Tennis News
At $4.5M BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] CHUANG Chia-Jung (TPE)/ MIRZA Sania (IND) l DULKO Gisela (ARG)/ PEER Shahar (ISR) 16 46

[R1] (3) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt KUNITSYN Igor (RUS)/ TURSUNOV Dmitry (RUS) 75 63

Mahesh and Mark scored straight sets victory over tricky Russian pair to move into second round ... But Sania with Taiwanian Chuang lost cheaply in first round.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[Q1] (8) Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) bt Faris Akhazzan (GBR,UNR) 63 62

Expected easy victory for Rohan against unranked opponent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 6 - 13 March 2009

GM KONERU Humpy 1 - 0 GM CHIBURDANIDZE Maia

Humpy scored victory with white pieces against Georgian GM Maia Chiburdanidz ... So after 6 round Chinese GM Hou Yifan still leading by ½ pt ... In 7th round Humpy is facing leader GM Hou Yifan with black pieces.

Badminton News
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009, Basel

[QF] Saina Nehwal (IND,9) l (3) Lan Lu (CHN,3) 21-18 8-21 17-21

Lan Lu started well taking early lead but Saina kept fighting and made it 9-all ... Again Lan Lu take 16-13 lead but again Saina fought back to 16-all ... And then from 17-all she first-time in the game take lead and won first game ... In second game Lan Lu started strongly taking 0-5 1-7 2-10 4-14 lead to won seecond game 8-21 ... In this game Saina had lot many unforced errors ... Third game started well as both players trying their best, Saina played lot control game than previous game and take early lead 9-6 but Lu fought back to 9-8 ... They changed side when Saina leading 11-8 ... Then Saina runaway to 14-9 lead but again Lu fought back to make it 14-12 ... Thei cat and mouse game continued after Saina taking 17-13 lead Lu crawled back to 17-all and then winning match with consecutive 8 points ... Very hearbreaking loss after leading by 4 points in third game in crucial stage ... Saina missed to score historic win against Chinese top shuttler in this 53 minutes match.

On 12th March 2009 updated list Saina is ranked WR No. 9, her personal best till now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News
At $8K NSC Series #3 2009, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (7) Joshna Chinappa (IND,35) bt Joelle King (NZL,44) 12-10 5-11 11-8 2-11 11-5 (33m)
[R1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,49) l (3) Donna Urquhart (AUS,28) 3-11 11-7 11-3 4-11 7-11 (44m)

[QF] (7) Joshna Chinappa (IND,35) bt (3) Donna Urquhart (AUS,28) 5-11 12-10 10-12 11-8 11-6 (30m)

[SF] (7) Joshna Chinappa (IND,35) l (1) Lauren Briggs (ENG,20) 9-11 10-12 2-11 (33m)

Dipika's fought valiantly against top-30 player but lost in close 5 games.

Though Joshna struggled to 5 games in winning first match but she again upset higher seeded opponent in quarters, who defeated Dipika in first round ... She gave her best in first 2 games against top-seed before losing in semis.

Badminton News
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009, Basel

[R2] Chetan Anand (IND,13) l Yu Hsin Hsieh (TPE,19) 21-9 20-22 17-21
[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt (6) Lin Zhu (CHN,7) 22-20 11-21 21-11

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) l (2) Eei Hui Chin (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS) 16-21 12-21

[QF] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs (3) Lan Lu (CHN,3)

Super win by Saina against WR #7 Chinese opponent in 56 mins battle ... In first game Saina was in cotrol after 9-all but Lin won 3 consecutive points from 19-16 to make 19-all .. Saina controlled her nerve to won first game in extra points ... In second game Lin won 10 consecutive points from 11-all to capture second game easily ... In third game Saina take control from 3-all to lead 10-4 and then never gave any chance to Lin for comeback in to the match ... In quarters she is facing another Chinese opponent WR # 3 Lan Lu.

Another loss for Chetan after winning first game easily ... In second game Chetan was doing catching game as Yu Hsin Hsieh take early lead and Yu won game in extra points ... Third game also went same way, Chetan couldn't manage to came out of Yu hold and lost match in 48 mins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News
At the WGC-CA Championship, Doral, Florida
T1 Jeev Milkha Singh 65 -7
T1 Retief Goosen 65 -7
T1 Prayad Marksaeng 65 -7
T1 Phil Mickelson 65 -7
T5 Padraig Harrington 66 -6
T9 Camilo Villegas 67 -5
T9 Sean O'Hair 67 -5
T14 Jim Furyk 68 -4
T17 Vijay Singh 69 -3
T17 Ian Poulter 69 -3
T27 Ernie Els 70 -2
T27 Kenny Perry 70 -2
T40 Tiger Woods 71 -1
T54 Sergio Garcia 72 E

Amazing round by Jeev to lead after first round ... He started from back 9 scoring a birdie on first hole but had bogey on next round ... Jeev had some different plan from hole 15 to 5th hole (on front 9) he scored 7 birdies in those 9 holes to joined lead ... He is in company of 2 major champions Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson with another Asian Thai Prayad Marksaeng.

Jeev Milkha Singh - "It gives me a lot of confidence. It gives me the trust that I can do well at the world stage. I've won on every tour, nearly, in the world. I've won in Europe, I've won in Asia, I've won in Japan. It would be nice to win in the U.S., too."

“I hit the ball pretty well and I think it comes down to putting at the end of the day. I rolled it well so I am pretty pleased with the 65. Honestly, I love this golf course! I think it suits my eye."

Tennis News
At $4.5M BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (WC) MIRZA Sania (IND,87) bt KORYTTSEVA Mariya (UKR,96) 26 63 62

[R2] (WC) MIRZA Sania (IND,87) vs (12) PENNETTA Flavia (ITA,15)

In the first set Sania had horrible stat ... Sania could only managed to get 40% of the 1st serves in and won just 20% of those points ... But interestingly she won 60% of the points on her second serve ... Then Sania managed to improver 1st serve percentage and scored comeback victory in the match which she should won easily ... Now Italian Flavia Pennetta in second round.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[QF] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND) l (WC) SATO Bumpei (JPN)/ TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN) 64 16 (6)10

After winning first round against local pair Amritraj cousins lost quarters against another local pair in super tie-break.
------------------------------------------------------------
At the $15K France F15, Lille

[QF] (1) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ MANKAD Harsh (IND) l CRACIUN Teodor-Dacian (ROU)/ IONITA Victor (ROU) 76(4) 67(4) (9)11

This pair isn't working out as they hoped ... They r still searching for their first win as pair.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 5 - 12 March 2009

IM Martha Fierro 0 - 1 GM KONERU Humpy

After rest day Humpy came back to her winning way, in 5th round she defeated last round co-leader Ecuadorian IM Martha Fierro playing with black pieces ... Chinese GM Yifan Hou still lead by ½ pt with 4½ pts after 5 rounds.

Badminton News
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009, Basel

[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,42) l Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,32) 22-20 10-21 13-21
[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) bt (8) Przemyslaw Wacha (POL,9) 21-9 21-16
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,26) l (2) Dan Lin (CHN,2) 21-19 -17-21 -16-21

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) bt Youn Joo Bae (KOR,37) 21-6 21-17

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) bt Sabrina Jaquet (SUI)/ Huwaina Razi (SUI) 21-10 21-18

[R2] Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Yu Hsin Hsieh (TPE,19)
[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs (6) Lin Zhu (CHN,7)

[R2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) vs (2) Eei Hui Chin (MAS)/ Pei Tty Wong (MAS)

Chetan scored very dominating win against WR #9 in 26 mins .. He didn't give any chance to his opponent to fight back.

Saina also scored easy victory against Korean opponents in 29 mins ... She also started with win in doubles with her Canadian partner in 33 mins ... But in second round she is facing WR #7 Zhu in singles and WR #1 Malayasian pair in doubles.

Very impressive performance by Arvind against Dan Lin ... After winning first game Arvind was leading 10-6 in second game but Dan Lin won next 6 points to take lead ... Arvind again caught him at 16-all but then Dan controlled the match to win it in 1 hour.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At $4.5M BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (3) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs KUNITSYN Igor (RUS)/ TURSUNOV Dmitry (RUS)
[R1] (4) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) vs KNOWLE Julian (AUT)/ MELZER Jurgen (AUT)

Indian Wells Masters series draw is out ... Mahesh and Mark r 3rd seed, they r in top draw with top-seed Bryans ... In first round they r facing Russian pair, they lost their last match at Dubai Open against Dima and Rik De Voest ... This time they r facing Dima with different partner ... Lee and Lukas r 4th seed, they r in bottom draw with Nestor and Zimo ... In first round they r facing tricky experienced Austrian pair.

Badminton News
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009, Basel

[Q1] (2) Anup Sridhar (IND,42) bt Stefan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,61) 21-13 21-10
[Q1] (4) Anand Pawar (IND,47) l Kestutis Navickas (LTU,53) 10-21 19-21

[Q2] (2) Anup Sridhar (IND,42) bt Scott Evans (IRL,54) 10-21 21-14 21-17

[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,42) vs Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,32)

After Anand's performance in All England gave hope he perform better here but he lost in straight games against Kestutis Navickas ... Anup started wel with easy victory against Canadian but in final qualifying round he had late start ... He managed to win after losing first game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 4 - 10 March 2009

GM KONERU Humpy ½ - ½ WGM Shen Yang

With another draw Humpy is on tied 3rd position ½ pt behind leaders Hou Yifan and Martha Fierro ... So now after today's rest day Humpy need to comeback in her winning ways.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009,

Group E
Dempo SC bt Al Maged, Syria 1-0

Goal Scored - Ranty Martin (DSC) 25'

Dempo played excellent attacking game which was missing in I-League against Syrian side to start with victory in the AFC Cup.

Tennis News
At $4.5M BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (WC) MIRZA Sania (IND,87) vs KORYTTSEVA Mariya (UKR,96)

Doubles
[R1] CHUANG Chia-Jung (TPE)/ MIRZA Sania (IND) vs DULKO Gisela (ARG)/ PEER Shahar (ISR)

Here Sania defending heck of ranking points, exactly 130 pts due to last year's 4th round appearence ... So now interesting to see how she perform this year, early exit find her again outside top-100.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[R1] (4) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,192) l MITSUHASHI Junn (JPN,337) 67(5) 76(2) 36

Doubles
[QF] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND) vs (WC) SATO Bumpei (JPN)/ TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN)

Another unnecessary loss in singles for Kash against 19 yrs old Japanese opponent.
------------------------------------------------------------
At the $15K France F15, Lille

[R1] (1) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ MANKAD Harsh (IND) BYE

Good to see that these guys r playing futures ... As they need more match practice to succeed as pair on challenger level.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 3 - 9 March 2009

WIM Betül Cemre Yildiz ½-½ GM KONERU Humpy

Disappointing result for Humpy to drew her match against lowly ranked local girl.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series 2009, Basel

[Q1] (2) Anup Sridhar (IND,42) vs Stefan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,61)
[Q1] (4) Anand Pawar (IND,47) vs Kestutis Navickas (LTU,53)

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs (8) Przemyslaw Wacha (POL,9)
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,26) vs (2) Dan Lin (CHN,2)
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs Youn Joo Bae (KOR,37)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ Anna Rice (CAN) vs Sabrina Jaquet (SUI)/ Huwaina Razi (SUI)

This week our players playing at Basel in super series event ... As usual tough draw .. :-) But Saina having winnable first round match but can meet 6th seed Chinese opponent in second round.

Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix 2009, Istnbul, Turkey

The Turkish Chess Federation in collaboration with FIDE and Global Chess is organising the first event for the new Women Grand Prix series 2009/2010 ... This is the first time that such a series is being organised and is a significant development for the chess world ... This will be one of the strongest women tournaments of all times and it is important to point out that there are three ex-world Champions taking part.

Participants in Istanbul 2009

1 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2621
2 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2571
3 GM Antoaneta Stefanova BUL 2557
4 GM Pia Cramling SWE 2548
5 GM Marie Sebag FRA 2529
6 GM Maia Chiburdanidze GEO 2516
7 GM Zhao Xue CHN 2508
8 IM Elina Danielian ARM 2496
9 WGM Shen Yang CHN 2448
10 IM Martha Fierro ECU 2403
11 WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova AZE 2362
12 WIM Betül Cemre Yıldız TUR 2214

Round 1 - 7 March 2009

GM CRAMLING Pia 0-1 GM KONERU Humpy

Round 2 - 8 March 2009

GM KONERU Humpy 1-0 IM DANIELIAN Elina

Humpy having great start winning first 2 games playing with black and white pieces, she is sole leader after 2 rounds ... In third round she is facing local player with black pieces.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $35K+H Kyoto Challenger, Japan

[R1] (4) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,192) vs MITSUHASHI Junn (JPN,337)

Doubles
[R1] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ AMRITRAJ Stephen (IND) bt KONDO Hiroki (JPN)/ MATSUI Toshihide (JPN) 57 75 10(5)

Good win against experienced Japanese pair in super tie-break for seeded Amritraj cousin.

Tennis News
At Davis Cup Group I Asia/Oceania 2009, Chinese Taipei, Kaohsiung

India bt Chinese Taipei 3-2

Fourth Rubber
Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,59) 61 62 63

Fifth Rubber
Rohan Bopanna (IND,320) l Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE,498) 36 76(6) 67(5)

GREAT SOMI IS BACKKKKKKKKKK!!! Som make me eat my words and I m really happy about that ... :-) He tamed WR #59 and Asia's #1 in straight sets victory ... Undoubtfully Somdev has arrived on the Davis Cup stage!!!

Som started match with holding his serve ... First 3 service games went as per serve and then Som broke Lu's serve converting 3rd break point on 4th game ... Holding his serve in 5th game Som again broke Lu's serve in 6th game and then hold his service game on luv to win the first set.

In second set Lu started with holding his serve and then Som saved 2 break points before holding his serve ... Again after 2-all Som broke Lu's serve in 5th game ... Then after holding his serve Som again broke Lu's serve at 15 in 7th game ... After that Som served for second set and hold easily at 15 to won it.

In third set Som started with breaking Lu's serve after duece but first time he losse focus in the match and lost his serve at 15, first break of his serve in the match ... In 3rd game Lu saved 5 break points before holding his serve ... After holding his serve at 15 Som again break Lu's serve on 2nd break point to lead 3-2 ... Som hold in 6th game after saving 3 break pooints ... Then Lu hold at 30 to make it 4-3 ... Som hold his serve with nice serving at 30 to lead 5-3 ... And broke Lu's serve on 30 to scored biggest upset win abroad by an Indian in Davis Cup since Lee beat Arnaud Boetsch in Frejus in 1993.

In last dead rubber Rohan lost against 17 yrs old Yang, who is current junior French Open and top junior player of 2008 ... Still this was winnable match for Rohan, this loss shows his lack of singles practice before tie ... I really wish he practices singles before our May home tie against Australia.

Golf News
At the Singha Thailand Open - Final Standing


1 Jyoti RANDHAWA 68 68 62 65 -17 $79,250.00
T4 S.S.P. CHOWRASIA 66 62 70 69 -13 $22,575.00
T6 Daniel CHOPRA 67 69 69 63 -12 $15,750.00
T10 Himmat RAI 65 72 68 65 -10 $ 7,744.44
T10 Gaganjeet BHULLAR 64 66 71 69 -10 $ 7,744.44
T19 Anirban LAHIRI 68 67 72 64 - 9 $ 5,866.67
T32 Shiv KAPUR 69 68 68 69 - 6 $ 3,850.00
64 Amandeep JOHL 67 69 72 75 + 3 $ 1,400.00
T66 Digvijay SINGH 63 73 76 76 + 8 $ 1,275.00

Jyoti Randhawa played excellent control round to become the first Indian to lift the Singha Thailand Open King's Trophy. But first round leader Digvijay Singh ended on last place.

Jyoti Randhawa - "The way the course was set up and the way it was playing, I thought I could shoot some low numbers and I did that the last two days and I'm glad I did it."
"That's the mantra now, I need to relax a bit and chill out. You don't practice and work hard during tournaments. You do it before that. I came here, I swam, I went scuba diving and I enjoyed myself. And here I am, I've won a golf tournament. I learned a lot and I think I need to do this more often."
"The two boys (Davies and Chowrasia) got me going. They were on my heels the whole day. S.S.P. made an eagle on the first hole and I needed to wake up and do something and luckily I did. It was good competition."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At XXVI Linares 2009, Spain (Avg. rating 2755) - from February 19th to March 7th 2009

Round 14 - Saturday, 7 March 2009

Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Wang Yue
Leinier Domínguez ½-½ Ivanchuk Vassily
Levon Aronian ½-½ Grischuk Alexander
Viswanathan Anand ½-½ Carlsen Magnus

All four games of the last round were drawn, so Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk ended on top with 8.0 points but Grischuk won title on better tie-break ... Third was Magnus Carlsen and Anand ended on fourth position with 4 points.

Tennis News
At Davis Cup Group I Asia/Oceania 2009, Chinese Taipei, Kaohsiung

India vs Chinese Taipei 2-1

Third Rubber
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) 64 76(0) 67(4) 62

Surprisingly tough match for seasoned pair of Lee and Hesh ... Frankly the way Taiwanese fought here in doubles is going to boost their players morale and tomorrow they will come out with all guns blazing in reverese singles ... From recent form of players it looks like tie will may come down on last match between Rohan and Ti Chen ... Rohan having advantage in it as he is leading 2-0 head to head against Chen but Davis cup is a different cup of tea and with all crowd support Chen can do anything ... Hoping before that Somdev will pull off special performance to beat Lu.

Chess News
At XXVI Linares 2009, Spain (Avg. rating 2755) - from February 19th to March 7th 2009

Round 13 - Friday, 6 March 2009

Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0 Levon Aronian
Wang Yue ½-½ Leinier Domínguez

Anand managed draw from difficult position against Alexander Grischuk ... Vassily Ivanchuk joined Grischuk in a lead when he defeated Levon Aronian ... Magnus Carlsen spoilt big chance of winning the game, in end he maanged to a draw.

Tennis News
At Davis Cup Group I Asia/Oceania 2009, Chinese Taipei, Kaohsiung

India vs Chinese Taipei 1-1

First Rubber
Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) bt Ti Chen (TPE,365) 75 64 64

Second Rubber
Rohan Bopanna (IND,320) l Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,59) 67 26 26

Som started well breaking Chen's serve in third game but Chen broke immediately in next game to make it 2-all ... Som saved a set point on 4-5, Som broke Chen's serve in 11th game and hold it next game to won first set ... In second set Som broke Chen's serve in 5th and 7th games, but while serving for the set at 5-2 Chen broke Som's serve on luv ... Som hold his serve in 10th game to won second set ... In third set Som again started breaking Chen's serve in 3rd game but again lost his serve in next game ... But Som grabbed another break to win set and match ... This is Som'd first Davis Cup victory ... Congratulation Som and knowing many more will follow!!!

Som played his usual backside of the court game ... As usual he was waiting for opponent to make mistake ... He need to add killer shots in his arsenal to finish point early, without this his entry into top-100 will be more difficult.

In second rubber Bops lost first set in tie-break against Lu ... After that Lu dominated the match breaking Rohan's serve twice in 2nd and 3rd set ... In second set Lu broke Bops serve in the 1st anf 5th game to won it 6-2 ... In third st Lu broke Rohan's serve in 3rd and 7th games ... Disappointing stuff from Rohan.

So after first day India and Taiwan tied 1-1.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 5th March

Sporting Clube de Goa bt Dempo SC 2-1

Goal scored - Nathaniel Amos (SCG) 42', Joseph Pereira (SCG) 65' and Peter Carvalho (DSC) 18'
Sporting recaptured lead in I-League after scoring comeback victory against defending champion Dempo in well contested match.
------------------------------------------
6th March
Mahindra United bt East Bengal 2-1

Goal Scored - Chidi Edeh (MU) 53' P & 70' P and Sunil Chhetri (EB) 50'

Mahindra United scored their rare back to back victories of this season ... East Bengal take early lead in second half but lost due to needless challenges inside the box that conceded two penalties which converted by reliable Chidi Edeh.
------------------------------------------
7th March
Mohammedan Sporting dw Chirag United 2-2

Goal Scored - Suroj Mondal (MS) 58', Mike Okoro (MS) 79' and Subair Muritala (CU) 17', Shankar Oraon (CU) 75'
------------------------------------------
JCT dw Air India 1-1

Goal Scored - Eduardo (JCT) 90+' and Gouranga Biswas (AI) 26'

JCT managed to hold Airmen with injury time goal.
------------------------------------------
8th March
Vasco SC l Mumbai FC 1-2

Goal Scored - Shehzod Nazarov (VSC) 6' P and Abhishek Yadav (MFC) 10', Kulothungan (MFC) 89'

Mumbai FC managed away win in dying minutes, win was more important considering last 15 minutes they played with 10 men as their goal-keeper Kalyan Chaubey red carded due to harsh tackle.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex All England Open Super Series 2009, Birmingham

[R2] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (2) Yong Dae Lee (KOR)/ Hyo Jung Lee (KOR) 23-21 20-22 14-21

Very close loss against WR #2 Korean team for Diju and Jwala in 48 mins match ... In first game Korean were leading by couple of points from beginning until 14-17 but then our pair made it 17-all and won this game after saving 2 game points ... In second game our pair take 5-1 lead but Korean catched them at 7-all ... This time also Koreans were leading 14-17, again our pair won next 3 poits but Koreans kept pressure taking 17-19 lead ... Our pair fought back making 19-all but Koreans converted 2nd game point to win this crucial game ... In third game Koreans were in control from the start taking 3-11 lead but our pair tried comeback winning next 8 points to make 11-all ... After 14-all Korean pair didn't give any chance to our pair to won consecutive 7 points to win this match.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At XXVI Linares 2009, Spain (Avg. rating 2755) - from February 19th to March 7th 2009

Round 12 - Thursday, 5 March 2009

Teimour Radjabov ½-½ Leinier Domínguez
Levon Aronian ½-½ Wang Yue
Viswanathan Anand ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Alexander Grischuk

Another draw for Anand with white pieces against Vassily Ivanchuk ... In other match Magnus Carlsen defeated leader Alexander Grischuk with white pieces ... With this victory Carlsen joined Vassily Ivanchuk in the second place just half a point behind Grischuk.

Tennis News
At Davis Cup Group I Asia/Oceania 2009, Chinese Taipei, Kaohsiung

First Rubber
Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) vs Ti Chen (TPE,365)

Second Rubber
Rohan Bopanna (IND,320) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,59)

Third Rubber
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE)/ Chu-Huan Yi (TPE)

Fourth Rubber
Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE,59)

Fifth Rubber
Rohan Bopanna (IND,320) vs Ti Chen (TPE,365)

So as per lot tomorrow Som will be playing first rubber ... As per ranking Som should win but I m little tentative about his performance due to his recent form and lack of match practice ... But if Som gives winning start then Rohan can put more pressure on Lu in second rubber ... Go India.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex All England Open Super Series 2009, Birmingham

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) l Andrew Smith (ENG,21) 21-6 17-21 12-21
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,27) l (Q) Weijie Gong (CHN,63) 19-21 20-22
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,46) l (5) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,5) 20-22 15-21
[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,50) l (2) Dan Lin (CHN,2) 13-21 14-21

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) l (4) Hongyan Pi (FRA,4) 15-21 16-21

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) l Chiou Hwee Haw (MAS)/ Pek Siah Lim (MAS) 9-21 21-19 18-21

[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (Q) Johannes Schoettler (GER)/ Birgit Overzier (GER) 16-21 21-18 21-12

[R2] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (2) Yong Dae Lee (KOR)/ Hyo Jung Lee (KOR)

Saina lost her match in 34 mins, this loss was expeted after her almost 4 weeks injury break due to shoulder injury ... In the first game Saina showing fighting game after down 6-10 to won next 6 points to lead 12-10 but after that Pi take control to won first game ... Second game was on even until Saina leading 14-13 but again Pi controlled last important points to finished match in 2 straight games.

Anand lost his match against WR #5 Sony in 36 mins but he laso produced fighting performance ... In first game Anand was doing chasing to catch Sony but he take crucial lead winning 5 points from 13-16 down to first time take a lead ... Anand also had 2 game points at 20-18 but Sony won next 4 points to capture first game ... In second game Sony was in the control from the start and didn't give any chance to Anand.

Disappointing result for Chetan to lose match in 36 minutes ... After losing first game easily Smith played well and didn't give small opportunity to Chetan to fightback ... Lost opportunity to move deep into All England Open for Chetan after decent draw.

Arvind tried best against Chinese qualifier but that wasn't enough and lost match in 39 mins ... In the first game Gong controlled from the start, Arvind tried comeback winning 3 points from 16-20 down but Gong captured crucial point to won first game ... Second game was evenly fought at one time Arvind was leading 17-13 but Gong won next 5 points and won match second game in extra points.

Anup didn't produce much fight against WR #2 Dan Lin in 31 mins match.

Jwala and Shruti tried comeback after losing first game but Malaysian pair take decider to finish match in 41 mins.

So only our MXD pair of Diju and Jwala managed to cross first round hurdle in well fought match ... After losing first game to German qualifiers they won crucial close second game but in third they dominated opponentes to won match in 39 mins ... In second round they r facing WR #2 Korean pair.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $15K USA F6,

[R1] (JE) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,1150) l (4) COOK Lester (USA,367) 46 26

This was learning experience against former top-300 player for Yuki.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex All England Open Super Series 2009, Birmingham

[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt (1) Carl Baxter (ENG,35) 18-21 21-17 23-21
[Q1] (3) Anup Sridhar (IND,50) bt Beng Hong Kuan (MAS,48) 21-12 12-21 21-19

[Q1] Chetan Anand (IND)/ Diju Valiyaveetil (IND) l Marcus Ellis (ENG)/ Robin Middleton (ENG) 21-17 17-21 17-21

[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,46) bt Scott Evans (IRL,55) 21-6 20-22 21-12
[Q2] (3) Anup Sridhar (IND,50) bt Wei Feng Chong (MAS,53) 21-11 21-18

[R1] (2) Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Andrew Smith (ENG,21)
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,27) vs (Q) Weijie Gong (CHN,63)
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,46) vs (5) Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,5)
[R1] (Q) Anup Sridhar (IND,50) vs (2) Dan Lin (CHN,2)

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs (4) Hongyan Pi (FRA,4)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Chiou Hwee Haw (MAS)/ Pek Siah Lim (MAS)

[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (Q) Johannes Schoettler (GER)/ Birgit Overzier (GER)

In the first qualifying match Anand played excellent game to score hard fought win against British No. 2 Carl Baxter in 52 minutes ... In third game Anand was doing chasing all the time, he was down 4-8 in the begining but he won next 5 points to lead 9-8 ... Then again Baxter take 15-18 lead but Anand didn't lose hope and make it 18-all and then converted 2nd match point ... In second match also Anand stretched to 3 games but he was in control.

Anup also stretched to 3 games in the first match but in second match he scored comfortable win.

Our both qualifiers having very tough first round against WR #2 and #5 respectively ... Arvind also having tough match against Chinese player though he is qualifier, Gong last week defeated Chetan Anand in quarters to reached the final of German Open GP.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At XXVI Linares 2009, Spain (Avg. rating 2755) - from February 19th to March 7th 2009

Round 11 - Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Wang Yue ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Leinier Domínguez ½-½ Levon Aronian

Today again Anand managed draw against Wang Yue in unspectacular game ... All other games also ended in the draw.

Tennis News
At $125K+H Bergamo Challenger, Italy

[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND)/ EVANS Brendan (USA) l (1) BRUNSTROM Johan (SWE)/ ROJER Jean-Julien (AHO) 57 26

Early end of week for Kash after his doubles first round loss.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Cherbourg Challenger, France

[R1] (1) BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ MANKAD Harsh (IND) l MONTCOURT Mathieu (FRA)/ SIDORENKO Alexandre (FRA) 46 63 (7)10

This week I was hoping better performance from this pair but another disappoint.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6,

[R1] BHAMBRI Yuki (IND)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) l (2) COOK Lester (USA)/ LA PORTE Shane (USA) 26 46

Expected loss but as we already know that transition to mens tour will not be easy ... Lets see how he perform against Cook in the singles.

Badminton News
At $200K Yonex All England Open Super Series 2009, Birmingham

[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,46) vs (1) Carl Baxter (ENG,35)
[Q1] (3) Anup Sridhar (IND,50) vs Beng Hong Kuan (MAS,48)

[Q1] Chetan Anand (IND)/ Diju Valiyaveetil (IND) vs Marcus Ellis (ENG)/ Robin Middleton (ENG)

[R1] (2) Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Andrew Smith (ENG,21)
[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,27) vs Qualifier

[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,10) vs (4) Hongyan Pi (FRA,4)

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Shruti Kurian (IND) vs Chiou Hwee Haw (MAS)/ Pek Siah Lim (MAS)

[R1] Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Qualifier

Saina Nehwal is playing her first tournament after 4 weeks shoulder injury break and again she is having cruel draw facing WR #4 Hongyan Pi in the first round ... difficult first match after 4 weeks injury break.

Chetan and Arvind also qualified for maindraw ... Anup and Anand r playing in qualifying ... Also Chetan playing with Diju in doubles qualifying.

Also Jwala and Shruti qualified for womens doubles ... And expectedly Diju-Jwala playing MXD maindraw.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $125K+H Bergamo Challenger, Italy

[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,193) l DORSCH Benedikt (GER,156) 67(5) 36

Very close match with only one break of serve in the complete match ... In the first set Kash had 3 set points at 6-5 but failed to convert ... Tough loss where Kash had decent chance of winning this.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $15K USA F6,

[R1] (JE) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,1150) vs (4) COOK Lester (USA,367)

Doubles
[R1] BHAMBRI Yuki (IND)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) vs (2) COOK Lester (USA)/ LA PORTE Shane (USA)

Yuki using junior exemption for this US futures .. Good decision by him as next week he is playing Miami Masters qualifying so playing this tough futures help him to judge his performance.