Tennis News

At $50K Hongkong Challenger,

[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,262) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) 75 75
[R2] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) bt (WC) Philipp Petzschner (GER,421) 4-1 retd.

[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,262) vs Kyle Edmund (GBR,192)
[QF] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) vs (2) Tatsuma Ito (JPN,88)

Doubles
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 64 16 11-9
[QF] (2) Frank Moser (GER)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l (WC) Chu-Huan YI (TPE)/ Cheng-Peng HSIEH (TPE) 16 16

[SF] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Nils Desein (BEL)/ Mathew Ebden (AUS)

Saki score tight two sets win over Ramk to cenmenting his India #2 singles player status ... Saki won the match winning both sets in identical score of 7-5 ... Next he is facing top-200 British player Kyle Edmund.

Somi move to quarter without any fight as his opponent retired from the match when Somi was leading 4-1 ... Next he is facing top-100 Japanese player Tatsuma Ito.

In the doubles Saki-Sanam score tight win over Eysseric-Sandgren for entering into the semis ... They won the match tie-break into extra points ... Next they r facing Desein-Ebden ... But Divij-Moser lose one-sided match against Taipei wild-card pair.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ John Peers (AUS) 62 62
[QF] (7) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (4) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 63 61

Junior Singles
[R3] Sumit Nagal (IND,29) l Marc Polmans (AUS,49) 16 16

Sumit fail to raise his game against local Marc Polmans and lose one-sided match.

In mixed doubles Sania-Bruno and Lee-Martina score comfortable wins for entering into the semis.
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At $50K Hongkong Challenger,

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,262) bt (1) Ricardas Berankis (LTU,85) 76 16 63
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) bt (Q) Yan Bai (CHN,416) 36 64 4-1 retd.
[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) bt Yuki Bhambri (IND,317) 26 64 63
[R1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,417) l (Q) Christopher Rungkat (INA,653) 36 46

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND) 46 63 10-4
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Di Wu (CHN) l Radu Albot (MDA)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) 36 63 5-10
[R1] (2) Frank Moser (GER)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 75 61

Saki score his only 2nd win over top-100 win when he beat top-seed Ricardas Berankis in three sets ... Saki dominated first set tie-break with his big serve and comfortably won it losing a single point but Ricardas fought back in the second to win it losing only single game ... In the final set Saki take crucial break in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and kept that lead through out the set ... Saki had three set points on Ricardas's serve in 8th game but failed to convert ... On his own serve he converted 5th set point for excellent win ... In the second round he is facing RamK.

Ramkumar score excellent comeback win over Chinese qualifier ... Ramkumar was no where in the match till one and half set ... After losing the first set he was double break down at 0-4 but after that he won 10 of next 11 games for amazing comeback before Bai retiring from the match.

Buji score excellent comeback and hard fought win against Yuki ... In this match Yuki struggled with his serve and Buji proved better player from back of the court ... After losing the first set Buji played very solid tennis to beat Yuki.

Sanam was playing his first competitive match after three months and that displayed in his result ... Disappointing loss for Sanam but in the doubles he has winning start with Saki as they score comeback win over Purav and his partner ... Divij with Moser also move into quarters with straight sets win.
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Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Abigail Spears (USA)/ Santiago Gonzalez 75 67(3) 10-8
[R2] (7) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Pablo Andujar (ESP) 63 61

Junior Singles
[R2] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,71) l (1) Shilin Xu (CHN,2) 36 06
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,29) bt Yosuke Watanuki (JPN,66) 62 63

[R3] Sumit Nagal (IND,29) vs Marc Polmans (AUS,49)

Junior Doubles
[R1] Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) l (4) Sara Tomic (AUS)/ Shilin Xu (CHN) 67(5) 06
[R1] Viktor Durasovic (NOR)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) l Renta Tokuda (JPN)/ Jumpei Yamasaki (JPN) 16 67(3)
[R1] Vasisht Cheruku (IND)/ Brandon Laubser (RSA) l (2) William Blumberg (USA)/ Orlando Luz (BRA) 67(3) 26

Sania-Bruno stretch by Spears-Gonzalez to match tie-break before entering into the quarters ... After winning the first set Sania-Bruno lost the second in match tie-break ... Sania-Bruno recover to win match tie-break.

Lee-Martina score very dominating win over Spanish pair for entering into the quarters.

Sumit score authoritative win over his Japanese opponent Yosuke Watanuki ... In the third round he is facing local players Marc Polmans.

In junior doubles our all pairs lose their respective matches in straight sets.
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At $50K Hongkong Challenger,

[Q3] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,776) l (2) Yan Bai (CHN,416) 26 16
[Q3] Siddharth Rawat (IND,1209) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN,701) 26 26

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) vs (Q) Yan Bai (CHN,416)
[R1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,417) vs (Q) Christopher Rungkat (INA,653)

Doubles
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Purav Raja (IND)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Di Wu (CHN) vs Radu Albot (MDA)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS)
[R1] (2) Frank Moser (GER)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Yuichi Sugita (JPN)

Sasi and Siddharth fail to raise their game against Chinese opponents ... RamK is facing Yan Bai And Sanam is facing Rungkat in singles main-draw.

In the doubles Divij is playing his first tournament of 2015 and he is 2nd seed with Frank Moser ... They r having tricky match against Huang-Sugita ... Buji is playing with Di Wu and they r having winnable match against Albot-Thompson ... Saki-Sanam are facing Purav-Fabrice.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R1] B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (3) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 26 63 4-10
[R1] (7) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Masa Jovanovic (AUS)/ Sam Thompson (AUS) 62 76(2)

[R2] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) vs Abigail Spears (USA)/ Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)
[R2] (7) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)/ Pablo Andujar (ESP)

Junior Doubles
[R1] Tamachan Momkoonthod (THA)/ Ojasvinee Singh (IND) l Katharina Hobgarski (GER)/ Greet Minnen (BEL) 36 76(2) 9-11

Hingis and Lee start with straight sets win over Aussie wild-card pair ... After winning the first set comfortably Lee-Martina were stretched to tie-break in the second ... Next they are facing Spanish pair Garrigues-Andujar.

Rohan with Strycova fail to overcome his doublkes partner Nestor with his French partner Mladenovic ... After losing the first set they fought to win the second but Nestor-Mladenovic proved too strong in match tie-break.

After losing the first set Ojasvinee and her Thai partner tried hard ... They won the second set tie-break in extra points but failed to keep that moemntum in match tie-break to lose it in extra points.
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At $50K Hongkong Challenger,

[Q1] (5) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bye
[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND) bt Christopher Marquis (IND) 64 64
[Q1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) bt (8) Karunuday Singh (IND) 75 61
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND) bt (7) Hiroki Kondo (JPN) 76(2) 75

[Q2] (5) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l Tennys Sandgren (USA) 36 57
[Q2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) bt Divij Sharan (IND) 76(6) 64
[Q2] Sidharth Rawat (IND) bt Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA) 64 64

[Q3] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,776) vs (2) Yan Bai (CHN,416)
[Q3] Sidharth Rawat (IND,1209) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN,701)

[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,262) vs (1) Ricardas Berankis (LTU,85)
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) vs Qualifier
[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) vs Yuki BHambri (IND,317)
[R1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,417) vs Qualifier

Terrible luck in the singles for Indian players ... Saki is facing top-100 Berankis in the first round ... Buji is facing Yuki and with their current form Yuki is favorite against Buji ... RamK and Sanan will face qualifiers.

In qualifying Prashanth lost in the second qualifying after receiving bye in the first round ... Sidharath score upset win over Japanese Davis cup player Hiroki Kondo in tight two sets ... Divij and Sasi are facing each other in the second round after winning their matches against Marquis and Karunuday respectively.

In second qualifying round Sasi beats Divij in close match ... After winning the first set in tie-break Sasi took crucial break in 9th game of the second and then hold his serve for completing the victory ... Next he is facing 2nd seed Chinese Yan Bai for place in main-draw ... Sidharath also join him in final qualifying with straight sets win over Thai opponent ... He is also facing Chinese challenge for place in main-draw.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Jarmila Gajdosova / Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) l Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Jamie Murray (GBR) 64 67(7) 8-10

Junior Singles
[R1] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,71) bt Katie Poluta (RSA,143) 64 63
[R1] Ojasvinee Singh (IND,109) l Olivia Hauger (USA,64) 60 46 16
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND,29) bt (5) Michael Mmoh (USA,7) 62 46 64

[R2] Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND,71) vs (1) Shilin Xu (CHN,2)
[R2] Sumit Nagal (IND,29) vs Yosuke Watanuki (JPN,66)

Junior Doubles
[R1] Tamachan Momkoonthod (THA)/ Ojasvinee Singh (IND) vs Katharina Hobgarski (GER)/ Greet Minnen (BEL)
[R1] Chihiro Muramatsu (JPN)/ Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) vs (4) Sara Tomic (AUS)/ Shilin Xu (CHN)
[R1] Viktor Durasovic (NOR)/ Sumit Nagal (IND) vs Renta Tokuda (JPN)/ Jumpei Yamasaki (JPN)

After losing in first round in men's doubles Mahesh fail to break trend and lose in thriller of mixed doubles first round ... After winning the first set Mahesh-Jarmila missed match points to lose in extra points of tie-break ... In match tie-break also they tried but failed to overcome challenge of Murray-Chan.

Sumit start with Australian open with huge upset win over talented American kid Michael Mmoh, who was one of title contender ... After winning the first set Sumit first time lost his serve in 10th game of second set when he was serving for staying in the set ... In the decider he take crucial break in 7th game to lead 4-3 ... He missed few match points on Mmoh's serve in 9th game before converting on sixth match point on his serve ... In next round he is facing lowly ranked Japanese opponent Yosuke Watanuki.

Expected straight sets win for Pranjala but in next round she is having really tough match against top-seed and WR #2 Chinese player Shilin Xu ... In the doubles also Pranjala with her Japanese partner are facing Shilin Xu and her partner Sara Tomic, younger sister of Bernard Tomic.

Ojasvinee Singh started well after dominating the first set but she failed to keep same momentum in the second and then lost one-sided final set.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Doubles
[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) l Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL) 67(5) 46
[R2] (10) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA) 62 46 16
[R2] (7) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 57 36

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Timea Babos (HUN)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 61 46 10-3

Turn to be terrible day for Indian doubles players on the court ... Sania and Su-Wei Hsieh pairing is still struggling to gel and we need to give them more time to settle ... But still their loss against lowly ranked Dabrowski-Rosolska is shocking ... After winning the first set in tie-break Dabrowski-Rosolska kept pressure in the second and won it with a break for huge upset by seeding wise.

One of favorite for Australian open championship Lee-Raven face shocking defeat in hands of Italian pair in the second round.... Bolelli-Fognini were tricky pair but our pair started confidently and won the first set comfortably ... From the second set Italian pair raised their game and other hand our pair failed to show same desire to win ... After losing the second set Italian pair dominated the third to win it convincingly ...

Rohan-Daniel also lose in straight sets against Mirnyi and Lopez ... After losing close first set Rohan-Daniel failed to raise their game in the second.

Only in mixed doubles match Sania win her match with her Brazilian partner Bruno Soares in super tie-break ... After dominating the first set our pair lost the second set but they recovered well in super tie-break for winning it losing only three points.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT) l Diego Schwartzman (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 46 36
[R1] (7) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 76(2) 75

[R2] (10) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA)
[R2] (7) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) vs Timea Babos (HUN)/ Eric Butorac (USA)
[R1] B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (3) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)
[R1] (7) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Masa Jovanovic (AUS)/ Sam Thompson (AUS)
[R1] Jarmila Gajdosova / Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) vs Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/ Jamie Murray (GBR)

Junior
[Q2] (16) Vasisht CHERUKU (IND,147) l (6) Chien Hsun LO (TPE,81) 06 36

Rohan-Daniel stretch in both sets by Baghdatis-Matosevic before winning in tight two sets ... Next they r facing Max Mirnyi and Feliciano Lopez ... Other hand Lee-Raven r playing another tricky Italian pair.

Mahesh-Jurgen fail to win against Argentine pair ... They lost the first set after failing to hold their service in 10th game ... In the second set Argentine pair take break in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and kept that advantage despite facing break points on their service games.

Mixed doubles draw is out ... This time also Sania is top-seed with Bruno Soares ... Rohan having tough first round with his doubles partner Nestor ... Lee and Mahesh are in bottom draw and can face each other in the quarters.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

Doubles
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) bt Maria Irigoyen (ARG)/ Romina Oprandi (SUI) 62 60
[R1] (10) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 64 76(6)

[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL)

Junior
[Q1] (16) Vasanti SHINDE (IND,175) l Jade LEWIS (NZL,241) 16 46
[Q1] Kushaan NATH (IND,360) l (3) Yuya ITO (JPN,74) 57 06
[Q1] (16) Vasisht CHERUKU (IND,147) bt Cody BRACKENREG (AUS,304)

[Q2] (16) Vasisht CHERUKU (IND,147) vs (6) Chien Hsun LO (TPE,81)

Sania and Su-Wei score very dominating win over Irigoyen-Oprandi losing only two games ... Next they r facing Canadian-Polish pair of Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska, who score comfortable win over Cara Black and Chinese Saisai Zheng.

Lee-Raven score hard fought straight sets win over American pair of Rajeev Ram and Scott Lipsky.

In Junior qualifying only Vasisht Cheruku cross first hurdle but facing top-100 Taipei player for place in main-draw.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) l (6) Andy Murray (GBR,6) 36 46 67(3)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Maria Irigoyen (ARG)/ Romina Oprandi (SUI)
[R1] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
[R1] (10) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Scott Lipsky (USA)/ Rajeev Ram (USA)
[R1] (7) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS)

Yuki lose in straight sets against Andy but give decent performance ... After losing first 2 sets he was break up in the third at 4-1 but Andy broke back in 7th game and take set into tie-break ... Andy dominated tie-break but still heartening performance by Yuki in his first grand slam main-draw match.

In the doubles first time Sania is seeded second in any grand slam tournament with her partner Su-Wei Hsieh ... Mahesh is partnering Jurgen and they r in top draw with Bryans ... Lee-Raven are also in top-draw and can face Bryans in the quarters ... Rohan-Daniel are in bottom draw.

Tennis News

At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

Doubles Final
(4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Florin Mergea (ROU) 76(1) 64

Lee-Raven lifts their first title as team and first of 2015 season... This is Lee's 55th title with his 99th partner and Lee contesting his 93rd career final (55-38), has now won a title every season since 1997 ... Lee-Raven were down an early break in the first set against Inglot and Mergea, but fought back to win it convincingly in a tie-break ... Then Klaasen and Paes served for the match at 5-3, only to be broken for a second time but they rebounded immediately and got their third break and winning the match in 74 minutes.

Leander Paes - "It’s been a good start to the year. It just goes to show that when you persevere and work hard together, we’re very potent as a team. At this stage of my career, I have a great partner with me who keeps me young and motivated. He works hard on the practice court. He goes out on the match court, and he’s very intelligent. That’s a bonus for me. I really love playing with Raven."

Raven Klassen - "Leander is arguably one of the best doubles players of all time. He’s still willing to learn and improve and teach me those things I haven’t heard before. Looking forward, my improvement curve is going fast, and he’s improving, too. The way things are going now, we’re going to be a tough team to beat."
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At $494K Apia International Sydney, Australia

Doubles Final
(3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt (2) Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) 64 76(5)

Rohan-Daniel lift their first title as a team winning Sydney tournament ... This is Rohan's 11th title and Nestor's 86th doubles title ... In this match Rohan-Daniel served well winning 91% of points on their first serve ... In this match they converted three break points from seven.

Rohan Bopanna - "Since we started together this year, we've been working hard. Playing with a guy like Danny, with so much experience, I think it really helps my game. I just have to focus on my side of the court and that makes it much easier. Since he's been on the tour for such a long time, it helps me as a player. In these big matches, big moments, he keeps me relaxed and I can play my best tennis. That has helped us this week and I hope we can continue like that. I think we're a pretty strong team. If we play our best tennis, we can beat anybody out there. It's just a case of believing in ourselves and playing well. We go into Melbourne with a lot of confidence."

Daniel Nestor - "We played a few tournaments at the end of last year to prepare for this year as well as we could. Things didn't go as well, but I think right now we're clicking. I enjoy playing with Rohan; he's a big hitter, he serves great and he's one of those guys that's really intimidating to play against. So I'd rather be on the same side as him!”
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At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

[Q3] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) bt Chase Buchanan (USA,179) 63

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) vs (6) Andy Murray (GBR,6)

Yuki first time qualify for main-draw of grand slam winning final qualifying match comfortably with his attacking game ... In the first round he is facing two time grand slam winner Andy Murray.

In the first set Yuki broke Chase in 6th game to lead 4-2 and then kept that lead for winning the set ... In the second set Yuki broke Chase in 3rd game to lead 2-1 but Chase broke him in 8th game to make it 4-all ... Yuki responded immediately breaking Chase in 9th game and then hold his serve for winning the match.

Tennis News

At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

Doubles Final
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (1) Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA) 63 63

Sania lifts her 23rd title of her career with Bethanie ... They beat top-seed American comfortably in straight sets in the final to win this WTA Premier tournament.
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At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

[SF] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 36 63 10-4

[F] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Dominic Inglot (GBR)/ Florin Mergea (ROU)

Lee-Raven score another comeback victory this time against WR #2 Peya-Soares ... After losing the first set they made strong comeback and dominated match tie-break ... In the final they r facing Inglot-Mergea.
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At $494K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[SF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt (1) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 26 63 10-3

[F] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Jean-Julien Rojer (NED)/ Horia Tecau (ROU)

Rohan-Daniel score comeback victory over top-seed French pair for entering into the final ... They are facing Roger-Tecau for the title ... In the semis French pair won the first set comfortably but our pair recovered to win the second set ... Our pair dominated match tie-break as they won it losing only three points.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

[Q2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) bt Yohishito Nishioka (JPN,165) 76(8) 63

[Q3] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) vs Chase Buchanan (USA,179)

Yuki enter into his first grand slam final qualifying round taking revenge of his Asian games loss ... Nishioka started well breaking Yuki in 2nd game to lead 3-0 ... After that Yuki served well and he broke Nishioka in 7th game to bring set on the serve ... In tie-break Yuki was down 1-4 and then 2-5 but he won next two points on Nishioka's serve and then take crucial mini-break on 17th points after saving couple of set points ... Then hold to win the first set ... In the second set Yuki broke Nishioka in sixth game to lead 4-2 and he kept that lead for winning the match ... Next he is meeting his friend from junior time American Chase Buchanan.
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At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

[QF] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 46 63 10-6

[SF] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (2) Alexander Peya (AUT)/ Bruno Soares (BRA)

Another comeback win for Lee and Raven in super tie-break ... Good to see that they r producing these wins in their early start of partnership ... Next they r having real test against WR #2 pair Peya and Soares.
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At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[SF] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 62 61

[F] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (1) Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA)

Sania is in terrific nick with Bethanie ... They beat Karolina Pliskova and Kimiko Date-Krumm losing only three games ... In the final they r facing top-seed American pair.
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At $50K Casablanca Challenger, Morocco

[SF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) l Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Adrian Ungur (ROU)46 76(9) 4-10

Purav-Martin must save few match points in the second set before winning it in extra points but after that they lose momentum and manage to win only four points in match tie-break.

Tennis News

At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) bt (15) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,129) 46 61 76(6)
[Q1] (22) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) l Austin Krajicek (USA,154) 46 63 46
[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) vs Nils Langer (GER,254) 57 64 46

[Q2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) vs Yohishito Nishioka (JPN,165)

Yuki score comeback win against in-form Russian and top-130 player Evgeny Donskoy ... After losing the first set Yuki made strong comeback ... With double break he take 5-0 lead in the second set before winning it ... In the final set both players hold respective serve till tie-break ... And in tie-break only mini-break which Yuki take on 13th point then he won point on his own serve for competing victory ... Next he is facing Japanese Nishioka, against whom Yuki lose in their last meeting at Asian games semi-final.

Other hand our other two players who had winnable matches, lose their respective matches ... Our both players tried comeback after losing the first set ... But after winning the second set they failed to keep momentum in the final set.
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At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Jamie Murray (GBR)/ John Peers (AUS) 76(3) 46 10-6

[QF] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Oliver Marach (AUT)

Turn to be surprisingly tough match for Lee and Raven but importantly they r winning these type of matches ... Next they r facing Lu, he was half part of pair who defeated them at Chennai open, but with different partner Austrian Marach.
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At $494K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[QF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA) 75 63

[SF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (1) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

In end comfortable straight sets win for Rohan-Daniel against Italian pair ... In the semis they r facing top-seed French pair.
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At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[QF] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (2) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 63 63

[SF] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)/ Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

Sania-Bethanie score dominating win against 2nd seed Hingis-Pennetta in straight sets ... Next they r facing similar unseeded pairing of Kimiko Date-Krumm and Karolina Pliskova, who also score upset win over 4th seed pair.
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At $50K Casablanca Challenger, Morocco

[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) bt Ivo Klec (SVK) / Gero Kretschmer (GER) 75 61

[SF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Laurynas Grigelis (LTU)/ Adrian Ungur (ROU)

Another straight sets win for Purav and Martin ... In the semis they r facing unseeded pair of Grigelis-Ungur.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2015, Melbourne

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,314) vs (15) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,129)
[Q1] (22) Somdev Devvarman (IND,139) vs Austin Krajicek (USA, 154)
[Q1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,284) vs Nils Langer (GER,254)

With their current form our all players having tough qualifying matches.
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At $494K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ David Marrero (ESP) 67(11) 75 10-6

[QF] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)/ Fabio Fognini (ITA)

Tough comeback win by Nestor-Bopanna in closely fought match ... Next they r facing tricky Italian pair.
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At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[QF] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (2) Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

Sania-Bethanie r meeting 2nd seed Hingis-Pennetta in the quarters.
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At $50K Casablanca Challenger, Morocco

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) bt Rui Machado (POR) / Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR) 61 64

[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) vs Ivo Klec (SVK) / Gero Kretschmer (GER)

Comfortable winning start for Purav with his French partner Martin ... Next they r facing Klec-Kretschmer.

Tennis News

At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Marina Erakovic (NZL)/ Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 63 62

Sania-Bethanie start with comfortable win against Erakovic-Santonja.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

Doubles Final
(1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) 36 67(4)

Leander fail to win his 7th Chennai open title as he lose final with Raven Klassen in straight sets ... Lu-Marray broke Lee in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and kept that advantage for winning the first set ... Lee-Raven raised their game in the second set but Marray-Lu didn't gave them any opportunity as they kept playing high level game ... In tie-break Marray-Lu take crucial break on Lee's serve with excellent net game on 9th point and then Lu hit big two serve for completing victory.
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At $519K Heineken Open 2015, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (4) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Jamie Murray (GBR)/ John Peers (AUS)

Next week Lee-Raven are playing Auckland open and they r 4th seed.
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At $494K Apia International Sydney, Australia

[R1] (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ David Marrero (ESP)

Rohan-Nestor r playing this week at Sydney International and they r 3rd seed.
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At $731K Apia International Sydney, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Marina Erakovic (NZL)/ Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)

Next week Su-Wei Hsieh is not playing in Sydney WTA Premier tournament ... Sania is playing with her old doubles partner American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) l Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) 75 36 8-10

[F] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vsYen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR)

Purav-Adil fail to keep momentum after winning the first set ... Marray-Lu fought back and scored comeback win over Purav-Adil in super tie=break ... In the final they r facing top-seed Lee-Raven.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[SF] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 63 63
[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR)


Top-seed Lee-Raven score comfortable win over Spanish pair for entering into the final ... In the first set they broke Spanish pair twice and in the second set our pair broke them once for this win ... Now they r waiting for winner between Purav-Adil and Lu-Marray.
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At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) l Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 64 67(1) 8-10

Sania and Su-Wei lose this time in super tie-break against Garcia-Srebotnik ... Sania and Su-Wei started well after winning first set but afterwards Garcia-Srebotnik fought back ... Garcia-Srebotnik won the second set in tie-break and kept momentum to win super tie-break.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[R1] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (ALT) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) 67(4) 64 10-6
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO)/ Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 61 62

[QF] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) 16 61 10-7
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)/ Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 76(5) 46 10-4

[SF] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

Purav take opportunity with Adil and he is in the semis beating Stan-Agut in super tie-break ... After winning the first round easily Purav-Adil faced Stan-Agut in the quarters ... Purav-Agut won the first set in tie-break but Stan-Agut won the second set in tie-break ... Purav-Adil recovered and won super tie-break comfortably.

But match of the day was between Lee and Mahesh with their respective partners ... After struggling against Sood brothers in their first match Mahesh-Saki were underdogs in this match ... Instead they started on positive note and dominated from beginning to take lead 3-0 breaking Raven's serve ... Again they broke Raven in sixth game to won the first set 6-1 ... Saki was in amazing form with his serve and returns ... From second set Lee raised his level of game which lifted Raven's game ... Breaking Mahesh and Saki they take 5-0 lead and won this set 6-1 ... In super tie-break both pairs failed to win a point on other's serve till first 11 points ... Saki made error near net on Mahesh's serve to gave 7-5 lead to Lee-Raven ... Saki served facing 3 match points at 6-9 ... He served big serve saving first match point but while serving to lee he committed double fault which gave match to Lee-Raven ... Next they are facing unseeded Spanish pair.
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At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) bt Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 63 26 11-9

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Caroline Garcia (FRA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

Rodionova sister stretch Sania and Su-Wei to fullest as in super tie-break our pair need extra points for entering into the semis.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[R1] (Q) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,557) l Jiri Vesely (CZE,65) 16 26
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,138) l (6) Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,38) 36 46
[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,241) l Tatsuma Ito (JPN,93) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)/ Lukas Lacko (SVK) 64 64

After exciting qualifying rounds this turn to be terrible day ... As our singles challenge get over in first round ... VSP fail to raise his game against rising Czech player Jiri Vesely ... RamK show his erratic game in his loss against Ito ... Buji tried hard in second set after losing first set but Lu played important points quite well to win in two sets.

In doubles winning start for new pairing of Lee and Raven against Lacko and Haider-Maurer.
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At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) 75 63

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS)

New pairing of Sania-Hsieh have winning start ... In quarters they r facing Rodionova sisters.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[Q3] Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,902) l (5) Aljaz Bedene (SLO,145) 06 46
[Q3] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,842) l (3) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,130) 06 06
[Q3] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,560) bt (4) Illya Marchenko (UKR,143) 26 76(7) 75

[R1] (Q) N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,557) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE,65)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR) 36 64 6-10

Vijay Sundar Prashanth produce one of the best performance of his career to qualify for main-draw of Chennai open ATP tournament ... After losing first set easily VSP again showed his fighting performance ... In the second set tie-break VSP saved 2 match points at 4-6 to win the set converting 2nd set point and took match to a decider ... In final set again VSP was break down but from 2-5 down he fought back to win next five games ... In that he broke Ukrainian Marchenko in 9th and 11th games ... This is terrific victory and that give him first round match against Czech player Jiri Vesely.

Other hand Sasi gets double bageled ... Kaza also got bageled in the first set but he gave decent fight in the second before losing it.

In the doubles Bala and Jeevan lose in super tie-break against Lu and Marray.
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At $498K Brisbane International, Australia

[R1] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)/ Kei Nishikori (JPN) 46 63 6-10

Rohan-Nestor lose their first match of 2015 season against Nishikori-Dolgopolov in super tie-break.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[Q2] Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,902) bt (2) Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS,119) 64 67(5) 76(4)
[Q2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,390) l (5) Aljaz Bedene (SLO,145) 46 46
[Q2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,842) bt (7) Peter Torebko (GER,243) 64 16 62
[Q2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,652) l (4) Illya Marchenko (UKR,143) 57 46
[Q2] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,560) bt (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND,249) 16 76(3) 63

[Q3] Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,902) vs (5) Aljaz Bedene (SLO,145)
[Q3] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,842) vs (3) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS,130)
[Q3] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,560) vs (4) Illya Marchenko (UKR,143)

Kaza continue with his terrific form and score big upset win over top-120 Russian Kudryavtsev in entertaining match ... After winning first set Kaza was 5-6 break down in the second but Kaza broke Kudryavtsev to make it 6-all ... Kudryavtsev won second set in tie-break but after losing set also Kaza kept his focus ... In final set he matched Kudryavtsev and this time won tie-break for completing upset win.

Vijay Sundar Prashanth score upset win over Yuki in comeback win ... Yuki dominated one and half set ... He won first set 61 and leading 3-1 in the second set but after that suddenly his game dipped down ... VSP took full advantage and used his huge service for his benefit ... VSP completed with winning third set comfortably.

Sasi also score upset win over top-250 German Torebko ... After winning first set Sasi lost second set cheaply against Torebko ... But afterwards Sasi recovered and won final set with double break ... Other hand Vishnu and Jeevan lose their respective matches in straight sets.

This is pleasent surprise that our three players in final qualifying round ... Moreover these are least expected players ... Now all three players need to cross final hurdle to play on ATP tour with another upset win over top-150 players ... Hopefully at least one of them croos the line.

Tennis News

At $458K Chennai Open 2015, India

[Q1] (6) Luca VANNI (ITA) bt (WC) Ravi RASWANT (IND) 62 62
[Q1] (2) Alexander KUDRYAVTSEV (RUS) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND) 76(4) 57 26
[Q1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) bt Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA) 36 64 62
[Q1] Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Lakshit SOOD (IND) 62 62
[Q1] Egor GERASIMOV (BLR) bt Akash WAGH (IND) 61 60
[Q1] Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Suraj R PRABODH (IND) 61 63
[Q1] N Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt Niki KALIYANDA POONACHA (IND) 61 52 retd.
[Q1] (8) Yuki BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 61 63
[Q1] Michael VENUS (NZL) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 63 64
[Q1] Thomas FABBIANO (ITA) bt (WC) Rahul Robinson MANOAH (IND) 60 60
[Q1] (5) Aljaz BEDENE (SLO) bt (WC) Sumit NAGAL (IND) 62 60
[Q1] Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND) bt (WC) Fahad MOHAMMED (IND) 63 64

[Q2] (1) Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs Michael Venus (NZL)
[Q2] (6) Luca Vanni (ITA) vs Thomas Fabbiano (ITA)
[Q2] (2) Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS) vs Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND)
[Q2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (5) Aljaz Bedene (SLO)
[Q2] (3) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) vs Egor Gerasimov (BLR)
[Q2] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) vs (7) Peter Torebko (GER)
[Q2] (4) Illya Marchenko (UKR) vs Vishnu Vardhan (IND)
[Q2] (8) Yuki Bhambri (IND)N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)

[R1] (6) Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,38) vs (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND,138)
[R1] Tatsuma Ito (JPN,93) vs (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,241)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Raven Klassen (RSA)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)/ Lukas Lacko (SVK)
[R1] (WC) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Alejandro Falla (COL)/ Alejandro Gonzalez (COL)
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) vs Aljaz Bedene (SLO)/ Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Jonathan Marray (GBR)

Vinayak Kaza score superb comeback upset win over very experienced Danai Ydomchoke ... Otherwise expected losses ... Sumit and Akash surprisingly lose their matches tamely ... In the second qualifying Yuki is facing tricky match against VSP.

In main-draw Buji is facing 6th seed and his hitting partner top-40 Lu ... RamK is facing top-100 Japanese Tatsuma Ito.

Good to see Lee changes his decision of not playing at Chennai open ... He is playing her with his new and 99th partner Raven Klassen and having little tricky first round match ... Mahesh is pairing with Saki and facing Colombian pair ... Purav-Adil are also having winnable match ... Jeevan-Bala having tough first round match against Lu-Marray.
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At $498K Brisbane International, Australia

[R1] (2) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)/ Kei Nishikori (JPN)

Rohan and Daniel are 2nd seed in Brisbane International. They r facing singles players, Nishikori and Dolgopolov in the first round.
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At $1M Brisbane International, Australia (WTA Premier)

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/ Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)

Newly form pairing of Mirza and Hsieh starting their season with playing season opener at Brisbane ... They r top-seed in this WTA Premier tournament.

Tennis News

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

Singles Final
(4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325) 62 62

Ankita wins her first $25K title comfortably beating British girl Katy Dunne losing only four games ... Ankita played percentage tennis but helped lot by Katy's erratic game ... With this win Ankita will enter into top-250 in ranking and will get chance of playing in Australian open qualifying.

Tennis News

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

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Cristina Ene (ROU,576) 61 36 63

[F] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325)

Ankita enter into her third $25K tournament final and this is her first $25K final in India ... In last two finals she lost but hoping for third time lucky ... In the final she is facing British teenager Katy Dunne ...In the semis she beat Romanian Ene in three sets to book berth in the final.

Badminton News

2014 Year-end rankings of Indian Players

Men's Singles
4 Srikanth Kidambi
16 Parupalli Kashyap
21 H. S. Prannoy
39 B. Sai Praneeth
40 Sourabh Varma
43 R. M. V. Gurusaidutt
45 Anand Pawar

Women's Singles
4 Saina Nehwal
11 P. V. Sindhu
40 P. C. Thulasi

Men's Doubles
38 Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy
40 Pranaav Jerry Chopra / Akshay Dewalkar

Women's Doubles
24 Jwala Gutta / Ashwini Ponnappa
47 Pradnya Gadre / N. Sikki Reddy

Mixed Doubles
51 Ashwini Ponnappa / Tarun Kona
52 Aparna Balan / Arun Vishnu

Srikanth Kidambi climbs to his career best WR #4 ranking after his BWF World SuperSeries Finals semi-final appearance.

Our 7 male players in top-50 singles ranking ... Srikanth is a find of year for us but next year he need to show consistent performance to remain in top-10 rankings ... Prannoy is also showing rapid improvement ... I am hoping injury free Guru can be in top-15 ... Other hand Anand and Sourabh are stagnant.

In women's singles Saina is showing vast improvement in her overall game after poor 2013 but in 2014 Sindhu fail to show improvement ... All over year she was inconsistent ... Thulasi is showing steady progress but she still need to travel long journey.

In doubles only re-united pair of Ashwini-Jwala starting to show some promise ... Other pairs are far behind though I am hoping improve performance by our young male pairs of Manu Attri-B. Sumeeth Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar in 2015 ... But in mixed doubles currently we don't have a single proper pair.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461) 64 63

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Cristina ENne (ROU,576)

Ankita score comfortable straight sets win over her Serbian opponent Nina Stojanovic ... In the semis she is facing unseeded Romanian opponent Cristina Ene.

Tennis News

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

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558) 63 67(3) 61
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) l (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228) 46 76(4) 67(6)

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461)

Ankita get stretched by Thai qualifier in the second round ... In the quarters she is facing 18 yrs old Serbian Stojanovic ... Other hand Prarthana give valiant efforts against top-230 Shapatava ... After losing first set Prarthana gave errific performance ... She won second set in tie-break but lost final set tie-break in extra points.

Tennis News

At Chennai Open 2015, India

After Somdev and RamK receiving Indian wild-cards for the singles yesterday doubles wild-cards are announced ... Mahesh Bhupathi-Saketh Myneni and local pair N.Sriram Balaji - Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan are received doubles wild-card ... In that Mahesh is making comeback on pro tour after nine moths gap and hopefully he help Saki to defend last year's semi-final appearance points.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Pune, India

[R1] (1) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR) bt (WC) Sharrmadaa Baluu (IND) 61 60
[R1] Ayaka Okuno (JPN) bt (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) 62 64
[R1] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) bt (Q) Katarzyna Kawa (POL) 62 61
[R1] (4) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 63 26 76(6)
[R1] (8) Veronika Kapshay (UKR) bt (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND) 75 75
[R1] Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR) bt (WC) Natasha Palha (IND) 60 76(2)

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558)
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) vs (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228)

Rutuja and Karman qualified for main-draw with top-500 wins ... In first round Rutuja gave terrific fight to Ankita ... After losing first set Rutuja fought back to win second comfortably ... In the final set Rutuja take set to tie-break but Ankita won it in extra points ... In next round Ankita is facing Thai qualifier.

With Ankita only Prarthana qualify for second round ... She defeated Polish qualifier comfortably but next she is facing top-225 type Shapatava ... In other matches wild-card Mihika Yadav give fighting performance against 8th seed Ukrainian.

Golf News

At $500K Dubai Open, UAE

1 Arjun Atwal (IND) 73 65 68 66 -16 $90,000
T11 Shiv Kapur (IND) 69 69 69 71 -10 $7,912.50
T11 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 71 66 69 72 -10 $7,912.50
T31 Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 73 71 70 68 -6 $3,862.50

Arjun Atwal ended a frustrating four-year title drought by winning the inaugural Dubai Open by one stroke on Sunday after Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun bogeyed the final hole ... This is is his first title since 2010 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour and first win on Asian Tour since 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open.

Shiv Kapur was joint leader with Arjun after 3rd round but today he managed only PAR to find outside top-10 ... Gagan was also in top-5, he also finishes outside top-10.

Arjun Atwal - “This one feels really special.”
“I think the last time I won on the Asian Tour was 2008. I’ve gone through some really tough times the last few years with injuries and losing my card on the PGA TOUR and all that stuff. It was at a point where I almost wanted to quit. Thanks to a few of my family and friends, I didn’t, and here we are.”
“I just found a little something in my putting. I adjusted to something that I used to do because the greens in Asia are a little bit slower than the ones I’m used to on the PGA TOUR. Just making that adjustment got me rolling the ball a little bit better, so I made some putts.”
“It was like just more relief than anything else that the day is over. I was feeling a little bit with my nerves but it was a gift today. I haven’t won a tournament like this where someone has actually gifted it to me. I got lucky.”
“He’s a great young player. I couldn’t believe he’s only 19. He’s old enough to be my son. It’s a tough loss for him but I’m sure he’s going to win a lot.”

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9) 21-11 13-21 9-21
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Long Chen (CHN,2) 18-21 9-21

Tzu Ying Tai hands another loss to Saina, this time in this big SuperSeries Finals semi-final ... It looks like Tzu has Saina's number, she also defeated Saina in recently concluded Hong Kong Superseries ... Here also Saina started confidently for winning the first game but after that it was all Tzu show ... With this loss Saina miss huge opportunity of winning Superseries Finals title as in rare occasion there was not a single Chinese girl in the semis.

Srikanth lose in straight games against in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis and with that Indian challenge get over in the tournament ... In first game from start Srikanth take lead ... He increased his lead to 16-10 but from here Long Chen fought back ... From 15-18 he won next six points in a row for winning this game ... Long Chen dominated second game and won it comfortably ... Still creditable performance by Srikanth, who managed to reach in the semis of his first Superseries Finals.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) l (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3) 2-5 (36-84, 71-8, 74-4, 38-81(56), 0-81(74), 43-74, 20-71(50))

Multiple time World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan score expected win over Aditya but this time Aditya give decent fight ... Before this match Aditya never won a frame against Ronnie but this time he take 2-1 lead after winning 2nd and 3rd frames ... After that Ronnie take control and won the match scoring three 50+ breaks.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 15-21 21-7 21-17
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-721-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 21-17 12-21 14-21
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 23-21 7-21 21-15

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9)
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) vs Long Chen (CHN,2)

Saina score comeback win over Yeon Ju Bae after losing the first game ... With this win Saina top Group A and facing Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai in the semis.

Srikanth lose after despite starting well against Jan O Jorgensen ... Srikanth won first game but after that he failed to keep momentum ... Though he qualify for semis in second position from Group B but he is facing in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR1] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) bt (A) Adam Duffy (ENG) 5-3 (3-121(121), 141(141)-0, 63-48, 8-68, 60-44, 58-77, 82 (82)-8, 101(101)-0, )

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) vs (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3)

Surprisingly tougher match for Aditya against his amature British opponent Adam Duffy ... Adam started with 121 points break for winning first frame ... Aditya immediately responded scoring 141 points break for winning the second frame ... After that both players shared frames till 3-all ... Aditya scored 82 points break for winning seventh frame and with another 100+ frame Aditya completed victory ... Next Aditya having toughest challenge as he is facing former WR #1 and also five World Championship, five Masters, and five UK Championship winner Ronnie O'Sullivan ... In their last two meetings Aditya fails to win a single frame ... Hoping for better performance.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) 21-12 21-18
Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-17

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-18 21-13
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 20-22 21-18 21-12

Saina and Srinath complete second win in two days to almost securing their respective semi final place ... Saina score comfortable win over Ji Hyun Sung ... Srikanth also score comfortably win over top-5 Indonesian Sugiarto in straight games.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) l (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3) 1-3 (11-7 5-11 3-11 6-11) (50m)

After winning the first game Dipika's game faded away and Welily won next three games convincingly.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, New Mumbai, India

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) l Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494) 46 06

Sharmadaa's excellent run ends in quarter final against Frech girl Chole Paquet.
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[QF] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) l (7) Maximilian NEUCHRIST (AUT,539) 76(9) 36 46
[QF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) l (5) Guillaume RUFIN (FRA,369) 36 57

Sunit give fighting performance in his loss against Austrian Maximilian ... After winning long tie-break Sumit failed to keep momentum and lost next two sets ... Other hand surprising loss of RamK against Frenchman Rufin.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-18
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) btYeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 21-15 21-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Kento Momota (JPN,15) 15-21 21-16 21-10
Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-15 21-9

Winning start for Indian players on first day of World Superseries Finals ... Saina score terrific win over Shixian Wang in well fought 58 minutes match ... What a top class match both players played! Hats off for their efforts ... In the first game from 8-10 Saina won next 10 points, those points were high quality points ... In this match too many long rallies and in those rallies amazing shot making by both players ... After 10-18 down Shixian tried fight back but difference was too much recover ... In the second game Shixian was leading 8-4 but Saina caught her at 9-all ... From 10-all Saina take couple of points lead and she kept that lead in this game ... Shixian saved couple of match points at 16-20 but Saina converted third match point for exciting win.

Srikanth score comeback win over his Japanese opponent Kento Momota for exciting start in his first World Superseries Finals ... After losing the first game Srikanth made solid comeback, he dominated the third game for completing the win.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) l (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7) 2-3 (11-6, 3-11, 13-11, 7-11, 8-11) (64m)

Joshana play competitive match against WR #7 Malaysian girl Low Wee Wern ... Joshana was leading 2-1 after winning the third game in extra points but afterwards she failed to keep momentum in last two games ... Low Wee Wern won last closely fought games for winning the match.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, New Mumbai, India

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) l (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226) 36 57
[R2] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 26 26
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361) 63 64

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494)

Sharmadaa continue with terrific run ... She beats top-360 Greece girl Despina in straight sets ... In the quarter final she is facing French girl Chole Paquet.

Nidhi give decent fight to top-seed Dutch player Cindy Burger but Rutuja lose one-sided match against her Russian opponent.
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191) 16 16
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) l (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381) 36 36
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127) 63 61
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) l James MARSALEK (GBR,947) 67(4) 36
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Michael GEERTS (BEL,924) 63 57 76(4)

RamK need to dig deep for comeback win over his Belgian opponent ... After losing the second set RamK was under pressure ... He saved 3 match points at 4-5 before winning the tie-break ... Sunit joins him in the quarter-final with easy straight sets win over his Chinese opponent.

Bala's poor run continue with his another loss against lower ranked opponent.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R1] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) bt (Q) Samantha Teran (MEX,34) 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7) (75m)
[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) bt (12) Madeline Perry (IRL,14) 3-1 (14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7) (50m)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) vs (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3)
[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) vs (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7)

Great start for Indians as our both players crossed first hurdle in contrasting style ... Joshana score upset win over top-15 Irish player in four games after winning the first game in extra points ... Next she is facing Malaysian WR #7 Low Wee Wern.

Dipika dig deep to score comeback win over Mexican veteran and former WR #11 Teran in 75 minutes long match ... Dipika lost first 2 games before fighting back to win last three games ... Next she is facing in-form WR #3 Egyptian Raneem El Welily.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, New Mumbai, India

[R1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,297) l Miyabi INOUE (JPN,351) 36 26
[R1] (WC) Prarthana THOMBARE (IND,500) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 36 16
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (533) l (6) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,308) 46 62 26

Today turn terrible for Indian players after terrific yesterday ... All three players lose their match that include 3rd seed Ankita
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Pirmin HAENLE (GER,717) 62 61
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) bt (Q) Delf GOHLKE (GER,UNR) 75 62
[R1] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (4) David RICE (GBR,351) 62 63
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) bt (WC) Ali AL-SAYGH (QAT,UNR) 61 60
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (Q) Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1204) 62 61

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191)
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) vs (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381)
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) vs (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127)
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) vs James MARSALEK (GBR,947)
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) vs Michael GEERTS (BEL,924)

Terrific comfortable win by young Sumit against top-350 ranked experienced British player David Rice ... Sumit needed to qualify ... Other hand expected win by our players ... Sumit facing qualifier Chinese player in the second round.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, New Mumbai, India

[R1] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) bt (Q) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,963) 76(5) 63
[R1] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) bt (7) Polina LEYKINA (RUS,321) 76(4) 16 62
[R1] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt (4) Manon ARCANGIOLI (FRA,313) 63 64

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) vs (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226)
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361)

Excellent upset wins by Sharmadaa and Rutuja against seeded players ... Sharmadaa beat top-315 French girl convincingly in straight sets ... Rutuja beat top-325 Russian girl in three sets ... After winning first set in tie-break Rutuja lost focus to lose second set easily against Leykina ... But Rutuja recovered in the third for winning it breaking opponent twice ... Other hand Nidhi also start with straight sets win against Karman ... In the next round she is facing top-seed Dutch girl ... Sharmadaa is facing Greece girl in the second round.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R4] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) l Judd Trump (ENG,7) 2-4 (29-85, 27-83(50), 32-68(60), 119(118)-1, 72-(56)-29, 0-139(139))

Aditya play decent match in his loss against top-10 and in-form Judd Trump ... After losing first 3 frames Aditya made strong comeback when he score 100+ break in the fourth ... He won the fourth scoring another 50+ break ... But in the fifth on his first visit to the table Judd scored match winning 139 points break for the victory ... Next Aditya is playing German Masters qualifying.

Golf News

At $1M Thailand Golf Championship, Thailand

T6 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 71 73 68 73 -3 $28,766.67
T45 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 76 75 73 72 +8 $5,220.00
T55 SSP Chowrasia (IND) 77 74 72 75 +10 $3,650.00
T55 Chirag Kumar (IND) 72 77 76 73 +10 $3,650.00
T65 Arjun Atwal (IND) 79 71 72 78 +12 $2,650.00

Anirban fail to repeat his third round performance and slide to down to T6 in the standing ... But this finish is enough for capturing quota place for 2015 British open, Congats Anirban Lahiri ... This tournament had given chance for grabbing four quota places ... 'The leading four players, who finish in the top 12 and ties and who are not already exempt, will earn a place in The Open from 16-19 July, 2015.'

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Bronze Medal match
India l Australia 1-2 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Lalit Upadhyay (IND) 42' PC and Eddie Ockenden (AUS) 18', Matt Gohdes (AUS) 52'

In well contested match Aussie defeat India to lift the Bronze ... In this match also Indians started slowly as Aussie take lead when scoring in early 2nd quarter ... After that Indians fought back and managed to score equalizer in 3rd quarter ... After that Indians had numerous chances but they failed to convert ... Other hand Aussie take lead when 8 minutes were remaining ... After that defended well to win their 28th Champions trophy medal and disallow Indians to win their only 2nd medal.

Tennis News

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, New Mumbai, India

[R1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,297) vs Miyabi INOUE (JPN,351)
[R1] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) vs (Q) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,963)
[R1] (WC) Prarthana THOMBARE (IND,500) vs Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325)
[R1] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) vs (7) Polina LEYKINA (RUS,321)
[R1] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs (4) Manon ARCANGIOLI (FRA,313)
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (533) vs (6) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,308)

Karman Kaur Thandi and Natasha Palha qualify for main-draw with upset win over top-450 players ... Karman is facing Nidhi and that is only match where Indian players facing each other ... Ankita is facing Miyabi, tricky match considering their face to face record is stand for 1-all.

Chess News

At London Chess Classic 2014, England

10-12.2014 - Round One
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) 1-0 GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)

11-12.2014 - Round Two
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)
GM Anish Giri (NED,2768) 1-0 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745)
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) 1-0 GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775)

12-12.2014 - Round Theee
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) ½-½ GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) ½-½ GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)

13-12.2014 - Round Four
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793) ½-½ GM Anish Giri (NED,2768)
GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769) ½-½ GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775) 1-0 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745)

14-12.2014 - Round Five
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2745) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2793)
GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA,2829) ½-½ GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA,2775)
GM Anish Giri (NED,2768) ½-½ GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS,2769)

Viswanathan Anand wins the 6th London Chess Classic on tie-break from Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri after defeating Michael Adams with the black pieces in the final round ... After his World championship match Anand was playing in London Chess Classic ... After playing four rounds Anand was still searching for first win though he managed to draw all his games.

Final scores in tie-break order - 1 Anand 7 (win with black pieces), 2 Kramnik 7 (win with white pieces), 3 Giri 7 (win with white pieces), 4 Nakamura 6, 5 Adams 4, 6 Caruana 4.

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

[F] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192) 67(5) 26

RamK fail to overcome challenge of top 200 Basilashvili and lose match in tie-break ... RamK stretched top-seed to tie-break in the first set but after losing it Basilashvili proved too strong for RamK.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Semi Finals
India l Pakistan 3-4 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) 12' PC, Dharamvir Singh (IND) 38', Nikkin Thimmaiah (IND) 44' and Muhammad Arslan Qadir (PAK) 17' and 59', Muhammad Waqas (PAK) 32', Muhammad Irfan (PAK) 44' PC

Germany bt Australia 3-2 (2-0)

Pakistan scored a 4-3 win over India to qualify for Sunday’s final of the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar thanks to a late strike from Muhammad Arslan Qadir ... Overall patchy game from us as in this match we failed to keep possession ... Pakistan played attacking game and were looking more solid on the field ... In fourth quarter we had few open goal chances but we failed to convert it ... In this match we had five penalty corners but managed to convert only first one ... And again we were on receiving side of accepting goal in dying moments ... Tomorrow we are playing in Bronze medal match against Australia.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Elliot Slessor (ENG,99) 4-0 (72-0, 68-14, 81(60)-5, 119(119)-0)
[R3] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Sam Baird (ENG,73) 4-1 (59-55, 70-0, 71-31, 34-75(52), 75(74)-8)

[R4] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) vs Judd Trump (ENG,7)

Aditya enter into fourth round of Fifth European tour event ... In the second round he scored comfortable win over lower ranked British players ... In the fourth round he is facing WR #7 Judd Trump ... He beat Aditya convincingly in their last meeting at UK Championship ... Hoping for decent fighting performance by Aditya.

Tennis News

At $10K Qatar F5 Futures, Doha

[R1] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192) 64 57 36
[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,499) l Peter HELLER (GER,483) 16 62 16
[R1] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,342) bt (WC) Ali AL-SAYGH (QAT,UNR) 62 60
[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Niels LOOTSMA (NED,618) 46 76(7) 63

[R2] (6) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,342) l Richard GABB (GBR,577) 67(4) 16
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Evgeny KARLOVSKIY (RUS,714) 75 46 63

[QF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt (Q) Scott CLAYTON (GBR,1123) 62 63

[SF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) bt Richard GABB (GBR,577) 64 62

[F] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,216) vs (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,192)

Doubles
[R1] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Aria HARAJCHI (SUI)/ Adam SKALSKY (GBR) 62 61
[R1] Giorgio PORTALURI (ITA)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ James MARSALEK (GBR) 63 63

[QF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Giorgio PORTALURI (ITA)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) 76(4) 63

[SF] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Adam CHADAJ (POL)/ Adam MAJCHROWICZ (POL) 63 62

[F] (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt (4) Sam BARRY (IRL)/ Maximilian NEUCHRIST (AUT) 63 64

RamK is in the singles final against top-seed Basilashvili ... First couple of rounds Ramk stretched to three sets but after that he scored comfortable wins ... He also lifts doubles title with Bala without losing a set.

Snooker News

At European Tour Event Five 2014, Lisbon, Portugal

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) bt Hammad Miah (ENG,87) 4-1 (25-57, 75-10, 74-24, 75-30, 80(62)-18)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,53) vs Elliot Slessor (ENG,99)

After losing the first frame Aditya make strong comeback for comfortable win ... Next he is facing another lower ranked British player.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[SF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) l (Q) Anastasiya Komardina (RUS,976) 46 57

Ankita fail to overcome under JR top 20 young Russian girl Komardina ... Qualifier Komardina won in two sets for entering into the final ... Ankita lifts doubles title with Emily Webley-Smith beating Rushmi-Nidhi, 62 64.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Quarter Finals
India bt Belgium 4-2 (2-2)
Goal Scorers - Rupinder Singh (IND) 18' PC, SK Uthappa (IND) 27', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 41', Dharamvir Singh (IND) 49' and Felix Denayer (BEL) PC 12', Sebastien Dockie (BEL) 18'

Pakistan bt Netherlands 4-2
Australia bt Argentina 4-2 (1-1)
Germany bt England 2-0 (1-0)

Indian score unbelievable comeback win against in-form Belgian side ... Belgians started well and 2-0 up before 18th minute ... On the same minute Rupinder Pal Singh scored through penalty corner and then Uthappa equalized before end of the second quarter ... Before end of the third quarter Akashdeep gave lead and in the fourth quarter Indians scored excellent goal through counter-attacking after blocking penalty corner ... After first 20 minutes we defended well and our forward line was looking sync with eachother ... Excellent result for us but that also means end of Terry Walsh despite his all contribution ... In the semis we r facing Pakistan, who score upset win over Dutch side.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) bt Silvia Njiric (CRO,449) 75 36 76(5)

[QF] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) l (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248) 36 67(3)
[QF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) bt Ellen Allgurin (SWE,421) 36 75 63
[QF] Natasha Palha (IND,531) l (4) Emily Webley-Smith (GBR,319) 16 36

[SF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs Anastasiya Komardina (RUS,76)

Ankita need comeback win against Swedish girl before completing victory ... In the semis she is facing young Russian girl ... She is currently JR WR #18, tricky but winnable match for Ankita ... Natasha completed victory winning the third set in tie-break but 4th seed British player prove too strong ... Bhuvana gives fighting performance against top-250 and first seed Sofia.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,498) l (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248) 46 16
[R2] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) bt (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,325) 46 61 64
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) vs Silvia Njiric (CRO,449) 75 36 stopped
[R2] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) bt. Katie Boulter (GBR,362) 63 62

[QF] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) vs (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248)
[QF] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs Ellen Allgurin (SWE,421)

What a upset win by Bhuvana Kalva over top-325 Kazakh player ... After losing the first set Bhuvana scored comeback win ... Next she is having tough match against top-250 player Shapatava ... Ankita score comfortable win and next facing Swedish girl ... Natasha's match is one set all.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India bt Netherlands 3-2 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - SV Sunil (IND) 33', Manpreet Singh (IND) 47', Rupinder Singh (IND) 49' PC and Mink van der Weerden (NED) 36' PC and 58' PC

Argentina bt Germany 3-0 (2-0)

Indians play spirited game against Netherlands and score their rare win over them in many years ... In the first half both teams matched each other's game as both team had equal chances ... In the second half we started with beautiful deflection goal by Sunil but Weerden equalized converting third penalty corner ... Indians taken control of the match when they scored back to back score in three minutes of fourth quarter ... In that excellent goals by Manpreet on rebound and excellently executing penalty corner his by Rupinder Pal Singh ... After that Dutch side tried hard and Weerden again converted fourth penalty corner when 2 minutes were remaining ... After they failed to score ... Again in this match Sreejesh was excellent in front of the goal but defenders also gave him terrific support ... So with this win we finish on third position of the pool ahead of German side.

Thursday’s quarter final will see the Netherlands taking on Pakistan, England playing Germany, Argentina facing Australia and Belgium meeting India.

Tennis News

At $15K ITF Women's Tournament, Lucknow, India

[R1] (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO) bt Nidhi Chilumula (IND) 63 63
[R1] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) bt Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR) 76(4) 75
[R1] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND) bt (WC) Sneha Padamata (IND) 64 62
[R1] (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt (Q) Shweta Rana (IND) 64 63
[R1] (4) Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) bt (Q)Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Diana Bogoliy (UKR) bt (WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) 36 63 63
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND) bt (Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) 64 46 64
[R1] (Q) Anastasiya Komardina (RUS) bt (WC) Damini Sharma (IND) 61 62
[R1] Margarita Lazareva (RUS) bt Rishika Sunkara (IND) 62 60
[R1] (3) Katy Dunne (GBR) bt (Q) Sai Samhitha Chamarthi (IND) 62 62
[R1] Katie Boulter (GBR) bt (Q) Sharrmadaa Baluu (IND) 63 64
[R1] (2) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (WC) Shubhi Dwivedi (IND) 60 61

[R2] Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,498) vs (1) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,248)
[R2] (Q) Bhuvana Kalva (IND,961) vs (8) Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,325)
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,531) vs Silvia Njiric (CRO,449)
[R2] (2) Ankita Raina (IND,299) vs. Katie Boulter (GBR,362)

Our four girls are in the second round but on paper only Ankita is having winnable match.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India l Argentina 2-4 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Akashdeep Singh (IND) 30', Gurjinder Singh (IND) 37' PC and Lucas Vila (ARG) 30', Juan Lopez (ARG) 37', Agustin Mazzilli (ARG) 49', Joaquin Menini (ARG) 59'

Netherlands bt Germany 4-1 (3-0)

Another loss for India and with this loss their chances of reaching semis is over ... Again in this match it is exposed that the structure which was developed by Terry Walsh is missing ... Our team is again making old mistakes and in this match two times we conceded goal on same minute after scoring ... Our players played in patches and surprisingly our players were hesitates while moving forward ... We really need Terry Walsh back as our coach.

Hockey News

At Hero Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014, Bhubaneswar, India

Group B
India l Germany 0-1 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Florian Fuchs (GER) 60'

Netherlands bt Argentina 3-0 (2-0)

India lose match when Fuchs score goal when 40 seconds were remaining ... That was only mistake made by our goal-keeper Sreejesh, otherwise he was excellent in-front of goal who denied many German chances ... Our forwards, especially Akashdeep Singh missed few sitters and they also failed to earn penalty corners ... We saved all three penalty corners and we earned only a single penalty corner ... Overall disappointing performance by our team against young German side.

Tennis News

At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt Michele Alexandra ZMAU (ROU,UNR) 76(4) 60
[R1] Manya NAGPAL (IND,1228) l Julia WACHACZYK (GER,802) 16 16

[R2] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt (6) Marianna ZAKARLYUK (UKR,551) 63 41 retd.

[QF] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) bt Nina STADLER (SUI,1116) 76(5) 60

[SF] Snehadevi S REDDY (IND,778) vs Simona HEINOVA (CZE,1174) 46 46

Young 17 yrs old Snehadevi is playing in Egypt last couple of week ... This week she lose her semi-final against junior WR #40 Czech player Heinova in straight sets ... Before that she gave decent performance for reaching in the semis.