Golf News

At Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, Tokyo

1 Jeev Milkha Singh 64 70 68 66  -12  ￥30,000,000

Jeev Milkha Singh showed courage to put behind personal tragedy to win the most emotional victory of his career when he lifted the second time this season-ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in Tokyo on Sunday.

On last day Jeev started one shot behind previous round leader Prayad Marksaeng, Jeev kicked off with a blemish-free front nine which was studded with a treble of birdies at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club ... On back 9, bogey on the 13th hole was only blemish for Jeev, but he followed it with a birdie to produced superb round of 66 that was enough to take home his second JT Cup title and pocket thirty million yen by 2 strokes.

So far, Jeev has won four titles on three different tours to break into the top 50 and his other titles include Bank Austria Open (on European Tour) and the Barclays Singapore Open (on Asian Tour).

Jeev Milkha Singh - "I dedicate this win to my wife, for being strong enough to tell me to go and play on the Thursday morning. A lot happened in my family over the last few days and we have gone through quite a bit. Besides my wife, I want to dedicate this win to the family members from both my and my wife's sides. I also want to thank the Indian ambassador and his wife, who have been a close friend and stood by us emotionally as well, helping us get through the difficult time."

On the personal tragedy, Jeev said, "It was God's will and I hope there is something better in future for us. I would like to thank my friends and fans who cared for us and all people who supported us in this difficult time. I also thank the media for respecting and understanding the situation. God has been very kind with this victory and I hope, no I believe, in future there would be something good for us."

Badminton News
At $15K Bahrain International Challenge 2008,

Indians managed to win 4 titles of 5 available ... Only exception was Womens doubles title.

R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt of India won his maiden men’s singles title on the international circuit defeating Andy Sabutro of Indonesia 21-13, 22-20 in the final of the Bahrain International Challenge badminton championship in Bahrain.

Trupti Murgunde also made winning comeback, this was her first tournament after more than 6 months injury lay-off.

Mens Singles -
[R1] SINGH Abhimanyu (IND,277) bye
[R1] M . Vyasan (IND,UNR) bye
[R1] SABOO Sidharth (IND,UNR) bt MATAR Faeez (SYR,456) 21-15 20-22 21-12
[R1] CASTELINO Rohan (IND,293) bye
[R1] P. K . Jamsheed (IND,UNR) bt PILLAI Unnikrishna (BRN,UNR) 21-16 19-21 21-0
[R1] VERMA Saurabh (IND,340) bye
[R1] BORA Angshuman (IND,UNR) bye
[R1] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND,UNR) bye
[R1] CHETIA Anirban (IND,UNR) l ABDUL WAHID Nawras (SYR,UNR) 21-19 9-21 12-21
[R1] (4) JADHAV Ankush (IND,175) bye
[R1] SARMA Nikhilesh (IND,UNR) bye
[R1] BHOBORA Suranjan (IND,UNR) bye
[R1] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bye

[R2] SINGH Abhimanyu (IND,277) l SAPUTRO Nugroho Andi (INA,212) 19-21 16-21
[R2] M . Vyasan (IND,UNR) bt (6) SMOLA Clemens (AUT,151) 21-15 21-13
[R2] SABOO Sidharth (IND,UNR) bt AL- SAYED HAMED Ebrahim Jafar (BRN,UNR) W/O
[R2] CASTELINO Rohan (IND,293) bt (3) SHAHHOSSEINI Ali (IRI,104) 21-19 21-17
[R2] P. K . Jamsheed (IND,UNR) l AWAD Ammar (SYR,453) 18-21 20-22
[R2] VERMA Saurabh (IND,340) l (8) PAMUNGKAS Bandar Sigit (INA,188) 18-21 13-21
[R2] BORA Angshuman (IND,UNR) bt NICOLAIDES Chris (BRN,UNR) 16-21 21-15 21-11
[R2] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND,UNR) l MATEJKA Michal (SVK,252) 21-17 12-21 19-21
[R2] (4) JADHAV Ankush (IND,175) l KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI,230) 13-21 13-21
[R2] SARMA Nikhilesh (IND,UNR) l SETIAWAN Engga (INA,375) 10-21 7-21
[R2] BHOBORA Suranjan (IND,UNR) l (5) KESSOV Boris (BUL,178) 17-21 12-21
[R2] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bt AHMAD Assaf (SYR,453) W/O

[R3] SABOO Sidharth (IND,UNR) bt M . Vyasan (IND,UNR) 21-17 21-2
[R3] CASTELINO Rohan (IND,293) bt AWAD Ammar (SYR,453) 21-11 21-12
[R3] BORA Angshuman (IND,UNR) l (8) PAMUNGKAS Bandar Sigit (INA,188) 6-21 11-21
[R3] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bt (2) MEHRABI Kaveh (IRI,100) 21-17 15-21 21-19

[QF] SABOO Sidharth (IND,UNR) l SAPUTRO Nugroho Andi (INA,212) 14-21 11-21
[QF] CASTELINO Rohan (IND,293) l (8) PAMUNGKAS Bandar Sigit (INA,188) 19-21 21-14 16-21
[QF] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bt SETIAWAN Engga (INA,375) 21-16 21-17

[SF] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bt KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI,230)

[F] RAJAH MANURI VENKATA Gurusaidutt (IND,373) bt SAPUTRO Nugroho Andi (INA,212) 21-13 22-20

Womens Singles -
[R1] SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND,UNR) bt (1) REID Charmaine (CAN,49) 21-19 21-13
[R1] VARTAK Gayatri (IND,178) bt AMIRIPOUR Negin (IRI,203) 21-10 21-11
[R1] DAS Kristi (IND,378) bt (3) SANTOS Telma (POR,79) W/O
[R1] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND,UNR) bt KAREEM Hadil (SYR,UNR) 21-11 21-16
[R1] DEKA Abantika (IND,281) bt ZAMANIAN NEJAT ZADEH Sahar (IRI,242) 21-10 21-15
[R1] BALAN Aparna (IND,UNR) l (4) GRETHER Nicole (GER,70) 14-21 16-21
[R1] MURGUNDE Trupti (IND,117) bt KABIRI Sabereh (IRI,281) 21-11 21-9
[R1] MISHA Ruth (IND,225) bt (2) LAMY Filipa (POR,67) W/O

[QF] VARTAK Gayatri (IND,178) bt SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND,UNR) 21-16 21-15
[QF] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND,UNR) bt DAS Kristi (IND,378) 21-9 21-10
[QF] DEKA Abantika (IND,281) l (4) GRETHER Nicole (GER,70) 15-21 15-21
[QF] MURGUNDE Trupti (IND,117) bt MISHA Ruth (IND,225) 21-13 14-21 21-12

[SF] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND,UNR) bt VARTAK Gayatri (IND,178)
[SF] MURGUNDE Trupti (IND,117) bt (4) GRETHER Nicole (GER,70)

[F] MURGUNDE Trupti (IND,117) bt PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND,UNR) 21-16 21-13

Mens Doubles -
[R1] BORA Angshuman (IND)/ SARMA Nikhilesh (IND) bye
[R1] P.K. Jamsheed (IND)/ M. Vyasan (IND) bye
[R1] VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ VIJAY Ram.C. (IND) bye
[R1] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ KONA Tarun (IND) bye
[R1] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ BHOBORA Suranjan (IND) bt SMOLA Clemens (AUT)/ OMAR Nahas (BRN) 21-9 21-5
[R1] DEWALKAR Akshay (IND)/ SANYAL Jishnu (IND) bye
[R1] JAMES Jayan (IND)/ SEBASTIAN Konnullil (IND) bye
[R1] CHETIA Anirban (IND)/ SABOO Sidharth (IND) bye

[R2] BORA Angshuman (IND)/ SARMA Nikhilesh (IND) l (1) SHAHHOSSEINI Ali (IRI)/ KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI) 14-21 16-21
[R2] P.K. Jamsheed (IND)/ M. Vyasan (IND) bt AL- SAYED HAMED Ebrahim Jafar (BRN)/ AL- SAYED JAFAR Ebrahim Jafar (BRN) 23-21 16-21 21-17
[R2] VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ VIJAY Ram.C. (IND) bt KALLOOKKARAN Anto (BRN)/ REBELLO Ricson (BRN) 21-6 21-8
[R2] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ KONA Tarun (IND) bt AL-DORA Bassel (SYR)/ ABDULWAHID Nawras (SYR) 12-21 13-21
[R2] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ BHOBORA Suranjan (IND) bt NICOLAIDES Chris (BRN)/ MOTTIL Junith (BRN) 21-12 21-17
[R2] DEWALKAR Akshay (IND)/ SANYAL Jishnu (IND) bt AHMAD Assaf (SYR)/ SAIMIR Fadi (SYR) W/O
[R2] JAMES Jayan (IND)/ SEBASTIAN Konnullil (IND) bt PULLANI Jayakumar (BRN)/ PILLAI Unnikrishna (BRN) 21-14 21-13
[R2] CHETIA Anirban (IND)/ SABOO Sidharth (IND) l (2) AWAD Ammar (SYR)/ MATAR Faeez (SYR) 21-17 17-21 22-24

[QF] P.K. Jamsheed (IND)/ M. Vyasan (IND) l (1) SHAHHOSSEINI Ali (IRI)/ KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI) 9-21 5-21
[QF] VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ VIJAY Ram.C. (IND) bt VISHNU Arun (IND)/ KONA Tarun (IND) 21-9 21-13
[QF] DEWALKAR Akshay (IND)/ SANYAL Jishnu (IND) bt BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ BHOBORA Suranjan (IND) 21-12 21-14
[QF] JAMES Jayan (IND)/ SEBASTIAN Konnullil (IND) bt (2) AWAD Ammar (SYR)/ MATAR Faeez (SYR) 21-10 21-13

[SF] VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ VIJAY Ram.C. (IND) l (1) SHAHHOSSEINI Ali (IRI)/ KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI)
[SF] DEWALKAR Akshay (IND)/ SANYAL Jishnu (IND) bt JAMES Jayan (IND)/ SEBASTIAN Konnullil (IND)

[F] DEWALKAR Akshay (IND)/ SANYAL Jishnu (IND) bt (1) SHAHHOSSEINI Ali (IRI)/ KHERADMANDI Mohammed Reza (IRI) 14-21 21-18 21-11

Womens Doubles -
[R1] DEKA Abantika (IND)/ MISHA Ruth (IND) bye
[R1] BALAN Aparna (IND)/ SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND) bt SUNDER Rehana (BRN)/ SHETTY Shalini (BRN) 21-11 21-10
[R1] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND)/ SOSALE Nitya (IND) bt KAREEM Hadil (SYR)/ KABIRI Sabereh (IRI) 17-21 21-9 21-17

[QF] BALAN Aparna (IND)/ SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND) bt DEKA Abantika (IND)/ MISHA Ruth (IND) 21-11 19-21 21-16
[QF] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND)/ SOSALE Nitya (IND) bt JOSE Alphonsa (BRN)/ NAIR Jayashree (BRN) 21-9 21-5

[SF] BALAN Aparna (IND)/ SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND) bt AMIRIPOUR Negin (IRI)/ ZAMANIAN NEJAT ZADEH Sahar (IRI)
[SF] PONNAPPA Ashwini (IND)/ SOSALE Nitya (IND) l (2) REID Charmaine (CAN)/ GRETHER Nicole (GER)

[F] BALAN Aparna (IND)/ SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND) l (2) REID Charmaine (CAN)/ GRETHER Nicole (GER) 16-21 13-21

MXD -
[R1] (1) VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ MURGUNDE Trupti (IND) Bye
[R1] VIJAY Ram.C. (IND)/ SAHASRABUDDHE Sampada (IND) l AL-DORA Bassel (SYR)/ KAREEM Hadil (SYR) 19-21 21-15 16-21
[R1] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ DEKA Abantika (IND) bt MOTTIL Junith (BRN)/ MISHA Ruth (IND) 21-12 21-15
[R1] CHETIA Anirban (IND)/ DAS Kristi (IND) bt AWAD Ammar (SYR)/ NAIR Jayashree (BRN) 21-15 21-13
[R1] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ BALAN Aparna (IND) bt AL- SAYED JAFAR Ebrahim Jafar (BRN)/ GRETHER Nicole (GER) 21-15 18-21 21-15

[QF] (1) VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ MURGUNDE Trupti (IND) bt AL-DORA Bassel (SYR)/ KAREEM Hadil (SYR) 21-17 21-13
[QF] BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ DEKA Abantika (IND) bt REBELLO Ricson (BRN)/ SUNDER Rehana (BRN) 21-9 21-11
[QF] CHETIA Anirban (IND)/ DAS Kristi (IND) bt ABDUL WAHID Nawras (SYR)/ JOSE Alphonsa (BRN) 21-11 21-19
[QF] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ BALAN Aparna (IND) bt KHAN Rashed (BRN)/ REID Charmaine (CAN) 21-13 21-3

[SF] (1) VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ MURGUNDE Trupti (IND) bt BORAH Dibyajyoti (IND)/ DEKA Abantika (IND)
[SF] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ BALAN Aparna (IND) bt CHETIA Anirban (IND)/ DAS Kristi (IND)

[F] VISHNU Arun (IND)/ BALAN Aparna (IND) bt (1) VALIYAVEETIL Diju (IND)/ MURGUNDE Trupti (IND) 17-21 21-18 21-19

Golf News

Very sad, my condolences with Jeev and his family -
Any other player would have packed the bag and headed home but Jeev Milkha Singh, urged by his wife, shone through the grief of losing his child and turned in an even-par round on Friday.

With his wife recuperating in a local hospital after delivering a stillborn baby, playing in the Nippon Series was the last thing on Jeev's mind but he decided to tee off at the urge of his better half.

After end of second round at Golf Nippon Series JT Cup 2008, Jeev is leading the pack ... Today only 6 players from 26 players managed under par round, Jeev scored PAR round and taking lead by 1 stroke over 2 local players.

Jeev started from front 9, scored birdie, bogey, birdie on first 3 holes ... Then scored another birdie on 6th hole with bogey on 7th ... He completed front 9 scoring birdie and was 2 under for the day after completing 9 holes ... But on back 9 he scored a double bogey on 11th hole to back on even for the day ... Then he scored birdie on 16th hole but bogey on par-5 17th hole brought him back on even for the day.

Badminton News
At $50K Vietnam Open Grand Prix 2008,

[R2] (7) Ajay Jayaram (IND,81) bt Saravuth Prum (CAM,384) 21-10 21-3
[R2] (4) Kashyap P (IND,48) bt Ngo Manh Nguyen (VIE,UNR) 21-9 21-15
[R2] (2) Aditi Mutatkar (IND,36) bt Melicia Kurniawan (INA,150) 21-14 21-14

[R3] (7) Ajay Jayaram (IND,81) bt Zi Liang Derek Wong (SIN,157) 25-23 21-13
[R3] (4) Kashyap P (IND,48) bt Kazushi Yamada (JPN,147) 21-13 21-17

[QF] (4) Kashyap P (IND,48) l (6) Ari Yuli Wahyu Hartanto (INA,50) 13-21 18-21
[QF] (7) Ajay Jayaram (IND,81) l (1) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,17) 17-21 10-21

[QF] (2) Aditi Mutatkar (IND,36) l (7) Mingtian Fu (SIN,66) 20-22 21-17 14-21

[QF] (5) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (1) Wan Wah Lee (MAS)/ Tan Fook Choong (MAS) 21-23 21-16 13-21

Aditi was favorite against Singaporean player ... After losing close first game she tried fightback winning second game ... But in third game Fu didn't give her any chance ... Lost opportunity for Aditi.

After winning his 2nd and 3rd round matches easily Kashyap lost his quarter-final against similar ranked Indonesian player ... Rupesh and Sanave also lost close match against top-seed Malaysian pair.
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Top 100 Ranking of Indian Badminton players on December 4, 2008

As expected first time in her short career 18 yrs old Saina Nehwal breaks into top 10 BWF ranking in newly declared rankings.

Womens Singles -
10 Saina Nehwal 49471 pts
36 Aditi Mutatkar 27960 pts
95 Neha Pandit 11860 pts

Womens Doubles -
25 Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) 31038 pts
66 Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) 11120 pts

Mens Singles -
15 Chetan Anand 41440 pts
33 Arvind Bhat 31307 pts
42 Anup Sridhar 25592 pts
48 P Kashyap 24170 pts
49 Anand Pawar 23720 pts
81 Ajay Jayaram 15380 pts

Mens Doubles -
44 Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) 21356 pts
68 Akshay Diwalkar (IND)/ V Diju (IND) 12865 pts

Mixed Doubles -
26 V Diju (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) 27240 pts

Tennis News

In interesting development, Somdev Devvarman is currently enjoying a ten-day training stint with American player Andy Roddick in Austin, Texas ... Somi started working alongside the world No. 8 and his new coach Larry Stefanki on Sunday ... This is a huge opportunity for him to train under the watchful eye of Larry Stefanki, who coached great players like John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios, Yevgeni Kafelnikov and Fernando Gonzales.
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Badminton News
At $50K Vietnam Open Grand Prix 2008,

[R1] (4) Kashyap P (IND,45) bt Quoc Huy Pham (VIE,493) 21-9 21-6
[R1] (7) Ajay Jayaram (IND,83) bt Huy Hoang Phan (VIE,UNR) 21-5 21-10

[R1] (2) Aditi Mutatkar (IND,38) bt Sok Kung Leng (CAM,UNR) 21-3 21-5

[R1] (5) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Ping Hsuan Hsieh (TPE)/ Hsun Wei Liao (TPE) 21-16 21-7
[R2] (5) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Phakornkham Fongmalayseng (LAO)/ Vanpasith Philavanh (LAO) 21-18 21-5

Very difficult to find results of this GP level tournament at Vietnam ... Expected winning start for our all players.
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Golf News
At Nippon Series JT Cup, Tokyo

This week Jeev is playing season-ending Nippon Series JT Cup at Tokyo ... Jeev started well on his favorite hunting ground, where he won the title in 2006 and missed the title winning chance in 2007 when after leading the tournament until 71st hole he scored a double bogey on the last hole to finished on 3rd, he scored 6-under (64) to sharing the second, one stroke behind leader Kaname Yokoo (63).

Jeev had a blemishless round with 6 birdies and no bogeys ... Jeev scored 3 birdies each on the front and back 9.

Jeev after the first round - "I have been playing well and as I have always maintained if I can keep myself in contention over the weekend, I will always have a chance. I sure love this tournament of champions. It seems to bring the best out in me."

Badminton News
At $50K Vietnam Open Grand Prix 2008,

[R1] (4) Kashyap P (IND,45) vs Quoc Huy Pham (VIE,493)
[R1] (7) Ajay Jayaram (IND,83) vs Huy Hoang Phan (VIE,UNR)

[R1] (2) Aditi Mutatkar (IND,38) vs Sok Kung Leng (CAM,UNR)

[R1] (5) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Ping Hsuan Hsieh (TPE)/ Hsun Wei Liao (TPE)

This week Aditi, Kashyap and Ajay having good opportunity to improve their ranking in this weak draw GP ... Go guys make the most of it.

Football News
I-League 2008-09 - 29th November

Mohun Bagan bt Chirag United 2-0

Goal Scored - Jose Ramirez Barreto (MB) 16', Baichung Bhutia (MB) 30'
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Vasco SC bt Air-India 1-0

Goal Scored - Ravshan Teshabaev (VSC) 65'
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30th November

Sporting Clube de Goa bt JCT 2-1

Goal Scored - Elijah Obagbemiro Junior (ScG) 28' & 48', Jagpreet Singh (JCT) 58'
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1st December

East Bengal l Churchill Brothers SC 1-2

Goal Scored - Chitrasen Chandam Singh (CB) 2' (own Goal) and Ogba Kalu Nnanna (CB) 32', Mehrajuddin Wadoo (EB) 65' (own goal)
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Tennis News
At $15K India F9 Futures, Kolkata (clay)

Singles Final
(1) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt (3) David SAVIC (SRB) 63 64

Doubles Final
(4) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) bt (2) David SAVIC (SRB)/ Nathan THOMPSON (USA) 76(5) 60

Singles Semi-Finals
(1) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 3-0 Retd
(3) David SAVIC (SRB) bt (2) Nathan THOMPSON (USA) 61 67(2) 2-1 Retd

This week Rupesh and Sunil kept Indian challenge to win doubles title Vishnu also performed well in singles reaching semis in singles.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series 2008,

[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) l Boonsak Ponsana (THA,17) 26-28 22-20 14-21

[QF] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) l Chen Wang (HKG,8) 25-27 21-14 15-21

Arvind wasn't third time lucky ... Arvind produced valiant efforts against top-20 Thai player ... After losing marathon first game, he won second game ... But in third game he mostly went out of steam in this long 65 mins match ... Though good performance from him in this Super Series.

And Saina's challenge also got over in quarter-finals against local girl, who was WR #8 ... After losing closely fought first game Saina won second game easily but then lost this match in 52 mins.

Tennis News
At $15K India F9 Futures, Kolkata (clay)

Singles Quarter-Finals
(1) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Rupesh ROY (IND) 62 75
Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt Rohan GAJJAR (IND) 63 64
(3) David SAVIC (SRB) bt (6) Daniel LUSTIG (CZE) 63 Retd.
(2) Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt (Q) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB) 63 60

Doubles Semi-Finals
(4) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) bt (1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) 36 61 10(5)
(2) David SAVIC (SRB)/ Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt (3) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER)/ Marc-Andre STRATLING (GER) 36 75 10(6)

So Vishnu is keeping Indian interest alive in singles ... In doubles Rupesh and Sunil scored good win over op-ssed pair of Rohan and Purav.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series 2008,

[R2] Chetan Anand (IND,14) vs (3) Jin Chen (CHN,3) 11-21
[R2] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) bt Yan Kit Chan (HKG,26) 21-14 21-19

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) bt (Q) Youn Joo Bae (KOR,78) 21-15 11-21 21-13

[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) vs Boonsak Ponsana (THA,17)
[QF] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs Chen Wang (HKG,8)

Surprisingly Saina lost 2nd game against Koream qualifier ... Mostly loss of concentration but then in third game Saina gave dominating performance to move into quarter-final ... With this win Saina assured her first-time entry into BWF top-10 ranking ... :-)

Arvind scored another upset win over top-30 local player in 32 mins .. He showed yesterday's win wasn't fluke in this straight games win to move into Super Series quarter finals.

Chetan had tough time in adjusting his game against WR # 3 Jin Chen lost first game in 13 mins ... In second game also he was doing catching game but in end lost match in 27 mins.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series 2008,

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,14) bt Petr Koukal (CZE,40) 21-18 17-21 21-13
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) bt (6) Joachim Persson (DEN,8) 21-17 21-17

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) bt Salakjit Ponsana (THA,30) 21-19 22-20

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) l Chiou Hwee Haw (MAS)/ Pek Siah Lim (MAS) 16-21 11-21

[R2] Chetan Anand (IND,14) vs (3) Jin Chen (CHN,3)
[R2] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) vs Yan Kit Chan (HKG,26)

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs Youn Joo Bae (KOR,78)

These days our Indian players r playing exceptionally well ... This time Arvind produced stunning result beating Danish WR #8 Joachim Persson in 29 mins ... Very solid straight games victory in which he controlled match from the start, in second round he is facing local player ... Chetan also scored win in 3 games but having tough Chinese opponent, WR #3, in the next round ... Saina also started well finishing her match in tight 2 games, now she will face Korean qualifier in second round.
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Chess News
Chess Olympiad 2008 Dresden, Germany

Chess Olympiad 2008 ended yesterday, overall our both teams underperformed slightly than their rankings -
In Open Category - Indian Men ended on Rank 16 with 26 points (seeding 13th)
In Women Category - Indian Women ended on Rank 15 with 25 points (seeding 11)

In Women Board 5 category our Mary Ann Gomes won a Silver medal ... This is creditable performance by 19 yrs old Mary Ann Gomes ... She managed to score 6 pts from 8 games and that will help her to gain 21 ELO rating points.

Tennis News
At $15K India F9 Futures, Kolkata (clay)

Singles Second Round
(1) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 64 63
Rupesh ROY (IND) bt Purav RAJA (IND) 62 76(1)
Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) 46 76(5) 76(4)
Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 75 76(4)
(6) Daniel LUSTIG (CZE) bt (Q) Mario ECKARDT (GER) 61 57 62
(3) David SAVIC (SRB) bt (WC) Rohan GIDE (IND) 76(1) 60
(Q) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND) 62 60
(2) Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 76(3)

Doubles Quarter-Finals
(1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 63 3-3 ?
(4) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) bt I-Ta CHEN (TPE)/ Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 62 64
(3) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER)/ Marc-Andre STRATLING (GER) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 62 64
(2) David SAVIC (SRB)/ Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt (WC) Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Saurav PANJA (IND) 62 62

Somewhat expected results in singles ... Rupesh scored good win over Purav ... Vijayant Malik produced fighting performance against Rohan Gajjar ... Navdeep also produced decent performance against 2nd seed Nathan Thompson.

But match of the day was between Vishnu Vardhan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth ... From score it looks match was very close, losing some points here and there costed match for Vijay Sundar Prashanth ... But good result for Vishnu Vardhan, who able to scored comeback victory in this tight match.

Tennis News
At $15K India F9 Futures, Kolkata (clay)

Singles First Round
(1) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND) 60 60
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (Q) Rahil MAKHARIA (IND) 60 63
Rupesh ROY (IND) bt Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) 64 64
Purav RAJA (IND) bt (5) Marc-Andre STRATLING (GER) 75 64
(Q) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND) bt (4) Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) 76(1) 60
Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (WC) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND) 60 62
(WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt (WC) Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 62 67(4) 63
Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (7) Syrym ABDUKHALIKOV (KAZ) 63 64
(6) Daniel LUSTIG (CZE) bt Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 61 64
(Q) Mario ECKARDT (GER) bt (Q) Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 46 63 76(2)
(WC) Rohan GIDE (IND) bt (Q) Jakhongir KHAYDAROV (UZB) 63 64
(3) David SAVIC (SRB) bt Pirmin HAENLE (GER) 62 64
(Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt (8) Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 75 63
(Q) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB) bt (Q) Igor PANIN (RUS) 75 61
Navdeep SINGH (IND) bt Tushar LIBERHAN (IND) 64 63
(2) Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt I-Ta CHEN (TPE) 75 62

Doubles First Round
(1) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR-CHANDRASEKHAR (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 60 63
N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (WC) Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Vishal PUNNA (IND) 63 60
(4) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) bt Mario ECKARDT (GER)/ Pirmin HAENLE (GER) 67(2) 62 10(6)
I-Ta CHEN (TPE)/ Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) bt Krishik DIVAKAR (IND)/ Nikunj SIWACH (IND) 60 61
Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt (ALT) Suresh KRISHNA (IND)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 64 62
(3) Alexander SATSCHKO (GER)/ Marc-Andre STRATLING (GER) bt (WC) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND)/ Mithun MURALI (IND) 64 62
(WC) Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Saurav PANJA (IND) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Vikram B REDDY (IND) 16 63 11(9)
(2) David SAVIC (SRB)/ Nathan THOMPSON (USA) bt Tushar LIBERHAN (IND)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 62

Very good results for Indians ... With creditable few upsets win 10 players r in second round.

But something terribly wrong with Sunil's game .. He is losing to anybody and on any surface ... This time he lost on clay courts ... In break he needs to work on his basic and mental aspects of game ... Hopefully in 2009 we will see his comeback in company of Karan Rastogi, who will be ready in January to join tour again.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Super Series 2008,

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,14) vs Petr Koukal (CZE,40)
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,41) (6) Joachim Persson (DEN,8)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) vs Salakjit Ponsana (THA,30)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) vs Chiou Hwee Haw (MAS)/ Pek Siah Lim (MAS)

Saina having good opportunity to break into top 10 with good showing at Hong Kong Open ... She is facing Thai opponent in the first round.

Anup having tough match against world's top-10 Danish player ... Chetan facing Koukal in the first round.

Squash News
At $8K NSC Super Sat #4 2008, Malaysia

[R1] (1) Joshna Chinappa (IND,38) bt Rachel Goh (MAS,238) 11-6 11-4 11-2 (10m)
[QF] (1) Joshna Chinappa (IND,38) bt (8) Low Wee Nee (MAS,88) 11-6 13-11 11-5 (19m)
[SF] (1) Joshna Chinappa (IND,38) bt (4) Siti Munirah Jusoh (MAS,62) 9-11 11-3 11-2 11-7 (26m)

[F] (1) Joshna Chinappa (IND,38) bt (3) Low Wee Wern (MAS,46) 11-8 11-7 11-6 (22m)

Joshna celebrated her back-to-back second title in the Malaysian capital after winning the NSC Super Squash Satellite #4 trophies at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in Kuala Lumpur ... It was the second WISPA title at KL triumph in seven days for Joshna.
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Golf News
At US$2.5 million UBS Hong Kong Open - Final Standing

T11 Jeev Milkha Singh 71 63 66 69 -11 $41,875.00
T19 Jyoti Randhawa 71 68 66 67 - 8 $29,150.00
T48 Gaurav Ghei 71 69 67 70 - 3 $11,250.00

No magic from Jeev this time around but very creditable finish for him ... But happy to see Jyoti was founding some form before Team World Cup at Mission Hills in China from November 27-30.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 23rd November

Mohammedan Sporting l Churchill Brothers 0-1

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeka Okolie (CB) 70'

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Sporting clube de Goa bt Air India 2-1

Goal Scored - Joseph Pereira (ScG) 24', Nathaniel Amos (ScG) 43' and Singam Subash Singh (AI) 2'
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24th November

Mohun Bagan AC bt Mahindra United 1-0

Goal Scored - Baichung Bhutia (MB) 46'

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25th November

Chirag United SC bt Vasco Sports Club 3-1

Goal Scored - Fulganco Cardozo (CU) 45+' (OG), Snehasish Chakraborty (CU) 54', Subair Muritala Ali (CU) 89' and Sherzod Nazarov (VSC) 90+'
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26th November
Mumbai FC bt JCT 3-2

Goal Scored - Abel Hammond (MFC) 58', Felix Aboagye (MFC) 64', Abhishek Yadav (MFC) 88' and Balwant Singh (JCT) 38', Eduardo de Silva (JCT) 50'

Mumbai FC produced superb comeback win after down 0-2 against JCT.
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Dempo SC bt East Bengal 1-0

Goal Scored - Climax Lawrence (DSC) 80'

Tennis News

Somdev has withdrawn from next week's challanger in Mexico due to injury ... So this is the end of season for him ... Now he will get a one & half moths break before Chennai ATP ... Hopefully he will recover fully and come back strongly in 2009 season.
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At $50K Kolkata Womens Challenger, India

Singles Final
(2) Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt Elora Dabija (ROU) 61 63

Doubles Final
(3) Laura Siegemund (GER)/ Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt (1) Jing-Jing Lu (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan Sun (CHN) 75 63

Singles Semi-Finals
Elora Dabija (ROU) bt Sophie Ferguson (AUS) 62 76(4)
(2) Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt (Q) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 61 63
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At $15K India F8 Futures, Mumbai

Singles Final
(2) Nathan Thompson (USA) bt (LL) Pirmin Haenle (GER) 76(3) 46 60

Doubles Final
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (2) David Savic (SRB)/ Nathan Thompson (USA) 62 76(4)

Singles Semi-Finals
(LL) Pirmin Haenle (GER) bt (7) Daniel Lustig (CZE) 76(3) 63
(2) Nathan Thompson (USA) bt (8) Syrym Abdukhalikov (KAZ) 62 75

Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja won doubles title beating second seed pair ... Nathan continued his succesful run in Indian futures with singles title.

Badminton News
At $200K Li Ning China Open Super Series 2008,

[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,39) l Kai Wen (CHN,170) 13-21 10-21

In quarters Arvind couldn't produced enough fight against lowly ranked Chinese opponent to lost match in only 28 mins.

Badminton News
At $200K Li Ning China Open Super Series 2008,

[R2] Arvind Bhat (IND,39) bt Petr Koukal (CZE,38) 18-21 21-18 21-15

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) l (4) Jung Eun Ha (KOR)/ Min Jung Kim (KOR) 13-21 11-21

[QF] Arvind Bhat (IND,39) vs Kai Wen (CHN,170)

Arvind scored superb comeback victory over Petr ... After winning first game Petr was leading 18-15 but Arvind take next 6 poits to won second game ... In third game Arvind kept pressure on Petr from the start to won game and match in 62 mins.

Tennis News
At $50K Knoxville Challenger, TN, USA

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,204) l (1) Vincent Spadea (USA,75) 67(7) Retd

Doubles -
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) l (Q) Romano Frantzen (NED)/ Nick Van Der Meer (NED) w/o (due to Somi's injury)

[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) l (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) 36 36

Somi retired from the match due to (twisted) ankle injury ... He is already decided to skip doubles to give his ankle required rest ... Still not sure about his next week's participation in Cancun challenger at Mexico ... I m hoping nothing serious with this twisted ankle.
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At $50K Kolkata Womens Challenger, India

Singles Quarter-Finals
Elora Dabija (ROU) bt Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) 36 76(5) 75
Sophie Ferguson (AUS) bt (7) Ksenia Palkina (KGZ) 06 61 64
(Q) Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) bt (8) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) 64 57 76(2)
(2) Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt (Q) Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 62 62

Doubles Semi-Finals
(1) Jing-Jing Lu (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan Sun (CHN) bt Sophie Ferguson (AUS)/ Alexis Prousis (USA) 63 63
(3) Laura Siegemund (GER)/ Agnes Szatmari (ROU) bt (2) Chin-Wei Chan (TPE)/ Yi Chen (TPE) 46 63 10(6)
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At $15K India F8 Futures, Mumbai

Singles Quarter-Finals
(7) Daniel Lustig (CZE) bt (1) Alexander Satschko (GER) 76(5) 76(6)
(LL) Pirmin Haenle (GER) bt Vaja Uzakov (UZB) 64 64
(8) Syrym Abdukhalikov (KAZ) bt (3) David Savic (SRB) 61 62
(2) Nathan Thompson (USA) bt (Q) David Sodek (CZE) 76(1) 62

Doubles Semi-Finals
(1) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Mithun Murali (IND)/ Vignesh Peranamallur (IND) 63 63
(2) David Savic (SRB)/ Nathan Thompson (USA) bt (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 36 61 10(8)