Badminton News

At $400K Yonex Denmark Open 2013, Odense (Superseries)

[Q1] (4) Sourabh Varma (IND,46) l Raul Must (EST,94) 13-21 21-6 18-21
[Q1] Anand Pawar (IND,33) bt Flemming Quach (DEN,88) 26-24 21-15
[Q1] K. Srikanth (IND,31) bt Christian Lind Thomsen (DEN,69) 21-13 21-8
[Q1] H.S. Prannoy (IND,43) l (3) Kento Momota (JPN,28) 14-21 19-21

[Q2] Anand Pawar (IND,33) bt Dieter Domke (GER,54) 21-7 21-7
[Q2] K. Srikanth (IND,31) l (3) Kento Momota (JPN,28) 19-21 21-10 17-21

[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,13) vs Daren Liew (MAS,16)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,25) vs (8) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,8)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,24) vs Yun Hu (HKG,11)
[R1] (Q) Anand Pawar (IND,33) vs (2) Long Chen (CHN,2)

[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,53) vs (1) Xuerui Li (CHN,1) [R1] P. V. Sindhu (IND,10) vs Eriko Hirose (JPN,18)
[R1] (4) Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Stefani Stoeva (BUL,64)

[R1] Sumeet Reddy (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) vs Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Johannes Schoettler (GER)

[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Qualifier

Only Anand and Srikanth r in the final qualifying with straight games win ... Surprising loss of Sourabh ... In men draw tough matches for our players other than Saina.

Anand looks in terrific touch as he won the final qualifying match losing 14 points only ... But next he is facing WR #2 Long Chen ... Srikanth lost in three games against similar ranked his Japanese opponent Momota ... After losing the first game Srikanth made strong comeback but failed to keep momentum in the third.

Tennis News

At $15K Australia F10 Futures, Sydney

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) bt (Q) Scott Browne (AUS,UNR) 61 60

[R2] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) vs Gavin van Peperzeel (AUS,586)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt Jacob Scott (AUS)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN) 61 61

[SF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Maverick Banes (AUS)/ Gavin van Peperzeel (AUS)

Very dominating win by Yuki in the singles ... Next he is facing top-600 Aussie ... In the doubles Yuki and Yasutaka moved into the semis with comfortable win.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Lagos, Nigeria

[R1] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) bt (Q) Loveth NNADOZIE (NGR,UNR) 61 61
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,470) l Michaela FRLICKA (GER,613) 76(2) 36 57

[R2] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) vs (3) Eva BIRNEROVA (CZE,145)

Expected dominating winning start for Prarthana against local unranked player but Rishika lost after winning the first set in close match against her German opponent ... Prarthana having real tough match in the next round against former top-60 Czech player.
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At $15K Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R1] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) bt (Q) Bolaji Olawepo (NGR) 62 62
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) bt Henry Atseye (NGR,1780) 61 60

[R2] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) vs (4) Dino Marcan (CRO,447)
[R2] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) vs Andre Gaspar Murta (POR,681)
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs Sanni Adamu (NGR,1499)
[R2] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) vs (WC) Joseph Imeh Ubon (NGR,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Henry Atseye (NGR)/ Eric Vehovec (CAN)

Expected easy victories for Jeevan and Ranjeet in the singles ... In the second round Vishu is facing 4th seed Croatian, who is former top-300 player like Vishnu ... Ranjeet having tricky match against Portuguese teenager.
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At $10K Kazakhstan F7 Futures, Shymkent

[R1] (2) Karunuday Singh (IND,684) l Temur Ismailov (UZB,916) 26 46

Another poor loss for Karunuday.
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At $10K Great Britain F21 Futures, Loughborough

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,797) l (5) Joris De Loore (BEL,412) 36 16

Expected loss against top-400 type Dutch player.
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At $10K Germany F19 Futures, Essen

[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,457) bt Marvin Netuschil (GER,1058) 76(6) 46 62

[R2] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,457) vs Alexander Ritschard (SUI,747)

Unexpectedly tough match for Bala but he managed to win it ... Next he is facing Swiss teenager.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) l (WC) Angelina GORDIENKO (RUS) 06 06
[R1] (WC) Ashmitha EASWARAMURTHI (IND) vs Ksenia DMITRIEVA (RUS)
[R1] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) vs Liudmila VASILYEVA (RUS)
[R1] (4) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Harmony TAN (FRA) 75 63

Interesting to see if Natasha manage to perform as per her seeding.

Snooker News

At £300K Indian Open, New Delhi, India

[R1] (Q) Dharminder Lilly (IND,A) vs (2) Mark Selby (ENG,2)
[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,70) vs Marcus Campbell (SCO,27)
[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) bt Peter Ebdon (ENG,30) 4-3 (66(50)-48, 69-51, 8-91, 122(122)-1, 32-81, 73-85, 131(127)-0)

[R2] Aditya Mehta (IND,72) vs Hammad Miah (ENG,99)

Excellent start for Aditya as he started with close win against 2002 World champion Peter Ebdon in thrilling match ... Aditya started confidently and won 1st fram with 50 points break ... He continued with his momentum and won next fram also with small breaks ... Peter fought back and scored couple of 30s/40s breaks and won 3rd frame ... Aditya scored 1st century break of the match for winning 4th frame ... At this time Aditya was leading 3-1 but peter kept fighting ... He won next two frames and in that in 6th frame Peter was down 32-73 and he fought back to won next 53 points to made it 3-all ... In the final frame Aditya kept his cool and scored another big century break of 127 points to enter in the second round ... Next he is facing another British player Hammad Miah.

From wild-card round only Dharminder Lilly managed to joint Aditya and Pankaj as Lilly received walkover from his opponent ... Lilly is facing WR #2 Mark Selby in the first round ... Other hand Pankaj is facing top-30 Scottish player Marcus Campbell.

Boxing News

At AIBA World Boxing Championships 2013, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Men's Light Fly 46-49kg
[R1] Nanao Thokchom (IND) bye

[R2] Nanao Thokchom (IND) vs Aqeel Ahmed (SCO)

Men's Fly 52kg
[R1] Madan Lal (IND) l Alexandros Riscan (MDA) WP 0-3 (28-29 28-29 28-29)

Men's Bantam 56kg
[R1] (4) Shiva Thapa (IND) bye

Men's Light 60kg
[R1] Vikash Malik (IND) vs Meder Mamakeev (KGZ)

Men's Light Welter 64kg
[R1] (6) Manoj Kumar (IND) bye

Men's Welter 69kg
[R1] Mandeep Jangra (IND) vs Selemani Kidunda (TAN)

Men's Middle 75kg
[R1] Vijender Singh (IND) vs Hampus Henriksson (SWE)

Men's Light Heavy 81kg
[R1] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bye

[R2] Sumit Sangwan (IND) vs (9) Petru Ciobanu (MDA)

Men's Heavy 91kg
[R1] Manpreet Singh bye

[R2] Manpreet Singh (IND) Kaddy Agnes (SEY)

Men's Super Heavy +91kg
[R1] Satish Kumar (IND) vs Mirodzhidin Karimov (TJK)

Our boxers r playing their first international tournament with AIBA new rule of playing without head gear ... Our 2 boxers r seeded and with them another 2 boxers receive first round bye ... Vijender Singh, Sumit and Manpreet having tough draw but that ws expected considering they r not seeded in the draw.

Young Madan Lal lost his first round bout in Flyweight on the points ... He lost very close match as referees decision were opponent's favor by a single point.

Tennis News

At $15K Australia F10 Futures, Sydney

[R1] (1) Yuki Bhambri (IND,284) vs (Q) Scott Browne (AUS,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt Blade Fong (AUS)/ Marious Zelba (AUS) 62 62

[QF] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) vs Jacob Scott (AUS)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN)

Yuki back on the tour after three weeks break ... Next three weeks he is playing in Australia ... This week futures and next 2 weeks challengers.

In the doubles he is started with easy win with his Japanese partner.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Lagos, Nigeria

[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,591) lMargarita LAZAREVA (RUS,380) 57 76(6) 36
[R1] Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,505) vs (Q) Loveth NNADOZIE (NGR,UNR)
[R1] (Q) Kyra SHROFF (IND,760) l (Q) Jasmin STEINHERR (GER,690) 26 36
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND,470) vs Michaela FRLICKA (GER,613)

Doubles
[R1] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO)/ Kyra SHROFF (IND) vs (4) Melanie KLAFFNER (AUT)/ Tadeja MAJERIC (SLO)
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Michaela FRLICKA (GER) vs (3) Fatma AL NABHANI (OMA)/ Cristina DINU (ROU)
[R1] Rishika SUNKARA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS)/ Jasmin STEINHERR (GER)

Big Indian contingent in Nigeria but missing name is Ankita Raina ... Nidhi gave big fight top-400 Russian girl .. After losing the first set Nidhi won tight second set in the tie-break but failed to keep momentum and lost the third set.
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At $15K Nigeria F1 Futures , Lagos

[R1] Vishnu Vardhan (IND,699) bt (Q) Abdullah Hamidu (NGR,UNR) 62 62
[R1] (8) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,596) vs (Q) Bolaji Olawepo (NGR)
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,315) vs Henry Atseye (NGR,1780)
[R1] (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,1658) bt (WC) Daouda Ndiaye (SEN,UNR) 63 76(3)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) bt Candy Idoko (NGR)/ Nonso Madueke (NGR) 61 62
[R1] (2) Hiroki Kondo (JPN)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Henry Atseye (NGR)/ Eric Vehovec (CAN)

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) vs Sunday Maku (NGR)/ Lawal Shehu (NGR)

Jeevan and Ranjeet r back for African safari ... They started with comfortable win in the doubles against local pair ... Next they r facing another Nigerian pair.

Expected win in the singles for Vishu and Mithun.
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At $15K USA F27 Futures, Mansfield, Texas

[R1] (5) Vijayant Malik (IND,494) vs Qualifier
[R1] (3) Sanam Singh (IND,357) vs Andrew Harris (AUS,809)

Doubles
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Mindaugas Celedinas (LTU)/ Marek Pesicka (CZE)

Hoping for better outing in the singles for Sanam and Vijayant.
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At $10K Kazakhstan F7 Futures, Shymkent

[R1] (2) Karunuday Singh (684) vs Temur Ismailov (UZB,916)

Hopefully this week Karunuday perform as per his seeding.
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At $10K Germany F19 Futures, Essen

[QF] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,457) vs Marvin Netuschil (GER,1058)

Doubles
[R1] (3) N.Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Miki Jankovic (SRB) vs Jan Oliver Sadlowski (GER)/ Johann Willems (GER)

This weel Bal;a is 3rd seed in the singles and the doubles.
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At $10K Spain F35 Futures, Sant Cugat

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,688) l (1) Jordi Samper-Montana (ESP,221) 36 36

Doubles
[R1] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Nikita Kardivar (USA)/ Alexander Zhurbin (RUS) 62 64

[QF] (2) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Javier Fernandez (ESP)/ Sergio Martos Gornes (ESP)

Had a tough draw in the singles against top-seed and top-225 player for Ramkumar ... Ramkumar gave decent performance in his loss against Jordi Samper-Montana.

In the doubles Ramkumar and Sanz had winning start against Russian-American pair ... Next they r facing Spanish pair.
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At $10K Great Britain F21 Futures, Loughborough

[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,797) vs (5) Joris De Loore (BEL,412)

Tough match for Vijay Sundar.

Tennis News

At $$824K Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia

[R1] Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS)/ Dudi Sela (ISR)

This week Divij-Purav r getting opportunity of playing on ATP tour ... They r playing at Kremlin Cup and having decent draw.
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At $125K Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

Doubles Final
(2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 46 46

Divij-Purav failed to cross final hurdle and lost against in-form Russian pair ... Still good outing for our pair with their recent first round losses ... Here they reached in the final and grabbed valuable 75 ranking points.
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At $10K Germany F18 Futures, Leimen

[SF] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) l (6) Erik Crepaldi (ITA,567) 36 26

Crepaldi controlled the match from the start and won the first set ... In the second set also Crepaldi broke Bala in 1st game to lead 2-0 ... After that Bala never recovered and Crepaldi completed victory with double break.

Tennis News

At $125K Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[SF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Dudi Sela (ISR)/ Amir Weintraub (ISR) 57 63 13-11

Another good comeback win by Divij-Purav against experienced Israeli pair for entering into the final ... After losing the first set our pair fought back and won the second set ... In see-saw match tie-break our pair prevailed in extra points but before that they missed match poin on their own serve at 10-9.
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At $15K USA F26 Futures, Houston, Texas

[QF] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) l (8) Tyler Hochwalt (USA,573) 67(3) 06

Doubles Final
Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (4) Evan King (USA)/ Costin Paval (ROU) 76(5) 64

Sanam lost in the singles quarter final against 570+ ranked American ... After losing the first set in tie-break Sanam failed to won a single game in the second. But inn the doubles final Sanam-Vijayant lifted title beating 4th seed King-Paval in tight two sets ... Sanam-Vijayant won the first set in tie-break and then won the second set with a single break advantage.
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At $10K Greece F14 Futures , Marathon - Athens

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,535) l (3) Claudio Grassi (ITA,466) 46 67(5)

Prajnesh's fighting performance against Grassi wasn't enough but still another decent performance by Prajnesh.
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At $10K Germany F18 Futures, Leimen

[QF] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) bt (1) Adrian Sikora (SVK,329) 36 63 76(5)

[SF] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) vs (6) Erik Crepaldi (ITA,567)

Sikora won the first set comfortably but in the second set Bala was up 2-0 breaking Sikora in 1st game ... Bala again broke Sikora in 9th game for winning the second set ... In the third set also Bala broke Sikora early in 2nd game to lead 2-0 but this time Sikora immediately broke back and made it 2-1 ... The third set went in tie-break and Bala kept his nerve for winning it ... After long time Bala produced this super performance and big upset win against top 330 player ... In the semis Bala is facing Italian opponent.
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At $10K Great Britain F20 Futures, Sunderland

Doubles Final
N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) l (3) Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR) 36 64 8-10

Vijay Sundar and his Dutch partner Pel tried fight back after losing the first set ... They won the second set but failed to kept momentum in match tie-break ... British pair won this close match tie-break for lifting the title.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) l Helen PLOSKINA (UKR) 06 46

Poor loss of Natasha against Ukrainian girl.

Squash News

At $10K Penang Open 2013, Malaysia

[SF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) l (3) Emma Beddoes (ENG,30) 5-11 5-11 11-9 10-12 (60m)

Joshna started slowly against Emma and Emma take advantage of it winning first 2 games easily ... After that Joshna fought back to won the third game but Emma kept her cool and completed victory after winning fourth game in extra points.

Tennis News

At $6.2M Shanghai Rolex Masters, China

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l Treat Huey (PHI)/ Dominic Inglot (GBR) 67(4) 75 6-10
[R2] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 57 63 11-13

I was hoping win for our both pairs but both lost in match tie-break ... After losing the first set both fought back to won the second but failed to win match tie-breaks ... Rohan-Edouard needed good tournament in bid for qualifying for year-end ATP World tour Final.
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At $15K USA F26 Futures, Houston, Texas

[R2] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) bt (WC) Stefan Kozlov (USA,UNR) 64 63

[QF] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) vs (8) Tyler Hochwalt (USA,573)

Doubles
[SF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (1) Sekou Bangoura (USA)/ Kevin King (USA) 57 63 10-3

[F] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs (4) Evan King (USA)/ Costin Paval (ROU)

Really good win by Sanam against talented 15 yrs old and Jr WR #14 American Stefan Kozlov in straight sets ... Young Kozlov gave fighting performance as he fought back in the second set from 0-4 but in end Sanam was better player on the court ... Next he is facing 8th seed American Hochwalt.

Impressive win by Sanam-Vijayant in the doubles semi-final against top-seed American pair ... After losing the first set our pair made excellent comeback to won the second set and then comfortably won the match tie-break ... In the final they r facing 4th seed American-Romanian pair.
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At $10K Greece F14 Futures, Marathon - Athens

[R2] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,535) bt Konstantinos Mikos (GRE,1030) 36 63 61

[QF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,535) vs (3) Claudio Grassi (ITA,466)

Prajnesh lost the first set against local Greek player but he fought back and won the next two sets comfortably ... Next he is facing 3rd seed Italian Grassi.
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At $10K Kazakhstan F6 Futures, Shymkent

[QF] (1) Karunuday Singh (684) l (8) Andrei Vasilevski (BLR,907) 36 57

Karunuday lost against above 900 ranked Andrei Vasilevski in straight sets ... Really poor loss of Karunuday, he really need to raise his game.
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At $10K Great Britain F20 Futures, Sunderland

[QF] (8) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,801) l (1) Ashley HEWITT (GBR,373) 46 26

Doubles
[SF] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) bt (4) Stefan STERLAND-MARKOVIC (GBR)/ Darren WALSH (GBR) 62 16 10-6

[F] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) vs (3) Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR)

Vijay Sundar failed to gave fight to top-seed Hewitt in the singles ... But in the doubles Vijay Sundar is in the final with his Dutch partner David Pel ... They scored upset win over 4th seed British pair in match tie-break ... In the final they r facing 3rd seed British pair.
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At $10K Spain F34 Futures, Sant Cugat

[SF] (4) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) l Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP)/ Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP) 67(6) 26

Ramkumar and his partner Sanz lost against Spanish pair in the semis ... After losing the first set in tie-break Ramkumar and Sanz overpowered in the second set.
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At $10K Germany F18 Futures, Leimen

[R1] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) bt Bastian Wagner (GER,866) 62 60

[QF] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) vs (1) Adrian Sikora (SVK,329)

Very dominating win by Bala against German Wagner losing only two games ... In the quarter final he is facing top-seed and top-330 Adrian Sikora.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R2] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) bt Sneha PADAMATA (IND) 61 61

[QF] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs Helen PLOSKINA (UKR)

Expected easy win for Natasha against Sneha ... Next she is facing Ukrainian girl Helen Ploskina, who upset 5th seed Swiss girl.

Squash News

At $10K Penang Open 2013, Malaysia

[QF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) bt (Q) Farah Abdel Meguid (EGY,225) 9-11 11-9 11-8 11-9 (47m)

[SF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) vs (3) Emma Beddoes (ENG,30)

Joshana again started slowly against former WR #51 Egyptian qualifier Farah Abdel Meguid ... After losing the first game Joshna needed to dig deep for winning next close three games for victory in 47 minutes ... In the semis she is facing 3rd seed British Emma Beddoes.

Tennis News

At $125K Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Malek Jaziri (TUN) 75 64

[SF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Dudi Sela (ISR)/ Amir Weintraub (ISR)

Divij-Purav was early break down i2-4 but after that they made excellent comeback ... With break they made it 5-all and after that they broke again in 12th game for winning the first set ... In the second set also our pair was break down at 2-3 ... After that they won 4 games from next 5 games and in that broke opponent serve twice ... Next they r facing Israeli pair who upset 3rd seed Ratiwatana brothers.
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At $15K USA F26 Futures, Houston, Texas

[R1] (Q) Srikar Alla (IND,1776) l (1) Edward Corrie (GBR,344) 46 46
[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) bt (Q) Max Wennakoski (FIN,1502) 63 63

[R2] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) vs (WC) Stefan Kozlov (USA,UNR)

Doubles
[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt Tyler Hochwalt (USA)/ Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL) 62 63

[SF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Sekou Bangoura (USA)/ Kevin King (USA)

Expected straight sets win for Sanam but Alla also gave decent performance in his loss against top-seed Corrie ... Sanam's next opponent in talented 15 yrs old and Jr WR #14 American Stefan Kozlov, this year who was quarter finalist at junior Wimbledon.

In the doubles Sanam-Vijayant r in the semis with comfortable win ... They r facing top-seed American pair.
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At $10K Kazakhstan F6 Futures, Shymkent

[R2] (1) Karunuday Singh (684) bt Anton Galkin (RUS,989) 64 62

[QF] (1) Karunuday Singh (684) vs (8) Andrei Vasilevski (BLR,907)

Karunuday scored another comfortable win over Russian player ... Next he is facing 8th seed Andrei Vasilevski.
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At $10K Great Britain F20 Futures, Sunderland

[R2] (8) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,801) bt (Q) Chris ANGUELOV (BUL,UNR) 64 63

[QF] (8) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,801) vs (1) Ashley HEWITT (GBR,373)

Doubles
[QF] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) bt (1) George COUPLAND (GBR)/ Marcus DANIELL (NZL) 75 76(6)

[SF] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) vs (4) Stefan STERLAND-MARKOVIC (GBR)/ Darren WALSH (GBR)

Vijay Sundar scored comfortable win over Bulgarian qualifier in the singles ... Next he is facing top-seed British player Hewitt ... In the doubles Vijay Sundar scored upset win with his Dutch partner David Pel against top-seed Coupland-Daniell in tight two sets ... Next they r facing 4th seed British pair.
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At $10K Spain F34 Futures, Sant Cugat

[QF] (4) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Lucas McCone (BEL) / Thomas McCone (BEL) 60 60

[SF] (4) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) / Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP)

Ramkumar and his partner gave double bagel to McCone twins ... Next they r facing Spanish pair, who scored upset win over 2nd seed pair.
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At $10K Germany F18 Futures, Leimen

[R1] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) bt Oscar Otte (GER,720) 3-0 Retd.

[R2] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) vs Bastian Wagner (GER,866)

Doubles
[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Torsten WIETOSKA (GER) l Maximilian MARTERER (GER)/ Daniel MASUR (GER) W/O

Bala's opponent retired from the match ... Next he is facing German Wagner ... In the doubles Bala and Wietoska gave walkover due to injury to Wietoska.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) bt (Q) Reem FAYED (EGY) 62 61

[R2] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) vs Sneha PADAMATA (IND)

Easy win for Sneha but next she is facing Natasha.

Squash News

At $10K Penang Open 2013, Malaysia

[Q1] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,98) bt Lim Jee Nee (MAS,UNR) 11-9 11-9 11-5 (22m)
[Q2] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,98) l Vanessa Raj (MAS,118) 10-12 5-11 3-11 (34m)

[R1] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) bt Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,49) 8-11 11-4 11-6 11-9 (41m)

[QF] (2) Joshana Chinappa (IND,24) vs (Q) Farah Abdel Meguid (EGY,225)

This week Joshana is playing at Penang tournament and she is 2nd seed ... Aparajitha failed to qualify but Joshana started confidently ... She defeated top-50 Egyptian Salma after losing the first game ... Next she is facing former WR #51 Egyptian qualifier Farah Abdel Meguid.

Tennis News

At $125K Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA)/ Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 57 63 10-3

[QF] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Malek Jaziri (TUN)

Need solid performance for Divij-Purav before season end ... Stuttering start for our 2nd seed pair at Tashkent Challenger ... They lost the first set against Italian pair and after that they fought back winning the second set and match tie-break ... Next they r facing wild-card pair.
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At $15K USA F26 Futures, Houston, Texas

[R1] (Q) Srikar Alla (IND,1776) vs (1) Edward Corrie (GBR,344)
[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,359) vs (Q) Max Wennakoski (FIN,1502)
[R1] (5) Vijayant Malik (IND,485) l Kevin King (USA,606) 63 36 26

Doubles
[R1] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) bt (WC) Sam Edwards (USA)/ Grant Solomon (USA) 62 62

[QF] Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Sanam Singh (IND) vs Tyler Hochwalt (USA)/ Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL)

Hoped for good performance from Vijayant but he lost after winning the first set ... In the doubles he with Sanam started with dominating win over wild-card pair.
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At $10K Kazakhstan F6 Futures, Shymkent

[R1] (1) Karunuday Singh (684) bt (WC) Kuatbek Abiyev (KAZ,2043) 60 61

[R2] (1) Karunuday Singh (684) vs Anton Galkin (RUS,989)

Comfortable winning start for Karunuday.
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At $10K Greece F14 Futures , Marathon - Athens

[R1] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,535) bt Loic Perret (SUI,1236) 67(4) 62 76(1)

Surprisingly tough fight from Swiss opponent for Prajnesh but still he kept his focus and won the third set in tie-break.
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At $10K Great Britain F20 Futures, Sunderland

[R1] (8) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,801) bt (Q) David PORTER (GBR,2101) 46 76(2) 76(3)

[R2] (8) N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND,801) vs (Q) Chris ANGUELOV (BUL,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) bye

[QF] N. Vijay Sundar PRASHANTH (IND)/ David PEL (NED) vs (1) George COUPLAND (GBR)/ Marcus DANIELL (NZL)

This week Vijay Sunder is playing in British futures and had dogfight in the first round ... After losing the first set Vijay Sundar needed to dig deep for winning next two sets in tie-breaks ... Next he is facing another qualifier.
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At $10K Spain F34 Futures, Sant Cugat

[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,686) l Eduard Esteve Lobato (ESP,687) 46 06

Doubles
[R1] (4) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Jaume Pla Malfeito (ESP)/ Jean-Marc Werner (GER) 76(4) 63

[QF] (4) David Perez Sanz (ESP)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) vs Lucas McCone (BEL) / Thomas McCone (BEL)

Disappointed loss against similar ranked opponent for Ramkumar in the singles.
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At $10K Germany F18 Futures, Leimen

[R2] (5) N.Sriram Balaji (IND,451) vs Oscar Otte (GER,720)

Doubles
[R1] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Torsten WIETOSKA (GER) bye

Bala is playing in German futures.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[R1] (Q) Shivani MANCHANDA (IND) l (Q) Aleksandra TRESKUNOVA (RUS) 16 06
[R1] Anjana KOMPALLY (IND) l (8) Karina VENDITTI (BRA) 16 16
[R1] Sneha PADAMATA (IND) vs (Q) Reem FAYED (EGY)
[R1] (3) Natasha PALHA (IND) bye

Interesting to see how Natasha perform in these weak tournaments.

Tennis News

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


Doubles Final
(8) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Vera Dushevina (RUS)/ Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 62 62

Sania-Cara completed their dream start as pair winning the second title in two weeks ... This was Sania's 19th WTA doubles title and Cara's 57th ... Next year they r decided to play together and this is marvelous start for their pairing ... Sania and Cara won the Premier-level Toray Pan Pacific Open last week and followed it up with the Premier Mandatory-level China Open this week ... Also Sania become the first player this year to capture five WTA doubles titles.

In the final they dominated Russian-Spanish pair from the start and won this match comfortably.
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At $1.4M Japan Open, Tokyo


Doubles Final
(4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Jamie Murray (GBR)/ John Peers (AUS) 76(5) 64

Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin captured their first ATP World Tour team title at the Japan Open Tennis Championships ... This was Rohan's 9th ATP tour title and Edouard's 6th doubles title ... Rohan-Edouard won the first set in tie-break after both pairs failed to break opponent's serve ... In the second set Rohan-Edouard broke Murray in the third game and that proved decisive.
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At $6.2M Shanghai Rolex Masters, China

[Q2] (11) Somdev Devvarman (IND,97) l Tatsuma Ito (JPN,160) 67(6) 06

Another poor loss for Buji against Ito in 72 minutes ... In the first set both players traded break and in tie-break Buji had set point on his server at 6-5 but from here tide changed ... Buji lost next 2 points on his serve and Ito won next point on his serve for winning the first set ... In the second set Buji failed to raise his game and lost his serve thrice to lose the second set ... The way Buji lost the second set I m little worried about his health ... Hoping for not any serious injury threat.
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At $125K Tashkent Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (2) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Andrea Arnaboldi (ITA)/ Thomas Fabbiano (ITA)

This week Purav-Divij r playing at Tashkent Challenger ... They r 2nd seed and I m hoping they perform at least as per their seeding.

Volleyball News

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

For 7th Position
India bt Lebanon 3-2 (27-25 23-25 25-23 21-25 17-15)

Lebanese men stretched Indian team for this win ... Indians won the first set in extra points but after that both teams shared next two sets with similar scored ... Despite 1-2 sets down Lebanese fought back and won the fourth set comfortably ... In the decider both teams were going neck to neck and in that Indians managed win in extra points ... In last Asian Championship we finished on 6th position so this time no progress from our team.

Squash News

At $35K Montreal Open 2013, Canada

[SF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) l (1) Borja Golan (ESP,9) 3-11 7-11 9-11 (45m)

Saurav failed to raise his game against top-seed Golan ... In the first set Golan take advantage of errors from Saurav to won it comfortably ... Next two sets Saurav gave fight but that wasn't enough and he lost in 45 minutes.

Volleyball News

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

5th-8th Position
India l Australia 1-3 (20-25 18-25 25-21 12-25)

Again Indians performed as per their age-old problem ... After losing the knock-out match we generally fail to raise our game in positing matches ... In group we defeated mighty Aussie in tight match but in 5th-8th position match we performed poorly ... We lost the first 2 sets easily but managed to won the third set ... But our performance was very poor in the fourth set where we won only 12 points ... Now for 7th position we r playing against Lebanese team.

Tennis News

At $6.2M Shanghai Rolex Masters, China

[Q1] (11) Somdev Devvarman (IND,97) bt (WC) Siyu Liu (CHN,1143) 61 46 61

[Q2] (11) Somdev Devvarman (IND,97) vs Tatsuma Ito (JPN,160)

Doubles
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bye
[R1] (3) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) bye

Surprised to see Buji lost the set against 1100+ ranked Chinese player ... Buji won the first set comfortably but then lost his focus to lose the second set ... Buji recovered in third and won it losing only one game ... In the final qualifying he is facing Japanese Tatsuma Ito.

This week also Lee is playing with Daniel and they r 3rd seed ... They r in bottom draw with 2nd seed Spanish pair ... Rohan-Edouard r 6th seed and they r in top draw with Bryans.
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At $3.57M China Open, Beijing

[SF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) l Fabio Fognini (ITA)/ Andreas Seppi (ITA) 63 57 8-10

Lee-Daniel failed to continue with their good run and lost against Italian pair in the semis ... Lee-Daniel started well winning the first set but then failed to kept the momentum ... Italian pair fought back and won the tight second set ... The match tie-break was close affair which Italian pair won it ... Lee-Daniel was 7-4 and 8-6 leading which they failed to keep.
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At $10K Turkey F39 Futures , Antalya - Kaya-Belek

[SF] (8) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,544) l (5) Adam Pavlasek (CZE,413) 36 16

Prajnesh failed to raise his game against Czech player as he lost easily winning only four games.

Squash News

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

[QF] Dipika Pallikal (IND,17) l (1) Nicol David (MAS,1) 7-11 5-11 4-11

In the first set Dipika started well but then David take control to won it ... From the second set David was putting pressure on Dipika, who was committing errors and David won next two sets convincingly.
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At $35K Montreal Open 2013, Canada

[QF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY,45) 11-3 11-4 2-11 11-4 (54m)

[SF] (3) Saurav Ghosal (IND,17) vs (1) Borja Golan (ESP,9)

Though score looks one-sided still match was lot closer ... Both players played long rallies and Saurav managed to win it in four sets ... Next he is facing top-seed and top-10 Spanish player Borja Golan.

Volleyball News

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

Quarter Final
India l China 1-3 (25-22 22-25 21-25 18-25)

Indian men started well winning the first set but afterwards strong Chinese team recovered well and won the tight second set ... Chinese men kept their momentum for winning the third set and then dominated the fourth for completing victory in four sets ... Indian men had chances but they failed to take it in the second set.