Chess News

At FIDE Women's World Chess Championship 2017, Tehran, Iran

[R1] (40) Padmini Rout (IND) 1½-½ (25) Danielian Elina (ARM)
[R1] (4) Harika Dronavalli(IND) 1-1 (61) Shamima Akter Liza (BAN)
[TB] (4) Harika Dronavalli(IND) 1½-½ (61) Shamima Akter Liza (BAN)

[R2] (40) Padmini Rout (IND) 1-1 (8) Zhao Xue (CHN)
[R2] (4) Harika Dronavali (IND) 1-1 (29) Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ)
[TB] (40) Padmini Rout (IND) 2-0 (8) Zhao Xue (CHN)
[TB] (4) Harika Dronavali (IND) 1½-½ (29) Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ)

[R3] (4) Harika Dronavalli (IND) 1-1 (45) Guramishvili Sopiko (GEO)
[R3] (40) Padmini Rout (IND) 1-1 (9) Tan Zhongyi (CHN)
[TB] (4) Harika Dronavalli (IND) 2½-1½ (45) Guramishvili Sopiko (GEO)
[TB] (40) Padmini Rout (IND) 1½-2½ (9) Tan Zhongyi (CHN)

[QF] (4) Harika Dronavalli (IND) 1-1 (5) Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)
[TB] (4) Harika Dronavalli (IND) 1½-½ (5) Nana Dzagnidze (GEO)

[SF] (4) Harika Dronavalli (IND) vs (9) Tan Zhongyi (CHN)

Harika played four rounds and played four tie-breakers ... But still, she is in the third consecutive semi-final at Women's World Chess Championship ... In the semi-final, she is facing Chinese girl Tan Zhongyi, who scored an upset win over #1 seeded Chinese girl Ju Wenjun in the quarters. Padmini Rout also reached till third round in her first appearance ... She lost in the tie-break against Harika's opponent Tan Zhongyi.

Tennis News

At $2.66M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2017, UAE

[R2] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Kiki Bertens (NED)/ Johanna Larsson (SWE) 63 75

[QF] (3) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs (7) Abigail Spears (USA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

Sania and Strycova r into the quarters after straight sets win ... Next, they r facing 7th seed Spears and Srebotnik ... Last week our pair lost against the same pair at Doha.

---

Tennis News

At $599K Delray Beach Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA)/ Taylor Fritz (USA) 76(7) 63

Winning start for Lee with his new partner Yen-Hsun Lu ... After winning the tight first set tie-break they won the second set easily.

Tennis News

At €691K Open 13 Marseille 2017, France

[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l (WC) Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 46 46

The first round straight sets loss for Rohan and Jeevan against Aussie pair ... In both sets Aussie pair broke Jeevan in 7th game.

---

At $599K Delray Beach Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Philip Bester (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN) 64 36 10-4

Divij-Purav scored a win in the match tie-break against Canadian wild-card pair.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[Q3] (5) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,319) l (1) Lloyd Harris (RSA,294) 36 67(7)

Big serving Harris proved too strong for Prajnesh in crucial stages of the match.

Golf News

At $1.5M ISPS HANDA Women's Australian Open 2017, Adelaide, Australia (LPGA Tour)

T52 Aditi Ashok (IND) 74 70 78 73 +3 $4,141.00

Aditi struggled on her first LPGA tour event as she only managed only one under par round ... She finished outside top-50 but this must be good learning experience for her.

---

At $7M Genesis Open 2017, California, USA (PGA Tour)

T64 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 70 67 76 73 +2 $14,840.00

After two rounds Anirban was five under and was in top 10 standing ... But after rain delayed Anirban struggled on the wet course and he managed 5 over and 2 over in last two rounds for finishing below in the standing.

Tennis News

At €691K Open 13 Marseille 2017, France

[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (WC) Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

This week Rohan is playing with Jeevan ... Good result here can push their case for the Davis cup doubles pair spot.

---

At $599K Delray Beach Open 2017, Florida, USA

[R1] Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Bjorn Fratangelo (USA)/ Taylor Fritz (USA)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Philip Bester (CAN)/ Peter Polansky (CAN)

This week Lee is playing with Yen-Hsun Lu and facing American wild-card pair ... Divij-Purav r also facing Canadian wild-card pair.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[Q2] (5) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,319) bt Yusuke Watanuki (JPN,778) 62 64

[Q3] (5) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,319) vs (1) Lloyd Harris (RSA,294)

Another comfortable straight sets win for Prajnesh on indorr court ... Next he is having tough match against top-300 South African Lloyd Harris.

Squash News

At $50K Women's Cleveland Classic 2017, Ohio, USA

[R1] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bt (Q) Hollie Naughton (CAN,38) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (26m)

[QF] (4) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l (5) Emily Whitlock (ENG,15) 8-11, 5-11, 5-11

Little disappointed by Joshna's one-sided loss against similar ranked British girl at Cleveland Classic

Table Tennis News

At the 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open, New Delhi, India

[R1] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,62) bt Can Akkuzu (FRA,129) 4-1 (11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8)
[R2] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,62) bt Yuto Muramatsu (JPN,24) 4-1 (11-8, 11-7, 11-4, 14-16, 11-5)
[QF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,62) bt Paul Drinkhall (ENG,42) 4-3 (11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 13-11)

[SF] Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND,62) l Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN,69) 2-4 (7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 8-11)

Sharath Kamal Achanta lost in the semis of India open against very talented 13 yrs old Japanese boy Tomokazu Harimoto, he is current Junior World champion ... Before that Sharath scored couple of good wins over WR #24 Yuto Muramatsu and WR #42Paul Drinkhall.

Tennis News

At $776K Qatar Total Open 2017, Doha

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) l (4) Abigail Spears (USA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 36 61 8-10

Another disappointing tournament for Sania-Barbora pairing as one more loss in the semi-final against Spears-Srebotnik in the match tie-break.

---

At $2.66M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2017, UAE

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bye

They r 4th seed at Dubai and bye in the first round.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Perth, Australia

Doubles Final
(1) Irina Maria BARA (ROU)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l (2) Junri NAMIGATA (JPN)/ Riko SAWAYANAGI (JPN) 67(5) 64 9-11

Top-seed Prarthana and Irina lost in the final against 2nd seed Japanese pair ... After losing the first set Prarthana-Irina tried fightback winning the second ... But they lost the match tie-break in extra points.

---

At $50K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,319) bt Ruben Gonzales (PHI,922) 75 64

[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,319) vs Yusuke Watanuki (JPN,778)

Prajnesh is back on the tour after six weeks break and started with a win at Kyoto qualifying.

---

At $15K India F1 Futures, Chandigarh

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt Kunal Anand (IND) 61 62
[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt Aryan Goveas (IND) 63 63
[QF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt Sanam Singh (IND) 61 63
[SF] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt (7) Sidharth Rawat (IND) 61 61

Singles Final
(1) Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt (2) N.Sriram Balaji (IND) 62 62

As expected Yuki wins another future title ... Not a single Indian player manged to challenge his game as he won all his matches comfortably ... It was his 12th Futures singles title for Yuki who have five singles and six doubles titles at the Challenger level.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 2nd Round, Bangalore, India

The venue has been decided ... The Asia Oceania 2nd round between India and Uzbekistan would be played at Bangalore from 7-9 April 2017 ... So home debut for Mahesh as non-playing captain.

---

At $776K Qatar Total Open 2017, Doha

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Raquel Atawo (USA)/ Yifan Xu (CHN) 62 64

[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Darija Jurak (CRO) 64 63

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs (4) Abigail Spears (USA)/ Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)

Sania and Strycova r in the semis with back to back two wins in a day ... In the quarters they defeated Dabrowski and Jurak in straight sets ... Before that, in the first round, they started with comfortable win against American-Chinese pair ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed Spears and Srebotnik.

---

At €1.8M ABM Amro World Tennis Tournament 2017, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Tomas Berdych (CZE) l (3) Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Marcel Granollers (ESP) 36 46

Rohan with Berdych lost in the quarters against 3rd seed pair.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tournament 2017, Perth, Australia

[R1] (1) Irina Maria BARA (ROU)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Masa JOVANOVIC (AUS)/ Alexandra WALTERS (AUS) 63 61
[QF] (1) Irina Maria BARA (ROU)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Naiktha BAINS (AUS)/ Abigail TERE-APISAH (PNG) 46 62 10-7
[SF] (1) Irina Maria BARA (ROU)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Jennifer ELIE (USA)/ Sherazad REIX (FRA) 64 64

[F] (1) Irina Maria BARA (ROU)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs (2) Junri NAMIGATA (JPN)/ Riko SAWAYANAGI (JPN)

Prarthana is playing $25K ITF tournaments in Australia ... She and her Romanian partnerIrina Maria Bara r top-ssed ... They r in the final and facing 2nd seed Japanese pair for the title.

Tennis News

At $720K Memphis Open 2017, USA

[R1] (4) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Brian Baker (USA)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO) w/o (Garcia-Lopez illness)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Scott Lipsky (USA) 36 46

Turn to be disappointing Memphis open for Indian players as nobody left in a draw after first round ... I was expecting much better performance from Divij and Purav as they lost in straight sets ... Lee was again unlucky as this week he gave walkover due to Garcia-Lopez illness ... And last week Lee withdrew due to leg injury.

Tennis News

At €1.8M ABM Amro World Tennis Tournament 2017, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt (WC) Robin Haase (NED)/ Glenn Smits (NED) 62 62

Rohan with Berdych started with dominating win against local wild-card pair.

---

At $720K Memphis Open 2017, USA

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) l Sam Querrey (USA)/ Donald Young (USA) 63 36 3-10

Jeevan-Jordan lost their match in the match tie-break against Americans ... After winning the first set their challenge fizzled out in next two.

---

At $75K Tempe Challenger, Arizona, USA

[R1] Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Dennis Novikov (USA) 16 46

In the doubles also straight sets loss for RamK with his Serbian partner.

Snooker News

At £366K Welsh Open 2017, Cardiff, Wales

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,96) l Jimmy Robertson (ENG,38) 3-4 (55-45, 85-8, 11-92(92), 114(114)-12, 24-101(101), 26-58, 16-113(107)

Aditya missed a huge opportunity of scoring an upset win as he was 3-1 frames up but Robertson made strong fightback and scored two 100+ breaks in last three frames for a win.

Tennis News

At $776K Qatar Total Open 2017, Doha

[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Raquel Atawo (USA)/ Yifan Xu (CHN)

This week Sania is playing at Qatar open with Strycova.

---

At $75K Tempe Challenger, Arizona, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,264) l (1) Ernesto Escobedo (USA,120) 26 36

Doubles
[R1] Nikola Milojevic (SRB)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Dennis Novikov (USA)

In end RamK was no match to Escobedo in this one-sided loss ... RamK really needs to work on his game; like constructing the point, backhand and volleying for moving ahead in his stagnant career.

In the doubles also RamK is facing top-seed pair with his Serbian partner.

Golf News

At $3M Maybank Championship 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

T7 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 68 69 68 -14 $82,500.00
T9 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 68 68 71 69 -12 $63,600.00
T12 Rashid Khan (IND) 72 68 70 69 -9 $43,575.00
T12 Shiv Kapur (IND) 70 67v72 70 -9 $43,575.00
T20 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 66 72 70 72 -8 $33,500.00
T41 Chirag Kumar (IND) 70 72 71 71 -4 $17,400.00
T59 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 73 69 75 71 PAR $8,400.00

Anirban and Shubhankar scored 4 under and 3 under final round for finishing inside top-10 in this big co-sanctioned Maybank Championship ... Overall good performance as our 2 more players finished inside top-15, Rashid Khan and Shiv Kapur ... Gaganjeet also finished inside top-20 despite PAR final round.

---

At €350K Oates Vic Open 2017, Australia

T51 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 72 76 -1 €1,822.22
63 Vani KAppor (IND) 72 73 76 +2 €1,143.36

After the poor third round, Aditi and Vani missed cut for the final round.

Tennis News

At €540K Open Sud de France 2017, Montpellier, France

[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) l Alexander Zverev (GER)/ Mischa Zverev (GER) 26 67(1)

In-form Zverev brothers proved strong for Purav-Divij as our pair lost in straight sets.

---

At €1.8M ABM Amro World Tennis Tournament 2017, Rotterdam, Netherlands

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs (WC) Robin Haase (NED)/ Glenn Smits (NED)

Rohan is playing with Tomas Berdych at Rotterdam and facing local pair in the first round.

---

At $720K Memphis Open 2017, USA

[Q1] (ALT) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,UNR) l (1) Peter Polansky (CAN,125) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] (4) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Brian Baker (USA)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO)
[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Jordan Thompson (AUS) vs Sam Querrey (USA)/ Donald Young (USA)
[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Scott Lipsky (USA)

Our three pairs r playing in Memphis open ... Lee is partnering Spanish Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and they r 4th seed ... Jeevan is playing with Australian Jordan Thompson.

---

At $75K Tempe Challenger, Arizona, USA

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,264) vs (1) Ernesto Escobedo (USA,120)

This week RamK having a tough match against top-seed Escobedo in the first round.

Tennis News

AtFed Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Astana, Kazakhstan

Pool B

India bt Philippines 2-1
[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) bt Khim IGLUPAS (PHI) 61 64
[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND) l Katharina LEHNERT (PHI) 36 46
[R3] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) bt Katharina LEHNERT (PHI)/ Khim IGLUPAS (PHI) 64 75

Indian girls overcame stern test against Filipino girls for avoiding relegation match with the victory ... Karman started with expected comfortable win over Khim Iglupas ... But Filipino-German tennis player Katharina Lehnert surprised Ankita with straight sets win ... In the important doubles match, our pair prevailed challenge of Lehnert and Iglupas for straight sets win.

Tennis News

AtFed Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Astana, Kazakhstan

Pool B

India l China 0-3
[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) l Kai-Lin ZHANG (CHN) 46 46
[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND) l Lin ZHU (CHN) 36 63 46
[R3] Riya BHATIA (IND)/ Snehadevi S REDDY (IND) l Zhaoxuan YANG (CHN)/ Kai-Lin ZHANG (CHN) 26 36

Expected losses but an improved performance by our girls against Chinese girls ... Ankita stretched Lin Zhu to three sets ... Now our girls r playing an important final match against the Filipino girls.

---

At €540K Open Sud de France 2017, Montpellier, France

[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN)/ Albano Olivetti (FRA) 64 62

[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Alexander Zverev (GER)/ Mischa Zverev (GER)

Dominating win by Purav and Divij against Jaziri and Olivetti ... In the semis they r facing GHerman Zverev brothers.

---

At $100K San Francisco Challenger, California, USA

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,264) l (5) Henri Laaksonen (SUI,124) 16 67(1)

Laaksonen proved better player on the court for RamK ... After losing the first set comfortably RamK gave decent fight in the second for taking it to the tie-break.

Tennis News

AtFed Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Astana, Kazakhstan

Pool B

India l Japan 0-3
[R1] Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) l Naomi OSAKA (JPN) 26 26
[R2] Ankita RAINA (IND) l Misaki DOI (JPN) 06 36
[R3] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Karman Kaur THANDI (IND) l Shuko AOYAMA (JPN)/ Eri HOZUMI (JPN) 16 36

Expected losses of our players against top-50 type Japanese players ... Next they r having another tough group match against china.

---

At €540K Open Sud de France 2017, Montpellier, France

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt Dustin Brown (GER)/ Karen Khachanov (RUS) w/o (Khachanov - right shoulder)

[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Malek Jaziri (TUN)/ Albano Olivetti (FRA)

Purav-Divij r in the quarters without hitting the ball as they received walkover ... Other hand Leander and Sa withdrawn due to Lee's ankle injury.

---

At $540K Ecuador Open 2017, Quito

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Sergio Galdos (PER) l (3) Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 67(5) 67(8)

Very close loss in two tie-breaks for Jeevan and Sergio against 3rd seed pair.

---

At $100K San Francisco Challenger, California, USA

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,264) bt (WC) Marcos Giron (USA,443) 26 64 64

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,264) vs (5) Henri Laaksonen (SUI,124)

After long travel RamK scored an impressive win over in-form American Marcos Giron ... After losing the first set lopsidedly RamK dig deep for fighting back and won next two sets ... Next, he is facing top-125 Swiss player Henri Laaksonen.

Golf News

At $2.65M Omega Dubai Desert Classic 2017, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

T19 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 75 70 68 -6 €29,105
T60 Rayhan Thomas (AM) (IND) 68 75 74 74 +3

Anirban scored final 4 under round for finishing inside top-20 at Dubai Desert ... 17 yrs old amateur golfer Rayhan had 2 over round for finishing outside top-50 standing.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Pune, India

India bt New Zealand 4-1

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,414) 64 64 63
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) bt Jose Statham (NZL,417) 63 64 63

Day Two
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Arem Sitak (NZL)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 63 36 67(6) 36

Day Three
[R4] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,414) 75 61 60
[R5] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) bt Jose Statham (NZL,417) 75 36 64

After yesterday's doubles loss, today's RamK's match was important for us to clinch this tie ... Finn stretched RamK in the first set but after winning the first set RamK dominated the match ... RamK won 12 games from next 13 games for complating tie win for India ... In last match Yuki faced some resistent from Statham but he overcame for winning in three sets ... So next India is having home tie against Uzbekistan in April under new non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi.

Golf News

At AUD $150K the RACV Gold Coast Challenge 2017, Queensland, Australia

T6 Aditi Ashok (IND) 70 73 76 EVEN AUD $5725.00
T38 Vani Kapoor (IND) 73 79 77 +10 AUD $735.00

Aditi had a rough final day and carded three-over 76, which saw her slide to T6th place at the RACV Gold Coast Challenge in Australia ... After the first round she was leading with 3 under but was on third place after second round.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Pune, India

India vs New Zealand 2-1

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,414) 64 64 63
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) bt Jose Statham (NZL,417) 63 64 63

Day Two
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Arem Sitak (NZL)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 63 36 67(6) 36

Before this tie, Lee and Italian legend Nicola Pietrangeli were locked at 42 wins and 12 defeats apiece in Davis Cup doubles and after today's match Lee failed to break Pietrangeli record and will remain on 42-13 (W-L) record.

New Zealand's pair started tentatively in this tie and other hand Lee-Vishnu were looking gelled pair ... Indian pair took a crucial break on Venus's serve in the 6th game, 4-2, and kept that lead for winning the first set ... From the second set, New Zealanders started to play a more attacking game ... Our pair missed a couple of break points on Venus's serve in 1st game ... New Zealand pair broke Lee's serve in the 4th game, 1-3, and they also kept that advantage for winning it ... In the third set, our pair missed few break points on Venus and Sitak's service games in 2nd and 4th games ... Both pairs hold their respective service games for taking it to tie-break ... In the tie-break, New Zealand pair took mini-break on Vishnu's serve on 9th point, 4-5, but they gifted mini-break back as Venus committed double fault on next point, 5-5 ... New Zealand pair took another mini-break on Lee's serve on 13th point, 6-7 and then they hold on Sitak's serve for winning the tie-break ... In the fourth set, New Zealanders broke Vishnu in the 2nd game and Indians missed break point on Sitak's serve in the 3rd game which gave Sitak-Venus 0-3 lead ... This lead they kept for winning the set and match so keeping New Zealand still in the tie ... So despite huge crowd support (for the first time I experienced full-house for tennis match in India) our pair failed to raise their game and lost.

In this match, Vishnu and Lee started well but from the second set, Vishnu started making few errors and Lee was looking a bit slow on the court ... Other hand Venus was struggling with his game but Sitak was the best player on the court and because of him, New Zealand managed to win this match ... After losing the first set, New Zealanders changed game plan and targeted Vishnu, in the end, which gave them desired result.

---

At $125 Dallas Challenger, Texas, USA

Doubles Final
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l (Q) David O'Hare (IRL)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR) 76(6) 36 9-11

Jeevan and Chris missed a huge opportunity of lifting the title here ... After losing the second set, Jeevan-Chris were dominating the match tie-break ... They had 4 championship points at 9-5 but they became tight and lost next 6 points for losing this match ... The third time they lost in the final as they were two-time runner-up in Japanese challengers in November 2016.

---

At €540K Open Sud de France 2017, Montpellier, France

[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Dustin Brown (GER)/ Karen Khachanov (RUS)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs Alexander Zverev (GER)/ Mischa Zverev (GER)

The next week Purav-Divij r playing at Montpellier and facing Dustin Brown and his young Russian partner Karen Khachanov ... Lee and Sa r also playing there and facing German Zverev brothers.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Pune, India

India vs New Zealand 2-0

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) bt Finn Tearney (NZL,414) 64 64 63
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) bt Jose Statham (NZL,417) 63 64 63

Favorable start for Indians as they r 2-0 up after end of the first day ... Though Yuki was in control of the match, he was break down in first 2 sets ... His overall game was looking superb with his trademark forehands but his serving looks susceptible as he is still recovering from tennis elbow ... RamK also scored impressive win ... He was serving big and used backhand slice shots effectively but this shot wouldn't work with top-200 players ... He needs to work on his backhand for moving ahead.

---

At $125 Dallas Challenger, Texas, USA

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Dennis Novikov (USA) 26 64 10-7

[F] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs (Q) David O'Hare (IRL)/ Joe Salisbury (GBR)

Jeevan-Chris r in the final with comeback win over Molchanov-Novikov ... After losing the first set they made excellent comeback for winning the next and match tie-break ... In the final they r facing Irish-British qualifiers.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2017 - Asia/ Oceania Group I - 1st Round, Pune, India

Day One
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) vs Finn Tearney (NZL,414)
[R2] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) vs Jose Statham (NZL,417)

Day Two
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Arem Sitak (NZL)/ Michael Venus (NZL)

Day Three
[R4] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,276) vs Finn Tearney (NZL,414)
[R5] Yuki Bhambri (IND,368) vs Jose Statham (NZL,417)

In the last minute Saki withdrawn from the tie with his injury and then AITA took bizzare decision of including Vishnu Vardhan on his place ... They should have included Prajnesh as he is in Pune as reserve player, otherwise what use in selecting players as reserves for the tie ... AITA contacted Rohan Bopannabut he declared his unavailability so they asked Vishnu, who immediately respond and reached Pune for this tie ... So suddenly this tie become interesting.

So for this tie, RamK is our top player and playing second match against experienced Jose Statham ... Yuki is playing in the first match against their top player Finn Tearney.

---

At $125 Dallas Challenger, Texas, USA

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (WC) Mackenzie McDonald (USA)/ Max Schnur (USA) 61 64

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Dennis Novikov (USA) (USA)

Comfortable win for Jeevan and Chrisagainst local wild-card pair ... In the semis they r facing Denys Molchanov and Dennis Novikov.

---

At $50K+H Quimper Challenger 2017, France

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) l Ariel Behar (URU)/ Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 67(0) 64 6-10

Disappointing loss for top-seed Purav and Divij against Behar and Golubev in the match tie-break.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Quimper Challenger 2017, France

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 67(4) 63, 11-9

[QF] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Ariel Behar (URU)/ Andrey Golubev (KAZ)

In end really tough fighting win for Purav-Divij against Eysseric-Stakhovsky ... After losing the first set Purav-Divij made excellent comeback but they were stretched in STB for winning on extra points ... Next they r facing Behar-Golubev.

---

At $25K Kazakhstan F2 Futures, Aktobe

[R2] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,561) l Andriej KAPAS (POL,480) 46 26

No upset by VSP so overall disappointing Kazakh futures for our players.

Tennis News

At $125 Dallas Challenger, Texas, USA

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt (1) Julio Peralta (CHI)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 63 64

Jeevan and Chris started with terrific stright sets upset win over the top-seed pair of Rajeev and Julio.

---

At $50K+H Quimper Challenger 2017, France

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

Purav and Divij r top-seed at Quimper challenger ... Facing Jonathan Eysseric, who was one-half of the pair who defeated them at Australian open first round, and his partner Sergiy Stakhovsky.

---

At $25K Kazakhstan F2 Futures, Aktobe

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,561) bt Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ,748) 76(3) 62
[R1] Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,517) l Timur KHABIBULIN (KAZ,973) 46 46

[R2] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,561) vs Andriej KAPAS (POL,480)

This week only VSP ans Sasi r playing here ... VSP started with victory but another disappointing loss for Sasi.

Badminton News

At $120K Syed Modi International Badminton Championships 2017, Lucknow, India

Men's Singles Final
(8) Sameer VERMA (IND,35) bt (9) Sai B. PRANEETH (IND,36) 21-19, 21-16

Women's Singles Final
(1) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,9) bt Gregoria MARISKA (INA,120) 21-13 21-14

Women's Doubles Final
Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) l (1) Kamilla Rytter JUHL (DEN)/ Christinna PEDERSEN (DEN) 16-21 18-21

Mixed Doubles Final
(2) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA / N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt (7) B. Sumeeth REDDY (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) 22-20, 21-10

[SF] (9) Sai B. PRANEETH (IND,36) bt (3) Srikanth KIDAMBI (IND,19) 15-21 21-10 21-17
[SF] (8) Sameer VERMA (IND,35) bt (15) Harsheel DANI (IND,76) 21-15 21-11

[SF] (1) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,9) bt (4) Fitriani FITRIANI (INA,31) 21-11 21-19

[SF] Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt Sanjana SANTOSH (IND)/ Arathi Sara SUNIL (IND) 18-21 21-12 21-13

[SF] (7) B. Sumeeth REDDY (IND)/ Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND) bt (1) Joachim FISCHER NIELSEN / Christinna PEDERSEN (DEN) 19-21 21-18 21-18
[SF] (2) Pranaav Jerry CHOPRA (IND)/ N. Sikki REDDY (IND) bt (5) Mathias CHRISTIANSEN (DEN)/ Sara THYGESEN (DEN) 21-18 21-13

[QF] (3) Srikanth KIDAMBI (IND,19) bt (7) Zulfadli ZULKIFFLI (MAS,30) 21-12 21-17
[QF] (9) Sai B. PRANEETH (IND,36) bt (11) Sourabh VARMA (IND,43) 21-19 12-21 21-10
[QF] (15) Harsheel DANI (IND,76) bt Emil HOLST (DEN,47) 21-16 17-21 21-11
[QF] (8) Sameer VERMA (IND,35) bt (2) Hans-Kristian VITTINGHUS (DEN,15) 21-15 21-13

[QF] (1) PUSARLA V. Sindhu (IND,9) bt Vaidehi CHOUDHARI (IND,609) 21-15 21-11
[QF] Rituparna DAS (IND,66) l (4) Fitriani FITRIANI (INA,31) 17-21 21-13 21-23
[QF] Sri Krishna Priya KUDARAVALLI (IND,135) l Hanna RAMADINI (INA,44) 17-21 15-21

Turned to be memorable Syed Modi International Badminton Championships GPG tournament for Indians ... Our players were in four categories finals and lifted three titles ... Expected comfortable title win for Sindhu.

Sameer Verma lifted his first GPG tournament title beating Sai Praneeth in straight games ... Before that Sai defeated Srikanth in the semis and young Harsheel Dani lost against Sameer ... In the quarters, Sameer defeated WR #15 Danish player Hans-Kristian Vittinghus comfortably.

In women's doubles final, Ashwini and Sikki failed to overcome challenge of top-seed Danish pair and lost in straight games.

In MXD, it was the first time the final played between Indian pairs in GPG tournament ... Sikki and Pranaav lifted their first GPG title beating Ashwini and Sumeeth in straight games ... Before that in the semis, Ashwini and Sumeeth scored upset win over WR #4 Danish pair Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen.

Golf News

At $750K Myanmar Open+ 2017, Yangon

T9 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 70 68 69 69 -8 $12,975.00
T9 Daniel Chopra (SWE) 67 71 68 70 -8 $12,975.00
T34 Shiv Kapur (IND) 67 70 72 73 -2 $4,958.33
T43 Rahil Gangjee (IND) 68 73 75 67 -1 $3,905.36
T70 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70 69 77 74 +6 $1,650.00

Another top-10 finish for young Shubhankar Sharma on Asian tour with veteran Daniel Chopra.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles Final
(2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) l Abigail Spears (USA)/ Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) 26 46

Disappointing loss for Sania and Dodig against unseeded Spears and Cabal in straight sets ... In the first set, our pair was down 0-4 and lost this set easily ... In the second set Sania-Dodig were 4-1 up but from there they lost next 5 games for losing the match ... In this match, Dodig and Sania struggled with their game and made numerous unforced errors with double faults at a crucial juncture of the match ... For Sania and Dodig, it was to be their second Grand Slam final disappointment after they lost the final of the 2016 French Open to Leander Paes and Martina Hingis.

The 18th Grand slam title for THE greatest tennis player, Roger Federer ... Truly amazing comeback by Roger in the 5th set after a break down against another great player Rafael Nadal #GOAT ... Flawless and high risk game by him for winning last 5 games in a row.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Sam Groth (AUS) 64 26 10-5

[F] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Abigail Spears (USA)/ Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)

Sania is in the final of MXD and in line for winning another grand slam with Dodig ... In the semis, they defeated Aussie pairing of Stosur and Groth in STB ... They faced stiff resistance from Aussie pair after winning the first set but Sania-Dodig dominated STB for entering into the final ... In the final they r facing American-Colombian combination, Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal.

Snooker News

At £510K China Open Qualifiers 2017, Preston, England

[QR] Aditya Mehta (IND,98) bt (10) Barry Hawkins (ENG,12) 5-2 (91(57)-0, 0-79(53), 51-68(56), 59-45, 71(71)-12, 73(73)-0, 67-30)

Aditya started his 2017 pro-season with an upset win over in-form Barry Hawkins ... After 1-2 frames down Aditya raised his game for winning next four frames and with this win, he has qualified for prestigious China open.

Winter Games News

At the 47th FIL Luge World Championship - Qualifying, Igls, Tirol, Austria

Shiva Keshavan has qualified for the 47th FIL Luge World Championship, Igls, Tirol, Austria with the personal best timing of 50.546 secs ... Not a bad timing considering the World record is 50.098 secs.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[QF] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Sam Groth (AUS) 36 26

[SF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Sam Groth (AUS)

Juniors
[QF] Zeel Desai (IND,43) l (16) Elena Rybakina (RUS,30) 46 36

Lee-Martina failed to challenge powerful Aussie pair in their loss ... In the first set, Lee got broken twice and in the second Martina ... Sania-Dodig will face same Aussie pair in the semis.

Overall good performance by Zeel as she became only second Indian girl after legendary Rita Davar, who reached junior Wimbledon girls final in 1952, to reach quarter final stage at junior grand slam ... In this match, Zeel was matching Elena's game but Elena was more experienced and took match with single breaks in both sets.

---

At $75 Maui Challenger, Lahaina, Hawai, USA

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Ernesto Escobedo (USA)/ Mackenzie McDonald (USA)64 67(4) 6-10

Jeevan-Rungkat lost in the first round in super tie-break against big server Americans.

---

At $15K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2016, Cairo, Egypt

[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,1001) bt Akilah JAMES (USA,777) 16 61 76(5)
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,756) bt (7) Helene SCHOLSEN (BEL,508) 46 36
[R1] Natasha PALHA (IND,735) bt (8) Dana KREMER (GER,596) 75 62

[R2] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,1001) l (1) Chantal SKAMLOVA (SVK,392) 06 16
[R2] Natasha PALHA (IND,735) l (Q) Anastasia SUKHOTINA (RUS,UNR) 46 46

Good upset wins by Rishika and Natasha against higher ranked opponents in the first round, but Natasha failed to capitalize on her upset win as she lost against Russian qualifier in the next.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) 64 36, 12-10

Juniors
[R3] Zeel Desai (IND,43) bt (5) Olga Danilovic (SRB,13) 3-5 retd.

[QF] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Kaya Gore (TUR) l Finn Reynolds (NZL)/ Duarte Vale (POR) 26 57

[QF] Zeel Desai (IND,43) vs (16) Elena Rybakina (RUS,30)

Sania and Doddig scored superb comeback victory ... After one set all, they were 3 match points down in super tie-break, 6-9 ... They kept their nerves to win 6 of the next 7 points for winning this match.

Zeel received lucky break as her Serbian opponent, talented Olga Danilovic, retired after leading in the first set ... Zeel's next opponent is Russian girl Elena Rybakina ... In boys doubles, Sid and Kaya lost against Vale and Reynolds in straight sets.

---

At Davis Cup Asia/ Oceania Group 2017 - 1st Round, Pune, India

Indian Team - Saketh Myneni, Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Leander Peas.

New Zealand Team - Finn Tearney (S-414), Jose Statham (S-418), Michael Venus (D-38) and Artem Sitak (D-61)

The final four members teams r chosen and Indians r looking favorite in this tie on the paper.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt (5) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL) 64 57 10-3
[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Saisai Zheng (CHN)/ Alexander Peya (AUT) 26 63 10-6

[QF] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Sam Groth (AUS)
[QF] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND)

Juniors
[R2] Mihika Yadav (IND,76) l (10) Mai Hontama (JPN,19) 26 16

[R2] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Kaya Gore (TUR) bt (6) Zizou Bergs (BEL)/ Yshai Oliel (ISR) 63 76(8)

[QF] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Kaya Gore (TUR) vs Finn Reynolds (NZL)/ Duarte Vale (POR)

Rohan and Sania r in the MXD quarters with their respective partners ... Sania-Dodig required comeback win after losing the first set and Rohan-Dabrowski scored upset win over 5th seed pair ... Next they r facing each other and other hand Lee-Martina r facing another Aussie pair in the quarters.

Mihika failed to challenge top-20 Hontama in her match ... Sid and Kaya in the boys quarter final with upset win over 6th seed pair.

---

At $75 Maui Challenger, Lahaina, Hawai, USA

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Ernesto Escobedo (USA)/ Mackenzie McDonald (USA)

Jeevan is partnering Rungkat and facing big server Americans in the first round.

---

At $25K Kazakhstan F1 Futures, Aktobe

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,561) l (6) Sanjar FAYZIEV (KAZ,367) 46 57
[R1] Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,517) l Alexander LOBKOV (RUS,735) 26 36
[R1] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,403) l (WC) Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ,748) 57 46

All first round losses for our players.

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - Qualifying,

Group A
WR# 124 Kyrgyzstan, WR# 129 India, WR# 159 Myanmar and WR# 184 Macau

We received favorable draw and having a great chance of qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup ... India was seeded into the second pot for the draw, thanks to their latest FIFA ranking 129th..

India will start their campaign by playing Myanmar away on 28th March before hosting Kyrgyzstan on June 13th ... After that back to back matches against Macau on September 5th (away) and October 10th (home) ... Then we host Myanmar on November 14th before finishing their group matches away to Kyrgyzstan on March 27th, 2018.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS) 62 63

Juniors
[R2] Zeel Desai (IND,43) bt Jule Niemeier (GER,113) 64 62

[R1] Violet Apisah (PNG)/ Zeel Desai (IND) l(4) Yang Lee (TPE)/ Rebeka Masarova (SUI) 46 46

[R3] Zeel Desai (IND,43) vs (5) Olga Danilovic (SRB,13)

Martina-Lee r in the quarters with comfortable win over Aussie pairing of Dellacqua and Reid.

Zeel scored dominating win over her German opponent Niemeier ... In the first set, Zeel was 1-3 down but after that Zeel won 11 games from 14 games played for a convincing win ... Next, she is facing talented 16 yrs Serbian girl Olga Danilovic.

---

At $25K Kazakhstan F1 Futures, Aktobe

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,561) vs (6) Sanjar FAYZIEV (KAZ,367)
[R1] Sasi Kumar MUKUND (IND,517) vs Alexander LOBKOV (RUS,735)
[R1] N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,403) vs (WC) Denis YEVSEYEV (KAZ,748)

Bala, VSP and Sasi r playing in Kazakh futures.

Golf News

At $5.8M CareerBuilder Challenge 2017, La Quinta, California, USA (PGA Tour)

T25 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 69 72 64 73 -10 $41,502.22

Anirban finished inside top-25 due to his 8 under third round ... The overall decent start of season 2017 for Anirban on PGA tour.

---

At $1M SMBC Singapore Open 2017, Singapore (Asian Tour)

T11 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 69 68 72 70 -5 $14,721.43
T18 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 68 69 71 72 -4 $11,250.00
T51 Shiv Kapur (IND) 71 71 70 75 +3 $3,787.50

Shubhankar and Gaganjeet finished inside top-20 in Singapore open.

Badminton News

At $120K Victor Far East Malaysia Masters 2017, Sibu

Courtesy of Saina's facebook

Women's Singles Final
(1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,67) 22-20 22-20

Saina has completed tough and emotional journey as in four months from knee surgery to the title ... She defeated junior World championship runner-up Chochuwong in closely fought two games ... In the first game, Chochuwong was leading most of the part but Saina saved a game point before converting her first game point ... In the second game, both players were neck to neck till 12-all ... From here Saina opened the gap and she had 4 championship points at 20-16 ... Chochuwong saved all four of them but Saina converted fifth for lifting this title.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Doubles
[R3] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) l Eri Hozumi (JPN)/ Miyu Kato (JPN) 36 62 26

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt (WC) Destanee Aiava (AUS)/ Marc Polmans (AUS) 64 63

[R2] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Matt Reid (AUS)

Juniors
[R1] Mihika Yadav (IND,76) bt (Q) Ali Collins (GBR,101) 63 64
[R1] Mahak Jain (IND,47) l (11) Marta Kostyuk (UKR,20) 36 36

[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Kaya Gore (TUR) bt Federico Iannaccone (ITA)/ len Schouten (NED) 67(4) 62 11-9
[R1] Nidhi Surapaneni (IND)/ Ekaterina Vishnevskaya (RUS) l (1) Emily Appleton (GBR)/ Jodie Anna Burrage (GBR) 36 36
[R1] Mahak Jain (IND)/ Lexie Stevens (NED) l Denisa Hindova (CZE)/ Johana Markova (CZE) 67(7) 46
[R1] Shuyue Ma (CHN)/ Mihika Yadav (IND) l Federica Bilardo (ITA)/ Tatiana Pieri (ITA) 36 16

[R2] Mihika Yadav (IND,76) vs (10) Mai Hontama (JPN,19)

Disappointing loss of Sania-Barbora against young Japanese pair in three sets ... In this match Barbora's inconsistency proved game changer ... After losing the first set our pair made strong comeback for winning the second set ... But Japanese pair took advantage of Barbora's erratic play for completing victory ... This result will hurt Sania's ranking as she was defending huge point as defending champion.

Martina-Lee started with straight sets win over Aussie pair ... Next they r facing another Aussie pair for place in the quarters.

Mihika scored straight sets win over her Aussie opponent ... In the second set, she was 0-3 down before winning next 5 games for taking the control ... Mahak failed to challenge her Ukrainian opponent her straight sets loss.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Michael Venus (NZL) 64 67(5) 10-7
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Laura Siegemund (GER)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 75 64

[R2] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (5) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Lukasz Kubot (POL)
[R2] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Saisai Zheng (CHN)/ Alexander Peya (AUT)

Juniors
[R1] Mihika Yadav (IND,76) vs (Q) Ali Collins (GBR,101)
[R1] Mahak Jain (IND,47) vs (11) Marta KOSTYUK (UKR,20)
[R1] Zeel Desai (IND,43) bt Kaitlin Staines (AUS,93) 64 36 75
[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND,67) l (WC) Alexander Crnokrak (AUS,258) 62 67(3) 57

[R1] Siddhant Banthia (IND)/ Kaya Gore (TUR) vs Federico Iannaccone (ITA)/ len Schouten (NED)
[R1] Nidhi Surapaneni (IND)/ Ekaterina Vishnevskaya (RUS) vs (1) Emily Appleton (GBR)/ Jodie Anna Burrage (GBR)
[R1] Mahak Jain (IND)/ Lexie Stevens (NED) vs Denisa Hindova (CZE)/ Johana Markova (CZE)
[R1] Shuyue Ma (CHN)/ Mihika Yadav (IND) vs Federica Bilardo (ITA)/ Tatiana Pieri (ITA)
[R1] Violet Apisah (PNG)/ Zeel Desai (IND) vs (4) Yang Lee (TPE)/ Rebeka Masarova (SUI)

[R2] Zeel Desai (IND,43) vs Jule Niemeier (GER,113)

Very contrasting wins for Sania and Rohan with their respective partners in the MXD first round ... In super tie-break Rohan-Gabriela were down but they won 8 points out of last 11 points played for winning this match.

Zeel scored really good win against local player, who was supported by local supporters but Zeel kept her composure for winning the match ... Other hand Siddhant failed to rise under pressure of local supporters to Aussie player ... He was set up and 5-2 up in the second ... He had 3 match points 40-0 on his own serve but he failed to convert those ... He lost the second set in tie-break but again he was up 5-2 in the final set ... Again he lost last 5 games for losing his match.

Badminton News

At $120K Victor Far East Malaysia Masters 2017, Sibu

[R1] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt (Q) Chasinee Korepap (THA,229) 21-9 21-8
[R2] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt Hanna Ramadini (INA,46) 21-17 21-12
[QF] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt (8) Fitriani Fitriani (INA,40) 21-15 21-14
[SF] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt (5) Pui Yin Yip (HKG,30) 21-13,21-10

[F] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,67)

Saina has started new season confidently ... In Malaysian Grand Prix Gold tournament, Saina is in the final scoring comfortable wins ... In the final she si facing current World junior championship runner-up Thai girl Pornpawee Chochuwong.

In men's singles, Ajay Jayaram lost in the quarter-final.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[R2] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Zhang Shuai (CHN) 61 64
[R2] (15) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) l (WC) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Bradley Mousley (AUS) 62 67(2) 46

[R3] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Eri Hozumi (JPN)/ Miyu Kato (JPN)

Sania-Barbora continued with their good form scoring straight sets victory over Stosur-Shuai ... Next they r facing unseeded Japanese pair for place in the quarters.

Disappointing loss of Rohan and Cuevas against local wild-card pair ... After winning the first set they failed to keep momentum..

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) l (10) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 64 67(3) 46
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) l Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA) 67(9) 67(4)

Today our both pairs lost in the first round ... Lee-Sa started well after winning the first set but failed to keep momentum in next two sets ... Purav-Divij lost in two tie-breaks ... In the first set they had set points in tie-break which they failed to convert.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Jocelyn Rae (GBR)/ Anna Smith (GBR) 63 61

[R1] (15) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) 64 76(4)

[R2] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Samantha Stosur (AUS)/ Zhang Shuai (CHN)
[R2] (15) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs (WC) Alex Bolt (AUS)/ Bradley Mousley (AUS)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Martina Hingis (SUI)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (WC) Destanee Aiava (AUS)/ Marc Polmans (AUS)
[R1] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Michael Venus (NZL)
[R1] (2) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Laura Siegemund (GER)/ Mate Pavic (CRO)

Expected comfortable winning start for Sania-Barbora against British pair ... In the second round, they r facing Stosur-Shuai pairing.

Rohan and Cuevas successfully started their campaign with straight sets win over the South American pair in the first round ... Next they r facing local wild-card pair.

MXD draw is out and our all pairs r in bottom draw ... They can face each other from quarter finals.

---

Also please read superbly written the open letter by Somdev Devvarman about AITA publishing false information and handling Sumit Nagal's case unethically.

Somdev’s Devvarman open letter to AITA: ‘What were you really trying to accomplish there?’

Squash News

At $150K Women's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions 2017, New York, USA

[R2] (13) Joshna Chinappa (IND,13) l (5) Camille Serme (FRA,4) 8-11, 7-11, 3-11 (36m)
[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,26) l (2) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3) 17-15, 8-11, 6-11, 8-11 (44m)

Dipika gave fighting performance against former WR #1 Raneem El Welily ... Dipika won the long first game in extra points but failed to keep momentum as she lost closely fought next three games.

Joshna failed to challenge French girl Camille Serme in straight games loss.

Squash News

At $150K Women's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions 2017, New York, USA

[R1] (13) Joshna Chinappa (IND,13) bt (Q) Fiona Moverley (ENG,32) 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 15-13 (57m)
[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,26) bt (14) Emily Whitlock (ENG,14) 13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-3 (39m)

[R2] (13) Joshna Chinappa (IND,13) vs (5) Camille Serme (FRA,4)
[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,26) vs (2) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3)

Joshna survived big scare from British qualifier in five games ... Joshna won the final game on extra points after saving match balls ... Next, she is facing top-4 French girl Serme.

Dipika started with upset win over WR#14 young Britisher Emily Whitlock in four games ... Good start of the year for Dipika ... Next she will face WR #3 Raneem El Welily.

---

At $150K Men's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions 2017, New York, USA

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,23) l (Q) Nicolas Müller (SUI,32) 6-11, 8-11, 11-13 (47m)

A disappointing start of the new season for Saurav as he lost in straight games against Swiss qualifier.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[R1] (4) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Jocelyn Rae (GBR)/ Anna Smith (GBR)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs (10) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/ Fabrice Martin (FRA)
[R1] (15) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)

The doubles draw is out ... Sania is the 4th seed with Strycova and they r facing British pair in the first round.

Lee-Sa r once again facing Huey-Mirnyi in the first round ... Purav and Divij r facing old partner Fabrice Martin with his French partner Eysseric ... Rohan and Cuevas r 15th seed and facing South American pair in the first round.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[Q3] Yuki Bhambri (IND,374) l (21) Ernesto Escobedo (USA,133) 76(2) 26 46

Yuki failed to qualify for the main draw of Australian open after losing to Ernesto in three sets after winning the first set ... In the first set, Yuki was early broken down 1-4 but he broke Ernesto in the 7th game, 3-4 ... Yuki dominated the tie-break for winning the first set ... From the second set, Yuki struggled with his ground strokes and started making too many unforced errors ... In the second set, Ernesto broke Yuki in the 1st game, 0-2, but Yuki broke back in 4th game for 2-all ... After that, Ernesto won next four games breaking Yuki twice ... He broke Yuki in 5th and 7th games for winning the second set ... In the final set, Ernesto took a most crucial break in 3rd game for leading 1-3 ... Yuki had chances in 8th game on Ernesto's serve but he failed to capitalize on it ... So in end, Ernesto hold his service games for winning this match.

Tennis News

At $776K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) l Timea Babos (HUN)/ Anastasia Pevlyuchenkova (RUS) 46 46

Sania failed to lift her second title of 2017 season in the second week ... She with her partner Barbora Strycova lost their match in straight sets against Babos and Pevlyuchenkova.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[Q2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,381) bt Pedja Krstin (SRB,216) 63 64

[Q3] Yuki Bhambri (IND,381) vs (21) Ernesto Escobedo (USA,133)

Yuki is in the final qualifying round with another impressive win over Serbian Pedja Krstin ... In this match Yuki's placement of serve was on the spot ... In the first set he broke Pedja in 6th game for leading 4-2 and then kept that break advantage for winning the set ... In the second set Yuki took crucial break in 5th game for 3-2 lead and again he kept one break advantage for winning this match ... Next he is facing in-form American ex-collegite Ernesto Escobedo for place in the main draw.

---

At $776K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt (4) Vania King (USA)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 61 62

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Timea Babos (HUN)/ Anastasia Pevlyuchenkova (RUS)

Sania-Strycova r in the final with dominating win over 4th seed King-Shvedova ... In the final, they r facing unseeded pairing of Timea Babos and Anastasia Pevlyuchenkova.

---

At $508 Auckland Classic 2017, New Zealand

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) l (WC) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 36 67(4)

Lee-Sa lost their match after giving fighting performance against Daniell-Demoliner ... After losing the first set they were break down at 5-6 but they broek Demoliner in 12th game for taking match into tie-break ... But Daniell-Demoliner tooke crucial mini-break on 9th point for winning the match in straight sets.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2017, Melbourne

[Q1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,381) bt (7) Stefan Kozlov (USA,117) 61 64
[Q1] Saketh Myneni (IND,199) l Peter Gojowczyk (GER,157) 06 26

[Q2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,381) vs Pedja Krstin (SRB,216)

Excellent start for Yuki as he scored dominating win against America's one of brightest youngster in straight sets ... In the first set Kozlov failed to hold his serve but broke Yuki once ... In the second set also Yuki was crusing for one-sided score, 4-1, but suddenly he started to make few unforced errors ... Kozlov took this opportunity for making it 4-all ... Yuki broke Kozlov in 9th game and then hold for easy win ... Next he is facing Serbian Pedja Krstin.

Saki was injured in this match as he took medical time out in between ... I am worried about Saki's injury as it is hampering his progress in the beginning of year.

---

At $776K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt (WC) Medison Brengle (USA)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS) 63 64

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs (4) Vania King (USA)/ Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Sania-Strycova r in the semis with straight sets win over wild-card pair ... Next, they r facing 4th seed King-Shvedova.

---

At $495K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) l Florian Mayer (GER)/ Philipp Petzschner (GER) 67(5) 76(4) 9-11

Rohan lost agonisingly close match against German pair in Sydney with his new partner Pablo Cuevas.

---

At $508 Auckland Classic 2017, New Zealand

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) bt (1) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR) 76(3) 63

[QF] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs (WC) Marcus Daniell (NZL)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)

Lee-Sa started with upset win over top-seed Huey-Mirnyi in straight sets ... Next they r facing Daniell-Demoliner.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-2 Challenger, Thailand

[R2] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) l Jurgen Zopp (EST,339) 26 26

Bala failed to challenge former top-100 player Zopp in his loss.

---

At $50K Canberra Challenger, Australia

[QF] Corentin Moutet (FRA)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) l (3) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 26 75 5-10

VSP and his French partner lost their match in the match tie-break against 3rd seed German pair.

Tennis News

At $776K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) bt Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) 57 61 10-5

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs (WC) Medison Brengle (USA)/ Arina Rodionova (AUS)

Sania and Barbora Strycova started slowly in their opening match but after losing the first set they dominated proceedings ... Next, they r facing Brengle and Rodionova.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-2 Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) bt (8) Vaclav Safranek (CZE,261) 64 60

[R2] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) vs Jurgen Zopp (EST,339)

Bala scored a superb one-sided win against seeded Czech player losing only 4 games ... Though Safranek is clay court specialist still this is an impressive win ... Next, he is facing Estonian Jurgen Zopp.

---

At $50K Canberra Challenger, Australia

[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,564) l Sam Groth (AUS,180) 76(1) 67(8) 36

Big missed the opportunity for VSP to score an upset win over Sam Groth ... After winning the first set in tie-break VSP had his chances in the second set tie-break ... He failed to capitalize on that and Groth took advantage of it for winning this match.

Tennis News

At $50K+H Bangkok-2 Challenger, Thailand

[Q3] (7) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) bt Fajing Sun (CHN,622) 46 63 64

[R1] (Q) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) vs (8) Vaclav Safranek (CZE,261)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) l Egor Gerasimov (BLR)/ Aslan Karatsev (RUS) 46 76(0) 3-10

Bala scored a comeback win over his Chinese opponent for qualifying to the main draw ... Next, he is facing top-275 ranked Czech player Safranek.

In the doubles Bala with Zhe LI lost in the match tie-break against Eastern European pair.

---

At $50K Canberra Challenger, Australia

[R1] Corentin Moutet (FRA)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Thomas Fancutt (AUS)/ James Frawley (AUS) 63 75

VSP started with a win in the doubles with his french partner Corentin Moutet ... They scored straight sets win over the local pair.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

Doubles Final
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) 63 64

Rohan lifted the title with Jeevan beating Purav and Divij is straight sets ... Frankly I was expecting win for Divij-Purav but Rohan lifted his game in company of Jeevan for winning this title ... This is the first ATP tour title for Jeevan and he matched Rohan with his superb ground game ... Big breakthrough moment for him.

---

At $50K+H Bangkok-2 Challenger, Thailand

[Q1] (7) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) bt (WC) Worarin Kumthonkittikul (THA,UNR) 61 63
[Q1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,516) l Kittipong Wachiramanowong (THA,1178) 64 36 36
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,618) bt (WC) Chanon Phunsawat (THA,NR) 63 61

[Q2] (7) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) bt Pruchya Isarow (THA,1320) 75 57 76(5)
[Q2] RAWAT, Sidharth (IND,618) l (4) Seong-chan Hong (KOR,373) 46 06

[Q3] (7) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,417) vs Fajing Sun (CHN,622)

Doubles
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Zhe Li (CHN) vs Egor Gerasimov (BLR)/ Aslan Karatsev (RUS)

Only Bala has reached in the final qualifying with really hard fought win.

---

At $50K Canberra Challenger, Australia

[R1] N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND,564) vs Sam Groth (AUS,180)

Doubles
[R1] Corentin Moutet (FRA)/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) vs Thomas Fancutt (AUS)/ James Frawley (AUS)

VSP is playing in Australian challenger and having tough match against local experienced player Sam Groth.

Tennis News

At $1M Brisbane WTA Internationals 2017, Australia

Courtesy of Sania's FB page

Doubles Final
(1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt (2) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS) 62 63

Sania started 2017 season with the title win with Bethanie Mattek-Sands ... They defeated 2nd seed Russians comfortably in the final of Brisbane WTA Internationals.

---

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt (4) Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL) 76(4) 64

[F] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND)

This must be first time all Indian finalists in ATP tour tournament ... Rohan-Jeev joined Purav-Divij in the final with straight sets win over 4th seed pair ... After winning the first set tie-break our pair took crucial break in 10th game of the second for winning the match.

---

At $776K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Barbora Strycova (CZE) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)

This week Sania is back with her Czech partner Barbora Strycova in preparation for Australian open.

---

At $495K Apia International Sydney 2017, Australia

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Pablo Cuevas (URU) vs Florian Mayer (GER)/ Philipp Petzschner (GER)

Rohan is also playing with his new partner Cuevas in Sydney.

---

At $508 Auckland Classic 2017, New Zealand

[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs (1) Treat Huey (PHI)/ Max Mirnyi (BLR)

Next week Lee and Andre Sa r playing at Auckland tournament and facing tough match against top-seed Huey and Mirnyi.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt (2) Guillermo Duran (ARG)/ Andres Molteni (ARG) 64 62

Divij-Purav r in the final of Chennai open with comfortable straight sets win over 2nd seed Argentine pair.

---

At $1M Brisbane WTA Internationals 2017, Australia

[SF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Laura Siegemund (GER) 64 63

[F] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) vs (2) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/ Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Sania-Bethanie r in the final with straight sets win over Hsieh-Siegemund in the semis ... Ironically Sania is losing #1 ranking after 91 weeks to her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands despite winning this match in new updated ranking on Monday ... In the final, they r facing 2nd seed Russian pair.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,474) l (5) Benoit Paire (FRA,47) 36 46

Doubles
[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 62 36 12-10
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt (PR) Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/ Renzo Olivo (ARG) 64 75

[SF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs (4) Nicholas Monroe (USA)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)
[SF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs (2) Guillermo Duran (ARG)/ Andres Molteni (ARG)

Yuki lost in straight sets after giving decent fight to top-50 Frenchman Benoit Paire ... In the first set Paire broke Yuki in 2nd game for leading 3-0 ... He kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set also Paire broke Yuki early and again kept that advantage for winning the match ... In this match Yuki had 7 break point opportunities but he failed to convert.

In the doubles our both pairs r in the semis with contrasting style victories ... With this win they r in the sems and facing seeded pairs for place in the final.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO) 64 64
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Steve Darcis (BEL)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) 46 60 8-10
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) bt (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) 64 64

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs James Cerretani (USA)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT)
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND) vs (PR) Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/ Renzo Olivo (ARG)

Rohan with Jeev started with comfortable straight sets win ... Next they r facing pairing of James Cerretani and Philipp Oswald.

Saki and RamK lost in the doubles first round also ... After losing the first set they dominated the second but failed to win crucial points in match tie-break for losing this match.

Really happy to see Divij and Purav pulled off upset win over 3rd seed Lee and Sa ... In the both set Divij and Purav were in control for comfortable win over their multiple grand slam winner opponents ... Next they r facing Melzer and Olivo.

---

At $1M Brisbane WTA Internationals 2017, Australia

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 64 46 10-5

Begu and Kasatkina stretched favorite Sania-Bethanie to the match tie-break but our pair won the match tie-break comfortably for entering into the semis.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477) bt (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,227) 61 61
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,192) l (7) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS,57) 46 36

[R2] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477) vs (5) Benoit Paire (FRA,47)

Yuki played flawless tennis for very dominating win over RamK inside an hour ... Yuki didn't gave any chance to RamK for settling in this match ... He exploited RamK's backhand weakness and was solid on the net ... Feeling bad for RamK but really heartening performance by Yuki ... Next he is facing top-50 Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Saki lost in straight sets against Youzhny after giving decent fight ... In the first set Saki had a break point in 5th game which eh failed to convert ... In 10th game while serving for staying in the set Saki was 40-15 up but suddenly he became tight and Youzhny took advantage of it converting 3rd set point ... In the second set Youzhny broke Saki in 2nd game to lead 0-3 ... After that both players hold respective service games for Yuzhney's win ... Saki was looking rusty as he made few unforced errors and his forehand wasn't looking potent as usually it does.

---

At $1M Brisbane WTA Internationals 2017, Australia

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Alize Cornet (FRA)/ Elise Mertens (BEL) 61 61

[QF] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)/ Daria Kasatkina (RUS)

Dominating start for Sania and Mattek-Sands as they lost only 2 games in their first round win ... Next they r facing pairing of Begu and Kasatkina.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE) 26 46

Bala and Vishnu failed to challenge their experienced Swedish opponents.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Hong Kong, China

[R1] (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,568) l Fang Ying Xun (CHN,335) 46 76(3) 36

Karman lost against her Chinese opponent in three sets ... After losing the first set she tried fightback after winning the second in tie-break but in end Xun proved better player on the court.

Tennis News

India's one of the finest tennis player Somdev Devvarman unceremoniously declared retirement on 1st January 2017 through his twitter account ... Thank youcBuji, for giving us so many highs through your performances, Gold in Commonwealth and Asian games, some memorable wins in Davis cup and becoming a first top-100 singles player after Leander Paes ... Wishing you all success in your future endeavors.

Somdev Devvarman

Starting 2017 on a new note, retiring from pro tennis. Thanks to everyone for the love and support over the years.

---

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[Q2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477) bt (2) Nicolas Kicker (ARG,110) 63 61
[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,320) l (3) Jozef Kovalik (SVK,117) 67(2) 26

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,227) vs (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477)

Yuki toyed #110 ranked Argentine Nicolas Kicker for dominating win ... In the first set Yuki took crucial break in 8th game and then hold his serve for winning it ... In the second set Yuki broke Kicker in 1st game and then from 2-1 he won next four games for winning the match ... In that he broke Kicker in 5th and 7th games ... With this Yuki qualify for Chennai open main-draw and facing RamK, so all Indian first round match.

Prajnesh lost in straight sets against Kovalik, he had chances but failed to convert ... I think case of missed opportunities ... In the first set, Prajnesh was early break up, 3-1, but Kovalik broke back for 3-all ... After that Prajnesh missed lot of break points and in tie-break he failed to challenge Kovalik ... In the second set, Kovalik broke Prajnesh in 3rd and 5th games for winning it comfortably.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Hong Kong, China

[Q2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,568) bt (2) Ayano Shimizu (JPN,360) 64 63

[R1] (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,568) vs Fang Ying Xun (CHN,335)

Karman scored another impressive win over 350 type Japanese opponent in straight sets and qualified for $25K Hong Kong tournament ... In both sets Karman was early break doen before fighting back ... In the first set she was 0-3 and in the second she was 0-2 trailing before winning these sets ... Karman is facing one of the lowest ranked Chinese participant Fang Ying Xun in the first round.

Tennis News

At $447K Chennai open 2017, India

[Q1] (WC) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,513) l (2) Nicolas Kicker (ARG,110) 76(5) 36 57
[Q1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477) bt (8) Marco Cecchinato (ITA,183) 75 61
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,320) bt (6) Hiroki Moriya (JPN,173) 62 63

[Q2] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,477) vs (2) Nicolas Kicker (ARG,110)
[Q2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,320) vs (3) Jozef Kovalik (SVK,117)

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,227) vs Qualifier
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,192) vs (7) Mikhail Youzhny (RUS,57)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Marcelo Demoliner (BRA)/ Nikola Mektic (CRO)
[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Steve Darcis (BEL)/ Benoit Paire (FRA)
[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Andre Sa (BRA) vs Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Purav (IND)
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/ Andreas Siljestrom (SWE)

A favorable draw for RamK as he is facing a qualifier in the first round ... Saki is having a tough match against veteran and very experienced Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Brilliant upset wins by Yuki and Prajnesh in the qualifying against respective top-200 opponents ... In the first Yuki had trouble in holding his serve ... Yuki was 3-5 down before winning next four games ... Cecchinato had 4 set points on Yuki's serve in the 10th game, which he failed to convert ... Yuki immediately again broke him in the 11th game and then hold his serve for winning this set ... In the second set, Yuki dominated from the start as from 1-all he won next 5 games breaking Cecchinato in 3rd, 5th, and 7th games ... Next, he is facing Argentine Nicolas Kicker.

Prajnesh dominated his match from the start as he took 5-0 lead before Moriya hold ... Moriya broke him in next game but Prajnesh immediately broke back for winning this set ... In the second set, Prajnesh broke Moriya in 6th game for leading 4-2 and then hold his service games for terrific victory ... Next, he is facing Jozef Kovalik.

Sasi lost a very close match against #110 ranked Argentine Kicker ... Sasi started well winning the first set in the tie-break ... In the second set, Kicker took an early break for winning it ... In the third, till 10th game both players were on the serve but again Kicker took a crucial break in the 11th game for winning the match.

Doubles draw is out and our top pairing of Divij-Purav having tricky match against experienced Lee and Sa ... Saki and RamK r facing pairing of Darcis and Paire ... Rohan and Jeev r facing Mektic and Demoliner ... Bala and Vishnu r facing Swedish pair.

---

At $1M Brisbane WTA Internationals 2017, Australia

[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) vs Alize Cornet (FRA)/ Elise Mertens (BEL)

This week Sania is reunited with Bethanie in Brisbane Internationals.

---

At $25K ITF Women's Tennis Tournament 2017, Hong Kong, China

[Q1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,568) bt (14) Mizuno Kijima (JPN,518) 62 76(4)

[Q2] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) vs (2) Ayano Shimizu (JPN,360)

Good straight sets win for Karman against higher ranked Japanese opponent ... Karman is next going to play with in-form Shimizu.