Tennis News -
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico
[Q2] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) bt AMADO Juan Pablo (ARG,412) 63 62
[Q3] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) vs (6) HEALEY Nathan (AUS,375)
Maindraw -
[R1] RAM Rajeev (USA,239) vs (4) SOEDA Go (JPN,169)
Doubles -
[R1] GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) vs GARCIA Adrian (CHI)/ MAYER Leonardo (ARG)
Now having tough match in final qualifying against tricky experianced Australian Healey.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Fourth Round
(Play has been suspended for Round 4 due to Darkness.)
T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 -3 -15 after 9 holes
T27 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 +1 -7 after 13 holes
T39 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 +1 -5 after 16 holes
T47 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 -1 -2 after 17* holes
Jeev is +1 for the day after playing 13 holes, today he needs to play remaining 5 holes ... It would be big let down if he doesn't finish inside top 20 considering his first 3 rounds performance.
Daniel is also +1 for the day after playing 16 holes ... Shiv is -1 after playing 17 holes and he is good position to finish inside top 50 on his debut World Golf Championships event.
Vijay is challenging leader Geoff Ogilvy, who is -17 ... Vijay is -3 for the day and 2 strokes behind leader ... Both needs to play another 9 holes so good chance for Vijay.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Boxing News -
Jitender Kumar (51 kg - Flyweight) became the fifth Indian boxer to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan ... He defeated Philippines' Castro Godfrey 13-6 in the bronze medal play-off to book his first trip to Olympics.
But Dilbag Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) had heart-breaking loss in the final, he lost 11-16 to Turkmenistan's Bashirov Aliasker where only the winner was getting an Olympic quota place.
In finals, Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight,) defeated Korean Cho Deok-Jin in the finals today to claim the gold medal but Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) lost 10-16 to Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran (both qualified for Olympics yesterday after winning their respective semi-finals).
Jitender gave credit of qualifying for Olympics to a pep talk from his Akhil Kumar, who already qualified for Olympics -
"I was very disturbed and could not sleep properly after losing the semifinal. Akhil called me and helped me get over the gloom. He also helped me strategise for today's bout. I put my uppercut to good effect against Godfrey whose short frame also worked to my advantage."
-------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Sunday March 23 Round VIII
Blindfold Chess -
Aronian-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Mamedyarov 1-0
Karjakin-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Anand-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1
Topalov-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Van Wely - 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Gelfand - 1-0
Kramnik-Ivanchuk - 1/2-1/2
Anand lost against Aronian in 50 moves in Blindfold and managed only draw in Rapid ... With that Anand's title chances at Amber r very slim ... He is currently lying on 4th position with 8½ pts and 2 pts behind leader Aronian.
Jitender Kumar (51 kg - Flyweight) became the fifth Indian boxer to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan ... He defeated Philippines' Castro Godfrey 13-6 in the bronze medal play-off to book his first trip to Olympics.
But Dilbag Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) had heart-breaking loss in the final, he lost 11-16 to Turkmenistan's Bashirov Aliasker where only the winner was getting an Olympic quota place.
In finals, Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight,) defeated Korean Cho Deok-Jin in the finals today to claim the gold medal but Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) lost 10-16 to Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran (both qualified for Olympics yesterday after winning their respective semi-finals).
Jitender gave credit of qualifying for Olympics to a pep talk from his Akhil Kumar, who already qualified for Olympics -
"I was very disturbed and could not sleep properly after losing the semifinal. Akhil called me and helped me get over the gloom. He also helped me strategise for today's bout. I put my uppercut to good effect against Godfrey whose short frame also worked to my advantage."
-------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Sunday March 23 Round VIII
Blindfold Chess -
Aronian-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Mamedyarov 1-0
Karjakin-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Anand-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1
Topalov-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Van Wely - 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Gelfand - 1-0
Kramnik-Ivanchuk - 1/2-1/2
Anand lost against Aronian in 50 moves in Blindfold and managed only draw in Rapid ... With that Anand's title chances at Amber r very slim ... He is currently lying on 4th position with 8½ pts and 2 pts behind leader Aronian.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Boxing News -
Indian boxers Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight) and Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after reaching the finals in a second Asian boxing qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.
So these 2 joined A.L. Lakra (57 kg - Featherweight) and Akhil Kumar (54 kg - Bantamweight), who already ensured their berths.
In semis Vijender defeated Iranian Amiri Homayon 19-13 and Dinesh outscored his Mongolian opponent in the third round ... Vijender will clash with South Korean Cho Deok Jin and Dinesh will meet Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran in the finals.
Two more Indian boxers, Jitender (51 kg - Flyweight) and Dilbagh Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) - are in line to qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics ... Dilbagh need to win the final bout against his Turkmenistani rival because only the gold medallist will qualify from this category ... Jitender lost in semis to his Kazakhstan opponent but he still has a chance as the third-place playoff winner will also qualify for Beijing from this category.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico
[Q1] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) bt McCLUNE Michael (USA,387) 57 61 62
[Q2] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) vs AMADO Juan Pablo (ARG,412)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Third Round
T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 -12
T11 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 -8
T22 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 -5
T47 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 -1
Indian boxers Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight) and Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after reaching the finals in a second Asian boxing qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.
So these 2 joined A.L. Lakra (57 kg - Featherweight) and Akhil Kumar (54 kg - Bantamweight), who already ensured their berths.
In semis Vijender defeated Iranian Amiri Homayon 19-13 and Dinesh outscored his Mongolian opponent in the third round ... Vijender will clash with South Korean Cho Deok Jin and Dinesh will meet Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran in the finals.
Two more Indian boxers, Jitender (51 kg - Flyweight) and Dilbagh Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) - are in line to qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics ... Dilbagh need to win the final bout against his Turkmenistani rival because only the gold medallist will qualify from this category ... Jitender lost in semis to his Kazakhstan opponent but he still has a chance as the third-place playoff winner will also qualify for Beijing from this category.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico
[Q1] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) bt McCLUNE Michael (USA,387) 57 61 62
[Q2] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) vs AMADO Juan Pablo (ARG,412)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Third Round
T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 -12
T11 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 -8
T22 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 -5
T47 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 -1
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Saturday March 22 Round VII
Blindfold Chess -
Morozevich-Ivanchuk 1-0
Kramnik-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Leko-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Anand-Carlsen 1-0
Rapid Chess -
Ivanchuk-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Topalov 1-0
Carlsen-Anand 1-0
Anand scored important victory in Blindfold against Carlsen in 47 moves playing with white-pieces ... With that win Anand joined leader Aronian at 8 pts ... But in Rapid Carlsen scored victory over Anand in 48 moves and Aronian scored win over Topalov to remain leading by 1 pt over Anand.
His eighth round match against Aronian is important for his title race.
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Saturday March 22 Round VII
Blindfold Chess -
Morozevich-Ivanchuk 1-0
Kramnik-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Leko-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Anand-Carlsen 1-0
Rapid Chess -
Ivanchuk-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Topalov 1-0
Carlsen-Anand 1-0
Anand scored important victory in Blindfold against Carlsen in 47 moves playing with white-pieces ... With that win Anand joined leader Aronian at 8 pts ... But in Rapid Carlsen scored victory over Anand in 48 moves and Aronian scored win over Topalov to remain leading by 1 pt over Anand.
His eighth round match against Aronian is important for his title race.
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) l (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 76(4) 57 (4)10
Sania and Bethanie played superb match though they lost in super-tiebreak ... They had matchpoint in second set when they were leading 5-4 ... Sania is trying to get inside top 10 doubles ranking before June first week to recieve direct entry for Olympics doubles.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Final -
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) l Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) 26 16
This was great opportunity for Sunitha to won her first singles Challenger level title but that didn't happen ... I think very poor outing for her, mostly she didn't recover from her long singles semi-final match.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) 61 62
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Second Round
T4 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 -6
T20 Vijay Singh 73 68 -3
T32 Daniel Chopra 72 70 -2
T62 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 +3
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) l (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 76(4) 57 (4)10
Sania and Bethanie played superb match though they lost in super-tiebreak ... They had matchpoint in second set when they were leading 5-4 ... Sania is trying to get inside top 10 doubles ranking before June first week to recieve direct entry for Olympics doubles.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Final -
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) l Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) 26 16
This was great opportunity for Sunitha to won her first singles Challenger level title but that didn't happen ... I think very poor outing for her, mostly she didn't recover from her long singles semi-final match.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) 61 62
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Second Round
T4 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 -6
T20 Vijay Singh 73 68 -3
T32 Daniel Chopra 72 70 -2
T62 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 +3
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Semi Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) 76(5) 57 64
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) 62 26 76(6)
Doubles Final -
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt (3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 62 67(7) 10(6)
Superb win!!! Happy to see that Sunitha managed to win this close match .. It shows her mental toughness with improvement in her game ... Last 2 weeks performance also secured Sunitha's re-entry in top 160.
Now Sunitha having great opportunity to win her first Singles Challenger title.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Semi Finals -
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) 62 64
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) 64 62
Doubles Final -
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 63 61
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Friday March 21 Round VI
Blindfold Chess -
Karjakin-Anand 0-1
Aronian-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Leko 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Morozevich 0-1
Gelfand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Anand-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Leko-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Anand won his blindfold match while Aronian drew his ... So a good start for Anand ... Anand managed only draw against Karjakin in Rapid ... But Aronian also had same fate against Morozevich so in end Anand managed to reduce distance by ½ pt after 6 rounds.
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Semi Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) 76(5) 57 64
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) 62 26 76(6)
Doubles Final -
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt (3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 62 67(7) 10(6)
Superb win!!! Happy to see that Sunitha managed to win this close match .. It shows her mental toughness with improvement in her game ... Last 2 weeks performance also secured Sunitha's re-entry in top 160.
Now Sunitha having great opportunity to win her first Singles Challenger title.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Semi Finals -
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) 62 64
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) 64 62
Doubles Final -
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 63 61
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Friday March 21 Round VI
Blindfold Chess -
Karjakin-Anand 0-1
Aronian-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Leko 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Morozevich 0-1
Gelfand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Anand-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Leko-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Anand won his blindfold match while Aronian drew his ... So a good start for Anand ... Anand managed only draw against Karjakin in Rapid ... But Aronian also had same fate against Morozevich so in end Anand managed to reduce distance by ½ pt after 6 rounds.
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Thursday March 20 Round V
Blindfold Chess -
Topalov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Mamedyarov 1-0
Morozevich-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Gelfand 1-0
Ivanchuk-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Topalov 1-0
Mamedyarov-Leko 1/2-1/2
Anand-Morozevich 1-0
Gelfand-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Ivanchuk 1-0
Karjakin-Van Wely 1-0
Standings Blindfold after 5 rounds -
1. Carlsen 3½
2. Ivanchuk 3
Kramnik 3
Morozevich 3
Topalov 3
3. Aronian 2½
Karjakin 2½
Leko 2½
Van Wely 2½
4. Anand 2
5. Mamedyarov 1½
6. Gelfand 1
Standings Rapid after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 4
2. Anand 3½
3. Leko 3
4. Gelfand 2½
Ivanchuk 2½
Karjakin 2½
Kramnik 2½
Mamedyarov 2½
Topalov 2½
5. Carlsen 2
6. Van Wely 1½
7. Morozevich 1
Combined Standing after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 6½
2. Anand 5½
Carlsen 5½
Ivanchuk 5½
Kramnik 5½
Leko 5½
Topalov 5½
3. Karjakin 5
4. Mamedyarov 4
Morozevich 4
Van Wely 4
5. Gelfand 3½
Interestingly this was Anand' third consecutive loss against Morozevich in Blindfold, ie 2006, 2007 & 2008 ... Aronian leading with a full point ... In next round Anand is facing Karjakin.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - First Round
T9 Jeev M. Singh 68 -4
T45 Daniel Chopra 72 E
T63 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 +2
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Thursday March 20 Round V
Blindfold Chess -
Topalov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Mamedyarov 1-0
Morozevich-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Gelfand 1-0
Ivanchuk-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Topalov 1-0
Mamedyarov-Leko 1/2-1/2
Anand-Morozevich 1-0
Gelfand-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Ivanchuk 1-0
Karjakin-Van Wely 1-0
Standings Blindfold after 5 rounds -
1. Carlsen 3½
2. Ivanchuk 3
Kramnik 3
Morozevich 3
Topalov 3
3. Aronian 2½
Karjakin 2½
Leko 2½
Van Wely 2½
4. Anand 2
5. Mamedyarov 1½
6. Gelfand 1
Standings Rapid after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 4
2. Anand 3½
3. Leko 3
4. Gelfand 2½
Ivanchuk 2½
Karjakin 2½
Kramnik 2½
Mamedyarov 2½
Topalov 2½
5. Carlsen 2
6. Van Wely 1½
7. Morozevich 1
Combined Standing after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 6½
2. Anand 5½
Carlsen 5½
Ivanchuk 5½
Kramnik 5½
Leko 5½
Topalov 5½
3. Karjakin 5
4. Mamedyarov 4
Morozevich 4
Van Wely 4
5. Gelfand 3½
Interestingly this was Anand' third consecutive loss against Morozevich in Blindfold, ie 2006, 2007 & 2008 ... Aronian leading with a full point ... In next round Anand is facing Karjakin.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - First Round
T9 Jeev M. Singh 68 -4
T45 Daniel Chopra 72 E
T63 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 +2
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) 75 46 11(9)
[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)
After reading her yesterday's interview where she mentioned about MRI scan in 2 days I though she would skip doubles ... But she played and won hard fought match.
------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 36 46
Hesh and Mark couldn't do much against Israeli pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Quarter Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) 61 64
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) 63 2-1 Retd.
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) 64 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) 26 62 61
Doubles Semi Finals -
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) 64 57 10(6)
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) 64 64
After first set hiccup very dominating performance by Sunitha ... So now real test against almost same ranked player Ruutel in semis.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Quarter Finals -
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) 61 64
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) 62 62
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt Purav RAJA (IND,874) 64 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt (5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) 76(0) 61
Doubles Semi Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 64 16 14(12)
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 16 63 10(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008
[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) 9-6 9-7 9-4 (36m)
[F] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Louise Crome (NZL,27) 7-9 1-9 7-9 (47m)
Though scoreline suggests easy loss but considering match time of 47 minutes this final match was closely fought match .. Joshna couldn't produce magic which she showed against WR #28 Hansen in quarter-finals.
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) 75 46 11(9)
[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)
After reading her yesterday's interview where she mentioned about MRI scan in 2 days I though she would skip doubles ... But she played and won hard fought match.
------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 36 46
Hesh and Mark couldn't do much against Israeli pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Quarter Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) 61 64
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) 63 2-1 Retd.
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) 64 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) 26 62 61
Doubles Semi Finals -
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) 64 57 10(6)
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) 64 64
After first set hiccup very dominating performance by Sunitha ... So now real test against almost same ranked player Ruutel in semis.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Quarter Finals -
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) 61 64
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) 62 62
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt Purav RAJA (IND,874) 64 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt (5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) 76(0) 61
Doubles Semi Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 64 16 14(12)
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 16 63 10(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008
[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) 9-6 9-7 9-4 (36m)
[F] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Louise Crome (NZL,27) 7-9 1-9 7-9 (47m)
Though scoreline suggests easy loss but considering match time of 47 minutes this final match was closely fought match .. Joshna couldn't produce magic which she showed against WR #28 Hansen in quarter-finals.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) l (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8) 16 67(4)
Lots of lost opportunities for Sania in this match ... She had 8 break points in first set, where 4 break points in first game only ... But she couldn't managed to convert any and in end she paid price for that ... Also 7 DFs in match didn't help ... In second set Sania also had set point on Daniela's serve 6-5, but again she lost that opportunity ... Sania only managed to break Daniela's serve 2 times in 13 chances but other hand Daniela broke Sania's serve 4 times in 8 chances.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 26 16
[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR)
These one-sided losses create doubt on success of this partnership of Lee and Paul.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA) 62 57 (9)11
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Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Tuesday March 18 Round IV
Blindfold Chess -
Gelfand-Van Wely 0-1
Karjakin-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Morozevich 1-0
Anand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Topalov 0-1
Rapid Chess -
Van Wely-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Karjakin 1-0
Carlsen-Aronian 0-1
Morozevich-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Anand 1-0
Topalov-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Today Anand faced his 1st defeat of 2008 Amber event ... After drawing his Blindfold match in 33 moves ... Anand lost in 28 moves against Leko in Rapid ... :-(
Topalov, Aronian and Ivanchuk take advantage of that and now leading the pack with 5 pts ... Anand is half pt behind them on 4½ pts after 4 rounds.
Today is rest day ... On Thursday Anand will play against Morozevich.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008,
[R1] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) Bye
[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) Bye
[QF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (2) Line Hansen (DEN,28) 10-9(2-1) 9-7 7-9 9-7 (62m)
[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) bt (3) Elise Ng (HKG,37) 7-9 9-1 9-1 7-9 10-8(2-0) (65m)
[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,) vs (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61)
Dipika and Joshna playing in Vietnam event ... Good upset win over top-40 Hong Kong player in quarters ... Joshna also scored one of the best victory of her small career with win over top-30 Danish player ... Now interesting match up against Dipika in semis.
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) l (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8) 16 67(4)
Lots of lost opportunities for Sania in this match ... She had 8 break points in first set, where 4 break points in first game only ... But she couldn't managed to convert any and in end she paid price for that ... Also 7 DFs in match didn't help ... In second set Sania also had set point on Daniela's serve 6-5, but again she lost that opportunity ... Sania only managed to break Daniela's serve 2 times in 13 chances but other hand Daniela broke Sania's serve 4 times in 8 chances.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 26 16
[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR)
These one-sided losses create doubt on success of this partnership of Lee and Paul.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA) 62 57 (9)11
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Tuesday March 18 Round IV
Blindfold Chess -
Gelfand-Van Wely 0-1
Karjakin-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Morozevich 1-0
Anand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Topalov 0-1
Rapid Chess -
Van Wely-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Karjakin 1-0
Carlsen-Aronian 0-1
Morozevich-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Anand 1-0
Topalov-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Today Anand faced his 1st defeat of 2008 Amber event ... After drawing his Blindfold match in 33 moves ... Anand lost in 28 moves against Leko in Rapid ... :-(
Topalov, Aronian and Ivanchuk take advantage of that and now leading the pack with 5 pts ... Anand is half pt behind them on 4½ pts after 4 rounds.
Today is rest day ... On Thursday Anand will play against Morozevich.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008,
[R1] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) Bye
[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) Bye
[QF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (2) Line Hansen (DEN,28) 10-9(2-1) 9-7 7-9 9-7 (62m)
[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) bt (3) Elise Ng (HKG,37) 7-9 9-1 9-1 7-9 10-8(2-0) (65m)
[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,) vs (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61)
Dipika and Joshna playing in Vietnam event ... Good upset win over top-40 Hong Kong player in quarters ... Joshna also scored one of the best victory of her small career with win over top-30 Danish player ... Now interesting match up against Dipika in semis.
Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Second Round -
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) 62 62
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) 64 62
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt (4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) 75 62
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) 75 64
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) W/O
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) 62 63
(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) 64 62
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) 62 62
Doubles Quarter Finals -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) 64 62
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 62 62
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) 63 61
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 16 63 10(7)
Another easy victory for Sunitha ... But I m also pleased with performance of Sanaa, she fought hard in both sets.
After our all doubles teams losing in quarters now only Sunitha is keeping Indian challenge alive in this ongoing challenger.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Second Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) bt (Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) 67(4) 75 62
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) vs Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) 60 61
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) 67(4) 63 6-0
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt John MCGAHON (IRL,922) 63 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) 62 62
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) 76 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) 60 63
Doubles Quarter Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) 63 64
(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 57 63 10(7)
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 76(2) 76(6)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) 64 64
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles Second Round -
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) 62 62
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) 64 62
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt (4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) 75 62
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) 75 64
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) W/O
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) 62 63
(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) 64 62
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) 62 62
Doubles Quarter Finals -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) 64 62
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 62 62
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) 63 61
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 16 63 10(7)
Another easy victory for Sunitha ... But I m also pleased with performance of Sanaa, she fought hard in both sets.
After our all doubles teams losing in quarters now only Sunitha is keeping Indian challenge alive in this ongoing challenger.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles Second Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) bt (Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) 67(4) 75 62
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) vs Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) 60 61
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) 67(4) 63 6-0
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt John MCGAHON (IRL,922) 63 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) 62 62
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) 76 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) 60 63
Doubles Quarter Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) 63 64
(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 57 63 10(7)
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 76(2) 76(6)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) 64 64
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Matchday 2
East Bengal bt Ahli Sana'a, Yemen 1-0
Goal Scored - Edmilson Marques Pardal 34'
Group A - Matchday 2
Dempo SC l Sur Club, Oman 2-3
Goal Scored - Daouda Traore (SC) 9', Mamoudou Camara (SC) 69', Climax Lawrence (DSC) 80' (og) and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 26', Roberto Mendes Silva (DSC) 62'
So with that East Bengal scored their first victory in group match of AFC Cup.
But heartbreaking loss to Dempo in closely fought away match against Oman club ... Winner came for Oman Club as own goal from Climax Lawrence in 80th minute.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 63 63
Another easy victory for Mark and Hesh.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) l KUZNETSOV Alex (US,267) 46 46
Doubles -
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Egypt F1 futures, Cairo (clay)
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l TRAYKOV Ivaylo (BUL,506) 06 36
One-sided loss for Karan ... :(
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Monday March 17 Round III
Blindfold Chess -
Mamedyarov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Anand 1/2-1/2
Leko-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Karjakin 1-0
Van Wely-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Mamedyarov 0-1
Anand - Topalov 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Aronian 1-0
Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0
Ivanchuk-Van Wely 0-1
Yesterday in third round, Anand battled hard against Topalov to draw his Blindfold game in 59 moves ... They also played 47 moves draw in Rapid.
But Aronian and Ivanchuk lost their Rapid games after drawing Blindfolds ... So now Anand is sole leader in combined standing with 1/2 pt after 3rd round.
Today Anand is playing against Leko with white-pieces in Blindfold and with black-pieces in Rapid.
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Matchday 2
East Bengal bt Ahli Sana'a, Yemen 1-0
Goal Scored - Edmilson Marques Pardal 34'
Group A - Matchday 2
Dempo SC l Sur Club, Oman 2-3
Goal Scored - Daouda Traore (SC) 9', Mamoudou Camara (SC) 69', Climax Lawrence (DSC) 80' (og) and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 26', Roberto Mendes Silva (DSC) 62'
So with that East Bengal scored their first victory in group match of AFC Cup.
But heartbreaking loss to Dempo in closely fought away match against Oman club ... Winner came for Oman Club as own goal from Climax Lawrence in 80th minute.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 63 63
Another easy victory for Mark and Hesh.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)
[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) l KUZNETSOV Alex (US,267) 46 46
Doubles -
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Egypt F1 futures, Cairo (clay)
[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l TRAYKOV Ivaylo (BUL,506) 06 36
One-sided loss for Karan ... :(
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Monday March 17 Round III
Blindfold Chess -
Mamedyarov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Anand 1/2-1/2
Leko-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Karjakin 1-0
Van Wely-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Mamedyarov 0-1
Anand - Topalov 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Aronian 1-0
Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0
Ivanchuk-Van Wely 0-1
Yesterday in third round, Anand battled hard against Topalov to draw his Blindfold game in 59 moves ... They also played 47 moves draw in Rapid.
But Aronian and Ivanchuk lost their Rapid games after drawing Blindfolds ... So now Anand is sole leader in combined standing with 1/2 pt after 3rd round.
Today Anand is playing against Leko with white-pieces in Blindfold and with black-pieces in Rapid.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles First Round -
(Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) bt (LL) Sonal Phadke (IND,749) 60 61
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (WC) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,UNR) 61 64
Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) bt Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN,350) 61 64
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (8) Magda MIHALACHE (ROU,256) 36 63 75
(4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND,353) 63 63
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS,295) 60 63
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) bt Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE,281) 61 3-1 Retd
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (6) Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE,229) 36 64 76(3)
(5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) bt (WC) Parija MALOO (IND,692) 61 63
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (PR) Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU,429) 64 26 60
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) bt Carmen KLASCHKA (GER,309) 60 67(4) 63
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Lisa SABINO (ITA,379) 63 64
(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Kristina ANTONIYCHUK (UKR,389) 63 64
(Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) bt (WC) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,542) 61 64
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN,359) 61 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Neha UBEROI (USA,345) 60 62
Doubles First Round -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) 16 62 10(6)
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (WC) Nicola MOONEY (GBR)/ Sonal PHADKE (IND) 62 61
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Nicole ROTTMANN (AUT) 64 26 10(5)
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 62 36 10(4)
Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) bt Cagla BUYUKAKCAY (TUR)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 75 60
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ji-Young KIM (KOR)/ So-Jung KIM (KOR) 75 63
Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) bt Montinee TANGPHONG (THA)/ Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA) 64 26 10(8)
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt (2) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 63 26 10(8)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles First Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI.1072) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU,498) 62 75
(Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND,NR) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (LL) Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1408) 62 62
(8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) bt (Q)Ye DU (CHN,1502) 62 63
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Elbert SIE (INA,713) 61 60
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND,727) 63 62
(Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) bt (Q)Rupesh ROY (IND,1098) 64 75
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (7) Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB,704) 36 64 63
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (6) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND,672) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL,922) bt (WC) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,NR) 67(5) 76(5) 62
Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) bt (Q) Rohan GIDE (IND,1408) 60 46 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt (3) Aqeel KHAN (PAK,547) 64 62
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (Q) Kamala KANNAN (IND,1502) 61 62
(WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,976) 62 63
Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) bt Danila ARSENOV (RUS,785) 36 64 76(3)
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND,716) 57 62 63
Doubles First Round -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 63
Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN)/ Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB) 62 60
(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (WC) Mithun MURALI (IND)/ Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 62 57 10(2)
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Aqueel KHAN (PAK) 63 63
Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (WC) Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Sandeep KIRTANE (IND) 64 63
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 67(4) 6- 11(9)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR)/ NELORD (IND) 76(4) 64
At $25K Noida Challenger, India
Singles First Round -
(Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) bt (LL) Sonal Phadke (IND,749) 60 61
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (WC) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,UNR) 61 64
Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) bt Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN,350) 61 64
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (8) Magda MIHALACHE (ROU,256) 36 63 75
(4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND,353) 63 63
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS,295) 60 63
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) bt Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE,281) 61 3-1 Retd
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (6) Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE,229) 36 64 76(3)
(5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) bt (WC) Parija MALOO (IND,692) 61 63
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (PR) Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU,429) 64 26 60
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) bt Carmen KLASCHKA (GER,309) 60 67(4) 63
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Lisa SABINO (ITA,379) 63 64
(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Kristina ANTONIYCHUK (UKR,389) 63 64
(Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) bt (WC) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,542) 61 64
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN,359) 61 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Neha UBEROI (USA,345) 60 62
Doubles First Round -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) 16 62 10(6)
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (WC) Nicola MOONEY (GBR)/ Sonal PHADKE (IND) 62 61
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Nicole ROTTMANN (AUT) 64 26 10(5)
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 62 36 10(4)
Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) bt Cagla BUYUKAKCAY (TUR)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 75 60
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ji-Young KIM (KOR)/ So-Jung KIM (KOR) 75 63
Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) bt Montinee TANGPHONG (THA)/ Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA) 64 26 10(8)
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt (2) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 63 26 10(8)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai
Singles First Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI.1072) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU,498) 62 75
(Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND,NR) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (LL) Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1408) 62 62
(8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) bt (Q)Ye DU (CHN,1502) 62 63
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Elbert SIE (INA,713) 61 60
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND,727) 63 62
(Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) bt (Q)Rupesh ROY (IND,1098) 64 75
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (7) Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB,704) 36 64 63
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (6) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND,672) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL,922) bt (WC) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,NR) 67(5) 76(5) 62
Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) bt (Q) Rohan GIDE (IND,1408) 60 46 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt (3) Aqeel KHAN (PAK,547) 64 62
(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (Q) Kamala KANNAN (IND,1502) 61 62
(WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,976) 62 63
Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) bt Danila ARSENOV (RUS,785) 36 64 76(3)
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND,716) 57 62 63
Doubles First Round -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 63
Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN)/ Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB) 62 60
(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (WC) Mithun MURALI (IND)/ Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 62 57 10(2)
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Aqueel KHAN (PAK) 63 63
Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (WC) Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Sandeep KIRTANE (IND) 64 63
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 67(4) 6- 11(9)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR)/ NELORD (IND) 76(4) 64
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18) 67(7) 75 63
[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8)
Doubles -
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)
Impressive comeback win ... Good to see she dig deep to scored win over Shahar ... This was her 3rd consecutive win over Shahar, Sania leading their career meeting 3-1 .. As expected US hard-courts already favoring her game which showing in the results.
So now big match against Daniela in R4 of singles and doubles quarters against 2nd seed Taiwanian pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 63 76(3)
[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG) 75 26 10(5)
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER)
[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)
Good start for Hesh and Mark, now they will face singles specialist in second round.
I m happy for Lee and Paul's consecutive wins ... More matches they play, they will be settle as a pair ... Hoping their magical performance against strong experienced pair of Zimo and Nestor in quarters.
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18) 67(7) 75 63
[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8)
Doubles -
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)
Impressive comeback win ... Good to see she dig deep to scored win over Shahar ... This was her 3rd consecutive win over Shahar, Sania leading their career meeting 3-1 .. As expected US hard-courts already favoring her game which showing in the results.
So now big match against Daniela in R4 of singles and doubles quarters against 2nd seed Taiwanian pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 63 76(3)
[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG) 75 26 10(5)
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER)
[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)
Good start for Hesh and Mark, now they will face singles specialist in second round.
I m happy for Lee and Paul's consecutive wins ... More matches they play, they will be settle as a pair ... Hoping their magical performance against strong experienced pair of Zimo and Nestor in quarters.
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
This time 12 leading grandmasters (8 GMs from top 10 list and 11 GMs from top 15 list) playing blindfold and rapid chess games for highest prize money of 216,000 Euro (US $336,000).
Also venue is changed from Monaco to the beautiful French seaside resort of Nice.
Participants of the 2008 Amber Rapid and Blindfold Tournament -
1. Vladimir Kramnik - Russia (Elo 2799)
2. Viswanathan Anand - India (Elo 2799)
3. Veselin Topalov - Bulgaria (Elo 2780)
4. Alexander Morozevich - Russia (Elo 2765)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Azerbaijan (Elo 2760)
6. Peter Leko - Hungary (Elo 2753)
7. Vasily Ivanchuk - Ukraine (Elo 2751)
8. Levon Aronian – Armenia (Elo 2739)
9. Boris Gelfand - Israel (Elo 2737)
10. Magnus Carlsen – Norway (Elo 2733)
11.Sergey Karjakin - Ukraine (Elo 2732)
12. Loek van Wely – The Netherlands (Elo 2681)
Saturday March 15 Round I
Blindfold Chess -
Anand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Leko 1-0
Gelfand-Karjakin 0-1
Aronian-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 0-1
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Anand 0-1
Morozevich-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Leko-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Aronian 0-1
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
In the first round Anand started with bang beating Kramnik in 42 moves in Rapid event, before that they agreed draw in 23 moves in Blindfold event.
Sunday March 16 Round II
Blindfold Chess -
Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1
Karjakin-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Leko 1/2-1/2
Morozevich -Topalov 1-0
Anand-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Gelfand-Ivanchuk 0-1
Carlsen-Van Wely 1-0
Aronian-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Kramnik 0-1
Topalov-Morozevich 1-0
Mamedyarov-Anand 0-1
Anand continued with his good form in Rapid scoring another victory over Mamedyarov in 42 moves but again managed to draw in 46 moves in Blindfold.
Standings Blindfold after 2 round -
1. Ivanchuk 1½
Karjakin 1½
Morozevich 1½
2. Anand 1
Aronian 1
Carlsen 1
Kramnik 1
Mamedyarov 1
Topalov 1
3. Gelfand ½
Leko ½
Van Wely ½
Standings Rapid after 2 round -
1. Anand 2
Aronian 2
2. Carlsen 1½
Ivanchuk 1½
Topalov 1½
3. Kramnik 1
4. Gelfand ½
Karjakin ½
Leko ½
Mamedyarov ½
Morozevich ½
5. Van Wely 0
Combined Standing after 2nd round -
1. Anand 3
Aronian 3
Ivanchuk 3
2. Carlsen 2½
Topalov 2½
3. Karjakin 2
Kramnik 2
Morozevich 2
4. Mamedyarov 1½
5. Gelfand 1
Leko 1
6. Van Wely ½
Today in third round Anand playing with black-pieces against Topalov in Blindfold and with white-pieces in Rapid.
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
This time 12 leading grandmasters (8 GMs from top 10 list and 11 GMs from top 15 list) playing blindfold and rapid chess games for highest prize money of 216,000 Euro (US $336,000).
Also venue is changed from Monaco to the beautiful French seaside resort of Nice.
Participants of the 2008 Amber Rapid and Blindfold Tournament -
1. Vladimir Kramnik - Russia (Elo 2799)
2. Viswanathan Anand - India (Elo 2799)
3. Veselin Topalov - Bulgaria (Elo 2780)
4. Alexander Morozevich - Russia (Elo 2765)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Azerbaijan (Elo 2760)
6. Peter Leko - Hungary (Elo 2753)
7. Vasily Ivanchuk - Ukraine (Elo 2751)
8. Levon Aronian – Armenia (Elo 2739)
9. Boris Gelfand - Israel (Elo 2737)
10. Magnus Carlsen – Norway (Elo 2733)
11.Sergey Karjakin - Ukraine (Elo 2732)
12. Loek van Wely – The Netherlands (Elo 2681)
Saturday March 15 Round I
Blindfold Chess -
Anand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Leko 1-0
Gelfand-Karjakin 0-1
Aronian-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 0-1
Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Anand 0-1
Morozevich-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Leko-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Aronian 0-1
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
In the first round Anand started with bang beating Kramnik in 42 moves in Rapid event, before that they agreed draw in 23 moves in Blindfold event.
Sunday March 16 Round II
Blindfold Chess -
Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1
Karjakin-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Leko 1/2-1/2
Morozevich -Topalov 1-0
Anand-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Rapid Chess -
Gelfand-Ivanchuk 0-1
Carlsen-Van Wely 1-0
Aronian-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Kramnik 0-1
Topalov-Morozevich 1-0
Mamedyarov-Anand 0-1
Anand continued with his good form in Rapid scoring another victory over Mamedyarov in 42 moves but again managed to draw in 46 moves in Blindfold.
Standings Blindfold after 2 round -
1. Ivanchuk 1½
Karjakin 1½
Morozevich 1½
2. Anand 1
Aronian 1
Carlsen 1
Kramnik 1
Mamedyarov 1
Topalov 1
3. Gelfand ½
Leko ½
Van Wely ½
Standings Rapid after 2 round -
1. Anand 2
Aronian 2
2. Carlsen 1½
Ivanchuk 1½
Topalov 1½
3. Kramnik 1
4. Gelfand ½
Karjakin ½
Leko ½
Mamedyarov ½
Morozevich ½
5. Van Wely 0
Combined Standing after 2nd round -
1. Anand 3
Aronian 3
Ivanchuk 3
2. Carlsen 2½
Topalov 2½
3. Karjakin 2
Kramnik 2
Morozevich 2
4. Mamedyarov 1½
5. Gelfand 1
Leko 1
6. Van Wely ½
Today in third round Anand playing with black-pieces against Topalov in Blindfold and with white-pieces in Rapid.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 62 46 10(7)
So with this super tie-break win Sania and Bethanie in doubles quarters.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED) 19-21 20-22
[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 21-15 21-3
Another final and another Internationals title for Anand ... In his recent interview Prakash Padukone predicted Anand Pawar will be next player to watch and Anand is responding to his faith giving results though on lower level tournaments ... But then to get entry in to higher level tournaments he need to dominate these tournaments and I think this is only begining for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Final Standing (EPGA Tour)
2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 66 -24 $341,352.00
T11 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 67 -11 $ 52,944.00
T57 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 70 PAR $ 9,216.00
Jeev lost another golden opportunity of ending his title draught ... Frankly wild shot on 17th hole cost him title as then he gave chance to McDowell and lost in 3rd hole of play-off against Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.
Though finishing 2nd is creditable performance but I m still feeling bad for Jeev's lost opportunity.
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 62 46 10(7)
So with this super tie-break win Sania and Bethanie in doubles quarters.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED) 19-21 20-22
[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 21-15 21-3
Another final and another Internationals title for Anand ... In his recent interview Prakash Padukone predicted Anand Pawar will be next player to watch and Anand is responding to his faith giving results though on lower level tournaments ... But then to get entry in to higher level tournaments he need to dominate these tournaments and I think this is only begining for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Final Standing (EPGA Tour)
2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 66 -24 $341,352.00
T11 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 67 -11 $ 52,944.00
T57 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 70 PAR $ 9,216.00
Jeev lost another golden opportunity of ending his title draught ... Frankly wild shot on 17th hole cost him title as then he gave chance to McDowell and lost in 3rd hole of play-off against Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.
Though finishing 2nd is creditable performance but I m still feeling bad for Jeev's lost opportunity.
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Jun Takemura (JPN,132) 18-21 21-16 21-16
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63) 11-21 21-14 21-14
[SF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt (4) Stephan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,65) 21-16 16-21 21-3
[SF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) l Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 15-21 18-21
[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) l (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG) 18-21 21-19 14-21
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG) 21-19 14-21 21-17
[SF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (3) Jorrit De Ruiter (NED)/ Jurgen Wouters (NED) 21-18 22-20
[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED)
[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Carl Baxter (ENG,103)
Ajay scored another upset comeback win to move in to semis but his luck ended against Englishman Baxter.
But what last few weeks for Anand!!! He is now aiming for his second Internationals title ... He showed solid temperament to produce back to back tough 3 games win.
Rupesh and Sanave Thomas must be hoping for back to back titles.
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Jun Takemura (JPN,132) 18-21 21-16 21-16
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63) 11-21 21-14 21-14
[SF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt (4) Stephan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,65) 21-16 16-21 21-3
[SF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) l Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 15-21 18-21
[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) l (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG) 18-21 21-19 14-21
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG) 21-19 14-21 21-17
[SF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (3) Jorrit De Ruiter (NED)/ Jurgen Wouters (NED) 21-18 22-20
[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED)
[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Carl Baxter (ENG,103)
Ajay scored another upset comeback win to move in to semis but his luck ended against Englishman Baxter.
But what last few weeks for Anand!!! He is now aiming for his second Internationals title ... He showed solid temperament to produce back to back tough 3 games win.
Rupesh and Sanave Thomas must be hoping for back to back titles.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tennis News -
At $2.1M / $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt Olga Savchuk (UKR,96) 46 61 64
[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18)
Doubles -
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)
[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) bt FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 63 64
[R2] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG)
So after losing first set Sania managed to turn table on Olga ... She needs more consistent performance against Shahar.
Good straight sets win for Lee and Paul ... Now they will face Argentine pair in second round.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Final -
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) 26 63 62
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259) 26 16
These one-sided losses hurt ... Now interesting to see how he perform next 2 weeks on Egyptian clay.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105) 21-12 21-9
[R2] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt P. Kashyap (IND,98) 21-18 8-21 23-21
[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) l (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR) 21-16 9-21 17-21
[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN) 21-11 21-17
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Jun Takemura (JPN,132)
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63)
[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG)
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG)
Anand is in quarters with easy victory ... Ajay continues with his giant killing and yesterday beat his senior team-mate Kashyap to moved into quarters.
Aditi couldn't handle unrank Chinese qualifier's challenge after wining first game ... Our doubles teams scored easy victory.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Third Round (EPGA Tour)
T1 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 -18
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 - 6
T60 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 + 2
At $2.1M / $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt Olga Savchuk (UKR,96) 46 61 64
[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18)
Doubles -
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)
[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) bt FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 63 64
[R2] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG)
So after losing first set Sania managed to turn table on Olga ... She needs more consistent performance against Shahar.
Good straight sets win for Lee and Paul ... Now they will face Argentine pair in second round.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Final -
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) 26 63 62
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259) 26 16
These one-sided losses hurt ... Now interesting to see how he perform next 2 weeks on Egyptian clay.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105) 21-12 21-9
[R2] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt P. Kashyap (IND,98) 21-18 8-21 23-21
[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) l (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR) 21-16 9-21 17-21
[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN) 21-11 21-17
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Jun Takemura (JPN,132)
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63)
[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG)
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG)
Anand is in quarters with easy victory ... Ajay continues with his giant killing and yesterday beat his senior team-mate Kashyap to moved into quarters.
Aditi couldn't handle unrank Chinese qualifier's challenge after wining first game ... Our doubles teams scored easy victory.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Third Round (EPGA Tour)
T1 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 -18
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 - 6
T60 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 + 2
Friday, March 14, 2008
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Andres Corpancho (PER,106) 21-17 21-13
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) bt (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212) 21-23 22-20 21-14
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62) 13-21 21-12 21-17
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) l Rune Massing (NED,129) 13-21 12-21
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) bt (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66) 21-8 21-14
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) l Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79) 11-18 Retd.
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR) 21-10 21-7
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105)
[R2] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244)
[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR)
[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR)
Huge comeback win for Ajay over top-65 Frenchman Simon Maunoury ... Anand and P. Kashyap starting to show more consistency in their results, though Kashyap snatched victory from jaws of defeat against Dutch qualifier ... Aditi scored easy victory against seeded player but facing tricky second round match against young unranked Chinese qualifier.
But feel sad for Trupti, who is still struggling with her long injury.
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Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Second Round (EPGA Tour)
T2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 -10
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 - 4
T56 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 Par
------ Cut @ PAR ------
83 KAPUR Shiv 74 73 +3
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Andres Corpancho (PER,106) 21-17 21-13
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) bt (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212) 21-23 22-20 21-14
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62) 13-21 21-12 21-17
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) l Rune Massing (NED,129) 13-21 12-21
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) bt (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66) 21-8 21-14
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) l Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79) 11-18 Retd.
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR) 21-10 21-7
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105)
[R2] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244)
[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR)
[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR)
Huge comeback win for Ajay over top-65 Frenchman Simon Maunoury ... Anand and P. Kashyap starting to show more consistency in their results, though Kashyap snatched victory from jaws of defeat against Dutch qualifier ... Aditi scored easy victory against seeded player but facing tricky second round match against young unranked Chinese qualifier.
But feel sad for Trupti, who is still struggling with her long injury.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Second Round (EPGA Tour)
T2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 -10
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 - 4
T56 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 Par
------ Cut @ PAR ------
83 KAPUR Shiv 74 73 +3
Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) l (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7) 9-11 Retd.
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) l (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1) 13-21 10-21
Anup retired from the match ... Lets hope its not serious injury ... Otherwise that will be big setback for his Olympics preparation.
Saina gave decent performance to win 10 or more points in both games against Chinese WR #1.
-----------------------------------------------
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[Q1] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Maxime Renault (FRA,469) 21-19 21-16
[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Miguel Jardim (POR,UNR) 21-12 21-7
[Q2] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) Bye
[Q2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) Bye
[Q3] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Jeppe Lund (DEN,280) 16-21 21-17 25-23
[Q3] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Fernando Silva (POR,UNR) 21-9 21-12
Maindraw -
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Andres Corpancho (PER,106)
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212)
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62)
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) vs Rune Massing (NED,129)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66)
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) vs Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79)
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR)
[R1] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) Bye
Good decent couple of wins for young Sagar Chopda.
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Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Semi-Finals -
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) 64 06 75
Doubles Final -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) 26 62 10(4)
Sunitha and her partner managed to win first set against top seed Chinese but they couldn't converted that in to win.
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) l (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7) 9-11 Retd.
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) l (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1) 13-21 10-21
Anup retired from the match ... Lets hope its not serious injury ... Otherwise that will be big setback for his Olympics preparation.
Saina gave decent performance to win 10 or more points in both games against Chinese WR #1.
-----------------------------------------------
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,
[Q1] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Maxime Renault (FRA,469) 21-19 21-16
[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Miguel Jardim (POR,UNR) 21-12 21-7
[Q2] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) Bye
[Q2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) Bye
[Q3] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Jeppe Lund (DEN,280) 16-21 21-17 25-23
[Q3] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Fernando Silva (POR,UNR) 21-9 21-12
Maindraw -
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Andres Corpancho (PER,106)
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212)
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62)
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) vs Rune Massing (NED,129)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66)
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) vs Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79)
[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR)
[R1] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) Bye
Good decent couple of wins for young Sagar Chopda.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Semi-Finals -
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) 64 06 75
Doubles Final -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) 26 62 10(4)
Sunitha and her partner managed to win first set against top seed Chinese but they couldn't converted that in to win.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs Olga Savchuk (UKR,96)
Doubles -
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) 63 62
Good start in doubles with easy victory ... In singles Sania is playing against Olga Savchuk, whom she defeated in 2007 Australian Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (6) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs KAS Christopher (GER)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED)
[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)
Lee and Paul having tough and tricky first round match against Rafa and Ferrer.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Quarter-Finals -
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) 36 61 64
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) 67(5) 63 63
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) 64 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) 75 62
Doubles Semi-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 75 63
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt (4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 75 75
Creditable performance from Sunitha considering her health condition (stomach bug) though she lost good opportunity to win her first singles $50K Challenger title.
But in doubles Sunitha is in final with Vedy to face top seed Chinese pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920) 76(3) 36 61
[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259)
Karan match was postponed due to rain, today he scored 3 sets victory over Frenchman ... Good to see one sided score in third set after losing second ... Now he will play against Dutch top seed in quarters ... Go Karan.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Canada F2, Montreal
[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) l (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495) 26 36
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Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA) 18-21 17-21
[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7)
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1)
Interesting to see, can Anup repeat his last time win against Hidayat and also Saina's performance against WR # 1 to see how much she progressed.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - First Round (EPGA Tour)
T3 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 -4
T3 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 -4
T63 GHEI Gaurav 72 Par
T98 KAPUR Shiv 74 +2
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs Olga Savchuk (UKR,96)
Doubles -
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) 63 62
Good start in doubles with easy victory ... In singles Sania is playing against Olga Savchuk, whom she defeated in 2007 Australian Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (6) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs KAS Christopher (GER)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED)
[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)
Lee and Paul having tough and tricky first round match against Rafa and Ferrer.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Quarter-Finals -
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) 36 61 64
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) 67(5) 63 63
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) 64 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) 75 62
Doubles Semi-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 75 63
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt (4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 75 75
Creditable performance from Sunitha considering her health condition (stomach bug) though she lost good opportunity to win her first singles $50K Challenger title.
But in doubles Sunitha is in final with Vedy to face top seed Chinese pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920) 76(3) 36 61
[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259)
Karan match was postponed due to rain, today he scored 3 sets victory over Frenchman ... Good to see one sided score in third set after losing second ... Now he will play against Dutch top seed in quarters ... Go Karan.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Canada F2, Montreal
[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) l (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495) 26 36
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA) 18-21 17-21
[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7)
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1)
Interesting to see, can Anup repeat his last time win against Hidayat and also Saina's performance against WR # 1 to see how much she progressed.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - First Round (EPGA Tour)
T3 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 -4
T3 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 -4
T63 GHEI Gaurav 72 Par
T98 KAPUR Shiv 74 +2
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) bt Shoji SATO (JPN,17) 22-20 13-21 21-14
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) bt Anna RICE (CAN,24) 21-13 21-13
Anup responded with good hard fighting win over top seed Japanese player ... This 55 mins match was close one as Anup won 56 rallies and Sato won 55 ... Anup's next round opponent is still to decide but mostly Olympics champion 7th seed Taufik Hidayat will be his opponent.
After longtime, frankly I feel like ages ... ;), Saina scored win over higher rank opponent and thats also in Super Series ... Next round her opponent will be Chinese WR #1 Xingfang Xie ... It would be great learning experiance for Saina.
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) bt Shoji SATO (JPN,17) 22-20 13-21 21-14
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) bt Anna RICE (CAN,24) 21-13 21-13
Anup responded with good hard fighting win over top seed Japanese player ... This 55 mins match was close one as Anup won 56 rallies and Sato won 55 ... Anup's next round opponent is still to decide but mostly Olympics champion 7th seed Taufik Hidayat will be his opponent.
After longtime, frankly I feel like ages ... ;), Saina scored win over higher rank opponent and thats also in Super Series ... Next round her opponent will be Chinese WR #1 Xingfang Xie ... It would be great learning experiance for Saina.
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND) / Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE)
In doubles Sania is partnering American Bethanie Mattek ... They r 7th seed pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Second Round -
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) 57 63 62
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt (Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) 63 61
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) 76(5) 61
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) 57 63 62
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) 57 64 61
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Isha Lakhani (IND,353) 62 64
(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Teodora Mircic (SRB,282) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) 63 61
Doubles Quarter-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) 76(5) 63
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) W/O
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt (Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) 76(1) 26 10(7)
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) 61 64
Ankita won first set against top-200 player buth then lost next 2 quite easily.
Sunitha produced another solid performance to beat her Serbian opponent ... So now only Sunitha is keeing Indian interest in singles and with Uberoi sis in doubles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Round 1
Safa SC (LEB) bt East Bengal (IND) 1-0
Goal Scored - Rafael Mbassi (SSC) 17'
East Bengal showed fighting performance, but couldn't converted in to win.
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND) / Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE)
In doubles Sania is partnering American Bethanie Mattek ... They r 7th seed pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles Second Round -
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) 57 63 62
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt (Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) 63 61
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) 76(5) 61
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) 57 63 62
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) 57 64 61
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Isha Lakhani (IND,353) 62 64
(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Teodora Mircic (SRB,282) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) 63 61
Doubles Quarter-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) 76(5) 63
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) W/O
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt (Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) 76(1) 26 10(7)
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) 61 64
Ankita won first set against top-200 player buth then lost next 2 quite easily.
Sunitha produced another solid performance to beat her Serbian opponent ... So now only Sunitha is keeing Indian interest in singles and with Uberoi sis in doubles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Round 1
Safa SC (LEB) bt East Bengal (IND) 1-0
Goal Scored - Rafael Mbassi (SSC) 17'
East Bengal showed fighting performance, but couldn't converted in to win.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Yu Hsin HSIEH (TPE,51) 12-21 18-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) bt (3) Marc ZWIEBLER (GER,31) 14-21 21-12 21-16
[Q2] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) l Petr KOUKAL (CZE,39) 16-21 19-21
Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs Shoji SATO (JPN,17)
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs Anna RICE (CAN,24)
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) vs Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA)
This is 3rd Super Series event of the year ... Hopefully our players improve their performance in Super Series with this Basel event.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group A - Round 1, Goa
Dempo Sc (IND) bt Al Ansar (LEB) 3-1
Goal Scored - Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 21' & 32', Chidi Edeh (DSC) 62' and Hassan Danash (AlA) 89'
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Yu Hsin HSIEH (TPE,51) 12-21 18-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) bt (3) Marc ZWIEBLER (GER,31) 14-21 21-12 21-16
[Q2] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) l Petr KOUKAL (CZE,39) 16-21 19-21
Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs Shoji SATO (JPN,17)
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs Anna RICE (CAN,24)
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) vs Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA)
This is 3rd Super Series event of the year ... Hopefully our players improve their performance in Super Series with this Basel event.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group A - Round 1, Goa
Dempo Sc (IND) bt Al Ansar (LEB) 3-1
Goal Scored - Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 21' & 32', Chidi Edeh (DSC) 62' and Hassan Danash (AlA) 89'
Good start for I-League Champion Dempo ... Captain Ranty lead from the front and scored 2 goals in 10 mins ... East Bengal's will play their group match later in the day.
Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) Bye
Indian Wells draw is out and Sania is 21st seeded ... She is having first round bye and in second round she will meet winner between Ukranian Olga Savchuk and Russian Yaroslava Shvedova ... Sania having 1-0 record against Olga and 1-1 record against Shvedova.
If Sania wins her second round match then she can meet 9th seed Shahar Peer in 3rd round, 5th seed Daniela Hantuchova in 4th round and 4th seed Maria Sharapova in quarters ... But all these matches r long shot before that she needs to win her second round match ... :)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R1] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1495) 62 61
[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Canada F2, Montreal
[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) vs (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495)
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA
[R1] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) Bye
Indian Wells draw is out and Sania is 21st seeded ... She is having first round bye and in second round she will meet winner between Ukranian Olga Savchuk and Russian Yaroslava Shvedova ... Sania having 1-0 record against Olga and 1-1 record against Shvedova.
If Sania wins her second round match then she can meet 9th seed Shahar Peer in 3rd round, 5th seed Daniela Hantuchova in 4th round and 4th seed Maria Sharapova in quarters ... But all these matches r long shot before that she needs to win her second round match ... :)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R1] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1495) 62 61
[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920)
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At $10K Canada F2, Montreal
[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) vs (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495)
Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles First Round -
Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) bt (1) Andreja Klepac (SLO,130) 61 62
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU,256) 63 63
(Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) bt (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,955) 63 63
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Sandy Gumulya (INA,245) 62 60
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB,307) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) bt (Q) Suchanun Viratprasert (THA,536) 36 75 61
(WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) bt Ivana Lisjak (CRO,213) 63 1-0 Retd
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt Veronika Chvojkova (CZE,281) 64 57 64
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (WC) Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND,475) 60 63
Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) bt (Q) Lisa Sabino (ITA,379) 76(5) 57 62
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT,268) 76(5) 76(4)
(WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,353) bt (3) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,144) 63 Retd.
(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,318) 64 64
Teodora Mirčić (SRB,282) bt (PR) Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU,429) 61 75
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA,192) 64 64
(2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) bt Anastasia Poltoratskaya (RUS,295) 62 63
Doubles First Round -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 64 61
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Isha LAKHANI (IND) 63 75
Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) bt (3) Ekateryna DZEHALEVICH (BLR)/ Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) W/O
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 36 63 10(8)
(Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) bt Debbrich FEYS (BEL)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 63 76(1)
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND)/ Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 62 62
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Andreja KLEPAC (SLO)/ Margit RUUTEL (EST) 63 10 Retd
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 75 64
Today 2 retirements and both against Indian players ... More importantly in their respective matches Ankita and Isha won first set against their formidable opponents.
Sunitha won easily against tricky Ksenia Palkina ... Top seed Klepac lost in one-sided match, yesterday she retired from her doubles match so mostly she didn't recover fully from her injury in today's single match.
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India
Singles First Round -
Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) bt (1) Andreja Klepac (SLO,130) 61 62
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU,256) 63 63
(Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) bt (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,955) 63 63
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Sandy Gumulya (INA,245) 62 60
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB,307) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) bt (Q) Suchanun Viratprasert (THA,536) 36 75 61
(WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) bt Ivana Lisjak (CRO,213) 63 1-0 Retd
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt Veronika Chvojkova (CZE,281) 64 57 64
(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (WC) Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND,475) 60 63
Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) bt (Q) Lisa Sabino (ITA,379) 76(5) 57 62
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT,268) 76(5) 76(4)
(WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,353) bt (3) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,144) 63 Retd.
(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,318) 64 64
Teodora Mirčić (SRB,282) bt (PR) Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU,429) 61 75
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA,192) 64 64
(2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) bt Anastasia Poltoratskaya (RUS,295) 62 63
Doubles First Round -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 64 61
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Isha LAKHANI (IND) 63 75
Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) bt (3) Ekateryna DZEHALEVICH (BLR)/ Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) W/O
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 36 63 10(8)
(Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) bt Debbrich FEYS (BEL)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 63 76(1)
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND)/ Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 62 62
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Andreja KLEPAC (SLO)/ Margit RUUTEL (EST) 63 10 Retd
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 75 64
Today 2 retirements and both against Indian players ... More importantly in their respective matches Ankita and Isha won first set against their formidable opponents.
Sunitha won easily against tricky Ksenia Palkina ... Top seed Klepac lost in one-sided match, yesterday she retired from her doubles match so mostly she didn't recover fully from her injury in today's single match.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
Final - India l Great Britain 0-2 (0-2)
Goal Scored - Barry Middleton 4', Richard Mantell (PC) 10'
3rd place – Russia bt Austria 6-3 (4-1)
5th place - Chile bt Mexico 9-3 (5-2)
Today is a Doomsday for Indian hockey … Our hockey team achieved such a feat that not any other Indian team managed to achieve that in last 80 years … Don’t know whom to blame about this fiasco our team, coach Joaquim Carvalho or KPS Gill and Jothikumaran … In my view all r equally responsible for this state of hockey … FIH appointed Australian Ric Charlesworth to help us out … But our bureaucrats and (importantly) coach Joaquim Carvalho wasn’t ready to accept his help thinking they were having great plan (?) to revive Indian hockey … They even tried and were successful that for important tournaments like this Olympics qualifier and Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament , Ric couldn’t reach.
This was expected result after watching our round-robin matches ... In those matches we showed poor execution of plan (or lack of plan) with stupid mistakes ... But still there was some hope of miracle.
Now usual stuff will begins like resignation of coaches, captain and retirement of some players … But that doesn’t help us until our top hockey brass remain on their position … If we really want to revive hockey and plan for 2012 Olympics then we should start from removing current IHF body and start building young team ( like Malaysia).
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
Final - India l Great Britain 0-2 (0-2)
Goal Scored - Barry Middleton 4', Richard Mantell (PC) 10'
3rd place – Russia bt Austria 6-3 (4-1)
5th place - Chile bt Mexico 9-3 (5-2)
Today is a Doomsday for Indian hockey … Our hockey team achieved such a feat that not any other Indian team managed to achieve that in last 80 years … Don’t know whom to blame about this fiasco our team, coach Joaquim Carvalho or KPS Gill and Jothikumaran … In my view all r equally responsible for this state of hockey … FIH appointed Australian Ric Charlesworth to help us out … But our bureaucrats and (importantly) coach Joaquim Carvalho wasn’t ready to accept his help thinking they were having great plan (?) to revive Indian hockey … They even tried and were successful that for important tournaments like this Olympics qualifier and Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament , Ric couldn’t reach.
This was expected result after watching our round-robin matches ... In those matches we showed poor execution of plan (or lack of plan) with stupid mistakes ... But still there was some hope of miracle.
Now usual stuff will begins like resignation of coaches, captain and retirement of some players … But that doesn’t help us until our top hockey brass remain on their position … If we really want to revive hockey and plan for 2012 Olympics then we should start from removing current IHF body and start building young team ( like Malaysia).
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Golf News -
At Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur - Final Standing
1 ATWAL Arjun 70 68 68 64 -18 $333,330
T6 RANDHAWA Jyoti 67 65 70 71 -15 $ 56,200
T37 GHEI Gaurav 67 71 72 70 - 8 $ 13,600
T46 CHOWRASIAS.S.P 66 73 69 74 - 6 $ 9,600
Mission accomplished for Arjun!!!
Arjun only planned to play in India and his favorite tournaments on Asian (EPGA) tour to get confidence and momentum before crucial Nationwide tournaments in hunt of securing PGA Tour card for season 2009 … But he achieve more than what he imagined before coming to Asian Odyssey with winning his second Malaysian Open title which he also won in 2003 which grab him European tour card for next 2 seasons … Simply amazing and unbelievable.
Arjun Atwal - “It is an amazing feeling. I don’t know how to put it into words. To come here and win this title twice now is incredible. On the first play-off hole I thought Peter Hedblom was in trouble off the tee but he played an amazing recovery and that put the pressure on me.
I didn’t think I had a chance starting fourth round and just relaxed from the first hole. It was only on the 11th I felt I had a chance. It is incredible.”
At Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur - Final Standing
1 ATWAL Arjun 70 68 68 64 -18 $333,330
T6 RANDHAWA Jyoti 67 65 70 71 -15 $ 56,200
T37 GHEI Gaurav 67 71 72 70 - 8 $ 13,600
T46 CHOWRASIAS.S.P 66 73 69 74 - 6 $ 9,600
Mission accomplished for Arjun!!!
Arjun only planned to play in India and his favorite tournaments on Asian (EPGA) tour to get confidence and momentum before crucial Nationwide tournaments in hunt of securing PGA Tour card for season 2009 … But he achieve more than what he imagined before coming to Asian Odyssey with winning his second Malaysian Open title which he also won in 2003 which grab him European tour card for next 2 seasons … Simply amazing and unbelievable.
Arjun Atwal - “It is an amazing feeling. I don’t know how to put it into words. To come here and win this title twice now is incredible. On the first play-off hole I thought Peter Hedblom was in trouble off the tee but he played an amazing recovery and that put the pressure on me.
I didn’t think I had a chance starting fourth round and just relaxed from the first hole. It was only on the 11th I felt I had a chance. It is incredible.”
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Chile 4-1 (3-0)
Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', V.R. Raghunath 23' & (PC) 61', Bharath 24'
Chile - Felipe Montegu (PC) 64'
Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Austria 4-0
Russia bt Mexico 9-1
Again Indian team failed to impress with their game or game plan ... Same old problems of poor marking, unnecessary hitting, faulty ball traping and poor passing ... Indian team need lot more improvement if we really want to qualify for Olympics.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) l (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)
[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL) 21-5 21-6
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) l Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-15 14-21 21-19
[F] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-9 21-14
Kaori scored surprisng win over Aditi ... But Rupesh and Sanave performed as per their ranking to win Croatian International title.
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Chile 4-1 (3-0)
Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', V.R. Raghunath 23' & (PC) 61', Bharath 24'
Chile - Felipe Montegu (PC) 64'
Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Austria 4-0
Russia bt Mexico 9-1
Again Indian team failed to impress with their game or game plan ... Same old problems of poor marking, unnecessary hitting, faulty ball traping and poor passing ... Indian team need lot more improvement if we really want to qualify for Olympics.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) l (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)
[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL) 21-5 21-6
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) l Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-15 14-21 21-19
[F] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-9 21-14
Kaori scored surprisng win over Aditi ... But Rupesh and Sanave performed as per their ranking to win Croatian International title.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE) 75 76(7)
Excellent quality match between these 2 teams ... Both teams fought until end without giving much to other team ... Frankly it was difficult to mentioned who had bad day, both teams were deserve to win ... Mark and Hesh increased their game level few notches when required that was difference between these teams.
Damm and Vizner saved 2 match points in tie-break but Mark and Hesh managed to convert 3rd ... Simply high quality doubles match.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) l Ville LANG (FIN,88) 21-15 18-21 13-21
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113) 21-19 21-13
[R2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Konstantin DOBREV (BUL)/ Stiliyan MAKARSKI (BUL) 21-16 21-12
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT) 21-6 21-12
[QF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Dave KHODABUX (NED)/ Lester OEY (NED) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Martin BEYER (DEN)/ Maxime RENAULT (FRA) 21-11 21-16
[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)
[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL)
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) vs Jakub BITMAN CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO)
Anand couldn't convert good start in to the win ... But Aditi taking full advantage of weak draw, now in the semis she is playing another qualifier, who defeated 2nd seed top-45 European player in first round.
In doubles both teams r on course of meeting in the final, now need another one win to meet in the final.
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE) 75 76(7)
Excellent quality match between these 2 teams ... Both teams fought until end without giving much to other team ... Frankly it was difficult to mentioned who had bad day, both teams were deserve to win ... Mark and Hesh increased their game level few notches when required that was difference between these teams.
Damm and Vizner saved 2 match points in tie-break but Mark and Hesh managed to convert 3rd ... Simply high quality doubles match.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) l Ville LANG (FIN,88) 21-15 18-21 13-21
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113) 21-19 21-13
[R2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Konstantin DOBREV (BUL)/ Stiliyan MAKARSKI (BUL) 21-16 21-12
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT) 21-6 21-12
[QF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Dave KHODABUX (NED)/ Lester OEY (NED) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Martin BEYER (DEN)/ Maxime RENAULT (FRA) 21-11 21-16
[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)
[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL)
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) vs Jakub BITMAN CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO)
Anand couldn't convert good start in to the win ... But Aditi taking full advantage of weak draw, now in the semis she is playing another qualifier, who defeated 2nd seed top-45 European player in first round.
In doubles both teams r on course of meeting in the final, now need another one win to meet in the final.
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 14 - Friday, March 7th
Anand ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko ½-½ Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Final Standing after 14 Rounds -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 8½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 8 pts
T3 Levon Aronian ARM 7½ pts
T3 Veselin Topalov BUL 7½ pts
5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 7 pts
6 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 6½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5½ pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5½ pts
Anand played 23 moves quick draw against Topalov ... And as all other games ended in draw including 69 moves Carlsen and Radjabov match, Anand retained his ½ pt advantage to win Morelia-Linares Championship title.
This was Anand's 3rd Linares title and Anand became only 2nd player after Garry Kasparov, who defended his title successfully.
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Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) l SANON Valentin (CIV,629) 67(4) 61 16
Doubles -
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) l BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS) 62 67(5) (12)14
Karan gave fight to ex-top 300 player, Sanon, who is doing comeback after injury break ... In doubles also Karan and Alexander missed opportunity to finish the match in 2nd set only.
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 14 - Friday, March 7th
Anand ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko ½-½ Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Final Standing after 14 Rounds -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 8½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 8 pts
T3 Levon Aronian ARM 7½ pts
T3 Veselin Topalov BUL 7½ pts
5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 7 pts
6 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 6½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5½ pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5½ pts
Anand played 23 moves quick draw against Topalov ... And as all other games ended in draw including 69 moves Carlsen and Radjabov match, Anand retained his ½ pt advantage to win Morelia-Linares Championship title.
This was Anand's 3rd Linares title and Anand became only 2nd player after Garry Kasparov, who defended his title successfully.
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Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) l SANON Valentin (CIV,629) 67(4) 61 16
Doubles -
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) l BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS) 62 67(5) (12)14
Karan gave fight to ex-top 300 player, Sanon, who is doing comeback after injury break ... In doubles also Karan and Alexander missed opportunity to finish the match in 2nd set only.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[SF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT) 62 60
[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE)
Very dominating performance by Hesh and Mark against higher seeds ... They crushed Knowle and Aspelin ... They won 50 points of total 77 points which played in this match.
So now in the final they will play against 3rd seeds Damm and Vizner, who upset top seeds in other semi.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[Q1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,246) bt David OBERNOSTERER (AUT,624) 21-6 19-21 21-6
[Q2] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,246) l (8) Kristian NIELSEN (DEN,128) 14-21 17-21
Maindraw -
[R1] P KASHYAP (IND,100) bt Klaus RAFFEINER (ITA,108) 21-16 21-10
[R1] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) bt Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,77) 21-10 21-16
[R1] Trupti MURGUNDE (IND,63) l Nanna BROSOLAT JENSEN (DEN,78) 18-21 11-21
[R1] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt Maja KERSNIK (SLO,79) 21-12 21-17
[R1] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) Bye
[R1] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) Bye
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT)
[R2] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) bt P KASHYAP (IND,100) 23-21 21-14
[R2] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (4) Claudia RIVERO (PER,49) 21-15 19-21 21-13
[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) vs Ville LANG (FIN,88)
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113)
Anand continue to impressed with his performance ... Today he scored 2 quality win against top 100, though second win was against his team-mate P Kashyap.
Aditi also scored quality wins against higer ranked players, importantly her tight win against top-50 Peruvian player.
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[SF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT) 62 60
[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE)
Very dominating performance by Hesh and Mark against higher seeds ... They crushed Knowle and Aspelin ... They won 50 points of total 77 points which played in this match.
So now in the final they will play against 3rd seeds Damm and Vizner, who upset top seeds in other semi.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb
[Q1] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,246) bt David OBERNOSTERER (AUT,624) 21-6 19-21 21-6
[Q2] Ajay JAYARAM (IND,246) l (8) Kristian NIELSEN (DEN,128) 14-21 17-21
Maindraw -
[R1] P KASHYAP (IND,100) bt Klaus RAFFEINER (ITA,108) 21-16 21-10
[R1] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) bt Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,77) 21-10 21-16
[R1] Trupti MURGUNDE (IND,63) l Nanna BROSOLAT JENSEN (DEN,78) 18-21 11-21
[R1] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt Maja KERSNIK (SLO,79) 21-12 21-17
[R1] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) Bye
[R1] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) Bye
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT)
[R2] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) bt P KASHYAP (IND,100) 23-21 21-14
[R2] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (4) Claudia RIVERO (PER,49) 21-15 19-21 21-13
[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) vs Ville LANG (FIN,88)
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113)
Anand continue to impressed with his performance ... Today he scored 2 quality win against top 100, though second win was against his team-mate P Kashyap.
Aditi also scored quality wins against higer ranked players, importantly her tight win against top-50 Peruvian player.
Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[QF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt LOPEZ Feliciano (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 61 61
[QF] (WC) BOPANNA Rohan (IND)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) l (1) NESTOR Daniel (CAN)/ ZIMONJIC Nenad (SRB) 62 67(5) (6)10
[SF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT)
Hesh and Mark r on roll scoring another dominating victory ... But I m more impressed by performance by ‘Rookie pair’ (on ATP tour) of Bops and Aisam against seasoned pair of Nestor and Zimo ... This rookie pair almost pulled huge upset against top seeds ... This performance will definitely help them to perform better in future matches against these top teams.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R2] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) bt (Q) NEDELKO Ivan (RUS,986) 62 61
[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs SANON Valentin (CIV,629)
Doubles -
[QF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) bt BAJOT Jean-Pierre (FRA)/ COCO Rudy (FRA) 62 67(5) 10(7)
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS)
These wins will help Karan to bring back his confidence on his own game and give him much required momentum while participating in bigger and tougher tournaments.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 13 - Thursday, March 6th
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Anand
Teimour Radjabov 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Veselin Topalov 1-0 Peter Leko
Anand began with the Najdorf against Ivanchuk but game was drawn in just 23 moves ... Carlsen and Aronian agreed to draw in 28 moves ... With win Topalov joined Aronian on 3rd position with 7 pts.
Now only last round is remaining and Anand is leading with ½ pt against Carlsen ... In last round both r playing with white-pieces against Topalov and Radjabov respectively.
Round 14 -
Anand vs Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko vs Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen vs Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov vs Vassily Ivanchuk
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India l Great Britain 2-3 (1-1)
Goal Scored -
India - V.R. Raghunath (PC) 3' & (PC) 64'
Mexico - Richard Mantell (PC) 15', Jonty Clarke 45', Rob Moore 69'
Other Matches -
Russia bt Chile 2-1
Austria bt Mexico 3-1
India and English side played entertaining hockey ... But Indian were extra physical and they paid penalty for that when Vickram Kanth was out due to yellow card, British side scored equalizer.
Yesterday Prabhjot Singh was off color and missed many crosses inside D ... But it was good to see Raghunath's improved PC conversion skill ... In end India again paid price of not keeping intensity for full 70 mins and allowed opponent to score goal in last couple of minutes.
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[QF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt LOPEZ Feliciano (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 61 61
[QF] (WC) BOPANNA Rohan (IND)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) l (1) NESTOR Daniel (CAN)/ ZIMONJIC Nenad (SRB) 62 67(5) (6)10
[SF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT)
Hesh and Mark r on roll scoring another dominating victory ... But I m more impressed by performance by ‘Rookie pair’ (on ATP tour) of Bops and Aisam against seasoned pair of Nestor and Zimo ... This rookie pair almost pulled huge upset against top seeds ... This performance will definitely help them to perform better in future matches against these top teams.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R2] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) bt (Q) NEDELKO Ivan (RUS,986) 62 61
[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs SANON Valentin (CIV,629)
Doubles -
[QF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) bt BAJOT Jean-Pierre (FRA)/ COCO Rudy (FRA) 62 67(5) 10(7)
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS)
These wins will help Karan to bring back his confidence on his own game and give him much required momentum while participating in bigger and tougher tournaments.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 13 - Thursday, March 6th
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Anand
Teimour Radjabov 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Veselin Topalov 1-0 Peter Leko
Anand began with the Najdorf against Ivanchuk but game was drawn in just 23 moves ... Carlsen and Aronian agreed to draw in 28 moves ... With win Topalov joined Aronian on 3rd position with 7 pts.
Now only last round is remaining and Anand is leading with ½ pt against Carlsen ... In last round both r playing with white-pieces against Topalov and Radjabov respectively.
Round 14 -
Anand vs Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko vs Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen vs Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov vs Vassily Ivanchuk
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India l Great Britain 2-3 (1-1)
Goal Scored -
India - V.R. Raghunath (PC) 3' & (PC) 64'
Mexico - Richard Mantell (PC) 15', Jonty Clarke 45', Rob Moore 69'
Other Matches -
Russia bt Chile 2-1
Austria bt Mexico 3-1
India and English side played entertaining hockey ... But Indian were extra physical and they paid penalty for that when Vickram Kanth was out due to yellow card, British side scored equalizer.
Yesterday Prabhjot Singh was off color and missed many crosses inside D ... But it was good to see Raghunath's improved PC conversion skill ... In end India again paid price of not keeping intensity for full 70 mins and allowed opponent to score goal in last couple of minutes.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[R1] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (ALT) KERR Jordan (AUS)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED) 64 63
[QF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs LOPEZ Feliciano (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)
Hesh and Mark played against alternate pair of Kerr and Wassen ... In first set Hesh and Mark was down 2-4 but from their they showed dominance to win this match easily ... In quarters they r facing tricky pair of Rafa and Lopez.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Mexico 18-1 (8-0)
Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', 50', 60' & 61', Rajpal Singh 11', 21', 30', 39' & 69', Shivendra Singh 16' & 24', Tushar Khandekar 19', V.R. Raghunath (PC) 29', (PC) 37', 54', (PC) 57' & (PC) 62', Sardar Singh 65'
Mexico - Pol Moreno Quiroz 70'
Other Matches -
Austria bt Russia 5-4
Great Britain bt Chile 4-1
After complaining after first 2 matches about performance of our team atlast they give me chance to write some positive about them ... :) Yesterday India performed to their true potential (that’s attacking) to hammered Mexico ... We were playing full attacking game and grabbed rich dividends ... This performance will hugely benefited in round robin and final matches against Great Britain.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K All England Super Series 2008, Birmingham
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Weijie GONG (CHN,80) 21-18 19-21 19-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,53) l Seung Mo SHON (KOR,54) 17-21 19-21
Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) l (1) Dan LIN (CHN,1) 21-16 8-21 11-21
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,28) l Yu HIRAYAMA (JPN,22) 18-21 21-18 18-21
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l (1) Yili WEI (CHN)/ Yawen ZHANG (CHN) 3-21 9-21
So our men’s challenge got over in first round as Arvind and Chetan already lost in qualifying ... Anup started well winning first game against WR No. 1 Dan Lin, but again Dan showed his class in next two games.
After losing first game Saina showed heart to fight back in second game but in end Hirayama's experiance proved strong to win this closely fought match.
And No. 1 Chinese pair literally crushed pair of Jwala and Shruti in first round.
So with that very early end of Indian challenge in All England Super Series ... Arvind, Chetan and Saina had realistic chances ... But Arvind and Saina lost in closely fought matches.
Anup again managed to extend Dan Lin to 3 games, but still this tournament shows our players need to make lot more improvement to challenge the best.
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[R1] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (ALT) KERR Jordan (AUS)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED) 64 63
[QF] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs LOPEZ Feliciano (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)
Hesh and Mark played against alternate pair of Kerr and Wassen ... In first set Hesh and Mark was down 2-4 but from their they showed dominance to win this match easily ... In quarters they r facing tricky pair of Rafa and Lopez.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Mexico 18-1 (8-0)
Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', 50', 60' & 61', Rajpal Singh 11', 21', 30', 39' & 69', Shivendra Singh 16' & 24', Tushar Khandekar 19', V.R. Raghunath (PC) 29', (PC) 37', 54', (PC) 57' & (PC) 62', Sardar Singh 65'
Mexico - Pol Moreno Quiroz 70'
Other Matches -
Austria bt Russia 5-4
Great Britain bt Chile 4-1
After complaining after first 2 matches about performance of our team atlast they give me chance to write some positive about them ... :) Yesterday India performed to their true potential (that’s attacking) to hammered Mexico ... We were playing full attacking game and grabbed rich dividends ... This performance will hugely benefited in round robin and final matches against Great Britain.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K All England Super Series 2008, Birmingham
[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Weijie GONG (CHN,80) 21-18 19-21 19-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,53) l Seung Mo SHON (KOR,54) 17-21 19-21
Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,26) l (1) Dan LIN (CHN,1) 21-16 8-21 11-21
[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,28) l Yu HIRAYAMA (JPN,22) 18-21 21-18 18-21
[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l (1) Yili WEI (CHN)/ Yawen ZHANG (CHN) 3-21 9-21
So our men’s challenge got over in first round as Arvind and Chetan already lost in qualifying ... Anup started well winning first game against WR No. 1 Dan Lin, but again Dan showed his class in next two games.
After losing first game Saina showed heart to fight back in second game but in end Hirayama's experiance proved strong to win this closely fought match.
And No. 1 Chinese pair literally crushed pair of Jwala and Shruti in first round.
So with that very early end of Indian challenge in All England Super Series ... Arvind, Chetan and Saina had realistic chances ... But Arvind and Saina lost in closely fought matches.
Anup again managed to extend Dan Lin to 3 games, but still this tournament shows our players need to make lot more improvement to challenge the best.
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 12 - Tuesday, March 4th
Anand ½-½ Peter Leko
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Veselin Topalov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Anand agreed to another draw this time against Leko ... But Carlsen again upset Topalov this time with white-pieces to close gap to ½ pt ...So now battle is hot for Morelia-Linares title between Anand and Carlsen with Aronian having outside chance.
After today's rest day next in 13th round Anand will play with black-pieces against Vassily Ivanchuk ... But in same round match between Aronian and Carlsen is also important.
Standing after 12th Round -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 7½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 7 pts
3 Levon Aronian ARM 6½ pts
4 Veselin Topalov BUL 6 pts
T5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 5½ pts
T5 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 5½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5 pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5 pts
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R1] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) bt (Q) ZORLU Ergun (TUR,985) 63 63
[R2] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs (Q) NEDELKO Ivan (RUS,986)
Doubles -
[R1] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BLANDIN Jeremy (FRA)/ TASSART Antoine (FRA)
Karan having winning start in singles at Cote D'Ivoire ... In second round he is facing another qualifier.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6, McAllen, TX
[R1] SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,418) l (4) CHEKHOV Pavel (RUS,287) 26 67(6)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Sabadell Futures, Spain
[Q1] (2) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,588) bt STANCULESCU Andra (ROU,UNR)
[Q2] (2) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,588) l (WC) BOADA-PLADE LLORENS Anna (ESP,UNR) 67(3) 26
Doubles -
[R1] NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND)/ SOLSONA-CARCASONA Sheila (ESP) l POLJAKOVA Katarina (SVK)/ ZLOCHOVA Zuzana (SVK) 26 26
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 12 - Tuesday, March 4th
Anand ½-½ Peter Leko
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Veselin Topalov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Levon Aronian
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Anand agreed to another draw this time against Leko ... But Carlsen again upset Topalov this time with white-pieces to close gap to ½ pt ...So now battle is hot for Morelia-Linares title between Anand and Carlsen with Aronian having outside chance.
After today's rest day next in 13th round Anand will play with black-pieces against Vassily Ivanchuk ... But in same round match between Aronian and Carlsen is also important.
Standing after 12th Round -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 7½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 7 pts
3 Levon Aronian ARM 6½ pts
4 Veselin Topalov BUL 6 pts
T5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 5½ pts
T5 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 5½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5 pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5 pts
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
[R1] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) bt (Q) ZORLU Ergun (TUR,985) 63 63
[R2] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs (Q) NEDELKO Ivan (RUS,986)
Doubles -
[R1] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BLANDIN Jeremy (FRA)/ TASSART Antoine (FRA)
Karan having winning start in singles at Cote D'Ivoire ... In second round he is facing another qualifier.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6, McAllen, TX
[R1] SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,418) l (4) CHEKHOV Pavel (RUS,287) 26 67(6)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Sabadell Futures, Spain
[Q1] (2) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,588) bt STANCULESCU Andra (ROU,UNR)
[Q2] (2) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,588) l (WC) BOADA-PLADE LLORENS Anna (ESP,UNR) 67(3) 26
Doubles -
[R1] NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND)/ SOLSONA-CARCASONA Sheila (ESP) l POLJAKOVA Katarina (SVK)/ ZLOCHOVA Zuzana (SVK) 26 26
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[R1] (WC) BOPANNA Rohan (IND)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) bt ANDREEV Igor (RUS)/ MATHIEU Paul-Henri (FRA) 75 64
[R1] HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) l (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT) 16 36
Really powerful start for our wildcard pair in this big tournament ... Now they will face top seeds Nestor and Zimo in quarters ... But shocking one sided loss of Lee and Paul.
--------------------------------------
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
[R1] (WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,357) l (Q) Agnes Szatmari (ROU,271) 26 26
Doubles -
[R1] Sunitha Rao (IND)/ Monique Adamczak (AUS) l (4) Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (RUS) 06 16
With that Indian challenge is over from this edition of Banglore Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan (Spuckturf)
[R1] (PR) Harsh Mankad (IND,1283) l (6) Brendan Evans (USA, 206) 36 46
Doubles -
[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND) / Michael Ryderstedt (SWE) l Matthias Bachinger (GER) / Daniel Brands (GER) 57 36
With first round doubles loss very early end of a week for Harsh.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan
[R1] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs (Q) ZORLU Ergun (TUR,985)
Doubles -
[R1] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BLANDIN Jeremy (FRA)/ TASSART Antoine (FRA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6, McAllen, TX
[R1] SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,418) vs (4) CHEKHOV Pavel (RUS,287)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 11 - Monday, March 3rd
Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Anand
Levon Aronian ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Veselin Topalov 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Peter Leko 1-0 Magnus Carlsen
In end quick 18 moves draw against Teimour Radjabov turned to be great result for Anand, as Carlsen lost against Leko to give 1 pt lead and only 3 rounds remaining means advantage Anand ... After 11 round Anand is leading with 7 pts and Aronian, Carlsen & Topalov r tied 2nd with 6 pts.
In 12th round Anand will play with white-pieces against Peter Leko.
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE
[R1] (WC) BOPANNA Rohan (IND)/ QURESHI Aisam-Ul-Haq (PAK) bt ANDREEV Igor (RUS)/ MATHIEU Paul-Henri (FRA) 75 64
[R1] HANLEY Paul (AUS)/ PAES Leander (IND) l (2) ASPELIN Simon (SWE)/ KNOWLE Julian (AUT) 16 36
Really powerful start for our wildcard pair in this big tournament ... Now they will face top seeds Nestor and Zimo in quarters ... But shocking one sided loss of Lee and Paul.
--------------------------------------
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
[R1] (WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,357) l (Q) Agnes Szatmari (ROU,271) 26 26
Doubles -
[R1] Sunitha Rao (IND)/ Monique Adamczak (AUS) l (4) Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (RUS) 06 16
With that Indian challenge is over from this edition of Banglore Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan (Spuckturf)
[R1] (PR) Harsh Mankad (IND,1283) l (6) Brendan Evans (USA, 206) 36 46
Doubles -
[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND) / Michael Ryderstedt (SWE) l Matthias Bachinger (GER) / Daniel Brands (GER) 57 36
With first round doubles loss very early end of a week for Harsh.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan
[R1] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) vs (Q) ZORLU Ergun (TUR,985)
Doubles -
[R1] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) vs BLANDIN Jeremy (FRA)/ TASSART Antoine (FRA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6, McAllen, TX
[R1] SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,418) vs (4) CHEKHOV Pavel (RUS,287)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 11 - Monday, March 3rd
Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Anand
Levon Aronian ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Veselin Topalov 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Peter Leko 1-0 Magnus Carlsen
In end quick 18 moves draw against Teimour Radjabov turned to be great result for Anand, as Carlsen lost against Leko to give 1 pt lead and only 3 rounds remaining means advantage Anand ... After 11 round Anand is leading with 7 pts and Aronian, Carlsen & Topalov r tied 2nd with 6 pts.
In 12th round Anand will play with white-pieces against Peter Leko.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Tennis News -
At US$769K Memphis Open, TN, USA
[F] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA) 76(5) 62
Great finish from top seeds to won their first ATP title together at Memphis Championships ... Also this was Hesh's 42nd career title and Knowles' 48th ... And they also didn't lose a set in whole tournament.
Mahesh Bhupathi - "It's good to have the first title of the year. We started off really well in Melbourne feeling pretty confident. We both served well, focused hard because we knew if we played well we could have a shot at the title."
--------------------------------------
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
[Q3] Sunitha Rao (IND,181) l Tiantian Sun (CHN,229) 26 16
[Q3] (3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt (7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 62 60
[Q3] (9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt (5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 63 75
[Q3] Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt Melanie South (GBR) 64 26 76(6)
[u]Maindraw[/u] -
[R1] (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,989) l Agnes Szavay (HUN,18) 16 46
Doubles -
[R1] (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND)/ Sanaa Bhambri l Ayumi Morita (JPN)/ Junri Namigata (JPN) 63 46 (4)10
Tiantian Sun scored surprisingly one-sided victory over Sunitha.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Austria 7-3 (2-2)
Goal Scored -
India - Dilip Tirkey (PC) 9' & 23', Ignace Tirkey 41', Shivendra Singh 51' & 55', Bharath 53', Rajpal Singh 54'
Austria - Robert Buchta 2', Christian Minar (PC) 28' & 60'
Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Russia 8-0
Chile bt Mexico 4-0
Another unconvincing victory ... India struggled against Austria, who hold them 2-2 at half-time ... Indian still not able to produce polish performance ... They really need to work hard and sorted out problems which they r facing before matches against Great Britain.
At US$769K Memphis Open, TN, USA
[F] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA) 76(5) 62
Great finish from top seeds to won their first ATP title together at Memphis Championships ... Also this was Hesh's 42nd career title and Knowles' 48th ... And they also didn't lose a set in whole tournament.
Mahesh Bhupathi - "It's good to have the first title of the year. We started off really well in Melbourne feeling pretty confident. We both served well, focused hard because we knew if we played well we could have a shot at the title."
--------------------------------------
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
[Q3] Sunitha Rao (IND,181) l Tiantian Sun (CHN,229) 26 16
[Q3] (3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt (7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) 62 60
[Q3] (9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt (5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 63 75
[Q3] Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt Melanie South (GBR) 64 26 76(6)
[u]Maindraw[/u] -
[R1] (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,989) l Agnes Szavay (HUN,18) 16 46
Doubles -
[R1] (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND)/ Sanaa Bhambri l Ayumi Morita (JPN)/ Junri Namigata (JPN) 63 46 (4)10
Tiantian Sun scored surprisingly one-sided victory over Sunitha.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Austria 7-3 (2-2)
Goal Scored -
India - Dilip Tirkey (PC) 9' & 23', Ignace Tirkey 41', Shivendra Singh 51' & 55', Bharath 53', Rajpal Singh 54'
Austria - Robert Buchta 2', Christian Minar (PC) 28' & 60'
Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Russia 8-0
Chile bt Mexico 4-0
Another unconvincing victory ... India struggled against Austria, who hold them 2-2 at half-time ... Indian still not able to produce polish performance ... They really need to work hard and sorted out problems which they r facing before matches against Great Britain.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Cricket News -
INDIA WIN U-19 CRICKET WORLD CUP BY 12 RUNS (D/L Method) ... Ajitesh Argal won man of the match award with his excellent bowling effort, 5-2-7-2.
Senior Indian side also won first final (best of 3 finals) by six wickets at the SCG against Australia in CB series.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
Qualifying Second Round -
Melanie South (GBR) bt Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) 67(8) 62 63
Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt Khrystyna Antoniychuk (UKR) 63 64
(9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt Alexandra Stevenson (USA) 63 64
(5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) bt Monique Adamczak (AUS) 63 76(9)
(3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt Debbrich Feys (BEL) 76(3) 61
(7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Kathrin Woerle (GER) 06 64 64
Tiantian Sun (CHN,231) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 36 75 62
Sunitha Rao (IND,181) bt Junri Namigata (JPN,169) 62 46 62
In 2008 this must be Sunitha's best back to back quality wins .. Go Sunitha, now 1 more hurdle before maindraw.
INDIA WIN U-19 CRICKET WORLD CUP BY 12 RUNS (D/L Method) ... Ajitesh Argal won man of the match award with his excellent bowling effort, 5-2-7-2.
Senior Indian side also won first final (best of 3 finals) by six wickets at the SCG against Australia in CB series.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
Qualifying Second Round -
Melanie South (GBR) bt Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) 67(8) 62 63
Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt Khrystyna Antoniychuk (UKR) 63 64
(9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt Alexandra Stevenson (USA) 63 64
(5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) bt Monique Adamczak (AUS) 63 76(9)
(3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt Debbrich Feys (BEL) 76(3) 61
(7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Kathrin Woerle (GER) 06 64 64
Tiantian Sun (CHN,231) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 36 75 62
Sunitha Rao (IND,181) bt Junri Namigata (JPN,169) 62 46 62
In 2008 this must be Sunitha's best back to back quality wins .. Go Sunitha, now 1 more hurdle before maindraw.
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 10 - Saturday, March 1st
Anand ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Levon Aronian
Another quick draw in 22 moves for Anand before rest day ... All other matches also ended in draw so Anand managed to hold ½ pt lead over Carlsen ... On Monday Anand is playing with black-pieces against Teimour Radjabov.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Johnnie Walker Classic, New Delhi, India
T5 KAPUR Shiv 69 65 72 68 -14 € 59368.93
8 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 65 68 72 -13 € 41458.75
T11 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 70 70 69 -11 € 28578.90
T17 ATWAL Arjun 69 72 67 71 - 9 € 19775.82
T30 GANGJEE Rahil 68 71 70 72 - 7 € 14013.06
T44 KUMAR Mukesh 73 69 67 75 - 4 € 8955.09
T53 SINGH Arjun 69 70 73 75 - 1 € 5804.22
T58 BHULLAR Gaganjeet 72 69 73 74 PAR € 4726.30
63 SINGH Digvijay 70 70 73 78 + 3 € 4145.87
64 GANAPATHY, Rahul 73 69 74 77 + 5 € 3980.04
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Russia 8-0
Goal Scored - Dilip Tirkey (PC) 14', Prabhjot Singh 19' 29' & 65', Shivendra Singh 30', Tushar Khandekar 36', Sardar Singh 45', V.R. Raghunath (PC) 54'
Other matches -
Great Britain bt Mexico 11-0
Austria bt Chile 4-3
Ok we won ... But frankly I wasn't happy with our performance in this match ... Considering our whole dominance in the match we should won this match (atleast) with 20-0 scoreline ... But our forward line missed too many chances ... No variation in penalty corner drills on field but what was shocking 2 times our player couldn't manage to stop ball cleanly.
Then our usual problem of sloppy passing and unrequited fouls ... Also problem of player holding ball for extra time to give opponent chance of winning it back.
We need major improvement on all this issue if we r hoping to match and beat England.
It was interesting to see Sardara playing as defensive mid-field position and Raghunath was playing in left-flanks.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$769K Memphis Open, TN, USA
[SF] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt HAGGARD Chris (RSA)/ MELZER Jurgen (AUT) 76(9) 62
[F] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA)
Another straight sets victory for top seeds ... Now good match up against talented Ratiwatana twins for title.
--------------------------------------
At US$436K Las Vegas Open, NV, USA
[Q1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,265) l ANDERSON Kevin (RSA,179) 16 57
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 10 - Saturday, March 1st
Anand ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Levon Aronian
Another quick draw in 22 moves for Anand before rest day ... All other matches also ended in draw so Anand managed to hold ½ pt lead over Carlsen ... On Monday Anand is playing with black-pieces against Teimour Radjabov.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Johnnie Walker Classic, New Delhi, India
T5 KAPUR Shiv 69 65 72 68 -14 € 59368.93
8 RANDHAWA Jyoti 70 65 68 72 -13 € 41458.75
T11 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 70 70 69 -11 € 28578.90
T17 ATWAL Arjun 69 72 67 71 - 9 € 19775.82
T30 GANGJEE Rahil 68 71 70 72 - 7 € 14013.06
T44 KUMAR Mukesh 73 69 67 75 - 4 € 8955.09
T53 SINGH Arjun 69 70 73 75 - 1 € 5804.22
T58 BHULLAR Gaganjeet 72 69 73 74 PAR € 4726.30
63 SINGH Digvijay 70 70 73 78 + 3 € 4145.87
64 GANAPATHY, Rahul 73 69 74 77 + 5 € 3980.04
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile
India bt Russia 8-0
Goal Scored - Dilip Tirkey (PC) 14', Prabhjot Singh 19' 29' & 65', Shivendra Singh 30', Tushar Khandekar 36', Sardar Singh 45', V.R. Raghunath (PC) 54'
Other matches -
Great Britain bt Mexico 11-0
Austria bt Chile 4-3
Ok we won ... But frankly I wasn't happy with our performance in this match ... Considering our whole dominance in the match we should won this match (atleast) with 20-0 scoreline ... But our forward line missed too many chances ... No variation in penalty corner drills on field but what was shocking 2 times our player couldn't manage to stop ball cleanly.
Then our usual problem of sloppy passing and unrequited fouls ... Also problem of player holding ball for extra time to give opponent chance of winning it back.
We need major improvement on all this issue if we r hoping to match and beat England.
It was interesting to see Sardara playing as defensive mid-field position and Raghunath was playing in left-flanks.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$769K Memphis Open, TN, USA
[SF] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt HAGGARD Chris (RSA)/ MELZER Jurgen (AUT) 76(9) 62
[F] (1) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs RATIWATANA Sanchai (THA)/ RATIWATANA Sonchat (THA)
Another straight sets victory for top seeds ... Now good match up against talented Ratiwatana twins for title.
--------------------------------------
At US$436K Las Vegas Open, NV, USA
[Q1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,265) l ANDERSON Kevin (RSA,179) 16 57
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Tennis Nows -
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
Qualifying First Round -
Melanie South (GBR) bt (1) Ayumi Morita (JPN) 46 60 60
Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU) 61 64
Khrystyna Antoniychuk (UKR) bt [WC] Aurelie Vedy (FRA) 36 63 61
Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt (6) [WC] Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI) 61 36 64
(9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB) 64 36 61
Alexandra Stevenson (USA) bt Shengnan Sun (CHN) 75 63
Monique Adamczak (AUS) bt [WC] Sanaa Bhambri (IND) 63 67(4) 61
(5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) bt I-Hsuan Hwang (TPE) 75 61
(3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt Neha Uberoi (USA) 64 62
Debbrich Feys (BEL) bt Jie Zheng (CHN) 62 3-2 Retd.
Kathrin Woerle (GER) bt [WC] Ankita Bhambri (IND) 62 61
(7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 62 64
Corinna Dentoni (ITA) bt (4) Andreja Klepac (SLO) 46 64 76(5)
Tiantian Sun (CHN) bt [WC] Akshitha Basavaraju (IND) 61 60
Junri Namigata (JPN,169) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND) 62 62
Sunitha Rao (IND,181) bt (8) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,150) 64 26 75
Huge win for Sunitha over talented Russian top-150 girl, more over considering injustice from Bangalore Open organizers towards Sunitha, who didn't give wildcard to India's no. 2.
At US$600K WTA Bangalore Open, India
Qualifying First Round -
Melanie South (GBR) bt (1) Ayumi Morita (JPN) 46 60 60
Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU) 61 64
Khrystyna Antoniychuk (UKR) bt [WC] Aurelie Vedy (FRA) 36 63 61
Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt (6) [WC] Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI) 61 36 64
(9) Angelika Bachmann (GER) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB) 64 36 61
Alexandra Stevenson (USA) bt Shengnan Sun (CHN) 75 63
Monique Adamczak (AUS) bt [WC] Sanaa Bhambri (IND) 63 67(4) 61
(5) Mathilde Johansson (FRA) bt I-Hsuan Hwang (TPE) 75 61
(3) Monica Niculescu (ROU) bt Neha Uberoi (USA) 64 62
Debbrich Feys (BEL) bt Jie Zheng (CHN) 62 3-2 Retd.
Kathrin Woerle (GER) bt [WC] Ankita Bhambri (IND) 62 61
(7) Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 62 64
Corinna Dentoni (ITA) bt (4) Andreja Klepac (SLO) 46 64 76(5)
Tiantian Sun (CHN) bt [WC] Akshitha Basavaraju (IND) 61 60
Junri Namigata (JPN,169) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND) 62 62
Sunitha Rao (IND,181) bt (8) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,150) 64 26 75
Huge win for Sunitha over talented Russian top-150 girl, more over considering injustice from Bangalore Open organizers towards Sunitha, who didn't give wildcard to India's no. 2.
Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 9 - Friday, February 29th
Levon Aronian ½-½ Anand
Veselin Topalov ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Peter Leko 0-1 Vassily Ivanchuk
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Quick draw after 27 moves for Anand ... But Carlsen scored thrilling victory over Shirov to reduce gap between him and Anand for mere ½ pt.
So after 9 rounds Anand is leading with 6 pts ... Today Anand having match with white-pieces against 'hot' Magnus Carlsen.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$436K Las Vegas Open, NV, USA
[Q1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,265) vs ANDERSON Kevin (RSA,179)
Kash is playing at Las Vegas Open qualifying ... Having tricky match against South African Anderson.
--------------------------------------
At $10K Sant Boi Futures, Spain
[QF] NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,594) l (LL) DOBRA Simona (CZE,668) 16 16
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain
Round 9 - Friday, February 29th
Levon Aronian ½-½ Anand
Veselin Topalov ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Peter Leko 0-1 Vassily Ivanchuk
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Alexei Shirov
Quick draw after 27 moves for Anand ... But Carlsen scored thrilling victory over Shirov to reduce gap between him and Anand for mere ½ pt.
So after 9 rounds Anand is leading with 6 pts ... Today Anand having match with white-pieces against 'hot' Magnus Carlsen.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At US$436K Las Vegas Open, NV, USA
[Q1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,265) vs ANDERSON Kevin (RSA,179)
Kash is playing at Las Vegas Open qualifying ... Having tricky match against South African Anderson.
--------------------------------------
At $10K Sant Boi Futures, Spain
[QF] NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,594) l (LL) DOBRA Simona (CZE,668) 16 16
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