Tennis News

At $5.2M China Open, Beijing (WTA Premier)

[SF] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 64

Sania-Cara r in dream form ... In this big Premier tournament they defeated WR #1 Italian pair in straight sets ... Sania-Cara r showing very good understanding in their partnership ... Hopefully they will continue with their this dream partnership in 2014.
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At $1.4M Japan Open, Tokyo

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 64 76(6)

Rohan-Edouard showing good form before important indoor Masters and scored tight but straight sets win over good pairing of Treat-Inglot.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt (1) Ti Chen (TPE,272) 64 64

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs (5) Adam Pavlasek (CZE,413)

Last week in the Egypt futures final Prajnesh got double bagel in the match but here he showed his strong character against former top-200 and current top-300 Ti Chen ... Prajnesh completed victory in straight sets against experienced Ti Chen and enter into the semis.
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At $15K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

Doubles Final
Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) l (1) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT)/ Gerald Melzer (AUT) 26 46

Murli and his Swiss partner failed to gave much challenge to top-seed Austrian pair.
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At $10K Spain F33 Futures, Sabadell

Doubles Final
(2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt (1) Eduard Esteve Lobato (ESP) / Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP) 67(4) 63 10-8

Ramkumar lifted the doubles title with Spanish David Perez Sanz against top-seed Spanish pair ... Ramkumar and his partner lost the first set in tie-break but they fought back to win the second ... Ramkumar and Sanz won closely fought match tie-break.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) l (5) Ipek SOYLU (TUR) 63 16 06

Rishika started well with winning the first set but this 17 yrs old talented Turkish girl Ipek Soylu, who is junior WR #15, came back strongly in the match ... Ipek lost only a single game for winning next two sets.

Archery News

At Archery World Championships 2013, Belek Antalya, Turkey

Compound Women's Team
[R1] (10) India l (7) USA 156-172

Compound Men's Team
[R1] (13) India l (4) France 176-188

Expected losses of our men and women teams in Compound category.

Squash News

At $50K Carol Weymuller Open 2013, Brooklyn, New York, USA

[R1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) bt (8) Kasey Brown (AUS,11) 6-11 10-12 13-11 11-8 11-9

[QF] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) vs (1) Nicol David (MAS,1)

Superb upset win by Dipika against Aussie Kasey Brown in hard fought match ... Dipika lost first 2 games and she saved couple of match balls before producing fightback ... Dipika won this tight match and next she is facing WR #1 Nicol David.
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At $35K Montreal Open 2013, Canada

[R1] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt (Q) Steve Finitsis (AUS,58) 7-11 11-9 11-2 11-5 (57m)

[QF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY,45)

Qualifier Aussie Finitsis stretched Saurav in this match ... Saurav lost the first game and stretched in the second game by Finitsis but afterwards Saurav recovered and completed victory ... Next he is facing Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz.

Archery News

At Archery World Championships 2013, Belek Antalya, Turkey

Recurve Women's Individual
[R3] Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Lisa Unruh (GER) 6-0 (26-23 26-25 27-22)
[R3] Deepika Kumari (IND) l Mariana Avitia (MEX) 2-6 (25-28 26-26 21-22 26-26)

[R4] Dola Banerjee (IND) l Bo Bae Ki (KOR) 0-6 (23-26 23-27 23-27)

Recurve Men's Individual
[R3] Tarundeep Rai (IND) bt Yu Xing (CHN) 6-4 (25-26 27-29 29-22 29-27 28-25)
[R3] Kapil (IND) bt Simon Nesemann (GER) 6-4 (26-26 27-23 27-29 27-26 24-24)
[R3] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) l Luis Alvarez (MEX) 2-6 (23-19 23-29 22-26 24-27)

[R4] Tarundeep Rai (IND) l Jin Hyek Oh (KOR) 0-6 (25-29 25-29 24-25)
[R4] Kapil (IND) l DAI Xiaoxiang Dai (CHN) 0-6 (24-26 24-25 22-24)

Compound Women's Individual
[R3] Jyothi Surekha Vennam (IND) bt Sophie Dodemont (FRA) 136-105

[R4] Jyothi Surekha Vennam (IND) l Gerda Roux (RSA) 118-130

Compound Men's Individual
[R3] Rajat Chauhan (IND) bt Dominique Genet (FRA) 139-137
[R3] Abhishek Verma (IND) l Adam Ravenscroft (GBR) 134-139

[R4] Rajat Chauhan (IND) bt Sergio Pagni (ITA) 137-136

[QF] Rajat Chauhan (IND) l Pierre Julien Deloche (FRA) 126-129

Recurve Women's Team
[R1] (12) India bt (5) Japan 165-161

[QF] (12) India l (4) Mexico 176-195

Recurve Men's Team
[R1] (2) India l (15) Ukraine 172-177

Totally disappointing day for Indians ... In individual event Deepika lost in the fourth round with poor shots against Mexican ... Only Rajat Chauhan reached in the quarters of Compound before losing to Frenchman.

In team event our both Recurve teams failed to raise to occasion and lost in first 2 rounds.

Tennis News

At $5.2M China Open, Beijing (WTA Premier)

[QF] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 64 61

[SF] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Sara Errani (ITA)/ Roberta Vinci (ITA)

Sania-Cara scored comfortable win over Chan-Zheng in the quarter final ... Next they r facing top-seed and WR #1 Italian pair.
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At $3.57M China Open, Beijing

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) bt David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 76(8) 63

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Lee-Daniel scored hard fought win over Spanish pair ... They needed extra points in tie-break before winning it and then won the second set with a break ... In the semis they r facing Italian pair, who upset 3rd seed Aisam-Rojer.
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At $1.4M Japan Open, Tokyo

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt (ALT) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Martin Emmrich (GER) 61 36 12-10

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR)

Rohan-Edouard needed to dig deep after winning the first set ... They lost the second set but hard fought for winning the match tie-break ... Next they r facing Huey-Inglot.
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At $15K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

[QF] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) l (1) Gerald Melzer (AUT,197) 06 16
[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) l (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,639) 46 67(5)

Doubles
[SF] Sagar Ahuja (IND)/ Kunal Anand (IND) l (1) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT)/ Gerald Melzer (AUT) 67(3) 26
[SF] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) bt (4) Francesco Garzelli (ITA)/ Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA) 63 61

[F] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) vs (1) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT)/ Gerald Melzer (AUT)

Poor loss of Jeevan against below 600 ranked Bulgarian ... Jeevan also need to raise his game for top-300 ranking and for playing regularly on challenger level.

Mithun-Jannis scored easy straight sets win over 4th seed Italian pair ... Next they r facing top-seed Austrian pair.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt Kirill Dmitriev (RUS,966) 57 62 62

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs (1) Ti Chen (TPE,272)

Prajnesh recovered well after losing the first set and then won next two sets comfortably against Russian opponent ... Next he is facing top-seed and top-300 experienced Ti Chen.
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At $10K Germany F17 Futures, Hambach (Indoor Carpet)

[R2] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) l Matthias Wunner (GER,851) 57 64 67(2)

Bala's poor run continued though this match was lot more closer ... But still his loss against 850 ranked player was hurting.
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At $10K Kuwait F3 Futures, Meshref

[SF] Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND) l (1) Lewis Burton (GBR) / Marcus Willis (GBR) 26 26

Akash-Castro failed to provide challenge to top-seed pair.
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At $10K Spain F33 Futures, Sabadell

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Jaume Pla Malfeito (ESP)/ Jean-Marc Werner (GER) 61 76(2)

Good win by Ramkumar and Sanz for entering in the final.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt (Q) Anabel OSSOMBI (UKR) 61 62

[QF] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (5) Ipek SOYLU (TUR)

Rishika scored comfortable win against Ukrainian qualifier ... Next she is facing Turkish girl.

Volleyball News

At 2013 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, Dubai, UAE

Pool G
India l Qatar 2-3 (25-17 21-25 25-23 23-25 13-15)

Pool J
India bt Australia 3-2 (25-23 26-24 23-25 23-25 15-12)
India bt Bahrain 3-1 (25-20 25-23 24-26 28-26)

Quarter Final
India vs China

Indian men fightback in Asian championship after losing the first match against Qatar ... In next stage they scored upset win over WR #11 Australian team and then defeated Bahrain to enter into the quarter final ... In the quarter final they r facing Chinese challenge ... In the last edition they lost against Chinese team in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $5.2M China Open, Beijing (WTA Premier)

[R2] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE) 63 62

[QF] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)

Another good win for Sania-Cara pairing against tricky pairing of Pavlyuchenkova-Safarova ... In the quarters they r facing Chinese-Taiwani pair, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Aussie pair.
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At $3.57M China Open, Beijing

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) bt John Isner (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA) 62 62

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) vs David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Surprised by really comfortable win for Lee and Nestor against big serving American pair ... Next they r facing Spanish pair.
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At $1.4M Japan Open, Tokyo

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Juan Monaco (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 75 46 10-5

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs (ALT) Andre Begemann (GER)/ Martin Emmrich (GER)

Rohan-Edouard needed match tie-break for win against Argentine pair ... Next they r facing German pair.
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At $15K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) bt (7) Hassan Ndayishimiye (BDI,885) 16 62 64
[R2] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1408) l (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,643) 06 06
[R2] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) bt Henry Atseye (NGR,1774) 61 60

[QF] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) vs (1) Gerald Melzer (AUT,197)
[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) vs (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,639)

Doubles
[QF] Sagar Ahuja (IND)/ Kunal Anand (IND) bt Sanni Adamu (NGR)/ Henry Atseye (NGR) 63 76(6)
[QF] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) bt (2) Alexander Lazov (BUL)/ Yannick Mertens (BEL) 67(1) 61 10-8

[SF] Sagar Ahuja (IND)/ Kunal Anand (IND) vs (1) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT)/ Gerald Melzer (AUT)
[SF] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) vs (4) Francesco Garzelli (ITA)/ Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA)

Excellent comeback win by Mithun over his 7th seed opponent ... Jeevan stream-rolled to the quarters ... Mithun is facing top-seed Melzer and Jeevan is facing 5th seed Bulgarian opponent.

In the doubles also Mithun scored excellent comeback win against 2nd seed pair with his Swiss partner ... Sagar and Kunal r also in the semis and facing top-seed pair in the semis.
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At $10K Kuwait F3 Futures, Meshref

[R2] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1310) l (8) Matias Castro (ARG,1100) 16 16

Doubles
[QF] Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND) bt (3) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) 62 16 10-7

[SF] Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND) vs (1) Lewis Burton (GBR) / Marcus Willis (GBR)

Good win by Akash and Castro over 3rd seed Saketh and Davidson in match tie-break.
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At $10K Germany F17 Futures, Hambach (Indoor Carpet)

[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,451) bt Nikolai FIDIRKO (BLR,817) 63 36 64

[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,451) vs Matthias WUNNER (GER,851)

Bala needed hard fought win against his lower ranked opponent Belarus player ... Next he is facing German opponent.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt (Q) Alexander Mozgovoy (RUS,UNR) 63 61

[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs Kirill Dmitriev (RUS,966)

Prajnesh started with comfortable win against his Russian opponent ... Next he is facing another Russian player Dmitriev.
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At $10K Spain F33 Futures, Sabadell

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Lucas McCone (BEL) / Thomas McCone (BEL) 61 62

[SF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vsJaume Pla Malfeito (ESP)/ Jean-Marc Werner (GER)

Another comfortable win for Ramkumar and his Spanish partner.

Archery News

At Archery World Championships 2013, Belek Antalya, Turkey

Recurve Women's Individual
[R1] Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Elena Mousikou (CYP) 6-2 (28-27 24-27 29-24 28-26)
[R1] Chekrovolu Swuro (IND) l Bishindee Urantungalag (MGL) 4-6 (26-28 27-26 27-28 27-23 22-29)
[R1] Deepika Kumari (IND) bt Anete Kreicberga (LAT) 6-0 (28-24 26-20 29-28)

[R2] Dola Banerjee (IND) bt Ana Maria Rendon (COL) 6-0 (27-25 28-24 26-25)
[R2] Deepika Kumari (IND) bt MYSZOR Wioleta Myszor (POL) 6-2 (24-22 25-28 29-24 27-24)

[R3] Dola Banerjee (IND) vs Lisa Unruh (GER)
[R3] Deepika Kumari (IND) vs Mariana Avitia (MEX)

Recurve Men's Individual
[R1] Tarundeep Rai (IND) bt Matija Mihalic (CRO) 6-2 (30-28 29-28 27-28 29-28)
[R1] Kapil (IND) bt Oibek Saidiyev (KAZ) 6-2 (29-26 28-28 30-27 27-27)
[R1] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) bt Artyom Gankin (KAZ) 6-0 (28-26 28-24 28-25)

[R2] Tarundeep Rai (IND) bt Jianping Zhang (CHN) 6-4 (26-26 28-29 27-27 30-28 28-26)
[R2] Kapil (IND) bt Daniel Pacheco (COL) 6-5 (26-27 25-25 30-28 28-29 27-25 T9*-T9)
[R2] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) bt Thomas Faucheron (FRA) 6-4 (27-29 26-30 26-24 29-25 28-26)

[R3] Tarundeep Rai (IND) vs Yu Xing (CHN)
[R3] Kapil (IND) vs Simon Nesemann (GER)
[R3] Jayanta Talukdar (IND) vs Luis Alvarez (MEX)

Compound Women's Individual
[R1] Jhano Hansdah (IND) l Nely Acquesta (BRA) 136-143
[R1] Jyothi Surekha Vennam (IND) bye
[R1] Trisha Deb (IND) bye

[R2] Jyothi Surekha Vennam (IND) bye
[R2] Trisha Deb (IND) l Anne Lantee (FIN) 142-144

[R3] Jyothi Surekha Vennam (IND) vs Sophie Dodemont (FRA)

Compound Men's Individual
[R1] Sandeep Kumar (IND) l Lihong Min (KOR) 145-145 T9-T10
[R1] Rajat Chauhan (IND) bt Renaud Domanski (BEL) 147-146
[R1] Abhishek Verma (IND) bt Varga Akos (SRB) 147-140

[R2] Rajat Chauhan (IND) bt Martin Damsbo (DEN) 143-142
[R2] Abhishek Verma (IND) bt Demir Elmaagacli (TUR) 139-133

[R3] Rajat Chauhan (IND) vs Dominique Genet (FRA)
[R3] Abhishek Verma (IND) vs Adam Ravenscroft (GBR)

Good performance by our archers in ongoing World Championships ... Our all three men archers in Recurve third round with two women archers ... In Compound category our two men archers r in the third round with a single women archer.

Tennis News

At $3.57M China Open, Beijing

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP,32) 67(6) 36

Doubles
[R1] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) l Novak Djokovic (SRB)/ Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 36 36

Really disappointed after this match as big opportunity missed by Buji ... Verdasco broke Buji in 1st game and kept that advantage till 5-4 but when Verdasco was serving for the set, Buji broke him to made it 5-all ... Buji played one of his worst tie-break ... He had 4 set points when he was leading 6-2 but after that Buji lost 6 points in a row to lose the set and in that he served 3 times ... In the second set Verdasco needed only a single break which he got in 8th game on Buji's serve and completed win in 95 minutes.

In early in the match Mahesh-Robert were controlling the game, they were break up at 3-2 but afterwards Djoker and Wawrinka dominated the match ... They won four games in a row for winning the first set ... After that they won the second set with double break.
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At $15K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

[R1] Kunal Anand (IND,2121) l (1) Gerald Melzer (AUT,197) 46 16
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,1904) l (Q) Gilles De Sousa (FRA,UNR) 16 16
[R1] (Q) Rahul Sadhwani (IND,UNR) l (6) Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA,853) 06 06

Doubles
[R1] Rahul Sadhwani (IND)/ Neishit Vakil (IND) l Anatole Bizimana (RWA)/ Mathieu Uwizeyimana (RWA) 16 36
[R1] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) bt Olivier Havugimana (RWA)/ Refiloe Molaoa (RSA) 61 61

[QF] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) vs (2) Alexander Lazov (BUL) / Yannick Mertens (BEL)

Couple of humiliating defeats for Indian players but little decent performance by Kunal Anand against top-200 Melzer.

Mithun is in the quarters of the doubles with his Swiss partner ... Next they r facing 2nd seed pair.
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At $10K Kuwait F3 Futures, Meshref

[R1] Akash Wagh (IND,1774) l Thomas Statzberger (AUT,1317) 61 06 46

Doubles
[R1] (3) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Mohammed Reda (KUW)/ Kento Tagashira (JPN) 62 63
[R1] Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND) bt Hussain Jamal (KUW)/ Abdulaziz Redha (KUW) 62 26 10-4
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Arpit Sharma (IND) l Hassan Al Mousa (KUW)/ Punn Bodhidatta (THA) 26 62 6-10

[QF] (3) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND)

Akash started well against similar ranked Austrian opponent ... He won the first set losing only a single game but Akash lost momentum from the second ... His challenge fizzled out from the second set which he lost without winning a single game and then lost third also without much fight.

Saketh is playing the doubles despite injury scare .. Unnecessary risking his recovery in this $10K futures ... Akash with Castro won their first round doubles match in match tie-break ... Next they r facing Saketh and Davidson.
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At $10K Spain F33 Futures, Sabadell

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,684) l Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR,741) 76(4) 36 16

This was tricky match but I was still hoping for a win for Ramkumar against this 18 yrs old talented Silva ... Ramkumar won the first set in tie-break but afterwards it looks Silva measured up RK's game ... Silva won next two sets losing only 4 games.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt (Q) Alexander Mozgovoy (RUS,UNR) 63 61

Prajnesh scored comfortable win against Russian qualifier.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Anjana KOMPALLY (IND) l Caroline UEBELHOER (GER) 57 36
[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) l (Q) Chantelle RIGOZZI (AUS) 06 06

[R2] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (Q) Anabel OSSOMBI (UKR)

Expected losses for Indians ... So only Rishika is remaining in the draw.

Tennis News

At $5.2M China Open, Beijing (WTA Premier)

[R1] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Kimiko Date-Kuumm (JPN)/ Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 63 63

[R2] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE)

Good straight sets win for Sania and Cara ... In both sets both pairs traded early breaks but after that Sania-Cara take control to won it ... Next they r facing tricky pairing of Pavlyuchenkova-Safarova.
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At $15K Rwanda F1 Futures, Kigali (clay)

[R1] Kunal Anand (IND,2121) vs (1) Gerald Melzer (AUT,197)
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,1904) vs (Q) Gilles De Sousa (FRA,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) bt Yu Takahashi (JPN,2117) 60 61
[R1] (Q) Rahul Sadhwani (IND,UNR) vs (6) Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA,853)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1408) bt Eric Vehovec (CAN,2038) 76(3) 61
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) bt (Q) Medhir Goyal (IND,UNR) 61 60

[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) bt (7) Hassan Ndayishimiye (BDI,885)
[R2] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1408) vs (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,643)
[R2] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) vs Henry Atseye (NGR,1774)

Doubles
[R1] Rahul Sadhwani (IND)/ Neishit Vakil (IND) vs Anatole Bizimana (RWA)/ Mathieu Uwizeyimana (RWA)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND)/ Kunal Anand (IND) bt (3) Mark Fynn (ZIM)/ Hassan Ndayishimiye (BDI) 64 26 10-7
[R1] Medhir Goyal (IND)/ David Oringa (UGA) l Sanni Adamu (NGR)/ Henry Atseye (NGR) 16 26
[R1] Jannis Liniger (SUI)/ Mithun Murali (IND) vs Olivier Havugimana (RWA)/ Refiloe Molaoa (RSA)

[QF] Sagar Ahuja (IND)/ Kunal Anand (IND) vs Sanni Adamu (NGR)/ Henry Atseye (NGR)

Good to see Sagar joins Mithun and Jeevan in the second round ... Sagar-Kunal started with upset win over 3rd seed African pair in match tie-break.
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At $10K Kuwait F3 Futures, Meshref

[R1] Akash Wagh (IND,1774) vs Thomas Statzberger (AUT,1317)
[R1] Arpit Sharma (IND,1650) l Patrick Davidson (USA,1442) 26 06
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,1181) l (5) Torsten Wietoska (GER,656) 16 46
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1310) bt (Q) Uros Lukic (YUG,UNR) 60 62

[R2] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1310) vs (8) Matias Castro (ARG,1100)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Mohammed Reda (KUW)/ Kento Tagashira (JPN)
[R1] Matias Castro (ARG)/ Akash Wagh (IND) vs Hussain Jamal (KUW)/ Abdulaziz Redha (KUW)
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Arpit Sharma (IND) vs Hassan Al Mousa (KUW)/ Punn Bodhidatta (THA)

Only Jatin managed to win his first round against unseeded.
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At $10K Spain F33 Futures, Sabadell

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,684) vs Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR,741)

Doubles
[R1] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Manel Perez Esteve (ESP)/ Jaume Santo-Valdivieso (ESP) 63 61

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Lucas McCone (BEL) / Thomas McCone (BEL)

Interesting first round match up against 18 yrs old Silva ... In the doubles Ramkumar had easy win with his Spanish partner ... Next they r facing Belgian twins.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs (Q) Alexander Mozgovoy (RUS,UNR)

This week Prajnesh is playing in Turkey.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (4) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bye
[R1] Anjana KOMPALLY (IND) vs Caroline UEBELHOER (GER)
[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) vs (Q) Chantelle RIGOZZI (AUS)

This week little better participants but still first round bye for Rishika.

Tennis News

At $2.37M Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan (WTA Premier)



Doubles Final
Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Chan Hao-Ching (TPE)/ Liezel Huber (USA) 46 60 11-9

First time Sania and Cara played together and they lifted the title as Japan open in very entertaining match ... After losing the first set Sania-Cara fought back and won the second set in 27 minutes without losing a single game ... In match tie-break both pairs were fighting hard ... Sania-Cara was 2 match points down at 7-9 but afterwards they won 4 points in a row to lift the title ... This was Sania's 18th WTA doubles title and Cara's 56th WTA doubles title.
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At $5.2M China Open, Beijing (WTA Premier)

[R1] (8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Kimiko Date-Kuumm (JPN)/ Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Sania-Cara r 8th seed and facing Date-Krumm and Scheepers in the first round
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At $3.57M China Open, Beijing

[Q1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) bt (2) Robin Haase (NED,60) 26 64 60

[Q2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA,85) 36 76(5) 63

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP,32)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) vs John Isner (USA)/ Sam Querrey (USA)
[R1] (2) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) vs Novak Djokovic (SRB)/ Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)

Buji scored superb back to back comeback wins over higher ranked opponents and enter into the main-draw of China open ... So this qualification also give Buji 20 ranking points ... In the first round Buji is playing against former top-10 Spanish player Fernando Verdasco.

In the final qualifying round Buji struggled in the first set and managed to win only 3 points on Lorenzi's serve but after that Buji produced another excellent comeback ... In the second set Buji lost his serve in 7th game, 3-4, but he immediately broke Lorenzi to made it 4-all ... In 11th game Buji saved 3 break points before holding his serve and then won tie-break to take the match into the decider ... In the third set Buji saved a break point before holding his serve in 2nd game and then he broke Lorenzi in 3rd game to take 2-1 lead ... Again Buji broke Lorenzi in 9th game when he was serving for staying in the match for excellent win ... Before then in the first round Buji scored upset win over @60 ranked Robin Haase ... After losing the first set easily Buji fought back and won the second set ... In the third set Haase struggled with his first serve as he managed only 27% ... Buji take full advantage of it and won this set without losing a single games.

This wee Leander is playing with Nestor and they r top-seed ... They r facing American big serving pair of Isner and Querrey ... Mahesh and Robert Lindstedt r second seed and facing really tricky pair of Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka.
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At $1.4M Japan Open, Tokyo

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Juan Monaco (ARG)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

Rohan-Edouard r playing at Japan open and they r facing Argentine pair in the first round.
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At $100K Sacramento Challenger, USA

[R1] Ashwin Vijayragavan (IND,1131) l Greg Ouellette (USA,726) 36 1-3 Retd.

Ashwin retired from the match due to back injury.
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At $10K Egypt F26 Futures , Sharm El Sheikh

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY,540) 76(5) 63

[F] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) l (2) Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP,250) 06 06

Prajnesh is in the final of Egypt futures ... He scored straight sets win over local player ... Prajnesh won the tight first set in tie-break before winning the second set convincingly ... In the final he faced 2nd seed and top-250 Spanish player.

Turned to be forgettable final for Prajnesh ... Enrique Lopez-Perez gave him double bagel in the final ... Really shocking scoreline in the final for Prajnesh.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[SF] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) l (3) Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA) 26 61 46

Rishika failed to overcome Italian challenge ... After losing the first set Rishika tried fightback after winning the second set comfortably but she failed to kept her momentum in the decider.

Hockey News

At 8th Women's Asia Cup Hockey Tournament 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia



For Bronze medal
India bt China 2-2 (2-0) 3-2 PS
Goal Scorers - Anuradha Devi Thokchom (IND)16', Vandana Katariya (IND) 31' and Yan Yan (CHN) 51', Wu Mengrong (CHN) 64'

After missing qualification for World cup Indian girls gave spirited performance against mighty Chinese girls and defeated them in penalty shootout for Bronze medal match ... Indian girls started confidently and were leading 2-0 at half-time with 2 field goals ... In the second half Indians tried defending and Chinese girls take advantage of it ... They take advantage of dodgy defending from Indians to scored 2 goals ... Match ended 2-all but in the shootout, the Indians came out on top, converting three of their chances as against two by the Chinese girls.

Tennis News

At $2.37M Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan (WTA Premier)

[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (1) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN) 64 62

Sania-Cara enter into the final at Japan Open .... They scored convincing win over top-seed Chinese-Taiwani pair in 75 minutes.
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At $567.5K Thailand Open, Bangkok

[SF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniele Bracciali (ITA) l (3) Jamie Murray (GBR)/ John Peers (AUS) 36 46

Lee-Daniele failed to raise their game against Murray-Peers in straight sets loss ... Lee-Daniele failed to break opponent's serve in the match and other hand lost their service game one in both the sets.
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At $984K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[SF] (ALT) Somdev Devvarman / Rik De Voest (IND/RSA) l Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 60 26 7-10

Buji-Rik started confidently and bangle their South American pair in the first set but after that South American pair recovered ... They won the second set breaking Buji-Rik twice and kept momentum in the match tie-break for good win.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[QF] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) l (3) Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR,245) 16 36

Ankita lost easily against top-250 Ukrainian but still she performed as per her ranking in this tournament.
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At $15K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[SF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) l (4) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT,628) 67(3) 67(5)

Doubles Final
(2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI) 63 62

Jeevan lost the semi-final against Austrian Lukas Jastraunig ... In both sets Jeevan failed to win tie-break.

Jeevan lifted the doubles title with his Belgian partner Yannick Meriens as they defeated 4th seed African pair easily.
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At $10K Egypt F26 Futures , Sharm El Sheikh

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt (4) Ivan Nedelko (RUS,451) 61 3-0 Retd.

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY,540)

Prajnesh's higher ranked Russian opponent Ivan Nedelko conceded match in the second set ... Before that Prajnesh won the first set losing a single game and then up 3-0 in the second ... Next Prajnesh is facing local in-form Karim-Mohamed Maamoun in the semis.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Viktoriya BOGOSLOVSKAYA (RUS) 76(2) 63

[SF] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs (3) Giulia BRUZZONE (ITA)

Rishika needed little extra efforts for beating Russian girl ... Next she is facing Italian opponent.

Tennis News

At $2.37M Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan

[QF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt (4) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/ Kveta Peschke (CZE) 75 63

[SF] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)

Sania and Cara stormed in the semi-final with straight sets win over 4th seed pair Groenefeld-Peschke ... In the semi-final they r facing top-seed Chinese-Taiwani pair.
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At $567.5K Thailand Open, Bangkok

[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniele Bracciali (ITA) bt Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 67(4) 76(8) 10-8

[SF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniele Bracciali (ITA) vs (3) Jamie Murray (GBR)/ John Peers (AUS)

In the first set both pairs traded single break but in the tie-break Colombian pair proved strong for Lee-Daniele ... In the second set also Lee-Daniele were early break down after losing serve in 3rd game, 1-2, but they broke Colombian in 6th game to made it 3-all ... Lee-Daniele had 2 set points on Colombian's serve in 10th game but they failed to convert ... In tie-break Lee-Daniele were mini-break down at 2-5 but they immediately broke back ... Lee-Daniele saved 2 match points in this long tie-break before converting 5th set point ... In match tie-break both pairs exchanged lead early but then both pairs were neck to neck ... Lee-Daniele take lead after mini-break on 16th point, 9-7, and converted 2nd match point on their serve for hard fought win after 2 hours and 3 minutes .. In the semi-final they r facing 3rd seed Murray-Peers.
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At $984K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[QF] (ALT) Somdev Devvarman / Rik De Voest (IND/RSA) bt (2) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 36 64 10-7

[SF] (ALT) Somdev Devvarman / Rik De Voest (IND/RSA) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

Buji-Rik scored upset win over 2nd seed Benneteau-Zimonjic in comeback victory ... Buji-Rik lost the first set against Benneteau-Zimo but after that they fought back to won the second set with a single break ... Buji-Rik kept their momentum in match tie-break and enter into the semis after winning it ... Next they r facing South American pair.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) bt Yumi MIYAZAKI (JPN,548) 61 62

[QF] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) vs (3) Anastasiya VASYLYEVA (UKR,245)

Doubles
[QF] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna SMOLINA (RUS) l Basak ERAYDIN (TUR)/ Melis SEZER (TUR) 26 26
[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) l (2) Michaela HONCOVA (SVK)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR) 26 64 7-10

Ankita scored convincing win over her Japanese opponent and with that I think she has guaranteed her place in top-300 when next rankings get updated ... Bravo Ankita ... Next she is facing top-250 Ukrainian Vasylyeva.

But in the doubles Nidhi and Ankita lost their matches with their respective partners ... Ankita-Deniz stretched their 2nd seed opponents to match tie-break.
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At $15K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) bt (8) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1059) 61 57 63

[SF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) vs (4) Lukas Jastraunig (AUT,628)

Doubles
[SF] (2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (3) Alexander LAZOV (BUL)/ Jannis LINIGER (SUI) 63 60

[F] (2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)

Surprisingly Zimbabwean Fynn stretched Jeevan to three sets ... After losing the first set easily Fynn surprised Jeevan after winning the second ... Jeevan recovered and won the final set ... In the semis he is facing 4th seed Austrian ... In the doubles Jeevan-Yannick r in the final with dominating win after losing only three games ... In the final they 4 facing 4th seed Fynn-Ndayishimiye, who upset top-seed Austrian pair.
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At $10K Egypt F26 Futures , Sharm El Sheikh

[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1176) 63 62

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs (4) Ivan Nedelko (RUS,451)

Comfortable win for Prajnesh ... Next he is facing 4th seed Russian Nedelko.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt Linda DUBSKA (CZE) 60 60

[QF] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs Viktoriya BOGOSLOVSKAYA (RUS)

Very dominating win by Rishika against Czech girl ... Next she is facing Russian girl, who upset 6th seed.

Hockey News

At 8th Women's Asia Cup Hockey Tournament 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Semi Finals
India l Korea 1-2 (0-2)
Goal Scorers - Ritu Rani (IND) PC 41' and Cheon Seul Ki (KOR) PC 2', Cheon Eun Bi (KOR) PC 9'

India needed to win the tournament to qualify for the World Cup and they fought hard against higher ranked Koreans but that wasn't enough ... All three goals came through penalty corners ... Koreans take 2-0 lead in first 10 minutes but after that Indians kept attacking without any luck ... Koreans defended well and we missed few chances in front of the goal ... Indians reduced margined through Rani in early 2nd half but then failed to scored equalizer ... So with this loss our chances of qualifying for World cup got over.

Tennis News

 At $567.5K Thailand Open, Bangkok

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL) 57 57
[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniele Brachial (ITA) bt James Cerretani (USA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 75 76(4)

[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniele Bracciali (ITA) vs Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/ Robert Farah (COL)

Winning start for Lee and his Italian partner but match was tougher than expected ... Divij-Purav gave fighting performance against higher ranked Colombian pair but lost due to failing to win crucial points in this match ... In the first set Divij-Purav were up with a break 3-0 and then in the second set 4-2 before losing both sets ... Lee and Bracciali r facing this Colombian pair in the quarters.
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At $984K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1](ALT) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Rik De Voest (RSA) bt Pablo Andujar (ESP)/ Victor Hanescu (ROU) 63 62

[QF] (ALT) Somdev Devvarman / Rik De Voest (IND/RSA) vs (2) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Buji and Rik played as alternate pair and scored comfortable win in the first round over decent pair ... Next they r facing 2nd seed, who defeated Yuki and His Malaysian partner in the first round.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,586) l (7) Basak ERAYDIN (TUR,293) 46 16
[R1] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) bt (WC) Jamilya SADYKZHANOVA (UZB,UNR) 60 61

[R2] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) vs Yumi MIYAZAKI (JPN,548)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) bt Anna GRIGORYAN (RUS)/ Tatiana GRIGORYAN (RUS) 62 62

[QF] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna SMOLINA (RUS) vs Basak ERAYDIN (TUR)/ Melis SEZER (TUR)
[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) vs (2) Michaela HONCOVA (SVK)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)

Expected win for Ankita against local unranked wild-card ... Nidhi lost against top-300 Turkish girl ... In the doubles Ankita and her Israeli partner started with comfortable win ... Next they r facing 2nd seed pair and Nidhi with her Russian partner r facing Turkish pair.
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At $15K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[R2] Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) vs (6) Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA,864) 75 06 36
[R2] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) bt Francesco Garzelli (ITA,1240) 64 64

[QF] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) vs (8) Mark Fynn (ZIM,1059)

Doubles
[QF] George BARTH (USA)/ Medhir GOYAL (IND) l (1) Lukas JASTRAUNIG (AUT)/ Gerald MELZER (AUT) w/o
[QF] (2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt James ALLEMBY (GBR)/ Gilles DE SOUSA (FRA) 46 63 10-6

[SF] (2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) vs (3) Alexander LAZOV (BUL)/ Jannis LINIGER (SUI)

Straight sets win for Jeevan ... Next he is facing Zimbabwean Fynn ... Mithun started with winning the first set but failed to kept momentum.

Jeevan is in the doubles semis with his Belgian partner after scoring win in match tie-break in the quarter.
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At $10K Kuwait F2 Futures, Meshref

[R2] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND,321) l Q) Sadio Doumbia (FRA,UNR) 0-5 ret
[R2] Sidharth Rawat (IND,1181) l (5) Ivo Klec (SVK,589) 62 67(3) 26

Doubles
[QF] (4) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) l Siyu Liu (CHN)/ Chuhan Wang (CHN) 67(3) 62 5-10
[QF] Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) l (3) Ruan Roelofse (RSA)/ Tak Khunn Wang (FRA) 26 26

Saketh got injured in his match and Rawat failed to kept momentum after winning the first set ... How come Saketh played his doubles match after retiring from the singles? Sometime feel disturbing when players try to took simple route of retiring from their matches when things r not going in their favor ... Anyway Saketh-Davidson lost against Chinese pair in match tie-break ... 3rd seed Roelofse-Wang proved too strong for Akash-Kaza.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) l Erika HENDSEL (EST) 46 26

[R2] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) vs Linda DUBSKA (CZE)

Not promising outing for Indian girls as only Rishika is in the second round.

Hockey News

At 8th Women's Asia Cup Hockey Tournament 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Pool A
India bt Malaysia 2-0 (0-0)
Goal Scorers - Poonam Rani (IND) 36', Lily Chanu (IND) 49'

Our girls struggled in the first half but they raised their game in the second half ... They scored two field goals against host for grabbing semi-final place ... In the semis we r facing strong Korean side.

Tennis News

At $984K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) l (Q) Matteo Viola (ITA,140) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Syed Mohd Agil Syed Naguib (MAS) vs (2) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 26 26

Indian Wells qualifying result repeated again ... In that match also Some struggled against Matteo and same happened in this 76 minutes match ... From the game it looks Matteo is having upper hand in their duel, in this match also he exploited Buji's patience with his consistent game ... Buji struggled with his service game and Matteo take advantage of it breaking him 2nd and 4th game to lead 4-0 ... Buji broke him in 5th game to reduced it to 2-4 but Matteo hold his service games for winning the first set ... In the second set Buji broke him in 2nd game to lead 3-0 but after wards shockingly Buji lost his serve thrice for losing six games in a row ... Buji was so frustrated that he argued with chair umpire and showing anger on the court ... In the end disappointing loss for Buji.

Expected loss for Yuki and his unranked Malaysian partner against seasoned players ... Still $2k+ pay cheque for Yuki.
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At $567.5K Thailand Open, Bangkok

[R1] (1) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) l Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)/ Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 62 36 8-10

Disappointing start for Mahesh-Robert in their start of Asian leg ... They won the first set comfortably but after that they lost control over the match and lost match in match tie-break ... Hopefully they perform better in China.
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At $50K Napa Challenger, USA

[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,375) l Bobby Reynolds (USA,145) 26 46

Doubles
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) l Denis Kudla (USA)/ Donald Young (USA) 26 26

Matches were tough but I was expecting little better performance from Sanam in the singles and the doubles.
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At $15K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[R1] Kunal Anand (IND,2121) l (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,643) 06 16
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,1904) l Jannis Liniger (SUI,1990) 06 06

Doubles
[R1] Rahul SADHWANI (IND)/ Neishit VAKIL (IND) l (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI) 26 26

Expected horrible losses.
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At $10K Egypt F26 Futures , Sharm El Sheikh

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,UNR) l (Q) Igor Sobolta (UKR,UNR) 62 36 36
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) bt Marlon Oliveira (BRA,1235) 62 46 62

Prajnesh needed three sets against Brazilian for a win.
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At $10K Kuwait F2 Futures, Meshref

[R1] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND,321) bt Arpit Sharma (IND,1650) 60 61
[R1] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1774) l (7) Torsten Wietoska (GER,656) 76(5) 36 06
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1310) l Thomas Statzberger (AUT,1317) 16 16

Only Saketh won his match and Akash's fitness issues came ahead ... He won the first set in tie-break but after that his German opponent only lost 3 games for winning the match.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) l Samantha KOELLIKER (SUI) 06 06
[R1] Anjana KOMPALLY (IND) l (8) Evgeniya SVINTSOVA (RUS) 06 06

Wow, our both players lost with double bagel.

Tennis News

At $984K Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[Q3] (2) Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) bt Jean-Julien Rojer (NED,UNR) 75 75

[R1] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,98) vs (Q) Matteo Viola (ITA,140)

Surprisngluy tough resistant by Jean-Julien Rojer ... Still Buji completed win in tight two sets against thie top-15 doubles player and qualify for main-draw ... In the main-draw he is facing another qualifier Italian Matteo Viola ... Winner between this match will be facing top-seed and WR #4 David Ferrer.
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At $567.5K Thailand Open, Bangkok

[Q3] (8) Karunuday Singh (IND,684) l (4) Marco Chiudinelli (SUI,165) 64 16 46

Fighting performance by Karunuday against experienced and top-200 Swiss Chiudinelli ... But after winning the first set Karunuday failed to kept momentum.
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At $50K Napa Challenger, USA

[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND,446) l (2) Tim Smyczek (USA,104) 26 26

Vijayant lost in the first round against top-100 type American Tim Smyczek.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Fergana, Uzbekistan

[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,586) vs (7) Basak ERAYDIN (TUR,293)
[R1] (8) Ankita RAINA (IND,310) vs (WC) Jamilya SADYKZHANOVA (UZB,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Anna SMOLINA (RUS) bt Arina FOLTS (UZB)/ Alexandra RILEY (USA) 61 64
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) vs Anna GRIGORYAN (RUS)/ Tatiana GRIGORYAN (RUS)

Good to see Nidhi is playing this $25K tournament with Ankita ... Winning start for Nidhi in the doubles with her Russian partner.
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At $15K Burundi F1 Futures, Bujumbura (clay)

[R1] Rahul Sadhwani (IND,UNR) l Gilles De Sousa (FRA,UNR) 06 16
[R1] Kunal Anand (IND,2121) vs (5) Alexander Lazov (BUL,643)
[R1] Sagar Ahuja (IND,1408) l (6) Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA,864) 16 16
[R1] Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) bt (WC) Saidi Nkurunziza (BDI,UNR) 60 60
[R1] Neishit Vakil (IND,1904) vs Jannis Liniger (SUI,1990)
[R1] Medhir Goyal (IND,UNR) l Mark Fynn (ZIM,1054) 26 16
[R1] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) bye

[R2] Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) vs (6) Lorenzo Papasidero (ITA,864)

[R2] (2) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,329) vs Francesco Garzelli (ITA,1240)

Doubles
[R1] George BARTH (USA)/ Medhir GOYAL (IND) bt Aymar Hugor BIYAMBA NZILA STAR (GAB)/ Anatole BIZIMANA (RWA) 76(4) 76(1)
[R1] Rahul SADHWANI (IND)/ Neishit VAKIL (IND) vs (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Hassan NDAYISHIMIYE (BDI)
[R1] Olivier HAVUGIMANA (RWA)/ Mithun MURAL (IND) l Mariusz KUR (POL)/ Eric VEHOVEC (CAN) 63 46 6-10
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Kunal ANAND (IND) l (3) Alexander LAZOV (BUL)/ Jannis LINIGER (SUI) 36 67(3)
[R1] (2) Yannick MERTENS (BEL)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bye

[QF] George BARTH (USA)/ Medhir GOYAL (IND) vs (1) Lukas JASTRAUNIG (AUT)/ Gerald MELZER (AUT)

Jeevan is 2nd seed and having bye in the singles and the doubles ... Mithun started with comfortable win over local teenager.
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At $10K Kuwait F2 Futures, Meshref

[Q1] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND,321) bye
[Q1] (4) Akash Wagh (IND,1775) bye

[Q2] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND,321) bt Tamim Hallak (LIB,UNR) 62 60
[Q2] (4) Akash Wagh (IND,1775) bt Uros Lukic (YUG,UNR) 60 62

[R1] (1) Saketh Myneni (IND,321) vs Arpit Sharma (IND,1650)
[R1] (Q) Akash Wagh (IND,1774) vs (7) Torsten Wietoska (GER,656)
[R1] Jatin Dahiya (IND,1310) vs Thomas Statzberger (AUT,1317)
[R1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,1181) bt Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND,970) 64 60

Doubles
[R1] (4) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Sadio Doumbia (FRA)/ Jordan Ubiergo (FRA) 75 36 13-11
[R1] Vinayak Sharma Kaza (IND)/ Akash Wagh (IND) bt Sidharth Rawat (IND)/ Arpit Sharma (IND) 63 64

[QF] (4) Patrick Davidson (USA)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs Siyu Liu (CHN)/ Chuhan Wang (CHN)

Not sure about Saketh's planning ... This week he needed to play qualifying with Akash and both qualified ... In the doubles tough win for Saketh and Davidson against French pair in extra points of match tie-break, next they r facing Chinese pair ... Sidharth Rawat scored comfortable straight sets win over higher ranked Kaza but Kaza-Wagh defeated Sidharth-Arpit in straight sets.
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At $10K Egypt F26 Futures , Sharm El Sheikh

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,UNR) vs (Q) Igor Sobolta (UKR,UNR)
[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) vs Marlon Oliveira (BRA,1235)

Only Prajnesh is playing with Sasi in this wek's Egypt futures.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[SF] (1) Rishika SUNKARA (IND) bt bye
[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) vs Samantha KOELLIKER (SUI) [R1] Anjana KOMPALLY (IND) vs (8) Evgeniya SVINTSOVA (RUS) [R1] Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) vs Erika HENDSEL (EST)

Rishika is top-seed and she is having bye in the first round.

Archery News

At Archery World Cup Final 2013, Paris, France

Recurve Women's Individual


Gold - Ok Hee Yun (KOR)
Silver - Deepika Kumari (IND)
Bronze - Yuanyuan Cui (CHN)

Gold Medal match
Deepika Kumari (IND) l Ok Hee Yun (KOR) 4-6 (27-30 28-28 19-29 27-28 29-29)

[SF] Deepika Kumari (IND) bt Aejandra Valencia (MEX) 6-5 (26-27 25-28 29-24 27-27 30-27)

[QF] Deepika Kumari (IND) bt Aida Roman (MEX) 7-1 (28-28 29-28 26-24 28-26)

Deepika Kumari lost in the final against Korean WR #2 and experienced Ok Hee Yun ... The final was very close as Deepika started confidently scoring 10 points in all 3 arrows for winning the first set ... The second set tied 28-28 so Deepika was leading 3-1 ... In the third set both archers were tied on 19 points before last arrow ... Then Yun scored 10 but Deepika didn't have time to shoot ... Deepika lost 4th set by single point ... In the fifth set both archers matched each other arrows to scored identical 29 points ... So with that 1 point Yun completed victory and Deepika won the Silver.

Before this Deepika defeated two Mexican archers to reached the final ... In the first match she defeated London Olympics silver medalist Aida Roman comfortably ... In the semi-final she faced another Mexican 19 yrs old Aejandra Valencia, who defeated Olympics Gold medalist Korean Hyun Jung Joo in her first match ... Valencia won the first 2 sets and at that time Deepika was trailing 0-4 ... Deepika won the third set comfortably and then hold Valencia 27-27 in 4th set ... At that time scored 3-5 in Deepika's favor ... In the fifth set Deepika scored perfect 30 scoring three 10s and made it 5-5 ... In Shoot-off both archers hit 9 but Deepika's arrow was closer to the centre so that handed her a win.