Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,7) 21-11 17-21 21-13

For qualifying for the semis Saina needed to win this match in straight games but she failed to did that ... Still moral-boosting win for Saina against Korean Bae, who troubled her through out the year, in 60 minutes ... In the first game Saina take 4-0 lead but Bae caught up with her at 6-all ... Saina won next 6 points in a row to lead 12-6 and that proved crucial ... Bae reduced lead to 10-15 but again Saina won next 5 points, 20-10, and converted 2nd game point for winning it ... In the second game both players were neck to neck till 10-all ... Bae opened 13-10 lead which Saina reduced to 12-13 but Bae kept single point advantage ... At 17-16 Bae won next 3 points, 20-16, and converted 2nd game point to won it ... In the final game Saina opened 4-0 lead and kept increasing it ... At one time Saina was leading 14-5 though Bae tried fight back winning 4 points in a row from 7-16 but gap was too large ... Saina converted 1st match point for completing her first win of 2013 Superseries Final.

Tennis News

At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[SF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) l (1) Ti Chen (TPE,325) 64 36 67(3)
[SF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) l (4) Toshihide Matsui (JPN,509) 26 57

Doubles Final
Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (1) Takuto NIKI (JPN)/ Arata ONOZAWA (JPN) 64 63

KU gave fighting performance against his experienced Taiwani opponent, Ti Chen ... After winning the first set KU failed to kept momentum in the second set ... In the third set KU tried but Ti Chen completed victory after winning tie-break ... RK must be tired as he was 13 singles matches winning streak in last three weeks ... Japanese Matsui proved tough challenge for RK and he lost in straights sets ... Still superb performance by our both players in this futures and some terrific wins for RK in last two weeks of Cambodian futures.

Their singles losses didn't affected RK-KU's mentality in the doubles final ... They scored comfortable win over top-seed Japanese pair to lift the title.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[R1] Pankaj Advani (IND,67) l Mark Selby (ENG,2) 1-5 (65(53)-45, 67-45, 71-22, 34-51, 79(79)-8, 115(115)-1))

Pankaj gave decent performance against WR #2 Mark Selby ... First 4 frames were closely fought but after losing 4th frame Selby showed his class ... So with that Pankaj fails to qualify for German Masters ... So only Aditya is in the main-draw.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Group A
Round Three
GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) ½-½ GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697)

Round Four
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) 1-0 GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697)
GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761) 1-0 GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709)

Anand showed his mastery in Rapid chess and scored two dominating wins over Istratescu after 50 moves and McShane after 38 moves ... So after four rounds Anand leading with 10 points and Adams is in 2nd position with 8 points in Group A.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

For 9 / 12 positions
India bt Argentina 4-2 (3-0)
Goal Scorers - Ramandeep Singh (IND) 4' and 31', Amit Rohidas (IND) PC 7', Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 40' and Lucas Martinez (ARG) 38', Lautaro Diaz (ARG) 69'

Indian boys started confidently scoring 2 goals in first 10 minutes ... Then they scored another goal before half-time hooter ... In the second half Argentina scored a goal but Indians responded immediately to retake 3 goals lead ... Afterwards Indians had many chances including hit the crossbar but in end Argentina manged another goal.

Pakistan defeated South Africa 4-0, which set up much anticipated match between India-Pakistan but only for 9th place.

Chess News

At The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament (under London Chess Classic) 2013, England (December 11th to 15th, 2013)

Group A
Round One
GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697) 0-1 GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775)
GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709) 0-1 GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)

Round Two
GM Viswanathan Anand (IND,2775) ½-½ GM Michael Adams (ENG,2761)
GM Luke McShane (ENG,2697) 1-0 GM Andrei Istratescu (FRA,2709)

The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament has started ... Players are divided into four groups initially, to play a double round robin between them and determine two qualifiers to the knock out stages ... Points calculation - 3 points for a win and 1 point for draw.

In the first round Anand defeated McShane playing with black pieces after 46 moves ... In the second round Anand and Adams played a "real game" instead of a rapid and played some theory, exchanged some pieces and solidly drew ... So after two rounds Anand and Adams r leading with 4 points from Group A.

Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) l Xuerui Li (CHN,1) 9-21 14-21

After yesterday's poor loss wasn't expected any firework from Saina ... And today she didn't disappointed and lost easily against Li in 27 minutes ... In the first game Li take 8-1 lead which Saina reduced it to 8-10 but Li won last 8 points in a row for winning it comfortably ... In the second round both players were neck to neck till 5-all but after that Li opened 3 points lead which she kept increasing until winning the match.

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

[SF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l Jocelyn RAE (GBR)/ Anna SMITH (GBR) 57 36


Ankita-Prarthana lost in the semis and with that Indian challenge got over form this ITF tournament.
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At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (Q) Harry Meehan (GBR,1423) 64 64
[QF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt (2) Robin Kern (GER,412) 76(6) 64

[SF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (1) Ti Chen (TPE,325)
[SF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (4) Toshihide Matsui (JPN,509)

Doubles
[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Robin KERN (GER)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT) 64 76(5)

[F] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (1) Takuto NIKI (JPN)/ Arata ONOZAWA (JPN)

RK's impressive form continues ... In the quarter-final he defeated top-400 type German youngster Kern in straight sets ... After winning the first set in tight tie-break RK won the next one with a single break advantage ... KU also join him in the semis with comfortable straight sets win over young British qualifier ... In the semis our both players r facing experienced and higher ranked Asian players ... KU is facing top-seed and former top-200 Ti Chen ... RK is facing former top-260 and 4th seed Toshihide Matsui.

In the doubles also RK and KU r in the final ... They defeated German-Austrian pair of Kern-Pongratz in straight sets ... In the final they r facing top-seed Japanese pair.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers, Barnsley, England

[QR] Pankaj Advani (IND,67) vs Mark Selby (ENG,2)
[QR] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) bt Li Yan (CHN,83) 5-0 (64-51, 66(61)-42, 68-0, 62-48, 86(68)-1)

[R1] Aditya Mehta (IND,63) vs Joel Walker (ENG,86)

Aditya qualified for German Masters, which will be played from 29th January, 2014 to 2nd February, 2014, with comfortable win over his Chinese opponent Li Yan ... Aditya will face Britisher Joel Walker in the first round of German Master.

But Pankaj having really tough match to qualify for German Masters .. He is facing fromer WR #1 and current WR #2 Mark Selby in the qualifying round.

Badminton News

At $500K BWF Superseries Final 2013, Kuala lumpur, Malaysia

WS - Group B
Saina Nehwal (IND,6) l Minatsu Mitani (JPN,13) 21-19 22-24 19-21

Saina is hoping to end year on positive notes after poor 2013 season from her standard ... She is in Group B with WR #1 Xuerui Li, WR #7 Yeon Ju Bae and WR #13 Minatsu Mitani ... In Group's first match Li defeated Bae comfortably losing only 16 points.

But really bad start for Saina as she lost against closely fought match against young Japanese Minatsu Mitani in 67 minutes ... In the first game from 6-7 Saina won next 6 points and opened 12-7 lead ... Minatsu tried to reduce it from 14-19 ... She saved 2 game points but Saina won this game converting third game point ... In the second game Saina opened 7-0 lead and at that time she was cruising for straight games victory ... After that Minatsu made excellent comeback with help of unforced errors from Saina ... Minatsu caught Saina at 11-all and after that both players were neck to neck ... After 19-all Minatsu didn't lose a lead and she converted 4th game point for winning this tight game in extra points ... Same trend repeated in the third game ... From 3-4 Saina opened 9-5 lead which she extended to 15-10 ... Minatsu again fought back and caught her at 17-all ... And from 19-all Minatsu won next 2 points for completing the victory ... In the third game Saina was struggling with injury but still this loss wasn't expected.

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Second round
(1) Magda Linette (POL) bt Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA)63 62
Hao Chen Tang (CHN) bt Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 36 61 63
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt (3) Gioia Barbieri (ITA) 62 61
(8) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) bt (WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 62 63
(Q) Ani Amiraghyan (ARM) bt (6) Jade Windley (GBR) 64 26 64
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt (4) Basak Eraydin (TUR) 62 36 63
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) bt (5) Ankita Raina (IND) 64 76(5) 61
(Q) Anna Smith (GBR) bt (2) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT) 16 63 63

Doubles
[R1] Rika FUJIWARA (JPN)/ Miyabi INOUE (JPN) bt Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Natasha PALHA (IND) 61 61
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND) 46 62 10-8
[R1] (2) Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Jade WINDLEY (GBR) bt (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND)/ Rishika SUNKARA (IND) 62 64

[QF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Gioia BARBIERI (ITA)/ Deniz KHAZANIUK (ISR) 75 64

[SF] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs Jocelyn RAE (GBR)/ Anna SMITH (GBR)

Rutuja failed to produce fight against Kalashnikova ... Ankita lost the plot after winning the first set ... She lost the second set in the tie-break and break down in the third when Plipuech broke her in 4th game ... And then Plipuech again broke Ankita in 6th game to won the third set comfortably.

So now our challenge is remaining in the doubles only as Ankita-Prarthana r in the semis with straight sets win over Italian-Israeli pair.
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At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R2] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (Q) Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1137) 63 64
[R2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt (LL) Ivo Klec (SVK,467) 63 76(1)

[QF] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (Q) Harry Meehan (GBR,1423)
[QF] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (2) Robin Kern (GER,412)

Doubles
[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (4) Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA)/ Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE) 61 63

[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs Robin KERN (GER)/ Maxi PONGRATZ (AUT)

Solid performance by RK against higher ranked and experienced Ivo Klec ... This is his 12th win in a row in three weeks ... Next he is facing 2nd seed German opponent ... KU scored straight sets win and next he is facing teenager British qualifier, who scored upset win over 3rd seed Goodall.

In the doubles RK and KU scored comfortable win over 4th seed pair ... In the semis they r facing unseeded pair.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

Pool C
India dw Korea 3-3 (2-1)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 32' and PC 35', Mandeep Singh (IND) 45' and Seungju You (KOR) PC 16', PC 58' and PC 60'

Netherlands bt Canada 7-0 (4-0)

Our boys needed to win this match to qualify for the quarter-final but they screwed up big way despite dominating the match ... After taking 3-1 lead they unnecessarily went in defensive mode when last 15 minutes were remaining ... And then our boys conceded two penalty corners with clumsy defending in next 5 minutes ... Koreans obliged and scored two goals to made it 3-all ... After that Koreans had couple of chances of taking lead which they failed to convert ... Othrrhand Indians were looking panic on the turf and failed to stop simple passes in desperation ... With this draw Koreans r in the quarter-final on better goal average than Indians ... Really stupid hockey from Indians.

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Tennis News

At $25K Navi Mumbai ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles First round
(1) Magda Linette (POL) bt (WC) Nidhi Chilumula (IND) 64 62
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA) bt Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) 64 62
Hao Chen Tang (CHN) bt (Q) Janina Toljan (AUT) 64 62
Miyabi Inoue (JPN) bt (7) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR) 64 60
(3) Gioia Barbieri (ITA) bt Tamara Curovic (SRB) 57 62 2-0 retd.
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ) bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 64 64
(WC) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) bt (WC) Rishika Sunkara (IND) 64 62
(8) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ) 61 61
(6) Jade Windley (GBR) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA) 63 16 76(2)
(Q) Ani Amiraghyan (ARM) bt (Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR) 76(6) 46 63
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN) bt So-Ra Lee (KOR) 60 60
(4) Basak Eraydin (TUR) bt (Q) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND) 64 62
(5) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Sharmada Balu (IND) 62 16 64
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) bt Anna Morgina (RUS) 60 60
(Q) Anna Smith (GBR) bt Melis Sezer (TUR) 64 63
(2) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT) bt (WC) Vasanti Shinde (IND) 61 64

Only Ankita and Rutuja r in the second round though they faced Indian opponents ... Still good win by Rutuja over Rishika.
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At $10K Cambodia F3 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) bt (WC) Kenny Bun (CAM,UNR) 62 61
[R1] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) bt Samneang Long (CAM,UNR) 60 62

[R1] (6) Karunuday Singh (IND,581) vs (Q) Maxi Pongratz (AUT,1137)
[R2] (8) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,580) vs (LL) Ivo Klec (SVK,467)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Siyu LIU (CHN)/ Cheng-Yu YU (TPE) 63 63

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Karunuday SINGH (IND) vs (4) Kittiphong WACHIRAMANOWONG (THA)/ Chieh-Fu WANG (TPE)

This week KU joining RK in Cambodian futures ... Expected comfortable winning start for Ramkumar and Karunuday in the singles ... In the second round RK is facing tough challenge against experienced and former top-200 Slovak player Ivo Klec ... Surprisingly Ivo lost in the final qualifying against British player and got entry as lucky loser ... KU is having winnable match against Austrian qualifier Pongratz.

Also winning start in the doubles for KU and RK ... Next they r facing 4th seed Thai pair.

Football News

Biggest news of the week was - India to host 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup!

The Under-17 World Cup happens every two years. UAE hosted this year while Chile will stage the 2015 event ... The Under-17 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest international soccer event ever on Indian soil. Although the AIFF has hosted several international tournaments both at national and club levels, it has never hosted a FIFA event ... The AIFF has proposed holding of matches in five states -- Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and one among Assam, Goa and Kerala.

Hockey News

At the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013, New Delhi, India

Pool C
India l Netherlands 2-3 (1-3)
Goal Scorers - Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 13', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 42' and Milan Van Baal (NED) 3' and 27', Mark Rijkers (NED) 25'

India bt Canada 3-2 (1-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) PC 30', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 57', Gurjinder Singh (IND) PC 69' and Sukhi Panesar (CAN) 3', Gordon Johnston (CAN) PC 51'

Korea bt Canada 7-4 (4-1)
Netherlands bt Korea 3-2 (2-2)

Our boys completed two matches but still they r struggling with their game plan ... In the first match Dutch boys played solid game and didn't gave much chance to our boys ... Still our boys managed to put pressure but Dutch kept their advantage for a win.

In their second match Canadian boys surprised Indians with their open play ... Indians never settled in the match as Canadians take early lead and after that Indians were doing catching game ... Indians had more than 80% possession in the first half and had numerous penetrations in the circle but failed to score ... In the end Indians were lucky as Gurjinder Singh converted penalty corner for a win.

Now for qualifying for the quarter final Indian boys need to win their final pool match against Korea ... But for that Indians need to raise their game few notches./span>

Squash News

At $77K Hong Kong Open 2013,

[Q1] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND,109) l Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY,45) 0-3 (0/11, 6/11, 4/11) (20m)

[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) bt (7) Natalie Grinham (NED,9) 3-0 (11/8, 11/8, 11/4) (31m)
[R1] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,12) l Nour El Tayeb (EGY,27) 0-3 (13/15, 6/11, 2/11) (34m)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) bt (15) Line Hansen (DEN,20) 3-1 (12/10, 11/8, 9/11, 11/5) (44m)

[QF] Joshana Chinappa (IND,26) l (4) Alison Waters (ENG,4) 1-3 (14/12, 7/11, 3/11, 6/11) (41m)

After disappointing loss of Dipika in the first round Joshna gave terrific performance ... She scored back to back win against top-20 players ... In the first round she defeated top-10 Dutch player Natalie Grinham in straight games ... In the second round she defeated Danish top-20 player Hansen in well fought match ... In the quarters she faced WR #4 Britisher Waters and stretched her ... Joshana won the first game in extra points but after that Waters played smart game and won next two tight games
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At $150K Hong Kong Open 2013,

[Q1] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,80) bt Wong Chi Him (HKG,260) 3-0 (12/10, 13/11, 11/9) (34m)
[Q1] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN,37) 3-1 (9/11, 11/8, 11/5, 11/4) (45m)

[Q2] Harinderpal Sandhu (IND,80) l Adrian Waller (ENG,31) 0-3 (9/11, 7/11, 7/11) (40m)
[Q2] Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,98) l Joe Lee (ENG,34) 0-3 (0/11, 4/11, 8/11) (40m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) bt (Q) Lucas Serme (FRA,76) 3-0 (11/5, 11/4, 11/9) (40m)

[R2] Saurav Ghosal (IND,15) l (4) Nick Matthew (ENG,3) 1-3 (11/3, 5/11, 4/11, 8/11) (53m)

Saurav lost in the second round but again gave fighting performance against WR #3 Nick Matthew ... Before that Mahesh scored upset win over top-40 Finnish player Henrik Mustonen in the first qualifying round.

Tennis News

At $25K Pune ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles Second round
(1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,751)62 62
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) bt (6) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO,303) 3-0 Retd.
(3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt (Q) Sharmada Balu (IND,817) 64 60
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) bt (WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,UNR) 61 60
(Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) bt Miyabi Inoue (JPN,389) 63 62
(4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR,564) 63 62
(WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) bt Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,407) 64 60
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,365) 57 75 60

[QF] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) 63 57 62
[QF] (3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) 63 75
[QF] (4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) 62 63
[QF] Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) 63 63

[SF] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt (3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) 67(2) 61 62
[SF] Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) 62 62

[F] (1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) 75 76(5)

Only Prerna managed to enter into the quarters ... Was hoping better performance by Ankita ... In the doubles only Sowjanya Bavisetti and Sharmada Balu managed to enter into the semis.
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At $15K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED,427) 64 63

[QF] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt Mate Pavic (CRO,359) 76(2) 26 61
[SF] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt (7) Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN,334) 76(6) 64

[F] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) l (1) Boy Westerhof (NED,263) 16 46

Doubles
[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) bt (2) Antal VAN DER DUIM (NED)/ Boy WESTERHOF (NED) 64 60

[SF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) l (4) Peng GAO (CHN)/ Wan GAO (CHN) 06 26

Impressive performance by Karunuday in tougher Thai futures ... He lost in the final against top-seed Dutchman Westerhof but before that he defeated higher ranked opponent in his every match ... Such performance will give him good confidence fr future matches.
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At $15K Senegal F2 Future, Daker

[R1] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,306) l Luca MARGAROLI (SUI,930) 36 36

Doubles
[QF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) bt Eric FOMBA (FRA)/ Theo FOURNERIE (FRA) 16 63 10-2

[SF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) l (4) Mark FYNN (ZIM)/ Damon GOOCH (RSA) 63 46 3-10

Turned to be disappointing tournament for Jeevan, who lost in the first round of the singles.
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At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (WC) Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1319) 63 64

[R2] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (LL) Soichiro MORITANI (JPN,1296) 63 75

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (Q) Soong-Jae CHO (KOR,1231) 60 75

[SF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (2) Hiroki KONDO (JPN,297) 76(2) 64

[F] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) bt (6) Josh GOODALL (GBR,464) 61 46 64

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) bt Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR) 46 64 10-4

[QF] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) l (1) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)/ Danai UDOMCHOKE (THA) 1-2 retd.

Ramkumar lifted his second title in a row and that also in abroad ... In the final he defeated seasoned British player Josh Goodall ... In well fought match he completed win and now he is on 10 match winning streak.

Before that Ramkumar take full advantage of weak draw and entered in the semis with straight sets win over lower ranked opponents ... In the semis he faced in-form experienced Japanese top-300 Hiroki Kondo ... Ramkumar scored tight straight sets upset win over him ... In the final he faced former top-200 Britisher Josh Goodall.

On Vacation!

Going on vacation for four days ... Hoping for some superb results in Junior World championship (hockey) and in tennis ... So will be back on reporting from Monday, 9th December.

Tennis News

At $25K Pune ITF Women's Tournament, India

Singles First round
(1) Magda Linette (POL,153) bt Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,385) 60 63
(Q) Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND,751) bt Tamara Curovic (SRB,448) 64 75
(Q) Rika Fujiwara (JPN,687) bt (Q) Rishika Sunkara (IND,478) 61 61
(6) Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO,303) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,369) 75 62
(3) Diana Marcinkevica (LAT,228) bt So-Ra Lee (KOR,335) 61 26 62
(Q) Sharmada Balu (IND,817) bt (WC) Nidhi Chilumula (IND,625) 61 26 61
(WC) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,UNR) bt Anna Morgina (RUS,367) 26 62 63
Nungnadda Wannasuk (THA,439) bt (5) Ankita Raina (IND,297) 62 63
(7) Jade Windley (GBR,307) vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN,389)
(Q) Keren Shlomo (ISR,502) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,609) 63 63
(Q) Anna Shkudun (UKR,564) bt (Q) Janina Toljan (AUT,538) 36 61 76(4)
(4) Gioia Barbieri (ITA,266) bt (LL) Natasha Palha (IND,593) 62 61
Peangtarn Plipuech (THA,407) bt (8) Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR,319) 64 75
(WC) Prerna Bhambri (IND,643) bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBR,421) 62 63
Kamila Kerimbayeva (KAZ,400) bt (WC) Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal (IND,UNR) 61 62
Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,365) bt (2) Melanie Klaffner (AUT,179) 67(7) 62 64

Terrific upset wins by young Snehadevi over top-400 Russian in three sets ... Similar upset win by Sowjanya over top-450 Serbian player but next she is facing top-seed and top-150 type Polish girl.

On the second day Prerna scored upset win over top-425 British player but other hand Ankita got upset from Thai girl Wannasuk.
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At $15K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) bt (8) Suk-Young Jeong (KOR,344) 63 61

[R2] Karunuday Singh (IND,610) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED,427)

Doubles
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) bt Patcharapol KAWIN (THA)/ Warot UDOMSUK (THA) 75 36 10-8

[QF] Karunuday SINGH (IND)/ Daniiar DULDAEV (KGZ) vs (2) Antal VAN DER DUIM (NED)/ Boy WESTERHOF (NED)

Good upset win by Karunuday against top-350 Korean in dominating style ... Next he is facing Dutch top-425 typle player ... And also winning start in the doubles for KU and his Kazakh partner in the match tie-break ... Next they r facing 2nd seed Dutch pair and again facing Van Der Duim.
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At $15K Senegal F2 Future, Daker

[R1] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,306) vs Luca MARGAROLI (SUI,930)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) bt Mohd Assri MERZUKI (MAS)/ Ivo MINAR (CZE) 57 75 10-7

[QF] (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Aldin SETKIC (BIH) vs Eric FOMBA (FRA)/ Theo FOURNERIE (FRA)

Jeevan trying to qualify for Australian open qualifying so participating in Senegal futures ... He need to win the title for raising his hope.
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At $10K Cambodia F2 Futures, Phnom Penh

[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,696) vs (WC) Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1319)

Doubles
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND)/ Colin VAN BEEM (NED) vs Josh GOODALL (GBR)/ Harry MEEHAN (GBR)

After his first title win Ramkumar is playing in Cambodian futures.

Badminton News

At $120K Macau Open 2013 (GP Gold), Macau City


Women's Singles Final
(1) Sindhu P. V. (IND,11) bt (7) Li Michelle (CAN,30) 21-15 21-12

Sindhu scored comfortable win in 38 minutes to lift her 2nd Gold GP title of the year beating Canadian Michelle in this final ... Before this in April Sindhu won Malaysia Grand Prix Gold title.

Sindhu started confidently winning first seven points and this 7 points difference proved too long for Michelle to reduce in the first game ... After losing the first game Michelle tried to kept pace with Sindhu ... They were on equal term till 6-all but from here Sindhu won next eight points to lead, 14-8 ... After that winning was the formality which Sindhu completed comfortably.