Badminton News
At $200K French Open 2012, Paris

[R1] Sourabh Varma (IND,32) l Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,23) 20-22 16-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,27) bt (Q) Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,64) 21-16 21-17
[R1] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Li Han (CHN,23) 21-11 16-21 21-19

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l (4) Ki Jung Kim (KOR)/ Sa Rang Kim (KOR)12-21 7-21
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Patiphat Chalardchaleam (THA)/ Savitree Amitrapai (THA) 18-21 15-21

[R2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,27) vs (3) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,8)
[R2] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA,27)

Another loss for Sourabh against Sony ... In the first game Sourabh produced fight and had a game point at 20-19 but after that Sony proved too strong for him.

Tarun and Ashwini's struggle of finding footing on international stage continue ... In men's double 4th seed Koreans trounced our Indian pair in 23 minutes.

In the first game from 4-all Saina opened small lead and then from 11-9 she won 6 points in a row to win this game comfortably ... In the second game Li Han started with winning first 6 points ... Saina tried hard to catch Li but this lead proved crucial to Li for winning the second game ... In the decider Saina take 3-0 lead which she increased to 11-5 but Li Han caught with her at 14-all then again at 17-all ... Saina won next couple of points to lead 19-17 but again Li Han managed to make it 19-all ... This time Saina won next 2 points to complete victory in 59 minutes ... Surprisingly tough match for Saina after her excellent title win at Denmark open ... Next Saina is facing Thai girl Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

Ajay scored straight games win over Thai qualifier ... In the first game couple of times Ajay take a lead and both time Suppanyu made it equal but from 11-all Ajay take control and won this game ... In the second game Ajay opened 7-2 lead and kept it till end despite efforts from Suppanyu ... In the second round Ajay is facing veteran Peter Gade.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,181) l (WC) Ji Sung Nam (KOR,612) 0-1 Retd. ( Left foot arch bruised)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Yuichi Sugita (JPN)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) w/o

Yuki retired from his singles match after playing a single game ... Don't know about seriousness of his injury ... He and Divij also give walkover in the doubles ... Tough luck for Yuki.
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At $25K Lagos Women's ITF Tournament, Nigeria

[R2] Kyra Shroff (IND,540) l (6) Cristina Dinu (ROU,319) 16 26

Doubles
[QF] Nidhi Chilumula (IND)/ Sofia Dmitrieva (RUS) l (1) Conny Perrin (SUI)/ Chanel Simmonds (RSA) 26 16
[QF] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) l (3) Jia Xiang LU (CHN)/ Jia-Jing LU (CHN) 26 67(6)

Rishika and her Israeli partner had some respected score in their loss against 3rd seed Chinese pair ... In other 2 matches our players managed to win only 3 games in their matches.
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At $15K India F13 Futures, Mumbai

[R2] (1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,272) l Mate PAVIC (CRO,463) 57 Retd.
[R2] (8) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,446) bt Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND,907) 61 64
[R2] (4) Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE,372) vs (Q) Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE,1880)
[R2] (5) Saketh MYNENI (IND,387) l Nicolas REISSIG (AUT,505) 26 64 57
[R2] (WC) Purav RAJA (IND,1272) bt (7) Vijayant MALIK (IND,421) 75 46 64
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,321) l James MARSALEK (GBR,572) 62 26 46
[R2] (6) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,400) bt Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,1082) 46 63 62
[R2] (WC) Arjun KADHE (IND,1404) l (2) Christopher RUNGKAT (INA,303) 46 36

Proved terrible day for seeded Indians who played against foreigners ... Only 3 Indians in the quarters.

Tennis News
At Asia/Oceania Zone Group I - Davis Cup 2013,

Draw is out for Asia/Oceania Zone Group I and we r 4th seeded ... In the first round India is facing South Korea ... Luckily this time we r having all home matches to qualify to the World Group Playoffs ... If we win against Korea from February 1-3, 2013 then we mostly face Japan (or Indonesia) from April 5-7, 2013.

AITA announced to hold the tie in New Delhi at the R K Khanna Tennis Stadium from February 1 to 3.
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At €1.9M Swiss Indoors Basel, Switzerland

[R1] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (ALT) Robin Haase (NED)/ Dick Norman (BEL) 57 62 12-14

Another shocking loss for Rohan and Mahesh against alternate pairing of Haase and Norman ... After losing the first set Rohan and Mahesh made strong comeback winning the second set easily ... In match tie-break they failed to keep momentum and lost in extra points.
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At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,181) bt (3) Dmitry Tursunov (RUS,119) 64 76(5)
[R1] (Q) Divij Sharan (IND,1310) l (6) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,135) 26 75 46

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,181) vs (WC) Ji Sung Nam (KOR,612)

Yuki scored big win against Dima, who was in great form after winning back to back challengers in Turkey last month and reaching QF at Tokyo ATP this month.

In the first set Yuki faced 6 break points on his serve but he saved 5 but he broke Dima's serve twice from 4 break points to win this set ... In the second set Yuki didn't face a single break point but he failed to convert 5 break points on Dima's serve ... In tie-break Dima double faulted to give Yuki min-break, 5-3 ... While serving for the match Yuki double faulted at 6-4 but Yuki again take mini-break on Dima's serve converting 2nd match point ... Next Yuki is facing Korean wild-card youngster, who scored easy upset win against Alexander Kudryavtsev.

Divij started with breaking Sugita in 2nd game to lead 2-0 but after that Sugita won next 6 games to win the set breaking Divij thrice ... In the second set Divij saved 7 break points and converted only break point in 12th game to win this set ... In the final set Sugita take crucial break in 7th game and kept that advantage to win this match.
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At $25K Lagos Women's ITF Tournament, Nigeria

[R1] Kyra Shroff (IND,540) bt (Q) Chinenye Ndidi Izuogo (NGR,UNR) 60 60
[R1] Nidhi Chilumula (IND,675) l (7) Jia-Jing Lu (CHN,346) 26 67(4)
[R1] Shivika Burman (IND,861) l (5) Dalila Jakupovic (SLO,299) 36 36
[R1] Rishika Sunkara (IND,634) l Viktoriya Tumova (BUL,599) 26 36
[R1] (Q) Arantxa Andrady (IND,UNR) l Anja Prislan (SLO,520) 06 16
[R1] (Q) Nikita Deshmukh (IND,UNR) l (2) Channel Simmonds (RSA,177) 06 06

[R2] Kyra Shroff (IND,540) vs (6) Cristina Dinu (ROU,319)

Doubles
[R1] Nidhi Chilumula (IND)/ Sofia Dmitrieva (RUS) bt Osariemen Airhunmwunde (NGR)/ Rita Obasigie (NGR) 61 61
[R1] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) bt Nour Azzouz (EGY)/ Ushna Suhail (PAK) 64 60
[R1] Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Kyra Shroff (IND) l (2) Cristina Dinu (ROU)/ Tadeja Majeric (SLO) 62 57 3-10

[QF] Nidhi Chilumula (IND)/ Sofia Dmitrieva (RUS) vs (1) Conny Perrin (SUI)/ Chanel Simmonds (RSA)
[QF] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) vs (3) Jia Xiang LU (CHN)/ Jia-Jing LU (CHN)

Expected easy win for Kyra, who won without losing a single game ... In doubles Rishika and her Israeli partner Ester started with easy win ... Next they r facing 3rd seed Chinese pair.
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At $15K India F13 Futures, Mumbai

[R1] (1) Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,272) bt Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,823) 64 57 63
[R1] Mate PAVIC (CRO,463) bt (Q) Rakshay THAKKAR (IND,1358) 36 62 62
[R1] Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND,907) bt (Q) Sebastian OFNER (AUT,UNR) 60 64
[R1] (8) Ranjit VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,446) bt Reid CARLETON (USA,511) 4-1 Retd.
[R1] (4) Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE,372) bt N Vijay Sunder PRASHANTH (IND,534) 62 67(2) 62
[R1] (Q) Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE,1880) bt Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE,941) 61 64
[R1] Nicolas REISSIG (AUT,505) bt Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1122) 63 63
[R1] (5) Saketh MYNENI (IND,387) bt (Q) Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND,1917) 62 61
[R1] (7) Vijayant MALIK (IND,421) bt (Q) William KENDALL (USA,UNR) 64 75
[R1] (WC) Purav RAJA (IND,1272) bt (Q) Jatin DAHIYA(IND,1668) 61 60
[R1] James MARSALEK (GBR,572) bt (Q) Lakshit SOOD (IND,1900) 61 62
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,321) bt Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,1044) 75 64
[R1] (6) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,400) bt (WC) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND,1178) 62 63
[R1] Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,1082) bt (Q) Peng Chih HSUEH (TPE,UNR) 63 62
[R1] (WC) Arjun KADHE (IND,1404) bt (WC) Kunal ANAND (IND,1267) 63 60
[R1] (2) Christopher RUNGKAT (INA,303) bt Sidharth RAWAT (IND,926) 63 61

Doubles
[R1] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Anvit BENDRE (IND)/ Tejas CHAUKULKAR (IND) 60 64
[R1] Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Rakshay THAKKAR (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 63 62
[R1] Arjun KADHE (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) bt (4) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 62 67(4) 10-8
[R1] (WC) Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Sunil-Kumar SIPAEYA (IND) bt Ajai SELVARAJ (IND)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) 62 75
[R1] Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) 75 64
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE)/ James MARSALEK (GBR) 61 75
[R1] Mate PAVIC (CRO)/ Nicolas REISSIG (AUT) bt (wC) Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) 62 63
[R1] (2) Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE)/ Christopher RUNGKAT (INA) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND)

Impressive start for young Arjun Kadhe in the singles and doubles ... Bala won tricky match against Ramkumar ... Other hand expected easy win for Jeevan.

Badminton News
At $200K French Open 2012, Paris

[Q1] Arvind Bhat (IND,77) l Matthieu Lo Ying Ping (FRA,90) 16-21 22-20 14-21
[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,51) bt Scott Evans (IRL,67) 21-14 21-10

[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,51) l Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,64) 21-16 24-26 29-30

[R1] Sourabh Varma (IND,32) vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,23)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,27) vs (Q) Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,64)
[R1] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Li Han (CHN,23)

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) vs (4) Ki Jung Kim (KOR)/ Sa Rang Kim (KOR)
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Patiphat Chalardchaleam (THA)/ Savitree Amitrapai (THA)

Arvind Bhat lost match due to rustiness and tiredness ... After losing the first game he was match point down at 19-10 ... He won this game after saving match point but Frenchman blown away his challenge from 12-all in the final game.

Other hand Anand Pawar started with comfortable win over Irish top player in 30 minutes ... In the first game Anand take control from 9-all and in the second game he take control from 5-all for this comfortable win ... But Anand lost in the final qualifying in a long match which was lasted for 82 minutes ... After winning the first game Anand faced big challenge from Suppanyu ... Anand saved couple of game points from 18-20 but failed to convert 3 match points and Suppanyu converted 4th game point to take match into decider ... In the third game Anand opened early lead and was leading 13-8, 15-11 and 17-15 ... Suppanyu made it 17-all afterwards both players traded lead one after another ... Anand had 3 more match points in extra points, importantly at 28-27 then 29-28 but Suppanyu saved those and converted his 6 match point for his terrific comeback victory.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[Q3] Divij Sharan (IND,1312) bt Woong-Sun Joon (KOR,735) 64 76(10)

[R1] (Q) Divij Sharan (IND,1310) vs (6) Yuichi Sugita (JPN,135)

Divij won the weird final qualifying match where both players shared 13 service breaks ... In the first set 1st 7 service games got broken but Divij managed to keep his one break advantage to win it ... In the second set also first 5 service games got broken ... Divij was leading 4-2 but while serving for the match at 5-4 he got broken ... In tie-break also Divij was leading 5-2 before Korean made it 5-all ... Korean missed 3 set points which he failed to convert and Divij managed to convert 3rd match point for a win ... In main-draw he is having tough match against 6th seed Japanese Yuichi Sugita.
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At $25K Lagos Women's ITF Tournament, Nigeria

[R1] Kyra Shroff (IND,540) vs (Q) Chinenye Ndidi Izuogo (NGR,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Nikita Deshmukh (IND,UNR) vs (2) Channel Simmonds (RSA,177)
[R1] Nidhi Chilumula (IND,675) vs (7) Jia-Jing Lu (CHN,346)
[R1] (Q) Arantxa Andrady (IND,UNR) vs Anja Prislan (SLO,520)
[R1] Shivika Burman (IND,861) vs (5) Dalila Jakupovic (SLO,299)
[R1] Rishika Sunkara (IND,634) vs Viktoriya Tumova (BUL,599)

Doubles
[R1] Nikita Deshmukh (IND)/ Alexandra Riley (USA) vs Anastasia Meglinskaya (RUS)/ Alexandra Romanova (RUS)
[R1] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) vs Nour Azzouz (EGY)/ Ushna Suhail (PAK)
[R1] Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Kyra Shroff (IND) vs (2) Cristina Dinu (ROU)/ Tadeja Majeric (SLO)

Hopefully this week Kyra will take advantage of good draw ... Other than her only Rishika having match which she can wins.

Golf News
At $1.25M Hero Indian Open, Bengaluru, India (Asian Tour)

Final Round
4 Shiv KAPUR (IND) 67 71 68 66 -12 $61,625.00
T5 Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 70 71 66 67 -10 $43,333.33
T8 Chiragh KUMAR (IND) 69 71 67 68 -9 $29,437.50
T12 Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 72 68 67 70 -7 $18,520.83
T22 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 68 69 70 73 -4 $13,312.50

Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant won the tournament in the play-off against Scottish Richie Ramsay and become leader in Asian Order of Merit.

Three Indians finished in top 10 ... Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri scored excellent 5 under and 4 under respectively to finish inside top 5 ... But in-form Gaganjeet struggled on this course and managed only 2 over last round which pushed him outside top 20.
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At $4M The McGladrey Classic, Sea Island, Georgia, USA (PGA Tour)

Final Round
T10 Arjun Atwal 67 63 69 71 -10 $92,000

Arjun missed chance of securing his PGA tour card ... He required top 2 finish and he was tied for 3rd position after the third round ... Instead he managed 1 over in the final round to finish in tied 10th position ... Big miss opportunity for Arjun ... Now only last tournament is remaining of the season and Arjun need top 3 finish for securing PGA tour card for 2013 season.

Squash News
At 5K Ipsich Open 2012, Australia

Women's Final
(7) Anaka Alankamony (IND,92) bt (1) Kylie Lindsay (NZL,36) 11-8 13-11 11-5 (31m)

[SF] (7) Anaka Alankamony (IND,92) bt (6) Cheyna Tucker (RSA,80) 11-9 8-11 12-10 10-12 11-2 (50m)

[QF] (7) Anaka Alankamony (IND,92) bt (4) Christine Nunn (AUS,74) 8-11 11-8 11-5 8-11 11-7

[R2] (12) Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,118) l (5) Lotte Eriksen (NOR,81) 9-11 6-11 11-4 4-11 (48m)
[R2] (7) Anaka Alankamony (IND,92) bt Zoe Petrovansky (AUS,181) 11-8 5-11 11-7 11-7 (31m)

[R1] (12) Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,118) bt Iritana Gray (AUS,167) 11-4 11-0 11-2 (14m)
[R1] (7) Anaka Alankamony (IND,92) bt Kelly Fraser (AUS,UNR) 11-4 11-2 11-0 (18m)

India's 18 yrs old Anaka Alankamony won her 2nd (and 1st outside India) title on the women's professional squash tour ... She defeated top-40 Kylie Lindsay from New Zealand in the final taking advantage of unforced errors from top-seed ... Creditable performance from Anaka, who played 4 matches in 2 days ... Overall 17 sets in those 4 matches inside 36 hours.

Badminton News
At $400K Denmark Open 2012, Odense

Women's Final
(3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt (6) Juliane Schenk (GER,7) 21-17

Saina won the Denmark open beating Juliane Schenk in 34 minutes ... This was Saina's 6th Super Series title and she also won $30,000 prize money.

In this match also Saina scored many smash winners ... On the net both players matched each other but in end Saina managed to force errors from Juliane ... In the first game Saina started with 4-0 lead but Juliane caught with her at 9-all ... Saina again opened 3 points lead at 15-12 ... This time also Juliane caught with her at 17-all ... Saina won next 4 points to win this game ... In the second game both players traded lead till 5-all ... But from here Saina opened 9-5 lead which she extended to 16-7 ... She won this game losing another single point and lifted deserving Denmark open title.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,1312) bt In-Sub Lee (KOR,1566)0 62

[Q3] Divij Sharan (IND,1312) vs Woong-Sun Joon ( KOR,735)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Yuichi Sugita (JPN)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE)

Divij is in the final qualifying round with easy win over Lee ... He is facing another Korean in the final round.

In doubles Yuki and Divij r 3rd seed and facing Wang and Sugita.

Badminton News
At $400K Denmark Open 2012, Odense

[SF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt (1) Yihan Wang (CHN,1) 21-12 12-7 Retd (knee injury)

[F] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs (6) Juliane Schenk (GER,7)

Saina scored her first win over WR #1 Yihan Wang in their 7th match ... Yihan take 5-0 lead in that Saina was making unforced errors but after that Saina won 6 points in a stretch and then after losing another point Saina again won 6 points in a row to lead 12-6 ... Saina kept that advantage through the game with her net game, half-smashes and smart game from back of the court ... Saina forced errors through Yihan from her all court game ... In the second game Saina opened 8 points lead after winning 6 points from 3-1 ... After that Yihan tried to fightback but she troubled with knee ... She retired from middle of the game awarding match to Saina.

In the final Saina is facing German Juliane Schenk ... Against whom Saina is leading 5-3 in win-loss record.

Squash News
At $25K Macau Open 2012,

[SF] (Q) Joshna Chinappa (IND,51) l (1) Joelle King (NZL,12) 7-11 2-11 1-11

Joshna failed to produce much fight against top-seed Joelle King ... In the first game she matched King but in the last two games King dominated to win it comfortably.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Seoul Challenger, South Korea

[Q1] Divij Sharan (IND,1312) bt (WC) Daniel Yoon (KOR,UNR) 61 61

[Q2] Divij Sharan (IND,1312) vs In-Sub Lee (KOR,1566)

[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,179) vs (3) Dmitry Tursunov (RUS,105)

Divij is playing in qualifying and started with comfortable win in the first round.

In main-draw Yuki is having very tough match against experienced Dmitry Tursunov.

Squash News
At $25K Macau Open 2012,

[R1] (Q) Joshna Chinappa (IND,51) bt (3) Samantha Teran (MEX,16) 11-9 8-11 11-8 11-8
[R1] (2) Dipika Pallikal (IND,14) bt (WC) Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) 11-3 11-2 11-1

[QF] (Q) Joshna Chinappa (IND,51) bt Misaki Kobayashi (JPN,35) 11-9 9-11 13-11 9-11 11-6
[QF] (2) Dipika Pallikal (IND,14) l (8) Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY,28) 11-9 5-11 11-6 12-14 7-11

[SF] (Q) Joshna Chinappa (IND,51) vs (1) Joelle King (NZL,12)

Qualifier Joshna Chinappa reached in the semis of Macau open with hard fought five games win over Japanese Kobayashi but other hand 2nd seed Dipika lost against her Egyptian opponent after taking 2-1 games lead ... Dipika failed to win match in 4th game which she lost in extra points.

Before this in the first round Joshna scored huge upset win over WR #16 Mexican Samantha Teran in four close games ... In the semis Joshna is facing top-seed Joelle King.

Badminton News
At $400K Denmark Open 2012, Odense

[QF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt (5) Tine Baun (DEN,6) 21-10 21-11

[SF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs (1) Yihan Wang (CHN,1)

In this Danish Super Series Saina is looking in attacking form ... In this match also she attacked Baun's serve and won this match in 33 minutes losing only 21 points ... But next Saina is having her toughest test against WR #1 Yihan Wang, against whom she is still searching for her first win after 6 matches.

In the quarters Saina opened early lead of 7-2 and then kept increasing to win the first game ... In the second game Baun was with Saina until 7-8 but then Saina won 7 points in a row to take control of the game.

Tennis News
At Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Play-Off, Nanjing, China

[QF] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,179) l (2) Jimmy Wang (TPE,146) 26 36

Yuki failed to produce his A game and lost quite easily against Jimmy Wang ... With this Indian interest ended from this tournament.

Tennis News
At $740K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[QF] (3) Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l Raquel Kops-Jones (USA)/ Abigail Spears (USA) 57 46

They lost against American pair in the second round ... In the both sets Sania lost her serve while serving for staying in the match.

So with this end of the season 2012 for Sania.
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At Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Play-Off, Nanjing, China

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,360) l (WC) Ze Zhang (CHN,154) 75 26 26
[R1] (WC) Sriram Balaji (IND,321) l Di Wu (CHN,185) 26 16
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,272) bt (WC) Hsin Han Lee (TPE,817) 62 63
[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,179) bt (LL) Yuqing Ning (CHN,1534) 64 36 62
[R1] (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND) l (Q) Yifan Xu (CHN,414) 16 16
[R1] (WC) Ankita Raina (IND,) l (WC) Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,245) 16 16

[QF] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,179) vs (2) Jimmy Wang (TPE,146)
[QF] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,272) l (3) Danai Udomchoke (THA,153) w/o (knee injury)

Doubles
[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) l (WC) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN) 67(1) 46
[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l (4) Danai Udomchoke (THA)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE) 46 16
[QF] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (WC) Di Wu (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) 46 57

Turned to be terrible day for Indians ... Only Vishnu and Yuki managed to script wins in the singles but shocking losses in the doubles for our seeded pairs ... Moreover Vishnu injured his knee in the doubles and he decided to give walkover to Danai in the singles quarter-final.

Only Yuki is remaining in the draw and he is facing 2nd seed Wang.
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At $25K Lagos Women's ITF Tournament, Nigeria

Doubles
[QF] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) l (4) Keren Shlomo (ISR)/ Jasmin Steinherr (GER) 67(5) 16
[QF] Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Kyra Shroff (IND) l (1) Nina Bratchikova (RUS)/ Margarita Lazareva (RUS) 46 26

End of Indian challenge in this Lagos tournament.

Badminton News
At $400K Denmark Open 2012, Odense

[R2] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Minatsu Mitani (JPN,28) 21-15 21-14
[R2] Sourabh Varma (IND,32) l Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,23) 19-21 17-21

[QF] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs (5) Tine Baun (DEN,6)

Saina scored comfortable win inside 20 minutes against Japanese Mitani and enter into the quarters ... In the quarters Sania is facing local favorite and very experienced Tine Baun.

Sourabh failed to build on the upset he scored against Gade ... In the first game he fought neck to neck but failed to convert crucial points ... In the second game also same story repeated.

Tennis News
At Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Play-Off, Nanjing, China

[Q4] (1) Sanam Singh (IND,360) bt Yuqing Ning (CHN,UNR) 62 57 64

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,360) vs (WC) Ze Zhang (CHN,154)
[R1] (WC) Sriram Balaji (IND,321) vs Di Wu (CHN,185)
[R1] (WC) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,272) vs (WC) Hsin Han Lee (TPE,817)
[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,179) vs (WC) Farukh Dustov (UZB,231)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) bye
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (Q) Zhaoyi Cao (CHN)/ Andy Lau (HKG) 63 61
[R1] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Yuqing Ning (CHN)/ Zhuoyang Qiu (CHN) 62 62

[R1] Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) l Ting Li (CHN)/ Qiang Wang (CHN) 67(3) 26

[QF] (1) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Yuki Bhambri (IND) vs (WC) Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Ze Zhang (CHN)
[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (4) Danai Udomchoke (THA)/ Jimmy Wang (TPE)
[QF] (3) Purav Raja (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (WC) Di Wu (CHN)/ Zhizhen Zhang (CHN)

Sanam need three sets to book his place in the main-draw ... Vishnu and Yuki having winnable first round matches ... Bala and Sanam r facing local favorite ... In doubles our men's pairs started with comfortable win but their real test will start from quarter-finals.
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At €550K Erste Bank Open, Vienna, Austria

[R1] (PR) Somdev Devvarman (IND,534) l (WC) Ernests Gulbis (LAT,155) 67(6) 36

Somdev wasted 2 set points in tie-break leading 6-4 before losing it ... In the second set Somi was break down at 2-4 but he broke back in 7th game to make it 3-4 ... Gulbis again broke him in 8th game and then hold to complete the victory.
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At $25K Lagos Women's ITF Tournament, Nigeria
[R2] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,631) l (5) Cristina DINU (ROU,301) 64 46 16

Doubles
[R1] Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Kyra Shroff (IND) bt Sofia Dmitrieva (RUS)/ Alexandra Riley (USA) 63 64

[QF] Ester Masuri (ISR)/ Rishika Sunkara (IND) vs (4) Keren Shlomo (ISR)/ Jasmin Steinherr (GER)
[QF] Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/ Kyra Shroff (IND) vs (1) Nina Bratchikova (RUS)/ Margarita Lazareva (RUS)

Rishika started well winning the first set but after that Romanian Dinu produced strong comeback to win the match.

Kyra and her doubles partner had a winning start in doubles ... ext they r facing top-seed Russian pair.

Badminton News
At $400K Denmark Open 2012, Odense

[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,51) l (5) Sho Sasaki (JPN,6) 21-14 15-21 11-21
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,27) l (7) Pengyu Du (CHN,9) 21-19 8-21 9-21
[R1] Sourabh Varma (IND,32) bt (6) Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN,8) 21-18 21-14
[R1] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,12) 21-17 21-17

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l Angga Pratama (INA)/ Ryan Agung Saputra (INA) 20-22 19-21
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Markis Kido (INA)/ Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth (INA) 18-21 15-21

[R2] (3) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Minatsu Mitani (JPN,28)
[R2] Sourabh Varma (IND,32) vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA,23)

Ananad started with winning the first game but after that Sho Sasaki controlled the match and completed victory in 54 minutes.

Saina scored straight games win over tricky Korean against he lost in their last meeting at Indian open ... The first game was well fought until late in the game but in the second game Saina take lead from the start and kept it to win it in 38 minutes.

Tarun and Arun fought well against Indonesians but failed to win important points.

Sourabh Varma scored huge upset win over local favorite and former WR #1 Peter Gade ... Gade is remained in top-10 despite his 36 yrs old age ... Sourabh became only 3rd Indian to beat him, before this Gopichand defeated him in 2001 at All England open and then Anup Sridhar defeated him in 2009 in Singapore Super Series ... All other Indian players failed to overcome Gade's challenge ... In the first game Sourbh opened 5-0 lead which he increased to 17-11 ... Gade reduced it to 16-17 but Sourabh kept his cool on next important points to won it ... In the second game from 6-5 Sourabh opened lead which he kept increasing and won this game comfortably.

Ajay started confidently against Du but after winning the first game Ajay failed to keep challenge with Du, who won last two games very comfortably.

Football News
At FIFA International Friendly 2012, Singapore

Singapore l India 0-2
Goal Scored - Khairul Amiri (SIN) 41', Fazrul Nawas (SIN) 49'

Host Singapore take lead though defensive mistakes from Indians in late of the first-half ... Singapore doubled thier lead within 4 minutes and take any chance of Indian comeback ... Disappointing effort by Indian team.