Tennis News
At $1M Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA (Green clay)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,100) bt Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ,133) 64 64

[R2] Sania Mirza (IND,100) vs (2) Venus Williams (USA,5)

Wow, superb straight sets victory ... Sania need to win these matches and she is winning ... Now 2nd seed Venus in the second round.

In the first set Sania was down 0-2 but then she won next 4 games to lead 4-2 ... Sesil came back strongly winning next 2 games to make it 4-all ... But Sania kept her cool to won next 2 games to pocket first set ... In second set also Sania fought back from break down, from 1-3 down she broke Sesil's serve twice to lead 5-3 and then she hold her serve to won match.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R2] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs Santiago Gonzalez (MEX,211)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ David Martin (USA) l Bruno Echagaray (MEX)/ Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 63 76(5) (10)12

After winning first set top seed pair of Kash and Martin lost match in very closely contested game ... In singles Kash is facing local favorite in second round.

Tennis News
At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco (Red clay)

[R2] (3) Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Albert Montanes (ESP)/ Tommy Robredo (ESP)
[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

So Lee and Mahesh having very tricky matches on clay against Spanish opponents in second round with their respective partners.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R1] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) bt Riccardo Ghedin (ITA,241) 06 61 63

After surrendering first set easily Kash produced strong comeback in the match winning next 2 sets easily.
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At $15K Korea F2, Seogwipo

[Q3] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1715) l (4) Byung-Kook KANG (KOR,677) 46 36

Karunuday couldn't manage to cross final hurdle but still overall very good experience for him.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)
Final
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (1) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Lisa Raymond (USA) 63 46 10(7)

And this week Sania and Chia-Jung managed to turn table on pair of Peschke and Raymond in super tie-break ... This is huge title win for Sania after her comeback, hopefully these good performance in doubles help her to motivate do more on singles ... This win helped Sania to bring her doubles ranking inside top 60, #59.
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At $1M Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA (Green clay)

[R1] Sania Mirza (IND,100) vs Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ,133)

This week Sania playing only in singles at Family Circle Cup ... Her opponent is also consider as under-achiever than her potential like Sania ... So interesting match-up, winner of this match will next play second seed Venus Williams.
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At $35K+H Mexico City Challanger, Mexico

[R1] (8) Prakash Amritraj (IND,192) vs Riccardo Ghedin (ITA,241)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ David Martin (USA) vs Bruno Echagaray (MEX)/ Giovanni Lapentti (ECU)

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

Final - 12th April
India bt Malaysia 3-1

Goal Scored - Arjun Halappa (IND) 8', Prabhjot Singh (IND) 20', Shivender Singh (IND) 41' and Azlan Misron (MAS) 11'

For 3rd position
New Zealand bt Pakistan 2-1

Indian team won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009 beating host Malaysia, this was their 4th title but now after 13 years ... Before this their last title was in 1995 and Indians were runner-up last year against Argentina and also they were ended on 3rd position 3 times in 2000, 2006 and 2007.

In this match Indian forwardline worked as well oiled machine and Indian defence under, world record holder of playing maximum matches now 406, Dilip Tirkey stood firm without giving any chance to Malaysian team to comeback in the match after taking lead.

Football News
At I-League 2008/09 - 12th April

Mohun Bagan bt Dempo SC 2-1

Goal Scored - Jose Ramirez Barreto (MB) 28', N.S. Manju (MB) 90+' and Ranty Martins (DSC) 55'

Crucial match for Mohun Bagan as they needed to win this match to keep their title hope alive ... But their chances of winning I-League title was almost over as match moving towards draw but N.S. Manju scored winning goal in 4th minute of injury time and keep their title chase alive until 16th April.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

Final
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (1) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Lisa Raymond (USA)

[SF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Liga Dekmeijere (LAT)/ Angela Haynes (USA) 64 63
[QF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt (4) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Nadia Petrova (RUS) 64 75

Sania and Chia-Jung moved into semis with good straight sets victory in quartersa and semis ... In the final they r facing top-seed pair against whom they lost last week.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

Doubles Final -
Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) l (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) 36 76(6) (3)10

[SF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) l (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) 36 62 (6)10
[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt Benedikt Dorsch (GER)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 63 76(10)

Singles Final -
(WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) l (4) Benjamin Becker (GER,127) 62 36 6y4

[SF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Samuel Groth (AUS,289) 64 64

So top-seed pair of Ram and Reynolds ended Indian players good run in Lousiana Challenger ... In semis they ended qualifier Som and Huey's dream run in super tie-break ... And in the final again they won in super tie-break against Harsh and Oudsema ... Overall satisfying performance by Harsh and Som with their respective partners.
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At € 2.75M Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco

[R1] (3) DLOUHY Lukas (CZE)/ PAES Leander (IND) Bye
[R1] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) Bye
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At $15K Korea F2, Seogwipo

[Q1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt (15) Seung-Hoon LEE (KOR,1195) 63 62
[Q2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt Daniel YOON (KOR) 61 64

[Q3] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) vs (4) Byung-Kook KANG (KOR,680)

At $15K Korea F1, Daegu

[Q1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) bt Sun Hong YOON (KOR,NR) 60 62
[Q2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,1717) l (2) Hyun-Joon KIM (KOR,743) 16 26

Good to see last 2 weeks Karunuday playing in Korean futures qualifying ... This is good experience for him on tour.

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

12th April
India bt Pakistan 2-1

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (IND) 28' PS & 60' PC and Mohamed Saqlain (PAK) 50'

Malaysia dw New Zealand 1-1

India entered into the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final with hard fought well deserved victory against Pakistan ... Sandeep Singh was hero again, who scored both goals ... India defeated them in their game plan as per our coach Harendra Singh.

In the final they r facing Malaysia, who drew with New Zealand.
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Golf News
At the Augusta Masters, Augusta, Georgia

Jeev Milkha Singh 71 75 +2

First-time ever Jeev missed cut at the Augusta Masters ... In second round he scored 3 over and missed cut by 1 stroke ... In second round Jeev struggled with putting, he had only 2 birdies and 5 bogeys.

Hockey News

And atlast some good news for Indian hockey, India will have a foreign coach for almost two years (until 2010 Commonwealth Games), extendable up to 2012 ... Former Spain coach Jose Brasa has been sent appointment letter from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, government of India ... He will be paid Euro 8500 per month.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) l (4) Bao Chunlai (CHN,12) 21-15 9-21 16-21

Kashyap lost match in 47 minutes ... Overall good performance by Kashyap in this Asia Championships ... But again our player lost after winning first game.

Tennis News
At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[QF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335) 63 61
[SF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs Samuel Groth (AUS,289)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt Matthias Bachinger (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER) 64 62
[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ Shane La Porte (USA) 26 62 10(8)
[QF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA) 63 64

[SF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA)
[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) vs Benedikt Dorsch (GER)/ Marinko Matosevic (AUS)

Good to see our pairs reached in semis ... Qualifiers Som and Huey having terrific run upto semis, their they r facing big challenge of top-seeds ... Harsh and Oudsema scripted superb comeback victory in very close super tie-break to move into semis.

Golf News
At the Augusta Masters, Augusta, Georgia - First Round

1 Chad Campbell 65 -7
T14 Padraig Harrington 69 -3
T21 Tiger Woods 70 -2
T28 Jeev Milkha Singh 71 -1
T28 Vijay Singh 71 -1
T51 Sergio Garcia 73 +1
T75 Retief Goosen 75 +3
T75 Ernie Els 75 +3

Jeev ended first round on 1 under 6 strokes behind leader ... Sedate start considering his eagle on 13th but he scored bogey on the last hole.
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Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

9th April
India dw New Zealand 2-2

Goal Scored - Sandeep Singh (IND) 27' PC & 48' PC and Richard Petherick (NZL) 8', Joseph Barth Holomew (NZL) 63'

Pakistan bt Egypt 4-0

And again India failed to take advantage of lead ... This time also they tried to defend after taking lead and another late goal from opposition managed only draw ... Now both India and New Zealand need win with their respective opponents to move into the final.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R2] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS) 17-21 21-11 18-21

[R3] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21) 21-19 17-21 21-11

[QF] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (4) Bao Chunlai (CHN,12)

P. Kashyap scored upset win over 7th seed Nguyen to moved into Asia Championship quarters ... After losing second game Kashyap cameback strongly to won final game ... In quarters he is having big challenge of Chinese opponnet.

Diju and Jwala's loss against unseeded Malaysian pair is shocking result considering their good form in recent days.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

[R1] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Melinda Czink (HUN)/ Lilia Osterloh (USA) 60 36 10(5)

[QF] Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (4) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Nadia Petrova (RUS)

So Chia-Jung and Sania managed to pull match in super tie-break ... They started well but in second set they lost concentration ... good to see they came back strongly in super tie-break to fix their quarters against 4th seed pair.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[R2] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) l (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335) 67(5) 57
[R2] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Jose De Armas (VEN,269) 60 64

[QF] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) bt Brian Battistone (USA)/ Samuel Groth (AUS) 64 62
[R1] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt Alex Bogdanovic (GBR)/ Conor Niland (IRL) 61 62

[QF] (1) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Bobby Reynolds (USA) vs Matthias Bachinger (GER)/ Benjamin Becker (GER)
[QF] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA)/ Shane La Porte (USA)
[QF] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs (3) Todd Widom (USA)/ Michael Yani (USA)

Another close but unnecessary loss for Som ... As of now it looks that he is struggling with his game and need more matches to bring back his confidence back.

In doubles qualifiers Som and Huey scored very easy victory ... Now in next round they r meeting 3rd seed pair.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt (15) Ji Hoon Hong (KOR,43) 21-14 7-21 21-19
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,51) l (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21) 21-16 15-21 16-21

[R3] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21)

Kashyap pulled upset win over local seeded player in tight third game ... His next opponent 7th seed, who managed comeback win against Anand Pawar.

Hockey News
At the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2009, Ipoh, Malaysia

8th April
India bt Malaysia 3-0

Goal Scored - Arjun Halappa (IND) 19' PC, Sandeep Singh (IND) 31' PC, Gurvinder Chandi (IND) 62'

New Zealand dw Egypt 1-1

6th April
New Zealand bt Pakistan 3-2
Malaysia bt Egypt 4-1

After tame draw in first match against Egypt, India needed to produce solid performance and they scored fluent victory against host Malaysia ... India utilised chances they recieved other hand Malaysia couldn't converted it ... Still after loss Malaysia is leading group standing with 6 pts, India and New Zealand r 2nd with 4 pts but India having better goal difference.
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Golf News
At the Augusta Masters,

At the Augusta Masters, Jeev is pairing with Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink ... They r second last group to start on first day ... This is really dream draw for Jeev, before this who was paired with Woods in the 2006 HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.

Jeev also got opportunity to had 9 holes practice round with legend Greg Norman ... He also chatted with another great Arnold Palmer about the game.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) l Kazuteru Kozai (JPN,84) 13-21 19-21
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) bt Kishor Rana (NEP,UNR) 21-7 21-7
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) bt (Q) Chanthan Mao (CAM,UNR) 21-5 21-3

[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,14) 21-14 14-21 12-21
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,39) l Pei Hsin Chiang (TPE,111) 13-21 11-21

[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt (Q) Mikhail Zakharov (KAZ)/ Karina Suleyeva (KAZ) 21-6 21-6

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l Chen Xu (CHN)/ Zhendong Guo (CHN) 18-21 19-21

[R2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs (15) Ji Hoon Hong (KOR,43)
[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,51) vs (7) Tien Minh Nguyen (VIE,21)

[R2] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS)

Another disastrous and inconsistent performance by Chetan to lose in the first round against lowly ranked Japanese.

Saina also failed to overcome defending champion Yanjiao Jiang's challenge in 40 mins match ... Saian started well winning first game but after that Jiang didn't give her any chance ... Aditi lost (mostly due to lack of match practice) but scoreline was shocking.

Diju and Jwala started with very easy victory against Kazak qualifiers.

Tennis News
At €450K Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco (Red Clay)

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Lovro Zovko (CRO) l Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 67(4) 36

Was hoping better performance by this Indo-German pair.

Next week Rohan is playing with Aisam at $100K+H Johannesburg Challenger in South Africa ... Hopefully they will continue with their good run at challengers level.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[R1] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) bt Kyu Tae Im (KOR,255) 67(4) 62 62
[R1] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) bt Nick Lindahl (AUS,297) 63 64

[R2] (8) Somdev DevVarman (IND,150) vs (WC) Lester Cook (USA,335)
[R2] (WC) Rajeev Ram (USA,191) vs Jose De Armas (VEN,269)

Good comeback win by Som against similar style tricky Korean opponent ... In second round he is facing American wild card player Lester Cook, against him Som lost in their previous meeting at qualifier of Champaign Challenger in 2008.

Rajeev also started well with straight sets victory.
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Football News
At the AFC Cup 2009, (7th April 2009)

Group D

Mohun Bagan l Kuwait SC, Kuwait 0-1

Goal Scored - Samer J.A.S. Almartah (KSC) 61'

Mohun Bagan's disastrous performance in AFC Cup 2009 continued ... Yesterday they lost against Kuwaiti clup by single goal and after 3 matches they r still bottom of the group D.
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Group E
Al Muharraq, Bahrain dw Dempo SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Abdulla Adnan Saleh Salman Aldakeel (AlM) 90+' and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 77'

Dempo were unlucky to draw their match ... They were leading by a Ranty Martins's strike until last minute of the match ... But last few minutes rough game costed victory .. Still creditable performance to draw away match.

Badminton News
At Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships 2009, South Korea

[Q1] Sayali Gokhale (IND,219) bt Munkhchimeg Mendjargal (MGL,UNR) 21-8 21-4
[Q1] P. C. Thulasi (IND,UNR) l Min Jie Pai (TPE,UNR) 9-21 22-20 7-21

[Q2] Sayali Gokhale (IND,219) l (1) Jingjing Zhu (CHN,57) 17-21 13-21

[R1] Chetan Anand (IND,13) vs Kazuteru Kozai (JPN,84)
[R1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,44) vs Kishor Rana (NEP,UNR)
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) vs (Q) Chanthan Mao (CAM,UNR)

[R1] (7) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) vs Yanjiao Jiang (CHN,14)
[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,39) vs Pei Hsin Chiang (TPE,111)

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Chen Xu (CHN)/ Zhendong Guo (CHN)

[R1] (7) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs (Q) Mikhail Zakharov (KAZ)/ Karina Suleyeva (KAZ)

Again tough draw for Saina ... :-) This time she is facing WR #14 chinese opponent Yanjiao Jiang, who is defending champion of this tournament which she won last year ... Jiang is in good nick as she reached semis in All England Open and then she was finalist at Swiss Open Super Series ... Saina need to be careful in this match.

Aditi having easy first round match but she is playing just second tournament after long injury break so not sure about her match fitness ... Our men's having good draw, hopefully they will take advantage of it ... After top-seed's withdrawal from this tournament Chetan is highest seeded player in top-draw, good opportunity for him to improve his ranking.

Tennis News
At $220K MPS Group Championships, Ponte Vedra Beach, USA (Green Clay)

[R1] (7) Alona Bondarenko (UKR,37) l Sania Mirza (IND,100) 46 36

No firework from Sania and lost in straight sets against top-40 player ... Though match was on green clay still it gave indication that Sania still way long from her best performance.
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At $50K Lousiana Challenger, Baton Rouge, USA

[Q2] Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU)/ Karlis Lejnieks (LAT) 63 61

[R1] Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Scott Oudsema (USA) bt (2) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 64 63
[R1] (Q) Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Alex Bogdanovic (GBR)/ Conor Niland (IRL)

And as per my expectation Harsh and Oudsema scored straight sets victory against 2nd seed Ratiwatanas to move into quarters ... Som in company of his college mate Huey moved into maindraw with another easy victory in doubles final qualifying.

Archery News
At Archery World Cup (Stage 1), Santo Domingo (31st March to 5th April 2009)

Indian Recurve Men's team of Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar won gold medal in World Cup (Stage 1) at Santo Domingo ... Its creditable performance by archers though not any other Asian country participated in this event.

Indian Compound Women's team of Bheigyabati Chanu, Jhano Hansdah, Manjudha Soy won bronze medal.

In Recurve Women individual enent Dola Banerjee won bronze medal beating her compatriot Reena Kumari.

Recurve Men Team

For Gold medal -
India bt Great Britain 221 - 215

[SF] India bt USA 219 - 215
[QF] India bt Turkey 222 - 203
[R1] India bye

Compound Women Team

For Bronze medal -
India bt Venezuela 219 - 208

[SF] India l USA 220 - 225
[QF] India bt Colombia 207 - 200

Recurve Women Individual

For Bronze medal -
Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Reena Kumari (IND) 102 (T9) - 102 (T7)

[SF] Dola Banerjee (IND) l Alison Williamson (GBR) 95 - 101
[SF]Reena Kumari (IND) l Natalia Valeeva (ITA) 104 - 111

[QF] Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Laishram Bombayla Devi (IND) 106 (T9;9) - 106 (T9;10)
[QF] Reena Kumari (IND) bt Mariana Avitia (MEX) 103 - 100