for HWL Final announced ... Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra made comebacks for the tournament, but experienced mid-fielder Sardar Singh was dropped from India's 18-member squad ... Some good mixture of youth and experience in the team ... But, I am still not convinced by couple of selections; like Akashdeep, Mandeep and Uthappa.

India are grouped with Australia, England and Germany in Pool B

Badminton News

At $700K TAHOE China Open 2017, Fuzhou (World Superseries Premier)

[QF] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) l (Q) Fangjie Gao (CHN,89) 11-21 10-21

So with this poor result, Indian challenge got over in this on-going Chinese Superseries .. Hoping for better performance in Hong Kong Superseries.

Tennis News

At $75K Champaign Challenger 2017, Illinois, USA

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Christopher Eubanks (USA)/ Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 64 64

[F] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Another comfortable outing for Lee-Purav against Eubanks and McDonald ... In the final, they r facing 3rd seed Roelofse and Salisbury.

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At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[SF] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) bt (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) 63 62
[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) bt (2) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,127) 62 64

[F] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150)

Doubles
[SF] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Pedro Martinez (ESP)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) 46 46

Yuki scored convincing win over Spaniard Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in the straight sets ... In the first set, Yuki broke Adrian in 5th and 7th games to win it comfortably ... In the seond set Adrian gave fight, Yuki saved a break point in 4th game and he immediately broke Adrian in 5th game ... Adrian saved 4 match points in 9th game but Yuki hold for completing win.

RamK joins Yuki in the final with very dominating win ... He played perfect match against Saki ... In this match, he played percentage tennis and kept ball into play ... He served big and used passing shots smartly ... Saki struggled with fitness aa this was his fourth match in the singles and he already played two doubles matches this week ... He wasn't looking match-fit but still, this was great week for him as next week, he will be rising 300 places, around #615.

I was expecting this result after seeing struggled of Saki in the singles ... Spanish pair played smart tennis to beat Indians ... After losing the first set our pair were 2-0 up but Spanish pair won next four games, 2-4, and kept that break advantage for winning the match.

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At $15K Vietnam F2 Futures 2017, Thu Dau Mot City

[QF] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) bt (Q) Jakub Paul (SUI,1184) 63 64

[SF] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) vs Jonathan Gray (GBR,650)

Sasi moved to the semis with the straight sets win over Swiss qualifier ... Next, he is facing Britisher Jonathan Gray.

Squash News

At $140K Women's Hong Kong Open 2017, Hong Kong China

[R1] (11) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bt (Q) Hollie Naughton (CAN,32) 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6 (46m)
[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) l (13) Nour El Tayeb (EGY,8) 4-11, 4-11, 8-11 (17m)

[R2] (11) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l Nouran Gohar (EGY,5) 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 1-11 (50m)

Joshna stretched WR #5 Nouran Gohar to five games in the second round ... Before that, she needed five games to beat Canadian qualifier ... Dipika failed to challenge El Tayeb in a one-sided loss.

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At $165K Men's Hong Kong Open 2017, Hong Kong China

[Q1] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) bt (4) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY,33) 18-16, 11-5, 11-3 (51m)
[Q2] Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY,56) 11-8, 11-8, 3-11, 11-5 (59m)

[R1] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) l Paul Coll (NZL,9) 11-9, 3-11, 5-11, 1-11 (44m)
[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) l (Q) Declan James (ENG,35) 9-11, 6-11,9-11 (49m)

I expected a better result from Saurav with his recent form but he lost in the straight games against British qualifier ... Harry qualified for the main draw with back to back upset wins over higher ranked Egyptian players and in the main draw he took WR #9 Paul Coll to four games.

Tennis News

At $125K Taipei OEC Open 2017, Taipei, Taiwan

[QF] Luksika Kumkhum (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (3) Monique Adamczak (AUS)/ Naomi Broady (GBR) 26 64 8-10

Prarthana and her Thai partner Kumkhum gave fighting performance against 3rd seed Aussie-British pair ... They lost in the match tie-break.

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At $75K Champaign Challenger 2017, Illinois, USA

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/ Alex Lawson (USA) 63 61

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Christopher Eubanks (USA)/ Mackenzie McDonald (USA)

Another comfortable outing on the court for Lee-Purav ... Next, they r facing paring of Eubanks and McDonald.

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At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[QF] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) bt (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102) 76(5) 76(5)
[QF] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) bt (5) Nikola Milojevic (SRB,161) 61 75
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) bt Jay Clarke (GBR,288) 64 60

[SF] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) vs (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912)
[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs (2) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,127)

Doubles
[QF] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Naoki Nakagawa (JPN) 60 63

[SF] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Pedro Martinez (ESP)/ Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP)

Turned to be a terrific day for our players ... I think this is the first time 3 of 4 semi-finalists r Indian players.

Saki scored an excellent upset win over top-seed Blaz Kavcic ... But the match had usual ups and downs, Saki was up 3-1 but got broken in the next, then he was up 5-3 but while serving for the set he failed to hold ... In the tie-break, he was 5-2 up but lost next 3 points before winning next two points to win the set ... The second set was almost similar liked the first set ... In this set also both players exchanged a couple of breaks ... In the tie-break, he was up 5-1 but Kavcic made it 5-4 ... Saki converted 2nd match point for entering into the semis.

Yuki played some beautiful tennis in his convincing win over Clarke ... In this match, Yuki broke Clarke in the 1st game but he made unforced errors to lose the 4th game, 2-all ... Yuki took a crucial break in 7th game for winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki dominated with superb tennis and cut unforced errors ... He broke Clarke 1st, 3rd and 5th games for a convincing win ... Next, he is facing experienced Adrian Menendez-Maceiras.

RamK scored straight sets win over Milojevic ... In the first set, RamK ran 5-0 lead and won the set losing only a single game ... In the second set, Milojevic put solid fight ... He was matching with RamK until 10th game but RamK broke him in the 11th game and held to win the match ... Next, he is facing Saki.

An expected dominating win by Saki and Jeevan against Sumit and his partner ... In the semis, Saki-Jeevan r facing Spanish pair.

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At $60K+H ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Toyota, Japan

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,283) l (5) Miharu Imanishi (JPN,223) 36 26

Ankita lost in the straight sets against Imanishi.

Badminton News

At $700K TAHOE China Open 2017, Fuzhou (World Superseries Premier)

[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,11) l Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG,53) 19-21 17-21

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) l (5) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,4) 18-21 11-21
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) bt (Q) Yue Hen (CHN,105) 21-15 21-13

[QF] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) vs (Q) Fangjie Gao (CHN,89)

Only Sindhu managed to win her match as she convincingly defeated Chinese qualifier ... In the quarters, she is facing another Chinese qualifier.

Disappointing loss of Prannoy against Hong Kong's Cheuk Yiu Lee in the straight games ... Maybe Prannoy was tired after yesterday's long match but still poor result from his standard.

Saina also lost in the straight games against Yamaguchi ... After running close, in the first game, Saina was outperformed by Yamaguchi in the second.

Tennis News

At $125K Taipei OEC Open 2017, Taipei, Taiwan

[R1] Luksika Kumkhum (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) bt Lizette Cabrera (AUS)/ Fanny Stollar (HUN) 64 75

[QF] Luksika Kumkhum (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (3) Monique Adamczak (AUS)/ Naomi Broady (GBR)

Prarthana started with the straight sets win with her new Thai partner Kumkhum ... Next, they r facing 3rd seed Aussie-British pair.

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At $75K Champaign Challenger 2017, Illinois, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (LL) Alexander Brown (USA)/ Ezekiel Clark (USA) 64 61

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/ Alex Lawson (USA)

Lee-Purav started with a comfortable win over a lucky-loser pair ... Next, they r facing another American pair.

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At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[R2] (LL) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,622) l (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102) 36 26
[R2] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) bt (8) Pedja Krstin (SRB,221) 46 62 60
[R2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) bt Brydan Klein (GBR,292) 76(7) 63
[R2] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) bt Ante Pavic (CRO,313) 64 76(4)
[R2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,352) l (9) Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,245) 75 46 57
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,328) l (2) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,127) 36 46

[QF] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) vs (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102)
[QF] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) vs (5) Nikola Milojevic (SRB,161)
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs Jay Clarke (GBR,288)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Evan King (USA)/ Lucas Miedler (AUT) 67(9) 46
[R1] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 63 64

[QF] (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Naoki Nakagawa (JPN)

Saki scored an excellent comeback win over top-225 Pedja Krstin ... I like the way he handled Pedja after losing the first set ... Saki dominated next two sets as he won the second set losing 2 games and bagelled Pedja in the third ... Saki having real test in the next match against top-seed Blaz Kavcic.

Yuki took an early break against Pavic to lead 3-1 and kept that advantage for winning the first set ... In the second set, Pavic broke Yuki in the 2nd game when Yuki played a loose game ... But from 0-3 down Yuki made comeback as he broke Pavic in the 5th game to make it 3-all ... In the 9th game, Yuki missed a break point ... In the tie-break, Yuki was a mini-break down, 0-2, but after that Yuki took control of the tie-break and won it convincingly ... Next, he is facing young Britisher Jay Clarke.

Again an erratic game by RamK in this match ... RamK dropped his serve at 2-all but he broke back in the 10th game when Brydan was serving for the set after saving a set point ... In the tie-break also, RamK was double mini-breaks down at 1-4 but again he fought back to make it 5-4 ... He saved another set point at 5-6 and converted 2nd set point for winning this set ... This was his fourth tie-break in a row ... In the second set, Ramk broke Brydan in 1st and 3rd games to take a 4-0 lead ... In the 6th game, RamK committed 2 double faults and got broken, 4-3 ... RamK again broke Brydan when he was serving for staying in the match and completed the victory ... Next, he is facing Serbian Nikola Milojevic.

From the beginning, Bala was matching Nedo's game ... Till the 11th game, both players hold their respective service games ... Bala took a crucial break in the 12th game for winning the first set ... In the second set also both players hold their respective service games until the 8th game ... This time Nedo broke Bala in the 9th game and then hold his serve for winning this set ... In the third, Bala broke Nedo in the 2nd game to lead 3-0, but while serving for the match at 5-3 Bala failed to hold under pressure ... In the 10th game, Bala missed a couple of match points and lost his serve in the 11th game committing a couple of double faults and again Nedo holds his serve for completing the victory.

Sumit failed to challenge Adrian as he won both sets with a single break ... Kavcic proved too strong for VSP.

Saki and Jeevan scored comfortable straight sets win over 3rd seed Vishnu and Bala ... In the quarters, they will be facing Sumit and his Japanese partner ... But the top-seed Divij-Mikhail Elgin lost in the straight sets against Miedler and King.

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At $60K+H ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Toyota, Japan

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,283) bt (Q) Megumi Nishimoto (JPN,718) 26 61 61

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,283) vs (5) Miharu Imanishi (JPN,223)

Good to see Ankita managed to score a win in the singles ... After losing the first set she made a strong comeback for winning next two sets losing only a couple of games ... Next, she is faci g top-225 Imanishi.

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At $15K Vietnam F2 Futures 2017, Thu Dau Mot City

[R1] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) bt (WC) Phongsapak Kerdlaphee (THA,1944) 63 62
[R2] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) bt Nathan Pasha (USA,632) 60 61

[QF] (4) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,426) vs (Q) Jakub Paul (SUI,1184)

Sasi in the quarters with couple of easy wins ... He is facing Swiss qualifier for place in the semis.

Badminton News

At $700K TAHOE China Open 2017, Fuzhou (World Superseries Premier)

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,57) l Brice Leverdez (FRA,30) 14-21 21-15 11-21
[R1] Prannoy H.S. (IND,11) bt (Q) Dong Keun Lee (KOR,51) 18-21 21-16 21-19

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) bt Beiwen Zhang (USA,12) 21-12 21-13
[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) bt Sayaka Sato (JPN,13) 24-22 23-21

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) 18-21 15-21
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l (5) Liu Cheng (CHN)/ Zhang Nan (CHN) 13-21 13-21
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l Ha Na Baek (KOR)/ Chae Yoo Jung (KOR) 14-21 15-21

[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 19-21 21-17 13-21

[R2] Prannoy H.S. (IND,11) vs Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG,53)

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs (5) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,4)
[R2] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) vs (Q) Yue Hen (CHN,105)

Saina started with a confident win against similar ranked Zhang ... She dominated the match, but next, she is facing a tough match against in-form Japanese girl, Akane Yamaguchi, who defeated Saina three times in 2017 and last two losses were in the last month in Denmark and French Superseries.

Experienced Dong Keun Lee stretched Prannoy for a long match, which ended after almost 90 mins ... After losing the first game Prannoy required digging deep for making comeback in the match ... Lee kept fighting in the third game but Prannoy prevailed ... Next, he is facing Hong Kong's Cheuk Yiu Lee.

Sindhu got stretched by her Japanese opponent, Sayaka Sato ... Both games won by Sindhu on extra points, in the second game she needed to save one game point ... Next, she is facing Chinese qualifier.

Sourabh lost in three games against Frenchman Leverdez.

Satwik and Ashwini gave fighting performance against higher ranked Danish pair but lost in three games.

Manu-Sumeeth gave decent performance against WR #1 Indonesian pair ... Chinese WR #4 pair proved too strong to Satwik and Chirag ... Ashwini-Sikki also failed to challenge their Korean opponents.

Golf News

At LPGA Tour 2017,

Aditi becomes the first Indian to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship on the LPGA and she has also secured her LPGA card for 2018 season.

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - Third Round Qualification, Macau

Group A
India vs Myanmar 2-2 (1-2)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 13' P, Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 69' and Yan Naing Oo (MYA) 1', Kyaw Ko Ko (MYA) 19'

Myanmar shocked us after taking lead after only 14 seconds ... Indians equalized through a penalty conversion by Sunil, who was brought down in the box ... Our goalkeeper Gurpreet made rare miscalculation (mistimed the jump) to concede a soft goal in 19th minute ... The first half was mostly dominated by Myanmar side ... In the second half, we played an attacking game and putting extra pressure on Myanmar team ... Jeje equalized on an assist by Lyngdoh ... After that, we created multiple chances but failed to convert ... The referee disallowed a goal scored by Sunil (as that was an indirect kick but the ball did not move after Jeje touched it before Sunil's kick) and after that match ended in a draw ... We are now unbeaten for 13 games with 11 wins.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[R1] (LL) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,622) bt (WC) Aryan Goveas (IND,698) 63 64
[R1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) bt Marc Polmans (AUS,322) 67(5) 76(5) 76(9)
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,755) l Ante Pavic (CRO,313) 67(5) 67(4)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) bt (Q) Kaichi Uchida (JPN,356) 62 75
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,328) bt Lucas Miedler (AUT,326) 76(1) 60

[R2] (LL) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,622) vs (1) Blaz Kavcic (SLO,102)
[R2] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) vs (8) Pedja Krstin (SRB,221)
[R2] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,150) vs Brydan Klein (GBR,292)
[R2] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs Ante Pavic (CRO,313)
[R2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,352) vs (9) Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,245)
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,328) vs (2) Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (ESP,127)

Sumit scored an excellent win over Miedler in the straight sets ... The first set was well contested, till 9th game both players hold their respective service games with an ease ... Sumit saved a couple of set points in the 10th game while serving to stay in the set, in next game he missed few break points on Miedler's serve ... But from the tie-break he dominated the proceedings, he won the tie-break losing a single point and then gave the bagel to Miedler in the second set.

VSP scored expected victory over Aryan with a single break in both sets ... Next, VSP and Sumit having tough matches as they r facing top 2 seeds in the second round.

Expected win by Yuki against Japanese qualifier ... After winning the first set Yuki lost focus in the second set and was 2-4 down ... But he staged an excellent comeback winning 5 games from next 6 games played, in that he broke Uchida twice, for completing the victory.

RamK scraped through in three hours match against in-form Australian Marc Polmans ... RamK was coming back on the court after almost a month and after five matches losing streak, so he was under a lot of pressure ... Marc didn't give him a chance to settle in the match ... Moreover, RamK also missed huge opportunities like he converted only 1 break point from 13 chances ... After losing the first set in the tie-break RamK dug deep for a winning the second set tie-break ... The third set also went to tie-break ... RamK was up 4-1 and 5-2 but wasted mini-break advantage ... He missed a match point at 6-5 and then faced three match points on 6-7, 7-8 and 8-9 ... He saved all those three match points and converted second match point for much-needed win.

Arjun played a really well match against big-serving Croatian, he lost in the two tie-breaks ... The difference was, Pavic served 18 aces in the match and both players failed to break other's service game in the match.

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At $60K+H ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Toyota, Japan

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND)/ Erika Sema (JPN) l Rika Fujiwara (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN) 46 76(5) 4-10

Ankita's awful form continues ... She lost in the doubles with Sema in the match tie-break ... Hopefully, she will be giving better results in the singles.

Badminton News

At $700K TAHOE China Open 2017, Fuzhou (World Superseries Premier)

[Q1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Lee Jhe-Huei (TPE)/ Wu Ti Jung (TPE) 24-22 21-7
[Q2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt (4) Niclas Nohr (DEN)/ Sara Thygesen (DEN) 21-16 19-21 22-20

[R1] Sourabh Verma (IND,57) vs Brice Leverdez (FRA,30)
[R1] Prannoy H.S. (IND,11) vs (Q) Dong Keun Lee (KOR,51)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs Beiwen Zhang (USA,12)
[R1] (2) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,2) vs Sayaka Sato (JPN,13)

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (1) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (INA)/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs (5) Liu Cheng (CHN)/ Zhang Nan (CHN)
[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) vs Ha Na Baek (KOR)/ Chae Yoo Jung (KOR)

[R1] (Q) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Mathias Christiansen (DEN)/ Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

Our men's doubles pairs r facing top-4 world ranked pairs ... Winnable matches for our players in the singles.

Satwik-Ashwini qualified for the main-draw and facing another top-notch Danish pair in the first round ... In the final qualifying, they faced experienced Danish pair, who defeated them in the last month's Denmark Superseries in the straight games ... But here, our pair defeated them in three games and before that they scored the straight games win over Taipei pair.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,907) bt Tomislav Brkic (BIH,248) 63 46 62
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran(IND,253) l (7) Evan King (USA,197) 36 36
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,513) l (9) Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,245) 36 64 67(6)
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,352) bt Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY,235) 64 62
[R1] (LL) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,622) vs (WC) Aryan Goveas (IND,698)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,137) vs (Q) Kaichi Uchida (JPN,356)

[R2] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,352) vs (9) Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,245)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Ivan Sabanov (CRO)/ Matej Sabanov (CRO) 36 57
[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Naoki Nakagawa (JPN) bt (WC) Siddanth Banthia (IND)/ Jayesh Pungliya (IND) 75 60

The lucky break for our players as VSP is facing Aryan as a lucky-loser ... Yuki is facing Japanese qualifier.

Saki scored his first win over top-250 player after coming out of injury ... Saki comfortably won the first set ... In the second set, he struggled with his backhand and serve ... Brkic broke him in the 8th game, 3-5, but Saki immediately broke back when Brkic was serving for the set ... But again Saki failed to hold in the 10th game for losing the set ... In the third set, Saki again started serving big and his backhands were too good ... He broke Brkic in 1st and 3rd games to lead 3-0 ... Brkic took a break back bur Saki again broke him to win this set comfortably.

Bala scored an excellent upset win over top-250 Egyptian opponent ... Bala was a break down early but after that, he took control of the match and dominated Maamoun ... Next, he is facing Nedo, who was lucky to beat Vishnu.

Vishnu missed huge opportunity to complete comeback victory ... After losing the first set Vishnu made comeback and won the second set ... In the third set tie-break, he was up 4-1 but from here he missed overhead and made some silly mistakes for losing the match.
Prajnesh was looking good against Evan ... But he showed unnecessary aggression and some loose shots for losing the service games and match.

In the doubles, Sumit-Naoki won their match in the straight sets ... I still feel Sood twins were more deserving for the wild-card instead of Jayesh-Siddanth ... Arjun and VSP also lost in the straight sets against Sabanov twins.

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At $60K+H ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Toyota, Japan

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,283) vs (Q) Megumi Nishimoto (JPN,718)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND)/ Erika Sema (JPN) vs Rika Fujiwara (JPN)/ Ayano Shimizu (JPN)

A winnable match for Ankita against Japanese qualifier ... In the doubles, she is 3rd seed with Sema.

Golf News

At $7.1M OHL Classic at Mayakoba 2017, Playa del Carmen, Mexico (PGA Tour 2018)

T14 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 67 69 67 71 -10 $117,150.00

Anirban managed only PAR final round and with that he missed opportunity of top-10 finish ... Yesterday, they played the third and fourth rounds and after three rounds Anirban was on T6 position.

Tennis News

At $75K Knoxville Challenger 2017, USA

Courtesy of Knoxville Challenger FB page

Doubles Final
(1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) James Cerretani (USA)/ John-Patrick Smith (AUS) 76(4) 76(4)

Lee-Purav lifted the title in a well-fought match against 2nd seed Cerretani-Smith ... In this match, both sets went to tie-breaks and both pairs managed to break other's serve only once and that also in the second set.

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At $125K Taipei OEC Open 2017, Taipei, Taiwan

[R1] Luksika Kumkhum (THA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs Lizette Cabrera (AUS)/ Fanny Stollar (HUN)

This week, Prarthana is playing with Thai girl, Luksika Kumkhum ... They r facing Prarthana's last week's partner Fanny Stollar and Lizette Cabrera.

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At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[R1] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Evan King (USA)/ Lucas Miedler (AUT)
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Ivan Sabanov (CRO)/ Matej Sabanov (CRO)
[R1] (WC) Siddanth Banthia (IND)/ Jayesh Pungliya (IND) vs (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Naoki Nakagawa (JPN)
[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (PR) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)

Divij is top-seed with Elgin ... VSP is partnering Arjun and they r facing Sabanov twins ... In the match between two wild-card pairs, Banthia-Pungliya r facing Sumit and his Japanese partner ... Vishnu-Bala r having a tricky match against Jeevan and Saki ... Feel bad for Sood twins as they failed to make the cut and didn't receive wild-card.

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At $75K Champaign Challenger 2017, Illinois, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Sebastian Fanselow (GER)/ Alexander Sarkissian (USA)

At Champaign Challenger, Lee and Purav r top-seed and facing Fanselow-Sarkissian.

Golf News

At $1M Resorts World Manila Masters 2017, Philippines (Asian Tour 2017)

T5 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70 64 67 71 -16 $37,150.00
T10 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 66 68 69 71 -14 $17,600.00
T13 Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 72 67 69 67 -13 $14,175.00
T17 Arjun Atwal (IND) 67 67 71 71 -12 $12,350.00
T20 Shiv Kapur (IND) 71 68 69 69 -11 $10,750.00
T20 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 67 71 69 70 -11 $10,750.00
T26 Honey Baisoya (IND) 71 71 66 70 -10 $9,400.00
T29 Khalin Joshi (IND) 70 70 70 69 -9 $7,740.00
T39 Himmat Rai (IND) 72 69 69 70 -8 $6,220.00
T47 Chirag Kumar (IND) 69 70 71 72 -6 $5000.00
T68 Sujjan Singh (IND) 72 68 74 72 -2 $2,450.00

Jyoti managed only 1 under final round and finished in T5 position ... He was leading after the third round ... SSP also finished inside top-10 and Ajeetesh, Arjun, Shiv and Gaganjeet finished inside top-20.

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At $400K Hero Women's Indian Open 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada (LET 2017)

T6 Vani Kappor (IND) 69 68 72 -7 €9,638.97
T13 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 70 72 -4 €6,110.42
T44 Gaurika Bishnoi (IND) 70 73 77 +4 €1,858.94

Today, Vani and Aditi managed PAR rounds ... So they slide in the standing and finished on T6 and T13 respectively.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Kobe Challenger 2017, Japan

Doubles Final
(4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Ben McLachlan (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 64 36 8-10

Jeevan and Chris lost in the match tie-break against the local unseeded pair in the final ... Jeevan-Chris won the first set but afterward, they failed to keep momentum.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

Singles Final
(3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) l (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254) 36 61 06

Jaqueline overpowered Karman in the third, but still a credible fighting performance by Karman against top-250 Romanian player ... After losing the first set Karman tried strong comeback with easily winning the second set ... I feel, her overall performance in this Pune ITF was encouraging.

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At $50K+H Pune Challenger 2017, Maharashtra

[R1] (WC) Aryan Goveas (IND,697) vs Qualifier
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,912) vs Tomislav Brkic (BIH,272)
[R1] (4) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) vs Marc Polmans (AUS,329)
[R1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran(IND,255) vs (7) Evan King (USA,197)
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,767) vs Ante Pavic (CRO,314)
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,140) vs Qualifier
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,494) vs (9) Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,227)
[R1] N.Sriram Balaji (IND,350) vs Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY,234)
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,331) vs Lucas Miedler (AUT,327)

The Pune challenger draw is out ... As expected, RamK and Yuki r seeded and can meet only in the final ... Sumit having similar ranked Austrian in the first round and if he wins then can face 2nd seed ... Overall, decent draw for our players ... Due to Ymer's late withdrawal, Vishnu is facing Nedo in the first round.

Squash News

At $50K Men's CCI International 2017, Mumbai, India

Courtesy of CCI International FB page

Final match
(3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) bt (5) Nicolas Müller (SUI,27) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (44m)

Saurav lifted his biggest PSA title beating Swiss player, Nicolas Müller, in the CCI International final ... Müller gave fighting performance but Saurav kept control of the match playing important points better.

Tennis News

At $75K Knoxville Challenger 2017, USA

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 76(4) 63

Lee-Purav scored the straight sets win over Roelofse-Salisbury for entering into the final.

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At $50K+H Kobe Challenger 2017, Japan

[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (2) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Bradley Mousley (AUS) 67(7) 64 10-7

[F] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Ben McLachlan (JPN)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)

Jeevan and Chris scored a superb comeback win over 2nd seed Aussie pair ... After losing the first set in a long tie-break they fought back to win the second ... In the match tie-break, they took a control from the beginning to win it ... In the final, they r facing local unseeded pair..

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[SF] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) bt Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,678) 63 61
[SF] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,781) l (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254) 46 36

[F] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) vs (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254)

Karman scored dominating win over Thai girl Thamchaiwat for entering into the final ... Next, she is facing Romanian top-250 type Jaqueline Adina Cristian ... Zeel gave fighting performance against in-form Adina Cristian in her loss.

Squash News

At $50K Men's CCI International 2017, Mumbai, India

[SF] (WC) Ramit Tandon (IND,201) l (5) Nicolas Müller (SUI,27) 6-11, 8-11, 7-11 (32m)
[SF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) bt (2) Omar Mosaad (EGY,20) 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (67m)

[F] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) vs (5) Nicolas Müller (SUI,27)

Saurav continued with his recent terrific form ... He defeated former WR #3 Omar Mosaad in four games ... After losing the first game he made a strong comeback for winning next game ... Omar tried hard in the third and the fourth but Saurav won both games playing solid on important points ... In the final, he is facing Müller, who defeated Ramit.

Ramit was tired after playing the long match against Golan and Müller took full advantage of it after beating him in the straight games.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Shenzhen, China

[QF] Anastasia Gasanova (RUS)/ Ankita Raina (IND) l (2) Jacqueline Cako (USA)/ Nina Stojanovic (SRB) 26 57

Ankita and Gasanova lost in the straight sets against 2nd seed Cako-Stojanovic.

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At $75K Knoxville Challenger 2017, USA

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Liam Broady (GBR)/ Marcus Willis (GBR) 60 75

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Another good win by Lee-Purav against big serving British pair ... Next, they r facing 3rd seed pair Roelofse-Salisbury.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[QF] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) bt (6) Ana Veselinovic (MNE,439) 62 75
[QF] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,781) bt (4) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,355) 63 62

[SF] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) vs Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,678)
[SF] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,781) vs (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254)

Good to see, our players r taking advantage of the home tournament ... A really good dominating win by Zeel against top-350 type Ukrainian opponent, Strakhova, in the straight sets ... Next, she is having a tough match against in-form Romanian Jaqueline Adina Cristian.

Karman also scored the straight sets win over Veselinovic ... After winning the first set easily Karman was 4-1 up in the second ... Veselinovic broke her in 7th game but Karman broke her in 12th game when Veselinovic was serving for staying in the match, Next, she is facing Thai girl, Bunyawi Thamchaiwat.

Squash News

At $50K Men's CCI International 2017, Mumbai, India

[QF] (WC) Ramit Tandon (IND,201) bt (1) Borja Golan (ESP,18) 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 (89m)
[QF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) bt Joel Makin (WAL,42) 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-2 (59m)
[QF] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) l (2) Omar Mosaad (EGY,20) 11-6, 12-10, 2-11, 8-11, 2-11 (71m)

[SF] (WC) Ramit Tandon (IND,201) vs (5) Nicolas Müller (SUI,27)
[SF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) vs (2) Omar Mosaad (EGY,20)

It seems Ramit is going through a purple patch in this ongoing CCI International ... After his first-round upset win over top-50 player Ramit created huge upset beating top-20 experienced Spanish player, Borja Golan ... He started winning the first game but Borja fought back for winning next two ... After 1-2 down Ramit kept fighting and won the fourth game comfortably ... In the final game, both players were neck to neck but Ramit kept his nerve on big points for winning the match ... Next, he is playing Swiss player, Nicolas Müller.

Saurav also reached into the semis beating Makin in four games ... Next, he is facing Omar Mosaad, who scored a comeback win over Harry ... Harry won the first 2 games but after that Omar made a strong comeback for winning next three games.

Tennis News

At €106K+H Peugeot Slovak Open 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia

[QF] (4) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Sander Arends (NED)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) 46 76(7) 4-10

Divij-Elgin lost in the match tie-break against big serving pair of Arends and Sancic.

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At $125K EA Hua Hin Championship 2017, Thailand

[R1] Fanny Stollar (HUN)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (2) Monique Adamczak (AUS)/ Naomi Broady (GBR) 67(8) 36

Prarthana and Fanny stretched 2nd seed Aussie-British pair in the first set tie-break before losing the second set easily.

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At $100K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Shenzhen, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,283) l Fang Ying Xun (CHN,293) 36 46

Another straight sets loss for Ankita against similar ranked Chinese girl, Fang Ying Xun.

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At $75K Knoxville Challenger 2017, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Kevin King (USA)/ Bradley Klahn (USA) 62 64

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Liam Broady (GBR)/ Marcus Willis (GBR)

Lee-Purav started with a comfortable straight-sets win over American pair ... Next, they r facing British pair.

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At $50K+H Kobe Challenger 2017, Japan

[QF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Xin Gao (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 62 63

[SF] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (2) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Bradley Mousley (AUS)

A comfortable win for Jeevan and Chris against Chinese pair ... Next, they r facing 2nd seed Aussie pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[R2] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) bt Stefanie Tan (SGP,626) 63 63
[R2] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,781) bt (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,UNR) 75 75
[R2] (Q) Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,960) l (4) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,355) 36 57
[R2] (WC) Mahak Jain (IND,878) l (8) Tereza Mihalikova (SVK,461) 63 36 16
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,600) l (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254) 46 46

Overall, expected results but some promising performance in their losses by Mahak, Sai and Mihika.

Squash News

At $50K Men's CCI International 2017, Mumbai, India

[R1] (WC) Ramit Tandon (IND,201) bt (8) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT,43) 11-7, 4-11, 11-4, 11-3 (45m)
[R2] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) bt Joshua Masters (ENG,53) 11-4, 11-2, 11-3 (24m)
[R1] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) bt (7) Ivan Yuen (MAS,46) 4-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 (51m)

[QF] (WC) Ramit Tandon (IND,201) vs (1) Borja Golan (ESP,18)
[QF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,21) vs Joel Makin (WAL,42)
[QF] (Q) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,69) vs (2) Omar Mosaad (EGY,20)

Harry qualified for the main-draw and started with an upset win over top-50 Malaysian ... Next, he is having a tough match against Omar Mosaad.

Ramit received a wild-card and he took full advantage of it beating WR #43 Al Tamimi in the four games ... But in the quarters, he is facing top-seed Spanish Borja Golan.

Saurav started with a comfortable win and meeting Wales players, Joel Makin, in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $100K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Shenzhen, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,283) vs Fang Ying Xun (CHN,293)

Doubles
[R1] Anastasia Gasanova (RUS)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Xu Liu Sun (CHN)/ Ziyue Sun (CHN) 36 62 10-6

[QF] Anastasia Gasanova (RUS)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs (2) Jacqueline Cako (USA)/ Nina Stojanovic (SRB)

In the singles, Ankita is facing similar ranked Chinese girl, Fang Ying Xun.

In the doubles, Ankita scored comeback win over Suns with her Russian partner Gasanova ... Next, they r facing 2nd seed Cako-Stojanovic.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[R1] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,307) bt (Q) Riya Bhatia (IND,534) 64 46 76(5)
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,483) l Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA,513) 46 76(4) 46
[R1] (Q) Salsa Aher (IND,UNR) l (6) Ana Veselinovic (MNE,439) 16 57
[R1] (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,UNR) bt (7) Yana Sizikova (RUS,449) 63 75
[R1] (Q) Nidhi Chilumula (IND,816) l (4) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,357) 16 36
[R1] (Q) Prerna Bhambri (IND,818) l (8) Tereza Mihalikova (SVK,463) 16 26
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,596) bt (WC) Snehal Mane (IND,UNR) 64 62

[R2] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,310) vs Stefanie Tan (SGP,626)
[R2] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,781) vs (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,UNR)
[R2] (Q) Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,960) vs (4) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,355)
[R2] (WC) Mahak Jain (IND,878) vs (8) Tereza Mihalikova (SVK,461)
[R2] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,600) vs (2) Jaqueline Adina Cristian (ROU,254)

The lucky escape for Karman in 3 hrs 10 mins match ... Karman was leading 5-2 with a double break in the third set ... But Riya broke her twice while she was serving for the match in 8th and 10th games ... In the tie-break, again Karman was leading 5-2, this time also Riya caught her at 5-all ... Karman won next 2 points for entering into the second round ... In this match, Karman won 114 pts and Riya won 117 ... Both players had 14 break point chances and they converted 4 of them.

A superb straight-sets upset win by young Mihika against top-450 Russian girl ... Expected, straight sets win for Rutuja.

I was hoping a win from Pranjala against experienced Fatma but she failed to keep her composure in crucial stages of the match ... After losing the first set Salsa gave a fighting performance in the second ... Nidhi and Prerna lost in the one-sided matches.

The tough matches for Sai, Mahak and Rutuja, but Karman has a game to win her second round ... Interesting match between Zeel and Mihika.

Tennis News

At €106K+H Peugeot Slovak Open 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia

[R1] (4) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (PR) Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR)/ Igor Sijsling (NED) 64 76(6)

Divij and Elgin started their campaign with tight two sets win over Ignatik and Sijsling.

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At $50K+H Kobe Challenger 2017, Japan

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Tatsuma Ito (JPN)/ Yusuke Takahashi (JPN) 76(5) 63

Jeevan and Chris started with the straight sets win over local pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[R1] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,933) l Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,676) 64 06 16
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,743) l (5) Pei-Chi Lee (TPE,437) 57 36
[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,799) l Stefanie Tan (SGP,616) 06 26
[R1] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,778) bt (Q) Shivani Swarup Ingle (IND,UNR) 62 61
[R1] Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,913) bt Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,733) 60 63
[R1] (WC) Mahak Jain (IND,872) bt (Q) Ramya Natarajan (IND,1041) 75 16 61

Expected results, only an upset dominating win from Sai over higher ranked Dhruthi.

Hockey News

At Women's Asia Cup 2017, Kakamigahara, Japan

Courtesy of Stick2Hockey.com

The Championship match
India bt China 1-1 (1-0) 5-4 in shoot-out
Goal Scorers - Navjot Kaur (IND) 25' PC and Tiantian Luo (CHN) 47' PC

Indian women's hockey team defeated China 5-4 in shoot-out ... Goalkeeper Savita produced a stunning save in a tense shootout as India won the Asia Cup to secure qualification in next year's hockey World Cup following a nerve-wracking win over China in the final ... Before this, India last won the Asia Cup title in 2004, when they beat Japan 1-0 in New Delhi ... Our girls took lead before end of the first half but China scored late equalizer for thaking the match into the shoot-out.

Golf News

At $400K Panasonic Open India 2017, New Delhi (Asian Tour) (Only top-15 Indians)

Courtesy of Asian Tour

1 Shiv Kapur (IND) 65 69 69 68 -17 $72,000.00
T2 Chirag Kumar (IND) 68 71 71 64 -14 $20,017.14
T2 Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 64 73 72 65 -14 $20,017.14
T2 Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 71 68 69 66 -14 $20,017.14
T2 SSP Chawrasia (IND) 67 69 69 69 -14 $20,017.14
T2 Sudhir Sharma (IND) 69 70 66 69 -14 $20,017.14
T2 Om Prakash Chouhan (IND) 70 69 66 69 -14 $20,017.14
T9 Honey Baisoya (IND) 69 68 71 68 -12 $8,100.00
T9 Shamim Khan (IND) 66 69 69 72 -12 $8,100.00
T12 Angad Cheema (IND) 73 70 71 65 -9 $5,970.00
T12 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 70 70 72 67 -9 $5,970.00

Shiv Kapur completed his lifelong dream of winning at the Delhi Golf Club when he won the Panasonic Open India with a final round four-under-par 68 ... Kapur’s two previous Asian Tour titles were won in Thailand and Chinese Taipei, the Panasonic Open India title was Kapur’s first professional victory at his home course ... Indians continued to dominate the leaderboard with only American Paul Peterson managed to break into the top-10.

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At $6.8M Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada (PGA Tour 2018)

T51 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 72 71 73 +1 $16,003.00

Anirban failed to keep his putting after the first round and ended below top-50 in the final standing.

Tennis News

At €106K+H Peugeot Slovak Open 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia

[R1] (4) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (PR) Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR)/ Igor Sijsling (NED)

This week, Divij is playing with Russian Mikhail Elgin.

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At $125K EA Hua Hin Championship 2017, Thailand

[R1] Fanny Stollar (HUN)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (2) Monique Adamczak (AUS)/ Naomi Broady (GBR)

Prarthana is pairing with Fanny and they r facing 2nd seed Aussie-British pair.

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At $50K+H Kobe Challenger 2017, Japan

[R1] (4) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Tatsuma Ito (JPN)/ Yusuke Takahashi (JPN)

Jeevan is playing with Chris in Japan.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Pune, India

[R1] (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,933) vs Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (THA,676)
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,743) vs (5) Pei-Chi Lee (TPE,437)
[R1] (3) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,307) vs (Q) Riya Bhatia (IND,534)
[R1] Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,799) vs Stefanie Tan (SGP,616)
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,483) vs Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA,513)
[R1] (Q) Salsa Aher (IND,UNR) vs (6) Ana Veselinovic (MNE,439)
[R1] (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND,1000) vs (7) Yana Sizikova (RUS,449)
[R1] (WC) Zeel Desai (IND,778) vs (Q) Shivani Swarup Ingle (IND,UNR)
[R1] Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,733) vs Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND,913)
[R1] (Q) Nidhi Chilumula (IND,816) vs (4) Valeriya Strakhova (UKR,357)
[R1] (Q) Prerna Bhambri (IND,818) vs (8) Tereza Mihalikova (SVK,463)
[R1] (WC) Mahak Jain (IND,872) vs (Q) Ramya Natarajan (IND,1041)
[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,596) vs (WC) Snehal Mane (IND,UNR)

As expected big Indian contingent playing in Pune ITF main-draw.

Golf News

At $550K Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open 2017, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Ladies European Tour)

Courtesy of LET site

1 Aditi Ashok (IND) 67 66 68 69 -18 € 70,787.85
57 Vani Kapoor (IND) 72 69 78 70 +1 € 1,557.33

Aditi Ashok earned her third Ladies European Tour title in 12 months with a 1 stroke victory ... She started the final round with two strokes lead and had four strokes advantage with three holes to play ... She scored double bogey on the 17th reducing her lead to just one stroke over Georgia Hall ... Aditi handled pressure well and scored PAR on the difficult 18th hole for capturing the title ... After this title win, Aditi is at career high ranking, #81.

Tennis News

At $75K Shenzhen 2 Challenger 2017, China

Doubles Fianl
Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) bt (4) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA) 76(3) 76(3)

Vishnu-Bala lifted the third challenger title of the year beating 4th seed American pair in the two tie-breaks ... This match was dominated by serving as both pairs were big servers ... In this match, both pairs failed to break another serve but our pair dominated the tie-breaks for a good win.

Tennis News

At $75K Shenzhen 2 Challenger 2017, China

[SF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) bt (3) James Cerretani (USA)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN) 76(5) 76(4)

[F] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) vs (4) Austin Krajicek (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA)

Vishnu-Bala scored a win in two tie-breaks against 3rd seed Cerretani and Matsui ... In the final, they r facing 4th seed American pair.

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At $15K Malaysia F3 Futures 2017, Kuala Lumpur

[QF] (Q) Suraj R Prabodh (IND,1618) l (4) Scott Griekspoor (NED,505) 16 16

Expected one-sided loss for Suraj against in-form and 1000+ higher ranked Griekspoor.

Badminton News

At $325K YONEX French Open 2017, Paris, France (World Superseries)


In the 2nd November 2017 updated men's singles rankings, after his back to back Superseries title wins, Srikanth is climbed to his career-best WR #2 position and Prannoy is also climbed to his career-best WR #11 position.
Interestingly in women's singles, Sindhu is occupied #2 and Sain #11.

In men's doubles, Satwik-Chirag rise to #28 and in MXD, Pranaav-Sikki r on #16 and Satwik-Ashwini r on #85.

Tennis News

At $75K+H Charlottesville Challenger 2017, USA

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Denis Kudla (USA)/ Danny Thomas (USA) 67(2) 26

Lee-Purav partnership is not producing desired results ... Another straight sets loss against unseeded pair for them.

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At $75K Shenzhen 2 Challenger 2017, China

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,262) l (1) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS,87) 26 46

Doubles
[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) bt (ALT) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 64 64

[SF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) vs (3) James Cerretani (USA)/ Toshihide Matsui (JPN)

Prajnesh had a tough challenge of former top-10 Russian player, Mikhail Youzhny ... He gave decent performance in the second set after losing the first set.

Vishnu-Bala r in the semis with the straight sets win over Gabashvili and Hurkacz ... Next, they r facing 3rd seed Cerretani and Matsui.

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At $15K Malaysia F3 Futures 2017, Kuala Lumpur

[R2] (Q) Suraj R Prabodh (IND,1618) bt Raphael Baltensperger (SUI,677) 75 76(5)

[QF] (Q) Suraj R Prabodh (IND,1618) vs (4) Scott Griekspoor (NED,505)

Suraj scored an excellent close straight sets win over top-700 Swiss player ... Next, he is having tough match against last week's F2 champion Scott Griekspoor.

Tennis News

At $75K Shenzhen 2 Challenger 2017, China

[R1] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Riccardo Ghedin (ITA)/ Yaraslav Shyla (BLR) 64 67(10) 7-10
[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) bt (2) Cheng-Peng Hsieh (TPE)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 57 63 10-8

[QF] Vishnu Vardhan (IND)/ N. Sriram Balaji (IND) vs (ALT) Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Hubert Hurkacz (POL)

An excellent comeback win by Vishnu and Bala against 2nd seed Taipei pair ... Next, they r facing Polish-Russian pair.

But top-seed Jeevan-chris lost in the first round in the match tie-break ... After winning the first set they missed few match points in the second set tie-break.

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At $75K+H Charlottesville Challenger 2017, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Christopher Eubanks (USA)/ Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 64 60

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WS) Denis Kudla (USA)/ Danny Thomas (USA)

Lee-Purav started with dominating win over American pair ... Next, they r facing another American pair for place in the semis.

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At $75K Canberra 2 Challenger, Australia

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,396) l (LL) Mitchell Benjamin (AUS,826) 46 46

Poor straight sets loss for Sasi against the lucky-loser Benjamin.

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At $15K Malaysia F3 Futures 2017, Kuala Lumpur

[R2] Arjun Kadhe (IND,796) l (3) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,431) 26 67(4)
[R2] (5) Sidharth Rawat (IND,530) l Borna Gojo (CRO,829) 46 75 26

Expected losses of Arjun and Sid ... Arjun had a tough challenge of top-450 French man and Sid faced US collegiate Gojo, who had some good wins on the tour.