Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

Mixed Doubles -
[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (8) Nathalie Dechy (FRA)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 64 62

[F] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs (5) Tiantian Sun (CHN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Junior Boys -
[SF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) l (5) Bernard Tomic (AUS,5) 06 75 16

Superb easy victory for Sania and Mahesh against 8th seed pair ... This is Sania's first-ever grand slam final ... Now she is in chance of becoming first Indian woman grand slam winner and also youngest Indian grand slam winner, currently youngest grand slam winner from India is Mahesh Bhupathi (who won title at age of 23 yrs, French Open MXD in 1997).

Though scoreline showing one-sided score in the sets which Yuki lost, match was evenly played and both players had their chances ... Creditable performance from Yuki to reach semis in his first Junior AO.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) l (7) KLOESEL Sandra (GER,162) 16 16

Doubles -
[QF] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) l CHAN Chin-Wei (TPE)/ FUJIWARA Rika (JPN) 16 26
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[SF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt BURQUIER Gregoire (FRA)/ REIX Clement (FRA) 36 63 10(7)

[F] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs (4) EATON Chris (GBR)/ SKUPSKI Ken (GBR)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l (WC) JENDELUND Robert (SWE)/ SILJESTROM Andreas (SWE) 67(2) 61 (7)10
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Hockey News -
At 8 Nations U21 Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Malaysia 4-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 12', Pramod Kumar (IND) 42', Sarvanjeet Singh (IND) 46', Gurvinder Singh Chandi (IND) 51' and Mohamed Nor Hafiq Abdul Ghaffar (MAS) (PS) 65'

Other matches-
Holland bt South Korea 5-1
Australia bt Germany 6-3
Pakistan bt New Zealand 6-1

India secured place in the final ... The final will be with either Holland or Australia ... In tomorrow's last match Holland need atleast draw against India to make it to final, otherwise Australia having chance to move final with huge win against New Zealand.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $11K WISPA Hangzhou Open, China

[R1] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt Sitih Munirah Jusoh (MAS,63) 9-7 9-4 9-0 (28 mins)
[QF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (7) Chinatsu Matsui (JPN,53) 5-9 9-2 9-5 9-0 (40 mins)

[SF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Rebecca Chiu (HKG,14) 1-9 8-10 6-9 (27 mins)
--------------------------------------------
At $50K Dayton Open, Ohio, USA

[Q1] Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) l Yasser El Halaby (EGY,45) 9-11 2-11 7-11 (31 mins)
--------------------------------------------
At $15K Talisman Energy Bankers Hall Club Pro Am 2008, Calgary, Canada

[R1] (4) Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) l Chris Gordon (USA,74) 7-11 16-14 11-3 8-11 1-11 (85 mins)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (8) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 46 46

Mixed Doubles -
[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (8) Nathalie Dechy (FRA)/ Andy Ram (ISR)
Junior Boys -
[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt (3) Daniel Evans (GBR,10) 76(5) 46 63

[SF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs (5) Bernard Tomic (AUS,5)

After their yesterday's match I was thinking about tough schedule for Bhupathi & Knowles ... They didn't get a time to fully recover from their 2' 24" match against Bryans, inside 14 hrs they were back on the court ... Still creditable performance of reaching AO semis, we can safely hope better results from Bhupathi & Knowles in season 2008.

What one can say about Yuki!!! Amazing result from this 15 yrs old kid ... As PKB mentioned, Yuki is already achieved what nobody in Indian tennis ever achieve at 15 yrs age (being Asia/Oceania junior champion and the SF of a junior Slam) ... Karan was the last Indian tennis player to make the SF of the AO or any other Slam juniors in 2004 ... But Karan did it in his final year as a junior, Yuki is eligible to play junior Slams for TWO more years, so he has at least 11 more Slam junior events to go.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt (PR) SCHAUL Claudine (LUX,480) 64 64

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs (7) KLOESEL Sandra (GER,162)

Another exciting win over Luxembourg player, who was inside top-50 in 2004.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[QF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt BERGMAN Carl (SWE)/ KUMLIN Daniel (SWE) 64 76(1)

[SF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs BURQUIER Gregoire (FRA)/ REIX Clement (FRA)
--------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

[R2] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) l Woong-Sun JUN (KOR,341) 46 63 36

Doubles -
[SF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) l LORENZI Paolo (ITA)/ PETRAZZUOLO Giancarlo (ITA) 46 46
[SF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l (2) NIELSEN Frederik (DEN)/ NORBY Rasmus (DEN) 26 16
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Germany 5-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 9' & 50', Pramod Kumar (IND) 12', Dharamveer Singh (IND) 61', Lalit Upadhyar (IND) 70' and Robert Marx (GER) 57'

Other matches -
Holland bt Malaysia 4-0
New Zealand bt South Korea 5-4
Australia bt Pakistan 6-4

With this win Indian juniors r almost secure place in the final ... Currently they r leading the standing by 2 pts.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 10 - Wednesday the 23rd (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - M. Carlsen 0-1
V. Anand - P. Leko ½-½
V. Kramnik - B. Gelfand ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Topalov ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - J. Polgar ½-½
P. Eljanov - V. Ivanchuk 0-1
M. Adams - L. Aronian ½-½

Round 10 - Wednesday the 23rd (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - G. Sargissian ½-½
Y. Hou - H. Koneru ½-½

Anand managed draw against GM Peter Leko playing with whites ... But Carlsen scored victory so he again jumped into lead by ½ pts over Aronian and by 1 pts over Anand .. So now friday's match against Carlsen is very important for Anand, where he will play with blacks.

Humpy and Hari only managed to draw their respective games ... So after 10 rounds Hari is T5 with 5½ pts and Humpy is on T9 with 4½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi win against lowest rank player Dennis Ruijgrok of Netherlands ... But the leader lost in group C, so Negi is T2 nd position with 6½ pts ... Only ½ pts behind leader.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube De Goa dw Salgaocar Sports Club 1-1

Goal Scored - Felix Chimaokwu (Sal) 26' and Denzil Franco (SCG) 65'

MoM - Felix Chimaokwu (Sal)
--------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l Mahindra United 0-2

Goal Scored - Andrews P. Mensah (MU) 47', Mohammed Rafi (MU) 72'

MoM - Andrews P. Mensah (MU)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Qatar Masters, Doha, Qatar - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T10 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 -2
T59 KAPUR Shiv 73 +1
T78 SINGH Jeev Milkha 74 +2

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 63 57 76(5)

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (8) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/
Andy Ram (ISR)

Mixed Doubles -
[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (7) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Martin Damm (CZE) Walkover

Junior Boys -
[R3] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Tadayuki Longhi (JPN,45) 61 63

[QF] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs (3) Daniel Evans (GBR,10)

Terrific performance by 15 yrs Yuki to reach his first junior grandslam quarter-finals scoring straight sets victory over Japanese opponent ... Sania and Mahesh also got lucky break to move semis in MXD without playing match due to injury to their opponent.

Watched full match, 2 hrs 24 mins battle ... Everyone was sweating out ... And this was definitely best match of AO doubles tournament (even commentators were agree with me.) ... All players were playing with high intensity and showing quality tennis ... Not for a single minute I changed channel ...

This was Bryans first loss at AO from 2005 final against Zimbabweans
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett ... In last 4 years they won 2 titles (2006, 2007) and 2 runner ups (2004, 2005) here ... Match was so close, it was hardly 1 pts different, Bhupathi & Knowles won 111 pts and Bryans won 110 pts.

These was some bad blood between Bryans and Bhupathi & Knowles ... Its started at 4-3 when Bryans did chest bump after breaking Knowles ... And suddenly all players started showing emotions ... And at 5-5 Bhupathi & Knowles had break point at that time Mike hit big serve on Mahesh's body, Mahesh returned awkwardly and Bob killed point with volley ... At same time Bhupathi & Knowles objected (they thought service was long) to umpire asking to use their 'challenge' about calls ... But umpire said "No' stating they were late in raising challenge, as per rule challenge should be raise before opponent finished next shot ... So as per rule challenge wasn't allowed ... Then Knowles tried to talk with Bryans but after Knowles calling they didn't come near to the net ... Then Mike hit 2 aces to win the game ... On 5-6 Knowles won love game and that was the first time in the match Knowles managed that, in that game Bhupathi was charged up showing his fists ... Then after winning tie-break Bhupathi & Knowles did huge 'chest bump' ... It was fun to watch this match.

-------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F2 Futures, Sheffield

[R1] RAJA Purav (IND,864) bt KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE,901) 57 76(2) 64
[R1] (PR) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt (Q) COUPLAND George (GBR,UNR) 63 67(4) 63

[R2] RAJA Purav (IND,864) l (3) NIEMINEN Timo (FIN,392) 26 26
[R2] (PR) MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) l (6) KRETSCHMER Gero (GER,594) 57 46

Doubles -
[R1] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) bt KANEV Yordan (BUL)/ PAZICKY Michal (SVK) 64 61

[QF] (1) KRKOSKA Jiri (CZE)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs BERGMAN Carl (SWE)/ KUMLIN Daniel (SWE)

So this was the first victory for Harsh after playing 5 tournaments after coming out from around 9 months injury break.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

Doubles -
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) bt CZINK Melinda (HUN)/ DITTY Julie (USA) 63 67(1) 10(7)

[QF] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) vs CHAN Chin-Wei (TPE)/ FUJIWARA Rika (JPN)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

[R1] (Q) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) l (Q) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1079) 46 75 46
[R1] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) bt WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR,331) 64 63

[R2] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) vs Woong-Sun JUN (KOR,341)

Doubles -
(QF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) bt (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR) 61 64
[QF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) bt AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) Walkover

[SF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs LORENZI Paolo (ITA)/ PETRAZZUOLO Giancarlo (ITA)
[SF] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs (2) NIELSEN Frederik (DEN)/ NORBY Rasmus (DEN)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt KENT Ryan (USA)/ PEREPELOV Yevgeny (USA) 62 61

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs JENDELUND Robert (SWE)/ SILJESTROM Andreas (SWE)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 9 - Tuesday the 22nd (grandmaster group A)
M. Adams - L. van Wely 1-0
L. Aronian - P. Eljanov ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
J. Polgar - T. Radjabov ½-½
V. Topalov - V. Kramnik 1-0
B. Gelfand - V. Anand ½-½
P. Leko - M. Carlsen 1-0

Round 9 - Tuesday the 22nd (grandmaster group B)
H. Koneru - P. Harikrishna ½-½

Anand managed draw against GM Boris Gelfand playing with blacks ... That helped him to move into standing for T3 with 5 pts and only ½ pts behind leaders GM Levon Aronian and GM Magnus Carlsen.

Humpy managed to hold Hari playing with whites ... So currently Hari is T4 with 5 pts and Humpy is on T10 with 4 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi had disappointing draw against lowly rank GM John van der Wiel playing with blacks ... So Negi is T3 with 5½ and 1½ pts behind leader.

Tennis News -
Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I 2008,

Our team is declared for the tie against Uzbekistan at Delhi from 8th February 2008 ... Leander is playing as a non-playing captain due to foot injury which occurred during second round of Australian Open doubles match.

Indian Team - Leander Paes (Non-playing captain)
Rohan Bopanna, Prakash Amritraj, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Dev Varman
Coach - Nandan Bal
Reserve Players - Ashotosh Singh & Vishnu Vardhan (who will with team during Delhi tie.)
-------------------------------------------
At Australian Open 2008,

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) bt (2) Lisa Raymond (USA)/ Simon Aspelin (SWE) 63 26 10(7)

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs (7) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Martin Damm (CZE)

Juniors -
[R2] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) l (10) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,19) 67(4) 46
[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Zalan Klempa (SVK,74) 36 64 62

[R3] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Tadayuki Longhi (JPN,45)

After initial problems Yuki responded well to Slovakian's game to move in to third round of Australian Open ... In R3 Yuki is facing Japanese unranked opponent, who defeated 9th seeded Australian Matt Reid in the first round ... Good opportunity for Yuki to move into his first junior grandslam quarter-final.

Karunuday lost, but considering the #106 was playing the #18 managed to give the close match was a positive ... Last few months he is giving very consistent results and showing improvement in his game through results ... A very nice run making the main draw as a qualifier and reaching the second round.

So scoring win in super tiebreak Mahesh and Sania enters into quarter-finals of MXD ... Now they will face 7th seed Czech pair of Peschke and Damm.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[Q3] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt (1) SCHIECHTL Tina (AUT,247) 75 63

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs SCHAUL Claudine (LUX,480)

Doubles -
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ ESPERON Soledad (ARG) vs CZINK Melinda (HUN)/ DITTY Julie (USA)

Neha continues with her newly found form beating top-seed Austrian player Tina Schiechtl in straight sets showing her last round's win against past Wimbledon quarter-finalist Stevenson wasn't fluke.

In maindraw she is facing Claudine Schaul, who is playing with injury protected ranking.
--------------------------------------------
At $15K China F2, Dong Guan

Doubles -
[R1] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) bt BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ LISNARD Jean-Rene (MON) 64 75
[R1] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) bt BRIZZI Alberto (ITA)/ MARCHENKO Ilya (UKR) 64 36 13(11)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) bt (3) FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT) 63 75

[QF] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR)
[QF] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) vs KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt Australia 2-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 32', Gurwinder Singh Chandi (IND) 61' and Joshua Pollard (AUS) 58'

Other matches -
Pakistan dw Holland 1-1
Malaysia dw South Korea 1-1
Germany bt New Zealand 7-0
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

East Bengal l Mohun Bagan 0-2

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 29' & 62'

MoM - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R3] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt (11) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 63 62
[R3] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/ Wesley Moodie (RSA) 63 46 36
[R3] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) l (12) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/ Shahar Peer (ISR) 57 36

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (6) Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Jonathan Erlich (ISR) Walkover

Juniors -
[R1] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,81) l (3) Nikola Hofmanova (AUT,8) 16 57

Doubles -
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Karunuday Singh (IND) l Jarryd Chaplin (AUS)/ Jake Eames (AUS) 36 67(0)
[R1] Janaki Gunuganti (IND)/ Poojashree Venkatesha (IND) l (3) Tyra Calderwood (AUS)/ Nikola Hofmanova (AUT) 26 26

Sania had poor match ... She missed lot too many opportunities at the net and Alicia also struggling with her serve ... This pair had off day.

This was 7th loss for Rohan against Wesley Moodie, 4 in singles and 3 in doubles ... Somehow Rohan still can not finding answer to overcome Moodie but hopefully sooner he will overcome this problem ... But still very satisfactory 'first' maindraw doubles outing for Rohan ... This will boost his ranking and provide him more opportunities on ATP level.

So today we had only 1 win in doubles for Mahesh with Mark Knowles ... Now in quarters they r having match against top-seed Bryans.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Waikoloa Challengers, HI, USA

[Q1] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) Bye
[Q2] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt STEVENSON Alexandra (USA,399) 46 75 76(6)

[Q3] (7) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs (1) SCHIECHTL Tina (AUT,247)
-------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q3] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) 60 67(4) 76(4)

[R1] (Q) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (Q) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1079)
[R1] (5) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,278) vs WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR,331)

Doubles -
[R1] SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ VEJMELKA Adam (CZE) vs BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ LISNARD Jean-Rene (MON)
[R1] KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs BRIZZI Alberto (ITA)/ MARCHENKO Ilya (UKR)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ CHEN Ti (TPE) vs (3) FISCHER Martin (AUT)/ OSWALD Philipp (AUT)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K US F3, Boca Raton, FL, USA

[Q1] (13) ROY Rupesh (IND,1084) l BRITTON Devin (USA,UNR) 46 62 26

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 8 - Sunday the 20th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - P. Leko ½-½
M. Carlsen - B. Gelfand ½-½
V. Anand - V. Topalov 1-0
V. Kramnik - J. Polgar ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - L. Aronian ½-½
P. Eljanov - M. Adams ½-½

Round 8 - Sunday the 20th (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - E. L’Ami ½-½
E. Bacrot - H. Koneru ½-½

Until end of 6 rounds Anand was struggling to score his first win ... But after win in 7th round it seems Anand is on roll ... Today only one match produced result and in that Anand scored big win against GM Veselin Topalov playing with whites ... So after 8 rounds, Anand having 4½ pts and he is currently T4 th position.

Disappointing draw for Hari against more than 80 elo points lower rank Netherlands GM Erwin L’Ami playing with whites ... Humpy managed to draw her game playing with blacks against highly rank (2700 elo pts) French GM Etienne Bacrot.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi scored another victory against Netherland's GM Zhaoqin Peng ... With this win Negi moved to 5 pts and T3 in the standing.

Tennis News -
At 2008 Australian Open,

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL) 64 61
[R2] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) 63 36 76(6)
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 63 57 64

Mixed Doubles -
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL)64 64

Juniors -
[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) bt Giorgio Portaluri (ITA,92) 63 26 61
[R1] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) bt (Q) Daniele Piludu (ITA,135) 46 60 63

[R1] (Q) Janaki Gunuganti (IND,183) l (5) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB,10) 16 36

[R2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Zalan Klempa (SVK,74)
[R2] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) vs (10) Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,19)

Very impressive win by 2R or Banglore Bombers ... May be they played uglier (making silly errors) tennis but considering their lack of experiance of playing higher level we should expect that ... Still they produced win over seasoned 'new' pair is very commandable ... Hats off to them ... Lee's loss was hurting but then one should blame for his doubles partner selection ... So today I m very happy for Rohan and Rajeev, for me this is 'the' break which Rohan was waiting for ... Kudos to him ... With this 2 wins here Roahn will definetly move near to top-50 of doubles ranking.

Also happy for Yuki and Karuuday's first win in the Junior grandslam ... I m sure many more wins will follow.

Good start for Sania and Mahesh in MXD, but now they r having tough match against 2nd seed pair of Lisa Raymond (USA)/ Simon Aspelin (SWE).

In mens doubles Mahesh and Mark Knowles facing Polish pair 11th seed Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL).
--------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q2] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt CROWE Joshua (AUS,1022) 76(10) 63
[Q2] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484) 64 64

[Q3] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India bt Sporting Clube De Goa 1-0

Goal Scored - Bashiru Abass (AI) 90+'

MoM - Bashiru Abass (AI)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

18th January 2008
India bt New Zealand 6-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 40' & 64', Sarvanjeet Singh (IND)8' & 16', Dharamveer Singh (IND) 19', Gurwinder Singh Chandi (IND) 36' and Stephen Jennes (NZL) 35'

Other matches-
Pakistan bt Malaysia 4-1
Australia bt South Korea 2-1
Holland dw Germany 1-1

19th January 2008
India dw Pakistan 1-1

Other matches -
Germany bt South Korea 4-3
New Zealand bt Malaysia 2-1
Holland bt Australia 4-2

Chess News -
At Corus 2008,

Round 7 - Saturday 19th (grandmaster group A)
P. Eljanov - L. van Wely ½-½
M. Adams - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
L. Aronian - T. Radjabov 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - V. Kramnik ½-½
J. Polgar - V. Anand 0-1
V. Topalov - M. Carlsen ½-½
B. Gelfand - P. Leko ½-½

Round 7 - Saturday the 19th (grandmaster group B)
I. Nepomniachtchi - P. Harikrishna ½-½
H. Koneru - M. Krasenkow 1-0

So atlast Anand managed to win his first match in ongoing Corus tournament ... It was a long wait until 7th round ... Anand defeated Polgar playing with blacks ... Now Anand is on T5 th position with 3½ pts ... In 8th round he is playing important match with whites against Topalov.

In grandmaster group B, Hari managed to draw his match against Russian GM Nepomniachtchi playing with blacks but other hand Humpy scored exciting win against highly ranked Polsh GM Krasenkow playing with whites ... Now after 7 rounds Hari T3 rd position with 4 pts and Humpy is T10 th position with 3 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi shooked off his 6th round defeat to beat USA's WGM Irina Krush ... Negi is on 4 pts and T6 th position.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R3] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,32) l (8) Venus Williams (USA,8) 67(0) 46

Junior Boys -
[R1] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,17) vs Giorgio Portaluri (ITA,92)
[R1] (Q) Karunuday Singh (IND,103) vs (Q) Daniele Piludu (ITA,135)

Junior Girls -
[Q2] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) bt (11) CUTHBERTSON Janelle (AUS,212) 64 75

[R1] Poojashree Venkatesha (IND,81) vs (3) Nikola Hofmanova (AUT,8)
[R1] (Q) Janaki Gunuganti (IND,183) vs (5) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB,10)

Janaki qualified for maindraw of Junior girls defeating local girl ... Tomorrow if weather permit we have 7 matches.
--------------------------------------------
At $ 10 K China F2, Dong Guan

[Q1] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) bt (WC) LU Yang (CHN,NR) 64 75
[Q1] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt (WC) FENG Nian (CHN,NR) 61 61

[Q2] (4) RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs CROWE Joshua (AUS,1022)
[Q2] (14) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) vs ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[F] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) l LAM Chris (USA)/ WETTENGEL Chris (USA) 46 76(6) (9)11

Good result for Rupesh in doubles though he lost in the final of US F2 doubles.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 6 - Friday the 18th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - B. Gelfand ½-½
P. Leko - V. Topalov 0-1
M. Carlsen - J. Polgar 1-0
V. Anand - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
V. Kramnik - L. Aronian 1-0
T. Radjabov - M. Adams ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - P. Eljanov ½-½

Round 6 - Friday the 18th (grandmaster group B)
P. Harikrishna - J. Smeets 0-1
I. Cheparinov - H. Koneru ½-½

Anand still struggling to find his first win another draw in 6th round against Ivanchuk ... Anand is remained to T11 position with 2½.

Hari suffered his first loss of the tournament ... He slide down to T5th position with 3½ pts and Humpy is T11 with 2 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi lost against GM Nijboer and currently he is T8 with 3 pts.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Mahindra United bt Dempo Sports Club 3-1

Goal Scored - Sukhvinder Singh (MU) 18', Andrews Pomeye Mensah (MU) 32', Douhou SD Pierre (MU) 56' and Ranti Martin (DSC) 90+'

MoM - Douhou SD Pierre (MU)
--------------------------------------

JCT Phagwara bt Viva Kerala 2-0

Goal Scored - Edu Ardo Dasilva (JCT) 58', Sunil Chhetri (JCT) 62'

MoM - Sunil Chhetri (JCT)
--------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers bt Salgaocar Sports Club 2-1

Goal Scored - Mboyo Iyomi (CB) 75', Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB) 90+' and Rocus Lamare (Sal) 41'

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

MXD -
[R1] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Renata Voracova (CZE)/ David Skoch (CZE) 26 62 10(6)

Womens Doubles -
[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 63 57 1-1

Junior Boys -
[Q1] TIWARI Abhijeet (IND,180) l (3) GARFORTH-BLES Sam (CAN,89) 36 46
[Q1] (6) SINGH Karunuday (IND,103) bt (WC) BROOKMAN Blake (AUS,582) 62 60

[Q2] (6) SINGH Karunuday (IND,103) bt EAMES Jake (AUS,367) 26 62 75

Junior Girls -
[Q1] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) bt STUCKEY Vicky (AUS,533) 63 76(2)
[Q1] (8) DAYAL Sonya (IND,191) l PATTERSON, Tammi (AUS,390) 16 26

[Q2] (7) GUNUGANTI Janaki (IND,183) vs (11) CUTHBERTSON Janelle (AUS,212)

Karunuday qualified for maindraw of Junior Boys section at AO ... So after longtime we r seeing our two boys r in the maindraw.

Sania's doubles match suspended due to poor light, now remaining match will be finished tomorrow as Sania and Alicia having 2 break points in 3rd game on Russians service, 15-40.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[SF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (3) KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS)/ YOO Daniel (KOR) 76(0) 3-2 Retd.

[F] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs LAM Chris (USA)/ WETTENGEL Chris (USA)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 8 Nations Invitational Tournament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

India bt South Korea 6-1

Goal Scored - Diwakar Ram (IND) (PC) 9', 55' & 63', Sanwar Ali (IND) 33', Gurwinder Singh (IND) 51', Pramod Kumar (IND) 64' and Lim Woo-geun (KOR) 69'

Other matches-
Australia bt Malaysia 5-2
Holland bt New Zealand 9-1
Germany bt Pakistan 5-1
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus 2008, 11-27 January 2008

Round 5 - Thursday the 17th (grandmaster group B event)
S. Movsesian - P. Harikrishna ½-½
H. Koneru - G. Sargissian ½-½

In grandmaster group B event, Hari playing with black and Humpy playing with white managed to draw their respective matches against higher rating opponents ... Hari is currently 2nd position with 3½ pts, mere ½ pts behind leader French GM Etienne Bacrot .. And Humpy on 13th position with 1½ pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi won his 5th round match against Ukranian WGM Anna Ushenina ... So this was consecutive 3rd win for Negi after losing first 2 games ... Now he is tied for 4th position with 3 pts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, UAE - Second Round (EPGA Tour)

------------ Cut @ + 1 -------------------
T77 SINGH Jeev Milkha 76 71 + 3
T100 RANDHAWA Jyoti 75 75 + 6
T106 KAPUR Shiv 74 77 + 7

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R2] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) bt (Q) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI,119) 61 46 75

[R3] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs (8) Venus Williams (USA,)

Doubles -
[R1] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Luis Horna (PER)/ Stefan Koubek (AUT) 76(2) 76(5)
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)/ Mischa Zverev (GER) 76(10) 64

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
[R2] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)

Surprisingly tough match ... In the first set after losing her serve she was controlling the tempo of match ... Bacsinszky was looking ordinary and making heap of UFEs ... But from the second set Sania's game was totally disarray ... Her shots selection was wrong and then suddenly UFEs started flow in from all directions ... At that time Bacsinszky was looking like more controlled player ... But in third set 3rd game was crucial when she hold her serve and then Sania returned in the match and winning final set 75 ... In the final set major difference was Sania's experience of playing on this level that Bacsinszky's experience.

Such lapse of concentration against Venus will be very costly for Sania.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) l (Q) KARATANTCHEVA Sesil (BUL,UNR) 62 36 26
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1083) l (Q) KIM Hyung-Kwon (KOR,1391) 16 36

Doubles -
[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (2) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ BATTISTONE Dann (USA) 46 75 10(8)

[SF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs (3) KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS)/ YOO Daniel (KOR)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Proton Malaysia Open Super Series

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) l Hyun Ii LEE (KOR,28) 24-22 14-21 13-21
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 5 - Thursday the 17th (grandmaster group A)
S. Mamedyarov - L. van Wely 1-0
P. Eljanov - T. Radjabov 0-1
M. Adams - V. Kramnik ½-½
L. Aronian - V. Anand ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - M. Carlsen ½-½
J. Polgar - P. Leko ½-½
V. Topalov - B. Gelfand 1-0

Another uninspiring draw in 20 moves for Anand ... Anand is still searching for his first win in this year's tournament ... Currently Anand tied for 11th position in this 14 players field.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, UAE - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T74 KAPUR Shiv 74 + 2
T88 RANDHAWA Jyoti 75 + 3
T101 SINGH Jeev Milkha 76 + 4

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt James Auckland (GBR)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 61 76(4)

[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)/ Jasmin Woehr (GER) 63 46 64

[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Mixed Doubles -
[R1] Agnes Szavay (HUN)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Renata Voracova (CZE)/ David Skoch (CZE)
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Alicia Molik (AUS)/ Nathan Healey (AUS)

So this is first victory for Rohan at grandslam level ... We friends calling pair of Rohan and Rajeev as "Bangalore Bombers" as their huge services and connection to Banglore (Rohan Bopanna is from Bangalore and Rajeev Ram's father is from Bangalore and his mother is from UP) ... It was a hard fought win for Bangalore Bombers in the second set considering they wasted 4 match points when they were leading 5-4 ... But a victory should give them the required confidence to do well in the second round.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) vs (Q) KARATANTCHEVA Sesil (BUL,UNR)

Doubles -
[R1] (1) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT)/ RAO Sunitha (IND) l NAGLE Courtney (USA)/ STEPHENSON Robin (USA) 36 36
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) l (WC) GULLICKSON Carly (USA)/ PERRY Shenay (USA) 06 57

Remember Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva?
ITF banned Sesil Karatantcheva for 2 yrs from 1st Jan, 2006 to 31st Dec, 2007 for the use of banned steroid nandrolone ... Karatantcheva tested positive twice in 2005 - at the French Open and in Tokyo where she was playing a Fed Cup tie ... In 2005 at age of 16 yrs she was #35 in WTA ranking and already scored win against players like Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams ... She was Junior WR #1 in 2004 after winning Junior French Open.

For qualifying for this ongoing Surprise challanger, Sesil needed to play pre-qualifying tournament and as the winner of that tournament recieved qualifying WC and then won 3 more matches to qualify for maindraw.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Doubles -
[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt POKRAJAC Milan (CAN)/ VODICKA Lance (USA) 63 63

[QF] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs (2) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ BATTISTONE Dann (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) l (4) OUANNA Josselin (FRA,275) 46 26
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Proton Malaysia Open Super Series

[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,50) l Tien Minh NGUYEN (VIE,42) 21-16 20-22 12-21
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) bt Roman SPITKO (GER,71) 21-15 21-12

[Q1] Shruti KURIAN (IND,123) l Li Ya Lydia CHEAH (MAS,110) 7-21 19-21
[Q1] Jwala GUTTA (IND,154) l Jeanine CICOGNINI (SUI,52) 15-21 17-21

[Q1] Saina NEHWAL (IND)/ Anna RICE (CAN) l Li Ying CHANG (TPE)/ Shih Chieh HUNG (TPE) 15-21 21-18 10-21

[Q2] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) bt Mohd Arif ABDUL LATIF (MAS,111) 21-19 21-10

[Q3] Arvind BHAT (IND,45) l Tien Minh NGUYEN (VIE,42) 10-21 20-22

Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) bt (Q) Chun Seang TAN (MAS,57) 16-21 21-18 21-14
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,27) l Juliane SCHENK (GER,17) 21-23 9-21

[R1] Shruti KURIAN (IND)/ Jwala GUTTA (IND) l Joanne NICHOLAS (ENG)/ Natalie MUNT (ENG) 12-21 21-14 17-21

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) vs Hyun Ii LEE (KOR,28)

Anup is taking advantage of favourable draw ... Now in second round facing Korean player who defeated WR #6 Indonasian player, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, in first round.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Corus 2008, 11-27 January, 2008

Round 4 - Tuesday the 15th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - V. Topalov 1-0
B. Gelfand - J. Polgar 0-1
P. Leko - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
M. Carlsen - L. Aronian ½-½
V. Anand - M. Adams ½-½
V. Kramnik - P. Eljanov 1-0
T. Radjabov - S. Mamedyarov ½-½

Standings after round 4 (grandmaster group A)
1. L. Aronian 3
1. M. Carlsen 3
3. V. Kramnik 2½
3. T. Radjabov 2½
3. J. Polgar 2½
3. L. van Wely 2½
7. M. Adams 2
7. V. Ivanchuk 2
7. P. Leko 2
10. S. Mamedyarov 1½
10. V. Anand 1½
12. P. Eljanov 1
12. V. Topalov 1
12. B. Gelfand 1

Round 4 - Tuesday the 15th (grandmaster group B event)
P. Harikrishna - W. Spoelman 1-0
N. Short - H. Koneru ½-½

Today is rest day ... Anand needs to regroup himself to perform better in remaining rounds ... Currently Anand is 1½ pts behind leaders.

In grandmaster group B event, Hari continued with his fine form scoring another victory over IM Wouter Spoelman and Humpy recovered to draw her match against GM Nigel Short ... So after 4 rounds Hari is leading with GM Jan Smeets and GM Etienne Bacrot with 3 pts ... Humpy is on 13th position with 1 pts.

In grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi scored consecutive 2nd win beating Chinese GM Shilong Li ... So after 4 round he is on T7 th position with 2 pts.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[R1] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) bt (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,317) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,233) l Simone Bolelli (ITA,69) 67(5) 63 46 62 36

[R2] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs Timea Bacsinszky (SUI,119)

Very clinical display by Sania after got broken in the 4th game ... She was struggling with her service but volleys and overheads were superb ... Thats major improvement was seen in her game.

Rajeev gave valiant effort against top-70 Italian player ... Was unlucky after fighting for 5 sets.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[Q2] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) l MINELLA Mandy (LUX,404) 16 46
[Q2] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) l (6) PIEDADE Frederica (POR,300) 36 62 16

[R1] (5) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) vs Qualifier

Doubles -
[R1] (1) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT)/ RAO Sunitha (IND) vs NAGLE Courtney (USA)/ STEPHENSON Robin (USA)
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) vs (WC) GULLICKSON Carly (USA)/ PERRY Shenay (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F2, North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

[R1] ROY Rupesh (IND,1083) vs (Q) KIM Hyung-Kwon (KOR,1391)

Doubles -
[R1] INBAR Amit (ISR)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) vs POKRAJAC Milan (CAN)/ VODICKA Lance (USA)
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

Doubles -
[R1] LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) l (1) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN)/ ZENG Shao-Xuan (CHN) 36 36
[R1] BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR) 57 67(1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -

Today 27 yrs old Viren Rasquinha announced his retirement from internationals to pursue an MBA degree at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

Rasquinha represented India at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the World Cup in 2006; he was part of the team that won the junior World Cup in 2001 and honoured with the Arjuna award for the year 2005.

Tennis News -
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[F] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (1) VEMIC Dusan (SRB,152) 46 64 64

So with this win he started 2008 in grand style ... Double crown at USA F1 ... In that he had 2 victories over world #152 and a former world #110 ... Great stuff Buji, we knows many more will come once u turn pro in May/June.

Somdev Devvarman - “Winning a tournament always feels good. There were a lot of great players in this tournament. I had just hoped to learn a lot down here and I was happy with the result. I am ready to get the college season started next week.”

Virginia head coach Brian Boland - “I was really proud of Somdev’s effort throughout the tournament. He improved with each match. Today, after losing the first set, he really raised the level of his play. It has been enjoyable to watch him continue to develop these last few months.”
--------------------------------------------
At Australian Open 2008,

Doubles -
[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Alicia Molik (AUS) vs Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)/ Jasmin Woehr (GER)
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)/ Mischa Zverev (GER)
[R1] (5)Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Luis Horna (PER)/ Stefan Koubek (AUT)
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs James Auckland (GBR)/ Sam Querrey (USA)

Women's doubles draw is out ... Sania get her best-ever seeding in grandslam with Alicia Molik ... They r 6th seeds and r in the bottom draw.

Interesting to see pairing of Rohan and Rajeev as Rohan/ Aisam's combined ranking didn't help them to gain direct entry into Australian Open doubles draw ... If Rohan and Rajeev wins their first round, then they r in chance of meeting 5th seed pair Lee and Paul in second round ... I would luv to see match between them.
--------------------------------------------
At $25k Surprise challanger, AZ, USA

[Q1] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) bt GAMBALE Mary (USA,479) 75 36 60
[Q1] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) bt (WC) SULLIVAN Lindsay (USA,NR) 61 61

[Q2] (9) UBEROI Neha (USA,312) vs MINELLA Mandy (LUX,404)
[Q2] UBEROI Shikha (IND,749) vs (6) PIEDADE Frederica (POR,300)
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[Q3] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) l (13) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1078) 57 64 57

Maindraw -
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,469) vs (4) OUANNA Josselin (FRA,275)

Doubles -
[R1] LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ SHOKEEN Vivek (IND) vs (1) YU Xin-Yuan (CHN)/ ZENG Shao-Xuan (CHN)
[R1] BALLERET Benjamin (MON)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs (4) VAN DER DUIM Antal (NED)/ WEINTRAUB Amir (ISR)

Chess News -
At Corus Chess 2008,

Round 1 - Saturday the 12th (grandmaster group A)
V. Kramnik - L. van Wely ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Anand 1-0
S. Mamedyarov - M. Carlsen 0-1
P. Eljanov - P. Leko ½-½
M. Adams - B. Gelfand ½-½
L. Aronian - V. Topalov 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - J. Polgar ½-½

Round 2 - Sunday the 13th (grandmaster group A)
L. van Wely - J. Polgar ½-½
V. Topalov - V. Ivanchuk ½-½
B. Gelfand - L. Aronian 0-1
P. Leko - M. Adams ½-½
M. Carlsen - P. Eljanov 1-0
V. Anand - S. Mamedyarov ½-½
V. Kramnik - T. Radjabov ½-½

Round 3 - Monday the 14th (grandmaster group A)
T. Radjabov - L. van Wely ½-½
S. Mamedyarov - V. Kramnik ½-½
P. Eljanov - V. Anand ½-½
M. Adams - M. Carlsen ½-½
L. Aronian - P. Leko ½-½
V. Ivanchuk - B. Gelfand ½-½
J. Polgar - V. Topalov ½-½

Very disappointing perfromance by Anand with couple of draw against lowly ranked player Mamedyarov and Eljanov.

In grandmaster group B event, Humpy lost first match against Smeets but she managed draw in second round against Nepomniachtchi ... Other hand Harikrishna draw his first match against Nigel Short and won 2nd round match against Chilian Women GM Yifan Hou ... Currently he is leading group B event with 5 other GMs.

Round 1 - Saturday the 12th
J. Smeets - H. Koneru 1-0
P. Harikrishna - N. Short ½-½

Round 2 - Sunday the 13th
H. Koneru - I. Nepomniachtchi ½-½
P. Harikrishna - Y. Hou 1-0

And in grandmaster group C event, Parimarjan Negi still waiting to open his account ... He lost first 2 matches against Swedish GM Pontus Carlsson and German IM Arik Braun ... Carlsson offered him draw in the first round but he declined.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Final Standing

T32 Daniel Chopra 66 71 68 73 -2 $ 28,090.00
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

JCT Phagwara bt East Bengal 3-0

Goal Scored - Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT) 6', Baldeep Singh (JCT) 9', Edu Ardo Dasilva (JCT) (PK) 39'

MoM - Baljit Singh Sahni (JCT)
--------------------------------------

Air India bt Salgaocar Sports Club 2-1

Goal Scored - Paresh Shivalkar (AI) 29', Samson Singh (AI) 44' and Felix Chimaokwu (Sal) 23'

MoM - Arnab Das Sarma (AI)
--------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers bt Mahindra United 4-2

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB) 1', 62', 66' & 89' and A Pomeye Mensah (MU) 53', Steven Dias (MU) 64'

MoM - Odafe Onyeke Okolie (CB)

Tennis News -
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[SF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (WC) Gregory OUELLETTE (USA,1100) 60 1-0

[F] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (1) VEMIC Dusan (SRB,152)

So with Ouellette's retirement Somi reached USA F1 final easily ... Now he is having tough opponent in top seed top-150 player ... Reaching $10K final Buji guaranteed himself 8 ranking points and with title win he will gain 4 more points.
--------------------------------------------
At $10K Great Britain F1, Sunderland

[Q1] MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) bt ARLIDGE Burnham (GBR,UNR) 62 63

[Q2] MANKAD Harsh (IND,UNR) l (11) ILLINGWORTH Matthew (GBR,1177) 75 46 36
--------------------------------------------
At $15k China F1, Shenzhen

[Q1] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt ZHANG Hui (CHN,1484) 62 63
[Q2] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) bt YE Chen (CHN,1484) 60 64

[Q3] (4) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,699) vs (13) CHO Min-Hyoek (KOR,1078)

Vivek won easily first 2 qualifying rounds against local boys, now facing Korean in the final qualifying round.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $6K Regions Racquet Club Pro 2008, St Louis, USA

[R1] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (Q) Joe Millman (ENG,251) 11-1 11-4 11-4
[QF] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (4) Ian Power (CAN,104) 11-7 11-7 11-5 (40m)
[SF] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt (1) Tony James (AUS,81) 11-7 11-8 11-9 (55m)

[F] (8) Siddarth Suchde (IND,160) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX,184) 11-9 11-6 11-4 (50m)

Siddarth Suchde became the first PSA champion of 2008 after winning a new Super Satellite event at the Regions Racket Club in St Louis ... Siddarth kept up his record of not dropping a game in this tournament.
--------------------------------------------
At $82K Tournament of Champions, New York, USA

[Q1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) Bye
[Q2] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) bt Gilly Lane (USA,117) 5-11 11-3 11-7 8-11 11-5 (59m)

[R1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,61) l (6) John White (SCO,9) 4-11 3-11 8-11 (24m)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Third Round

T26 Daniel Chopra 66 71 68 -5
T41 Vijay Singh 70 68 69 -3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Dempo SC bt Sporting Clube de Goa 4-1

Goal Scored - Ranti Martin (DSC) 16' 42' & 90'+, Chidi Edeh (DSC) 23' and Fredy Mascernahas (SCG) 64'

MoM - Ranti Martin (DSC)
----------------------------------------

Viva Kerala l Mohun Bagan 0-2

Goal Scored - Bhaichung Bhutia (MB) 36', Ishfaq Ahmed (MB) 88'

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt (28) Danai Udomchoke (THA,153) 67(1) 75 62
[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) l (7) Denis Gremelmayr (GER,118) 26 46

Maindraw -
[R1] (Q) Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA,69)

Kash couldn't produced any magic against German player ... But other hand Rajeev produced superb comeback against Udomchoke when he was down 0-3 in second set after losing first.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[QF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (Q) Todd PAUL (USA,1484) 76(5) 61

[SF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (WC) Gregory OUELLETTE (USA,1100)

Doubles -
[F] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE) 62 62

So Somis's juggernaut continues … That also comeback win in the first set … Buji is class apart … I m now eagerly waiting for May 2008 when he will turns pro.

Very solid performance to win doubles title beating top 2 pairs … I think pair of Buji and Huey having decent chance of performing well regularly on tour also.

Some part of the match report - (from Zoo Tennis)
I was told that Paul's forehand was hitting every line in the first five games, and he had a 4-1 lead when I arrived. With Devvarman serving at 2-5, it was 0-30, but he held, broke Paul for 4-5, saved a set point with a forehand winner in that game, then both players held easily to reach the tiebreaker.

Paul took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but Devvarman found another gear. A perfect lob winner at 5-5 gave him his first set point, which he won as a result of an outstanding return, and he went on to take the next 13 points. It was the second point of the second set's fourth game before Paul won another point, and by then Devvarman had assured himself a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour) - Second Round

T32 Daniel Chopra 66 71 -3

Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

Third Final (Best of 3) -

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chandigarh Dynamos 2-1

Goal Scored - Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PC) 32', You Hyo Sik (BHF) 60' and Sandeep Singh (CD) (PC) 70'

MoM - Bharat Chhettri (BHF)

This is the second time that the Hi-Fliers have won the title ... Before this they won in 2006 beating the same opponents ... Superb comeback victory for Hi-Fliers after losing first final against local favourite to win 2-1 in best of 3 finals.

The Hi-Fliers recieved huge bonus the trophy and the cash prize of Rs 40 lakhs ... Dynamos won Rs 20 lakhs and the two semi-finalist teams, Hyderabad Sultans and Orissa Steelers, recieved Rs 5 lakhs each.

Dynamos' Sandeep Singh became the top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals and Hi-Fliers' captain Arjun Halappa was declared 'man of the tournament' ... The Bangalore Hi-Fliers were also won the trophy for the fair play.

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt (WC) Carsten Ball (AUS,378) 64 75

[Q3] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs (28) Danai Udomchoke (THA,153)

Maindraw -
[R1] (31) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs (WC) TULYAGANOVA Iroda (UZB,317)

Sania is having favourable draw, in second round also she will face another wild card or qualifier ... And then would be the mouth watering match with Venus Williams in third round.
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[R2] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) bt (8) (Q) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398) 63 61

[QF] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1036) vs (Q) Todd PAUL (USA,1484)

Doubles -
[SF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (1) DE HEART Ryler (USA)/ SMYCZEK Tim (USA) 62 64

[SF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) l (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE) 26 16

[F] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE)

What a score line against these top 300 players! ... To beat someone ranked 110 two years ago in such easy straight sets is truly eye-catching ... These days whenever he gets chance he is taming them with his performance.

And his this performance also continue in doubles with company of Treat Huey ... They defeated top seeds quite easily and now facing 2nd seeds pair, who defeated Sanam and John in other semi-final, in the final.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R2] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) l (LL) COUTS Kimberly (USA,438) 67(4) 61 36
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Sony Open, Hawaii (PGA Tour)

T5 Daniel Chopra 66 -4
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Viva Kerala bt Air India 3-2

Goal Scored - Wisdom Abbey (VK) 52', Khelemba Singh (VK) 63', B Baba Tunde (VK) 83' and Bashiru M Abbas (AI) 58', Suleh Musah (AI) 67'

MoM - Khelemba Singh (VK)

Tennis News -
At Australian Open 2008,

[Q1] Rohan Bopanna (IND,292) bt Goiuchi Motomura (JPN,300) 63 64
[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) bt Hugo Armando (USA,226) 64 75
[Q1] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR,199) 63 63
[Q1] (16) Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK,130) l Stephane Bohli (SUI,182) 75 36 36

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,292) l Sam Warburg (USA,172) 36 67(9)
[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) bt (WC) Bernard Tomic (AUS,UNR) 63 62
[Q2] Rajeev Ram (USA,233) vs (WC) Carsten Ball (AUS,378)

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,278) vs (7) Denis Gremelmayr (GER,118)

Prakash move into final qualifying round with easy victory against 16 yrs old Tomic ... Rohan saved 2 match points against Warburg but couldn't manage to save third.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] (1) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) l (Q) RAMPRE Petra (SLO,753) 16 64 36

[R2] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) vs (LL) COUTS Kimberly (USA,438)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[R1] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) bt (Q) Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE,UNR) 26 63 62

[R2] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) vs (8) (Q) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398)

Doubles -
[QF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt (4) Andrey KUMANTSOV (RUS)/ Daniel YOO (KOR) 75 46 10(6)

[QF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) bt (3) Brian BATTISTONE (USA)/ Dann BATTISTONE (USA) 64 16 10(5)

[SF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (1) DE HEART Ryler (USA)/ SMYCZEK Tim (USA)
[SF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) vs (2) CHRAMOSTA Ladislav (CZE)/ LUSTIG Daniel (CZE)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

Second Final (Best of 3) -

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Chandigarh Dynamos 4-2

Goal Scored - Sandeep Michael (BHF) (PC) 23', You Hyo Sik (BHF) 32' & 42', Hariprasad (BHF) 61' and Deepak Thakur (CD) 10', Rajpal Singh (CD) 22'

MoM - You Hyo Sik (BHF)

Dynamos were up 2-0 after 22nd minutes but Hi-Fliers produced superb comeback to scored sounding victory and make 3rd match as a Grand Finale.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube De Goa bt Mohun Bagan 1-0

Goal Scored - O.E.O. Junior (SCG) 85'

MoM - Joseph Pereira (SCG)
--------------------------------------

Dempo Sports Club bt Churchill Brothers 4-1

Goal Scored - Chidi Edeh (DSC), Ranti Martins (DSC) (PC), Periera Anthony (DSC), Abranches Joaquim (DSC) and Mboyo Iyomi (CB)

MoM - Periera Anthony (DSC)
--------------------------------------

Mahindra United bt J.C.T Phagwara 3-1

Goal Scored - Andrew Mensh Pomeyie (MU) 10' & 65', Douhou S.D. Pierre (MU) 87' and Edu Ardo Da Silva (JCT) 7'

MoM - Andrew Mensh Pomeyie (MU)

Tennis News -
At $170K Moorilla Hobart International, Australia

[QF] (6) Sania Mirza (IND,31) l Flavia Pennetta (ITA,39) 57 61 36

So this was Sania's 2nd loss against Pennetta whom she lost at Japan Open in 2007 ... Sania's only win against Pennetta came in 2006 at Paris Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $465K Medibank International, Sydney, Australia

[R1] BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) l BERDYCH Tomas (CZE)/ STEPANEK Radek (CZE) 46 46
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) bt KAPROS Aniko (HUN,545) 16 63 76(3)

Doubles -
[R1] (3) UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) l DENTONI Corinna (ITA)/ PIVOVAROVA Anastasia (RUS) 76(5) 26 (9)11

[R1] RAO Sunitha (IND)/ DABROWSKI Gabriela (CAN) l ESPERON Soledad (ARG)/ PIEDADE Frederica (POR) 36 16
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

Doubles -
[R1] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) bt Antoine BODWIN (USA)/ Amit INBAR (ISR) 60 62

[R1] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) bt Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE)/ Marcus FUGATE (USA) 61 26 10(4)

[QF] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs (4) Andrey KUMANTSOV (RUS)/ Daniel YOO (KOR)
[QF] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) vs (3) Brian BATTISTONE (USA)/ Dann BATTISTONE (USA)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Salgaocar Sports Club dw East Bengal 0-0
---------------------------------------------------------------
ONGC I-League Team Standings (after completed approx. half matches)

Pos Team P W D L GF GA PTS GD
1 Dempo Sports Club 9 6 3 0 19 4 21 +15
2 JCT Phagwara 9 5 4 0 17 7 19 +10
3 Churchill Brothers 9 5 2 2 23 11 17 +12
4 McDowell Mohun Bagan 9 4 2 3 14 14 14 0
5 Mahindra United 9 2 5 2 8 9 11 -1
6 Viva Kerala 9 2 3 4 7 16 9 -9
7 Sporting Clube De goa 9 2 3 4 6 13 9 -7
8 Air India 9 1 5 3 5 10 8 -5
9 Kingfisher East Bengal 10 2 2 6 11 15 8 -4
10 Salgaocar Sports Club 10 0 5 5 13 24 5 -11

Tennis News -
At $170K Moorilla Hobart International, Australia

[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND,31) bt (LL) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS,77) 63 64

Sania moved to quarter-finals with another straight sets victory.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Challenger, FL, USA

[R1] (1) RAO Sunitha (IND,194) vs Qualifier
[R1] UBEROI Neha (USA,313) vs KAPROS Aniko (HUN,545)

Doubles -
[R1] (3) UBEROI Neha (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) vs DENTONI Corinna (ITA)/ PIVOVAROVA Anastasia (RUS)
[R1] RAO Sunitha (IND)/ DABROWSKI Gabriela (CAN) vs ESPERON Soledad (ARG)/ PIEDADE Frederica (POR)
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[Q4] (9) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) bt (1) Nicholas MONROE (USA,347) 61 60
[Q4] (13) Sanam SINGH (IND,1151) l (2) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398) 36 46

Maindraw -
[R1] (Q) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND,1033) vs (Q) Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE,UNR)

Doubles -
[R1] Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND)/ Treat HUEY (USA) vs Antoine BODWIN (USA)/ Amit INBAR (ISR)
[R1] John Houston BARRICK (USA)/ Sanam SINGH (IND) vs Theodoros ANGELINOS (GRE)/ Marcus FUGATE (USA)

What a one-sided win against top 350 player by Somi ... He is truly showing his class and where he stands currently with his game ... Go Buji.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

First Final (Best of 3) -

Chandigarh Dynamos bt Bangalore Hi-Fliers 3-2

Goal Scored - Sher Singh (CD) 2', Rajpal Singh (CD) 7', Deepak Thakur (CD) 37' and Sandeep Michael (BHF) 13', Hariprasad (BHF) 69'

MoM - Rajpal Singh (CD)

Golf News -
At Mercedes-Benz Championship, Kapalua, Hawaii - Final Standing

1 Daniel Chopra 69 72 67 66 -18
2 Steve Stricker 73 69 68 64 -18
3 Stephen Ames 72 67 70 66 -17
4 Mike Weir 71 67 68 70 -16
T12 Vijay Singh 74 70 67 70 -11

Indian-Swidish Daniel Chopra scored playoff victory on Sunday, he two-putted for birdie on the par-5 ninth to beat Steve Stricker in fourth extra hole ... Daniel Chopra, who only qualified for this winners-only tournament with his first PGA TOUR victory in the second-to-last event of last year ... Chopra entered in this tournament ranked 120 in the world – the lowest in the field in 2008.

The Indian-Swede earned $1.1 million and a Mercedes-Benz sports car... And more importantly, his victory earned him his first trip to the Masters.

With this win he also joins Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia as a winner of the PGA Tour's winners-only field in the first try.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At British Junior Open 2008,

Girl's Under 17 -
[R1] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) Bye
[R1] (9/16) Anwesha Reddy (IND) Bye

[R2] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt (17/32) Simone Sahd (SAF) 9-0 9-4 9-1 (14m)
[R2] (9/16) Anwesha Reddy (IND) bt (17/32) Tesni Evans (WAL) 9-3 6-9 9-0 9-1 (28m)

[PQF] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt (9/16) Katherine Quarterman (ENG) 9-2 9-0 9-4 (18m)
[PQF] (9/16) Anwesha Reddy (IND) bt (5/8) Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 9-3 9-1 7-9 9-3 (30m)

[QF] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt (2) Laura Gemmell (CAN) 9-10 9-4 10-9 10-9 (68m)
[QF] (9/16) Anwesha Reddy (IND) l (1) Heba Alaa El Torky (EGY) 0-9 10-8 5-9 1-9 (35m)

[SF] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt (9/16) Salma Nassar 9-10 9-7 9-1 9-6 (48m)

[Final] (5/8) Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt (1) Heba Alaa El Torky (EGY) 9-6 5-9 9-6 1-9 9-5

This is repeat performance by Dipika what Joshna achieved ... Dipika defeated top 2 seeds to won British Open Under 17 title in style ... So coaching under Egyptian Amir Wagih started to produce result for Dipika ... Anwesha Reddy also finished 6th in Under 17 championship.

Tennis News -
At $170K Moorilla Hobart International, Australia

[R1] (6) Sania Mirza (IND,31) bt (Q) Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP,72) 64 60

[R2] (6) Sania Mirza (IND,31) vs (LL) Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS,77)

Superb strong performance in 2nd set ... Even WTA Tour site homepage also commented on this 67 mins Sania's win - 'Sania Mirza made a strong start to the year at the Moorilla Hobart International on Monday, crushing Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 64 60'.
-------------------------------------------
At $465K Medibank International, Sydney, Australia

[R1] HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) l (4) DAMM Martin (CZE)/ VIZNER Pavel (CZE) 67(5) 46
-------------------------------------------
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

Finals -
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS,19) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP,2) 60 61

Doubles -
Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Marc Gicquel (FRA) 64 75
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Women's Challenger, Wesley Chapel/St. Leo, Florida, USA

[Q1] UBEROI Shikha (IND,727) l (16) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT,508) 16 16
-------------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[Q3] (9) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND) (IND,1033) bt Johnny HAMUI (USA,NR) 61 60
[Q3] (13) Sanam SINGH (IND,1151) bt Robert KHOURY (USA,NR) 62 36 61

[Q4] (9) Somdev DEV VARMAN (IND) (IND,1033) vs (1) Nicholas MONROE (USA,347)
[Q4] (13) Sanam SINGH (IND,1151) vs (2) Giovanni LAPENTTI (ECU,398)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At British Junior Open 2008,

Boy's Under 19 -
[R1] (17/32) Vikram Malhotra (IND) bt Damien Arosa Rodriguez (ESP) 92 90 95 (27m)
[R1] (9/16) Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Juan Diego Lopez (COL) 9-4 9-4 9-2 (36m)
[R1] Waqar Pathan (IND) l (17/32) Lucas Vauzelle (FRA) 0-9 0-9 0-9 (15m)

[R2] (17/32) Vikram Malhotra (IND) l (9/16) Henrik Mustone (FIN) 3-9 4-9 1-9 (24m)
[R2] (9/16) Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt (17/32) Andrew Widdison (ENG) 9-2 10-9 9-6 (53m)

[PQF] (9/16) Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) l (5/8) Joe Lee (ENG) 8-10 7-9 2-9 (64m)


Boy's Under 17 -
[R1] (17/32) Karan Malik (IND) l Paul Rodrigues (POR) 7-9 9-6 1-9 9-3 6-9 (58m)
[R1] (9/16) Ravi Dixit (IND) bt Laurence Bruggeman (ENG) 9-1 9-3 9-1 (27m)
[R1] (17/32) Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Laurens Mostmans (BEL) 10-8 9-1 9-2 (34m)
[R1] (9/16) Aditya Jagtap (IND) bt Bryan Bonilla (GUT) 9-1 9-0 9-1 (27m)

[R2] (9/16) Ravi Dixit (IND) l Hamza Bukhari (PAK) 9-7 8-10 4-9 9-5 7-9 (134m)
[R2] (17/32) Ramit Tandon (IND) l (3/4) Sammy Chambers (ENG) 9-3 6-9 2-9 5-9 (49m)
[R2] (9/16) Aditya Jagtap (IND) bt (17/32) Nicholas Hopcroft (ENG) 9-1 9-1 9-1 (28m)

[PQF] (9/16) Aditya Jagtap (IND) bt (2) Farhan Zaman (PAK) 1-9 0-9 9-5 9-7 9-4 (60m)

[QF] (9/16) Aditya Jagtap (IND) l Karim Abdel Gawad 9-3 4-9 9-7 2-9 7-9 (83m)


Boy's Under 15 -
[R1] (9/16) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Will Hewer (WAL) 9-0 9-3 9-3 (30m)
[R1] Abhishek Pradhan (IND) l (17/32) Moustafa Bayoumy (EGY) 4-9 5-9 9-5 9-2 6-9 (52m)

[R2] (9/16) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) bt Oliver Horton (ENG) 9-5 9-6 9-3

[PQF] (9/16) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) l (1) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 2-9 0-9 8-10 (34m)


Boy's Under 13 -
[R1] (17/32) Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) l Thomas Broekman (ENG) 1-9 9-4 9-2 8-9 1-9 (43m)


Girl's Under 15 -
[R1] (9/16) Ankita Sharma (IND) Bye
[R1] (17/32) Sachika Balvani (IND) bt Katie Tutrone (USA) 9-4 9-1 9-4 (20m)
[R1] (17/32) Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) l Amy Smedira (USA) 6-9 7-9 9-7 7-9

[R2] (9/16) Ankita Sharma (IND) l (17/32) Tamika Saxby (AUS) 0-9 2-9 4-9 (19m)
[R2] (17/32) Sachika Balvani (IND) l (3/4) Menat Allah Naser (EGY) 9-4 1-9 4-9 3-9 (25m)

Harinder Pal Sandhu finished on 11th position in boy's under 19 ... Aditya Jagtap ended tournament at 7th position in boy's under 17 ... And in boy's under 15 section India's Mahesh Mangaonkar finished on 9th position with huge win against Pakistan's #2 seeded player, Farhan Zaman and Ravi Dixit also played marathon match against Pakistani player, that match lasted for 2 hrs 14 mins..
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Air India dw Churchill Brothers 0-0

MoM - Sarat C (GK) (AI)

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

[SF] LEVY Harel (ISR)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) l BAGHDATIS Marcos (CYP)/ GICQUEL Marc (FRA) 76(2) 67(5) (8)10

[SF] CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) l RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA) 62 26 (4)10

With this Aisam will gain 75 ranking points ... And that will lift his doubles ranking around 80 ... Now with their combined ranking Rohan and Aisam having more opportunities to participate in ATP tournaments.
--------------------------------------
At $10k USA F1, Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA

[Q1] (9) DEV VARMAN Somdev (IND,1033) bye
[Q1] (13) SINGH Sanam (IND,1151) bye

[Q2] (9) DEV VARMAN Somdev (IND,1033) bt PAUL Vijay (USA,NR) 75 60
[Q2] (13) SINGH Sanam (IND,1151) bt CHAVEZ Pablo (VEN,NR) 60 63

[Q3] (9) DEV VARMAN Somdev (IND,1033) vs HAMUI Johnny (USA,NR)
[Q3] (13) SINGH Sanam (IND,1151) vs KHOURY Robert (USA,NR)
--------------------------------------
At $25K Tampa Bay Women's Challenger, Wesley Chapel/St. Leo, Florida, USA

[Q1] UBEROI Shikha (IND,727) vs (16) DEKMEIJERE Liga (LAT,508)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Mercedes-Benz Championship, USA - Round 3 (PGA Tour)

T3 Daniel Chopra 69 72 67 -11
T10 Vijay Singh 74 70 67 - 8
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

Semi-Finals -
Chandigarh Dynamos bt Hyderabad Sultans 5-3 (1-1)

Goal Scored - Deepak Thakur (CD) 75' and Diwakar Ram (HS) (PC) 73'

Penalty shoot-out -
CD - Rajpal Singh, Deepak Thakur, Ravipal, Gaurav Tokhi (Missed chance - Prabhjot Singh)
HS - Pramod Kumar, Didar Singh (Missed chances - Saradara Singh, Bikas Toppo)

MoM - Deepak Thakur (CD)

Bangalore Hi-Fliers bt Orissa Steelers 5-4 (2-2)

Goal Scored - Len Aiyappa (BHF) (PC) 23' & 62' and Sunil Ekka (OS) 11' & 16'

Penalty shoot-out -
BHF - Arjun Halappa, Vikram Kanth, Sandeep Michael (Missed chances - Tushar Khandekar, Sebastian Weisterhoff)
OS - Prabodh Tirkey, Roshan Minz (Missed chances - Damandeep, Kim Chul, William Xalxo)

MoM - Bharat Chetri (BHF)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Sporting Clube de Goa bt East Bengal 1-0

Goal Scored - Lawrence Adjei (SCG) 52'

MoM - Denzil Franco (SCG)
---------------------------------------

Mohun Bagan bt Mahindra United 1-0

Goal Scored - Jose Barretto (MB) 66'

MoM - Peter Odafe (MB)

Tennis News -
At $170K Moorilla Hobart International, Australia

[R1] (6) MIRZA Sania (IND,31) vs Qualifier

Last year Sania was semi-finalist ... So here she is defending 50 ranking points which will be crucial for being seeded at Australian Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $465K Medibank International, Sydney, Australia

[R1] HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) vs (4) DAMM Martin (CZE)/ VIZNER Pavel (CZE)

[R1] BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs BERDYCH Tomas (CZE)/ STEPANEK Radek (CZE)

After surprise exit in first round at Adelaide Open, Lee and Paul having tough first round against 4th seeds Czech pair ... Very interesting match with Lee's former partner Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner.

Mahesh is making comeback at Sydney open after longbreak due to surgery on his lower back ... In first round he and Knowles facing Czech pair of Berdych and Stepanek ... If hesh and Knowles wins their first round then they can meet Knowles ex-doubles partner Nestor and Zimo in quarters.

Mahesh and Lee r in same draw but they can only meet in semis.

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

[QF] LEVY Harel (ISR)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) bt KUNITSYN Igor (RUS)/ THOMAS Jim (USA) 36 63 10(6)

[SF] LEVY Harel (ISR)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) vs BAGHDATIS Marcos (CYP)/ GICQUEL Marc (FRA)

[SF] CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) vs RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Mercedes-Benz Championship, USA - Round 2 (PGA Tour)

T6 Daniel Chopra 69 72 -5
T17 Vijay Singh 74 70 -2

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

[R2] (Q) RAM Rajeev (USA,252) l (1) NADAL Rafael (ESP,2) 26 16

Doubles -
[QF] CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) bt (2) LEVINSKY Jaroslav (CZE)/ MERTINAK Michal (SVK) 61 75

[SF] CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) vs RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA)
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Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

3rd January 2008 -
Orissa Steelers bt Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-0

Goal Scored - Ignace Tirkey (OS) 22', Birendra Lakra (OS) 44'

MoM - Birendra Lakra

Semi-Finals Linueup -
Chandigarh Dynamos vs Hyderabad Sultans

Bangalore Lions vs Orissa Steelers

So now with yesterday's match round-robin matches r over ... Sher-e-Jallandhar, Maratha Warriors and Chennai Veerans missed semi-final berth ... Maratha Warriors were leading the table after 3 round-robin matches with 7 points but then they couldn't add single point in their tally to bowed out .. Other hand Steelers who were struggling in first few matches were on track once Dilip Tirkey joined them after coming back from injury.

For me this 4th edition of PHL is more entertaining due to short schedule ... So now hopefully we will witness very entertaining semi-final matches on Saturday.
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Football News -
At I-League 2007-2008, India

Salgaocar SC dw JCT Phagwara 3-3

Goal Scored - Felix Chimaokwu (Sal) 39', Joe Rodrigues (Sal) 60', Nicholas Rodrigues (Sal) 68' and Edu Ardo Da Silva (JCT) 11', Marcos (JCT) 51', Anwar (JCT) 64'

MoM - Rocus Lamare (Sal)
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Dempo SC bt Viva Kerala 4-0

Goal Scored - Valerino (DSC) 34', Ranti Martin (DSC) 62', Clifford Gonsalves (DSC) 63', Silva Roberto (DSC) 70'

MoM - Anthony Pereira (DSC)
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Golf News -
At Mercedes-Benz Championship, USA (PGA Tour)

1 Nick Watney 68 -5
2 Daniel Chopra 69 -4
T3 Jonathan Byrd 70 -3
T3 Angel Cabrera 70 -3
T3 Aaron Baddeley 70 -3
T16 Vijay Singh 74 +1

Tennis News -
At 2008 Hopman Cup, Australia

India l Czech Republic 1-2

Sania Mirza l Lucie Safarova 26 64 36
Rohan Bopanna l Tomas Berdych 46 06

Sania Mirza/ Rohan Bopanna bt Lucie Safarova/ Tomas Berdych 63 62
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At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

Doubles -
[R1] LEVY Harel (ISR)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) bt (3) CIBULEC Tomas (CZE)/ ZOVKO Lovro (CRO) 63 46 12(10)

[QF] LEVY Harel (ISR)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) vs KUNITSYN Igor (RUS)/ THOMAS Jim (USA)

[QF] CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) vs (2) LEVINSKY Jaroslav (CZE)/ MERTINAK Michal (SVK)
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At Asia-Oceania Group I Federation Cup, Bangkok, Thailand

Team - Sania Mirza, Sunitha Rao, Isha Lakhani , Tara Iyer

The event will be starting from 28 January at Bangkok, Thailand.

Participating Nations - India, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, Uzbekistan

Format - Eight teams divided into two pools of four. The winners of each pool play off, with the winning team advancing to the World Group II Play-offs in April 2008. The nation finishing third in each pool will play off against the nation finishing fourth in the other pool with the two losing nations being relegated to Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2009.
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Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

2nd January 2008 -
Hyderabad Sultans bt Maratha Warriors 1-0

Goal Scored - Johnson Ekka (HS) (PC) 14'

MoM - Oscar ter Weeme (HS)

Tennis News -
At $436K Chennai Open 2008, India

[R1] (WC) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,279) l (Q) KUDRYAVTSEV Alexandre (RUS,254) 36 64 67(8)
[R1] (Q) RAM Rajeev (USA,252) bt SCHUKIN Yuri (RUS,122) 76(6) 76(2)

[R2] (Q) RAM Rajeev (USA,252) vs (1) NADAL Rafael (ESP,2)

Doubles -
[R1] (WC) GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l CILIC Marin (CRO)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) 46 67(1)
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At Adelaide today Lee and Paul will play their first round match against alternate pair of Becker and Marach after withdrawal of Ancic and Stepanek from doubles becoz of foot injury to Stepanek.

At $465K Adelaide Open, Australia

[R1] HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) l (ALT) BECKER Benjamin (GER)/ MARACH Oliver (AUT) 67(0) 57

Tennis News -
At 2008 Hopman Cup, Australia

India bt Australia 2-1

Sania Mirza bt Alicia Molik 62 26 64
Rohan Bopanna l Peter Luczak 67(2) 36

Sania Mirza/ Rohan Bopanna bt Alicia Molik/ Peter Luczak 62 46 13(11)

So with that India scored their first victory of 2008 edition of the Hopman Cup after losing to USA 1-2 in the first match ... Currently USA is clear favourite for the final from this group after scoring 3-0 win in second match against injured Czech team.
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Hockey News -
At 4th Premier Hockey League, Chandigarh, India

1st January 2008 -
Hyderabad Sultans bt Chennai Veerans 5-3

Goal Scored - Bikas Toppo (HS) 5', Diwakar Ram (HS) (PC) 7'& 39', Sardara Singh (HS) 14' & 44', and Raghunath (CV) (PC) 16' & 22', Joost van Den (CV) 64'

MoM - Sardara Singh (HS)