Tennis News
At $50K Khorat Challenger, Thailand

[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA,203) bt Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS,196) 75 63
[QF] Rajeev Ram (USA,203) vs (SE) Noam Okun (ISR,347)

Doubles
[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) l (2) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS)/ Dmitri Sitak (RUS) 46 36

So with this Som will move back to US and work on adding new tools to his game in training ... Rajjev more to quarters in singles.

Badminton News
At $120K Yonex Sunrise India Open 2009, Hyderabad (GP Gold)

[R1] (1) Hongyan PI (FRA,4) bt Trupti MURGUNDE (IND,145) 21-18 21-18
[R1] Shixian WANG (CHN,UNR) bt Neha PANDIT (IND,100) 21-13 21-11
[R1] Wen CHENG (CHN,UNR) bt Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,38) 14-21 21-7 21-7
[R1] (3) Mew Choo WONG (MAS,19) bt (Q) Arundhati PANTAWANE (IND,UNR) 16-21 21-13 21-19
[R1] Kwan Yi MONG (HKG,79) bt Siki REDDY (IND,UNR) 21-19 21-15
[R1] (6) Yu HIRAYAMA (JPN,31) bt Kalita ANAJALI (IND,UNR) 21-15 21-15
[R1] Thulasi P.C (IND,UNR) bt (Q) CHITRALEKHA (IND,UNR) 21-13 19-21 21-16
[R1] Uchida SHIZUKA (JPN,129) bt (Q) Aparna BALAN (IND,UNR) 13-21 21-17 21-14
[R1] Sampada SAHASTRABUDDHE (IND,213) bt Dhanya NAIR (IND,UNR) 21-18 22-20
[R1] (Q) Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND,UNR) bt Mingtian FU (SIN,49) 23-21 21-14
[R1] (5) Julia Pei Xian WONG (MAS,15) bt Sayali GOKHALE (IND,UNR) 21-15 21-23 21-14
[R1] Hung Yung CHAN (HKG,284) bt Mudra DAHINJE (IND,UNR) 14-21 21-5 21-19
[R1] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) bt Chew Yen Daphne NG (MAS,UNR) 21-6 21-10

[R2] Thulasi P.C (IND,UNR) vs (6) Yu HIRAYAMA (JPN,31)
[R2] Sampada SAHASTRABUDDHE (IND,213) vs Beiwen ZHANG (SIN,113)
[R2] (Q) Ashwini PONNAPPA (IND,UNR) vs (5) Julia Pei Xian WONG (MAS,15)
[R2] (2) Saina NEHWAL (IND,9) vs Hung Yung CHAN (HKG,284)

Qualifier Arundhati Pantawane and our current nationak champion Sayali Gokhale produced creditable fighting performance against world top-20 Malayasian players ... Another qualifier Ashwini Ponnappa went one step ahead and upset top-50 Singaporean player in first round ... Aditi failed to produce winning comeback after her very long injury break against unranked Chinese opponent ... Saina scored easy win to move into next round.

Badminton News
At $120K Yonex Sunrise India Open 2009, Hyderabad (GP Gold)

[R1] GURUSAI DATT R.M.V (IND,159) bt Brice LEVERDEZ (FRA,50) 21-16 21-11
[R1] (16) Anand PAWAR (IND,47) bt Venkatesh PRASAD (IND,UNR) 21-6 21-13
[R1] (8) Tsuen Seng LEE (MAS,21) bt VIDYADHAR J B S (IND,168) 21-15 21-14
[R1] Abhimanyu SINGH (IND,257) bt Yun Lung CHAN (HKG,218) 21-18 15-21 21-13
[R1] Muhammad Roslin HASHIM (MAS,70) bt Sashidhar C.M. (IND,UNR) 21-15 21-11
[R1] Daren LIEW (MAS,79) bt Sourabh VERMA (IND,285) W/O
[R1] (3) Chetan ANAND (IND,12) bt Chong Chieh LOK (MAS,222) 14-21 21-9 22-20
[R1] Wenlong ZHOU (CHN,216) bt Srujan NANDALURI (IND,UNR) 21-18 21-16
[R1] (10) Muhammad Hafiz HASHIM (MAS,32) bt B.Sumeeth REDDY (IND,UNR) 21-11 21-12
[R1] (5) Andre Kurniawan TEDJONO (INA,20) bt Nigel DSA (IND,UNR) 21-8 21-8
[R1] Mohit KAMAT (IND,UNR) bt Abhijeet NAIMPALLY (IND,UNR) 22-20 21-12
[R1] (14) Wei Feng CHONG (MAS,43) bt Utsav MISHRA (IND,UNR) 21-12 21-11
[R1] Kwong Beng CHAN (MAS,156) bt Saurav KAPOOR (IND,UNR) 21-14 21-9
[R1] TANISHAK K (IND,UNR) bt Mathieu LO YING PING (FRA,71) 21-15 21-11
[R1] Tommy SUGIARTO (INA,54) bt (15) KASHYAP P (IND,44) 21-17 17-21 21-14
[R1] DINESH T (IND,UNR) bt Rohit MORE (IND,UNR) 21-19 21-16
[R1] (7) Sairul Amar AYOB (MAS,26) bt Sachin RATTI (IND,UNR) 21-10 21-11
[R1] Anushuman HAZARIKA (IND,UNR) bt Jagadish YADAV (IND,UNR) 21-17 21-14
[R1] (13) Anup SRIDHAR (IND,48) bt Sachin Kumar RANA (IND,UNR) 21-3 21-7
[R1] Chun Seang TAN (MAS,73) bt Thomas KURIAN (IND,UNR) 21-16 21-19
[R1] Rohan CASTELINO (IND,206) bt Ajay Kumar K (IND,UNR) 21-10 21-12
[R1] Beng Hong KUAN (MAS,41) bt Oscar BANSAL (IND,UNR) 21-19 21-1
[R1] Yanbo QIU (CHN,87) bt Vinay Kumar K. REDDY (IND,358) 21-18 21-18
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,UNR) bt Wee Chung PEI (MAS,103) 21-18 21-5
[R1] Yong Zhao Ashton CHEN (SIN,255) bt Sagar CHOPDA (IND,UNR) 21-16 21-17
[R1] (9) Arvind BHAT (IND,28) bt Pengyu DU (CHN,154) 21-19 7-21 21-13
[R1] (2) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7) bt Nandagopal K. (IND,UNR) 21-8 21-13

[R1] Mohita SACHDEV (IND)/ Tanveer GILL (IND) bt Indra MEHATA (NEP)/ Pooja SHRESTHA (NEP) W/O
[R1] Hendri Kurniawan SAPUTRA (SIN)/ Yu Yan Vanessa NEO (SIN) bt Arun VISHANU (IND)/ Aparna BALAN (IND) 21-17 21-18
[R1] Khim Wah LIM (MAS)/ Marylen Poau Leng NG (MAS) bt Jayan JAMES (IND)/ Deepti PRIYADARSHINI (IND) 21-13 21-15
[R1] Muhammad RIJAL (INA)/ Debby SUSANTO (INA) bt Alwin FRANCIS (IND)/ Jyotshna POLAVARAPU (IND) 21-11 21-16
[R1] Zhiben CHEN (CHN)/ Jinkang ZHANG (CHN) bt Pranav CHOPRA (IND)/ Pradnya GADRE (IND) 21-9 21-6
[R1] (2) Diju VALIYAVEETIL (IND)/ Jwala GUTTA (IND) Bye

In first round youngsters Gurusai Datt, Sai Praneeth and Tanishak scored upset win ... Gurusai Datt defeated top French shuttler WR #50 Leverdez, Sai Praneeth defeated Malyasian shuttler WR #103 Wee Chung Pie and Tanishak defeated second number French shuttler WR #71 Mathieu Ping ... But Kashyap, who was making comeback after long injury break, against Indonasian shuttler Sugiarto ... Expected losses in MXD.

In second round Gurusai Datt facing Chinese Long Chen, who upset Malayasian WR #1 Chong Wei Lee in first round.

Chess News
Amber Chess Tournament 2009, Nice

Tuesday 24 March - Round VIII

Blind
Veselin Topalov - Viswanathan Anand ½ - ½

Rapid
Viswanathan Anand - Veselin Topalov ½ - ½

In 9th round Anand faced his next World Championship match opponent, Veselin Topalov ... This much anticipated match ended in a 1-1 tie that allowed Levon Aronian, who defeated Alexander Morozevich 1½-½ and Magnus Carlsen, who defeated Sergey Karjakin 1½-½, to draw level with Anand in the combined standings with 11½ pts.

Now last 2 rounds r remaining, today Anand meeting Russian GM Alexander Morozevich and in last round he is facing Chinese GM Wang Yue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $50K Jersey Challenger, Channel Islands

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Brian Battistone (USA) bt (4) Olivier Charrone (FRA)/ Nicolas Tourte (FRA) 36 63 10(4)

[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Brian Battistone (USA) vs Fritz Wolmarans (RSA)/ Michael Yani (USA)

Atlast win for this pair, that also against seeded French pair ... Good to see they won in super tie-break ... This win was due as this pair lost too many close matches.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $4.5M Miami Masters, FL, USA

[R1] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Iveta Benesova (CZE)/ Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Sania again partnering Taiwani player, they r facing Czech pair in first round.

Tennis News
At $4.5M Miami Masters, FL, USA

[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1147) vs Diego Junqueira (ARG,73)

[R1] (WC) Sania Mirza (IND,100) vs Mathilde Johansson (FRA,65)

Yuki having great opportunity to play against top-100 player that also in masters event ... His opponent is clay court specialist and only plays on clay so I m hoping for some miracle here ... If he manage to create biggest upset of his small career then he can meet Andy Roddick in second round.

As expected Sania slide in her ranking, but good news is hence onwards Sania can only go upwards as she is not defending any points until June, Birmingham tournament ... And after that also not much points to defend.

Here she is facing French woman and if she manage to beat her then she will face WR No. 2 Dinara Safina in second round.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Khorat Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) l Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS,196) 57 36

[R2] Rajeev Ram (USA,203) vs Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS,196)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (WC) Pongsatorn Benjamas (THA))/ Prach Mahathavorn (THA) 64 61
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt Mathieu Montcourt (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 63 63

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) vs (2) Evgeny Donskoy (RUS)/ Dmitri Sitak (RUS)
[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Purav Raja (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND)

Somdev's disappointing performance in singles on challenger level continues ... Another first round loss, disappointing result from fans point of view ... But may be Som and his team working on developing tools in his game which help him on longterm ... C'mon Som.

As expected our doubles teams scored victories and facing eachother in quarters.

All 4 days missing updates r added in next 3 posts.

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

Round 11 - 19 March 2009

GM SEBAG Marie 0 - 1 GM KONERU Humpy

And in thrilling finish Indian GM Koneru Humpy scored victory with black pieces in the last round but her co-leaders Chinese grandmasters couldn't win their matches ... Co-leader Zhao Xue lost her match against IM Elina Danielian playing with black pieces and other co-leader GM Hou Yifan managed only draw against her chinese compatriot WGM Shen Yang.

Final Standing FIDE Women Grand Prix 2009, Istanbul

1 GM KONERU Humpy 2621 IND 8½
2 IM DANIELIAN Elina 2496 ARM 8
3 GM HOU Yifan 2571 CHN 8
4 GM ZHAO Xue 2508 CHN 7½
5 GM SEBAG Marie 2529 FRA 6
6 IM FIERRO Baquero Martha L. 2403 ECU 5½
7 GM CRAMLING Pia 2548 SWE 5½
8 GM STEFANOVA Antoaneta 2557 BUL 5
9 GM CHIBURDANIDZE Maia 2516 GEO 5
10 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab 2362 AZE 2½
11 WGM SHEN Yang 2448 CHN 2½
12 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2214 TUR 2

GM Koneru Humpy - "First two rounds the way I played was very good. Just missed 2-3 move combination starting with the third game. Once I lost to Hou Yifan I lost my hope to win the title. I just wanted to play some good games. Overall I could not really play up to my level."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Amber Chess Tournament 2009, Nice

WOW, what a comeback from World Champion!!!

After 4 rounds he was 7th in the standings, but in next 4 rounds he lost only 1½ pts and now he is sole leader at Amber Chess Tournament with 10½ pts ... Leading Aronian and Carlsen by ½ pt.

In 5th round Anand defeated Vasily Ivanchuk in rapid game and drawing blind game ... In 6th round he won both rapid and blind games against Teimour Radjabov ... In 7th round he joined leader Vladimir Kramnik after winning blind game and drawing rapid game against Sergey Karjakin ... But in 8th round he showed sensational performance defeating co-leader Vladimir Kramnik in blind game and drawing rapid game to take sole lead before today's break.


Sunday 22 March - Round VIII

Blind
Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik 1 - 0

Rapid
Vladimir Kramnik - Viswanathan Anand ½ - ½

Saturday 21 March - Round VII

Blind
Sergey Karjakin - Viswanathan Anand 0 - 1

Rapid
Viswanathan Anand - Sergey Karjakin ½ - ½

Friday 20 March - Round VI

Blind
Viswanathan Anand - Teimour Radjabov 1 - 0

Rapid
Teimour Radjabov - Viswanathan Anand 0 - 1

Thursday 19 March - Round V

Blind
Vasily Ivanchuk - Viswanathan Anand ½ - ½

Rapid
Viswanathan Anand - Vasily Ivanchuk 1 - 0

Tennis News
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Marcio Torres (BRA) 46 63 10(4)
[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l (3) Michail Elgin (RUS)/ Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS) 67(4) 67(5)

Rohan and Aisam won quarters in super tie-break but tey lost semis against Russian pair in tie-breaks ... Better luck in Khorat Challenger.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Khorat Challenger, Thailand

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,188) l (1) Andreas Beck (GER,104) 57 67(3)
[R1] (7) Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) vs Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS,196)
[R1] Rajeev Ram (USA,203) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA,167) 75 62

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs (WC) Pongsatorn Benjamas (THA)/ Prach Mahathavorn (THA)
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) vs Mathieu Montcourt (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) bt (WC) Faris Akhazzan (GBR)/ Peerakiat Siriluethaiwattana (THA) 60 63
[R1] (2) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)/ Bjorn Rehnquist (SWE)

Prakash produced tremendous fighting against top-100 German player but he lost very closely fought match.

Also good doubles win for Som and his South African partner against wild card pair.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Jersey Challenger, Channel Islands, Great Britain

[R1] BATTISTONE Brian (USA)/ MANKAD Harsh (IND) vs (4) CHARROIN Olivier (FRA)/ TOURTE Nicolas (FRA)
------------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Redding Tournament, CA, USA

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) l (Q) GRANVILLE Laura (USA,UNR) 36 36

Expected loss against more talented Laura Granville, who also won this $25K Redding tournament.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Hammond Tournament, LA, USA

[Q1] (Q) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) l (6) SEMA Yurika (JPN,258) 26 0-3 Retd

Oops, after good performance in last week Shikha retired in her qualifying match ... Hopefully nothing serious injury.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 21st March

JCT bt Sporting Clube de Goa 2-0

Goal scored - MacJames Paul (JCT) 9', Jagpreet Singh (JCT) 81'

JCT shocked 2nd place Sporting to score important victory.
------------------------------------------
22nd March
Air India bt Vasco SC

Goal Scored - Subash Singh (AI) 67'
------------------------------------------
Churchill Brothers bt East Bengal 3-1

Goal Scored - Odafe Okolie (CB) 33' & 74', Ogba Kalu (CB) 47' and Yusuf Yakubu (EB) 90+

Churchill extended their lead to 3 points after scoring easy victory against East Bengal.
------------------------------------------
Mohammedan Sporting bt Mumbai FC 2-0

Goal Scored - Stayajit Bose (MS) 14', Eugene Grey (MS) 70' P

Mohammedan Sporting scored surprising victory over Mumbai FC.
------------------------------------------
23rd March
Dempo SC bt Mahindra United 3-2

Goal Scored - Beto (DSC) 45+, Ranti Martins (DSC) 46' & 88' P, and Izumi Arata (MU) 1', Sushil Kumar Singh (MU) 66'

Izumi Arata scored fastest goal in I-League, he scored goal in 25th seconds after heading cross from Steven Dias ... But they conceded goal in first half injury time and that changed match in favor of Dempo.
------------------------------------------
Mohun Bagan bt Chirag United 2-1

Goal Scored - Marcos Pereira (MB) 44', Baichung Bhutia (MB) 79' and Snehasish Chakraborty (CU) 78'

Taking break for 4 days to njoy Goa beaches!!!

But will update soon when I will comeback on Monday night (23rd march 2009)!!!

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

Round 10 - 18 March 2009

GM KONERU Humpy 1 - 0 GM STEFANOVA Antoaneta

Today's last round gurantee exciting finish as Koneru Humpy joined the lead with 2 Chinese girls ... Humpy scored victory against Bulgarian GM Stefanova with white pieces but leader GM Zhao Xue lost against French GM Marie Sebag, whom Humpy playing with black pieces in the last round ... And Armenian IM Elina Danielian managed draw with other Chinese GM Hou Yifan ... So now leaders r on 7½ pts ... C'mon Humpy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R2] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) l (Q) Noam Okun (ISR,393) 64 36 36

Doubles
[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Marcio Torres (BRA)

After winning first set Rohan lost control over the match, in second set Okun broke Rohan's serve in 7th and 9th games to captured second set ... In third set Okun broke Rohan's serve in 8th game, in 9th game Rohan saved 2 match points but Okun converted 3rd to won this match.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Redding Tournament, CA, USA

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) bt (WC) CHRISTIAN Kaitlyn (USA,UNR) 62 62

[R2] (Q) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) vs (Q) GRANVILLE Laura (USA,UNR)

Expected victory for Shikha after qualifying for this tournament ... In next round she is facing another qualifier Laura Granville.

By the way Laura is also making comeback (after injury?) like Shikha on the tour ... This is her first tournament after she won $75K Midland tournament in February 2008 ... That time she was ranked in top-75 .. In 2007 she had good result like she reached Wimbledon 4th round beating Martina Hingis ... And in US open she lost in second round against Sania Mirza ... :D From 2002 to February 2008 she remained inside top-80 with singles PB #28 in 2003 and doubles PB #47 in 2007.

In my view not easy match for Shikha though she is playing well this week.

Tennis News
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Brydan Klein (AUS)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA) 63 64

[QF] (2) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Harel Levy (ISR)/ Noam Okun (ISR) 26 46
[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Chris Guccione (AUS)/ Marcio Torres (BRA)

Our top-seed pair having winning start and facing another Aussie in quarters ... Kash and Ram lost their quarter-final against Israeli players ... Rohan having good time in measuring Aussies game though in doubles.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Redding Tournament, CA, USA

[R1] NGUYEN Kim-Anh (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) l (4) BRENGLE Madison (USA)/ EL TABAKH Heidi (CAN) 67(6) 46

Fighting performance against seeded pair.

Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009,

Group E
Al Faisaly, Jordan l Dempo SC 3-4

Goal Scored - Moayad Salim Ali Mansour (AlF) 55', Moayad Omar Suleiman Abukeshek (AlF) 72' & 75' and Clifford Miranda (DSC) 23', Anthony Pereira (DSC) 28', Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 43' & 70'

Dempo take 3-0 lead at half time but Al Faisaly players produced tremendous fightback and tried to score equalizer but Dempo managed to hang up their advantage to scored important victory ... This was their second voctory in 2 matches.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 9 - 17 March 2009

GM ZHAO Xue ½ - ½ GM KONERU Humpy

In the ninth round Xue Zhao managed to hold a difficult game against Humpy Koneru ... So Xue kept lead with ½ pt over Yifan.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Amber Chess Tournament 2009, Nice

Tuesday 17 March - Round IV

Blind
Viswanathan Anand - Levon Aronian ½ - ½

Rapid
Levon Aronian - Viswanathan Anand ½ - ½

Both games against Levon Aronian ended in a draw ... After 4 rounds Anand in on T7 position with 4 pts, he is 1½ pts behind leader Kramnik.

Tennis News
Davis Cup 2009,

For Group I Asia/Oceania 2009 third round tie from 08 May to 10 May 2009 AITA announced that Chennai will host this tie against Australia!!! This is happeneing due to Somdev's performance this year at the Chennai Open, the Nungambakkam courts will be hosting this tie ... First time in almost 30 years India will not play a David Cup home tie on grass.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[R1] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) bt Rajeev Ram (USA,206) 63 76(6)
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) l Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA,164) 36 26
[R1] (8) Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) l Martin Slanar (AUT,275) 36 64 46

[R2] (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) vs (Q) Noam Okun (ISR,393)

Rohan scored huge much needed upset win over Ram ... Rohan requires as much singles practice before our Davis Cup Australian tie and he is showing good form this week after qualifying for this challenger.

But disappointing performance by Som and Kash .. Kash had tough match but wasn't expecting such easy loss ... Som had good draw but he again failed to take advantage of it.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Citta' Di Caltanissetta Challenger, Caltanissetta, Italy, (Clay)

[R1] (1) Brian Battistone (USA)/ Harsh Mankad (IND) l Matwe Middelkoop (NED)/ Antonio Veic (CRO) 46 60 (5)10

And this was 4th consecutive loss without win after starting playing together ... Another super tie-break loss ... Its really heart-breaking.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $25K Redding Tournament, CA, USA

[Q1] (11) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) bt LIVADARU Anna (GER,UNR) 61 75
[Q2] (11) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) bt (4) RODIONOVA Arina (RUS,308) 64 63

[R1] (Q) UBEROI Shikha (IND,623) vs (WC) CHRISTIAN Kaitlyn (USA,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] NGUYEN Kim-Anh (USA)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) vs (4) BRENGLE Madison (USA)/ EL TABAKH Heidi (CAN)

After longtime Shikha won back to back matches to qualify for maindraw ... That;s also scoring win against higher seed ... C'mon Shikha.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009,

Group D

Mohun Bagan l Al Weehdat, Jordan 1-2

Goal Scored - Rakesh Masih (MB) 13' and Mahmoud Shelbayah (AlW) 16', Hassan Abdel Fattah (AlW0 43'

So with 2 defeats in 2 matches is making tough task for Mohun Bagan to move into next round ... Mohun Bagan tried hard in second half to equaliser but they didn't manage in the end.

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

[R2] (3) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) l MIRNYI Max (BLR)/ RAM Andy (ISR) 67(2) 46
[R2] (4) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) l DEL POTRO Juan Martin (ARG)/ NALBANDIAN David (ARG) 67(6) 67(5)

In disappointing matches our both seeded pair lost in second round of this Masters event ... Lee and Lukas lost both sets in tie-break against Argentines ... Mahehs and Mark lost against Mad Max and his current partner Ram in straight sets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 8 - 16 March 2009

GM KONERU Humpy 1 - 0 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab

Humpy scored expected victory against Mamedjarova with white pieces ... Zhao Xue scored upset win over leader Hou Yifan to take lead ... She is on 7 pts, Yifan is on 6½ pts and Humpy on 6 pts ... In next 9th round Humpy is playing against leader Zhao Xue with black pieces.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Amber Chess Tournament 2009, Nice

Saturday 14 March - Round I
Blind
Vishwanathan Anand - Peter Leko 1 - 0

Rapid
Peter Leko - Vishwanathan Anand 0 - 1

Sunday 15 March - Round II
Blind
Gata Kamsky - Vishwanathan Anand ½ - ½

Rapid
Vishwanathan Anand - Gata Kamsky 1 - 0

Monday 16 March - Round III
Blind
Vishwanathan Anand - Magnus Carlsen 0 - 1

Rapid
Magnus Carlsen - Vishwanathan Anand ½ - ½

Anand struggling in this edition of Amber tournament ... In third round he lost against Carlsen with black pieces in Blind and managed draw in Rapid.

Tennis News
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[Q3] Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) bt Ti Chen (TPE,363) 62 61

[R1] Rajeev Ram (USA,206) vs (Q) Rohan Bopanna (IND,317)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt (WC) Kirati Siributwong (THA)/ Peerakit Siributwong (THA) 64 61
[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Brydan Klein (AUS)/ Danai Udomchoke (THA)

Rohan scored very dominating victory against Ti Chen to move into maindraw ... But their he is facing tough challenge of Rajeev Ram, both having similar style of game so this match would be interesting.

Rohan and Aisam r back together as a pair for 2 weeks Thai challengers, they r top-seed ... Prakash and Rajeev r also together as 2nd seed pair and they started with win against local wild card pair.

Golf News
At $8.5M the WGC-CA Championship, Doral, Florida - Final Standing

1 Phil Mickelson 65 66 69 69 -19 $ 1,400,000.00
2 Nick Watney 66 67 67 70 -18 $ 820,000.00
3 Jim Furyk 68 68 69 67 -16 $ 470,000.00
4 Jeev Milkha Singh 65 71 68 70 -14 $ 360,000.00
T5 Camilo Villegas 67 68 69 71 -13 $ 275,000.00
T9 Kenny Perry 70 64 71 72 -11 $ 142,500.00
T9 Tiger Woods 71 70 68 68 -11 $ 142,500.00
T13 Prayad Marksaeng 65 70 72 71 -10 $ 97,142.86
T13 Ian Poulter 69 67 73 69 -10 $ 97,142.86
T13 Sean O'Hair 67 70 74 67 -10 $ 97,142.86
T20 Ernie Els 70 71 68 70 -9 $ 80,142.86
T20 Padraig Harrington 66 71 71 71 -9 $ 80,142.86
T31 Sergio Garcia 72 72 68 70 -6 $ 68,500.00
T53 Vijay Singh 69 72 71 74 -2 $ 46,000.00
T66 Retief Goosen 65 76 73 76 +2 $ 38,125.00

Jeev scored 2 under in the final round to finish inside top-5 in WGC-CA Championship ... This was Jeev's best finish on US soil and in WGC tournament ... Good to see Jeev take advantage of first good round for strong finish ... This finish also help Jeev to break into top-30 World Golf Ranking, he climbs to his personal best and Indian best ranking, WGR #29.

On last day Jeev started with birdie but then he had bogey-birdie combination on 4 and 5th holes ... Another 2 times he had birdie-bogey combinations on 7th-8th and 12th-14th holes but birdie on 16th hole secured him sole 4th position.

Golf News
At the WGC-CA Championship, Doral, Florida - Round 2

T1 Phil Mickelson 65 66 69 -16
T1 Nick Watney 66 67 67 -16
T3 Camilo Villegas 67 68 69 -12
T3 Jeev Milkha Singh 65 71 68 -12
T5 Jim Furyk 68 68 69 -11
T5 Kenny Perry 70 64 71 -11
T13 Prayad Marksaeng 65 70 72 -9
18 Padraig Harrington 66 71 71 -8
T19 Ian Poulter 69 67 73 -7
T19 Tiger Woods 71 70 68 -7
T19 Ernie Els 70 71 68 -7
T30 Sean O'Hair 67 70 74 -5
T38 Sergio Garcia 72 72 68 -4
T38 Vijay Singh 69 72 71 -4
T54 Retief Goosen 65 76 73 -2

Another mixed round for Jeev but 2 eagles on 1st and 12th holes helped him ... He also had 3 bogeys on 3rd, 5th and Par-5 10th holes ... But also managed birdies on 4th, 7th and 15th holes ... This 4 under round helped him to lift to T3 position 4 strokes behind leader ... Another such last round would help im to finish inside top-5 on final day ... Go Jeev.

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

[R2] (WC) MIRZA Sania (IND,87) l (12) PENNETTA Flavia (ITA,15) 36 46

Doubles
[R1] (4) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) bt KNOWLE Julian (AUT)/ MELZER Jurgen (AUT) 64 36 10(8)

[R2] (4) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) vs DEL POTRO Juan Martin (ARG)/ NALBANDIAN David (ARG)

Sania's this loss was expected after her first round struggle ... In new ranking she will again out of top-100 as last year here she reached in 4th round.

Good super tie-break victory for Lee and Lukas against tricky experienced Austrian pair ... In second round they r facing another tricky Argentine Davis Cup team.
------------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Bangkok Challenger, Thailand

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) bt (WC) Filip Krajinovic (SRB,526) 61 62

[Q3] Rohan Bopanna (IND,317) vs Ti Chen (TPE,363)

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA,164)
[R1] (8) Somdev Devvarman (IND,150) vs Martin Slanar (AUT,275)

Another easy victory for Rohan against wild-carder ... But now having important match against Taiwani experienced Davis Cupper.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News
At the FIDE Women Grand Prix, Istnbul, Turkey

Round 7 - 14 March 2009

GM HOU Yifan 1 - 0 GM KONERU Humpy

Hou Yifan defeated Koneru with white pieces to take decisive lead over her ... She is leading by 1½ pts over her with 6½ pts from 7 rounds.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 14th March

Air India l Mahindra United 1-3

Goal scored - Chidi Edeh (MU) 24'& 30', Sushil Kumar (MU) 56' and Kailash Patil (AI) 90'

Mahindra continued with their winning ways to move into standings.
------------------------------------------
Vasco SC l Mohammedan Sporting 0-1

Goal Scored - Suroj Mondal (MS) 19'
------------------------------------------
15th March
Mumbai FC l Churchill Brothers 2-3

Goal Scored - Anees Kutty (MFC) 15', Robert Lalthlamuana (CB) OG 84' and Robert Lalthlamuana (CB) 27' & 56', Odafa (CB) 85'

Churchill's Robert Lalthlamuana did all scored 2 goals with excellent free-kicks but also scored own goal but Odafa saved Churchill and with this win they again leading league standings with39 pts.
------------------------------------------
Sporting Clube de Goa dw East Bengal 1-1

Goal Scored - Joseph Pereira (SCG) 64' and Ishmael (EB) 42'

Sporting managed draw with East Bengal through Pereira's goal ... Sporting also has 39 pts but they are placed second in the league standing on the basis of goal difference.

Golf News
At the WGC-CA Championship, Doral, Florida - Round 2

1 Phil Mickelson 65 66 -13
T3 Kenny Perry 70 64 -10
T5 Prayad Marksaeng 65 70 -9
T5 Camilo Villegas 67 68 -9
T8 Jim Furyk 68 68 -8
T8 Ian Poulter 69 67 -8
T8 Jeev Milkha Singh 65 71 -8
T15 Padraig Harrington 66 71 -7
T15 Sean O'Hair 67 70 -7
T35 Vijay Singh 69 72 -3
T35 Ernie Els 70 71 -3
T35 Tiger Woods 71 70 -3
T35 Retief Goosen 65 76 -3
T58 Sergio Garcia 72 72 E

Jeev had veery mixed second round, he was 5 under for the day after 12 holes but then he scored back to back bogeys on 13th and 14th holes ... Managed birdie on 16th hole but again scored bogey on 17th hole ... But worst came on last hole where he scored double bogey to end day on 1 under ... He need 65/66 third round to remain in top group.