Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Doubles
[R3] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 63 63

[QF] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs (1) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/ Shuai Peng (CHN)

Mixed Doubles
[QF] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (8) Julia Goerges (GER)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 62 46 5-10

Sania-Cara score another comfortable win over Jankovic-Kleybanova for entering in the quarter-final ... There they r facing real tough set against WR #1 Hsieh-Peng, against then our pair loses all their matches.

Rohan's poor French open end with his loss in mixed doubles partnering Srebotnik ... In this match they started well winning the first set easily but after that Goerges-Zimo proved better pair.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[F] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) l (7) Lin Zhu (CHN,462) 57 62 36

Ankita fails to overcome challenge of in-form Chinese girl Lin Zhu in the final ... Last week Lin Zhu reached final of Chinese $50K ITF tournament as an qualifier ... This week she lifted title beating Ankita in the final ... After losing the first set Ankita made strong comeback to win the second set comfortably ... But Ankita failed to keep momentum in the final and lost set to Zhu.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[F] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) l (2) Takuto Niki (JPN,507) 76(6) 26 57

After winning the first set in tie-break Jeevan fail to convert that advantage ... Niki made strong comeback and won the second set easily ... In the final set both players were neck to neck but Niki win crucial points for winning the title.

Hockey News

At Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014, Netherlands

Group A
India l Belgium 2-3 (0-1)
Goal Scorers - Mandeep Singh (IND) 45', Akashdeep Singh (IND) 50' and Florent van Aubel (BEL) 34', Simon Gougnard (BEL) PC 56', John-John Dohmen (BEL) 70'

For me Raghunath's lack of discipline cost us this match ... When 25 seconds were remaining he failed to clear cross on top of the D which converted in a goal by Dohmen ... And 2 minutes before that Raghunath failed to convert penalty corner due to wayward hitting ... After terrible first half our players recovered in the second half ... And take lead scoring two goals in 5 minutes but after that our defenders let us down ... In this match our opponent scored two goals in last minute of end of time in both halfs ... Bad sigh for us.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL) 61 62

[R3] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) l Timea Babos (HUN)/ Eric Butorac (USA) 61 46 7-10
[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Cara Black (ZIM)/ Robert Farah (COL) 63 36 10-7

[QF] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (8) Julia Goerges (GER)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Sania-Cara score dominating win over Dabrowski-Rosolska losing only three games ... Next they r facing Jankovic-Kleybanova for the place in the quarter-final ... But Sania fails to keep her winning momentum in mixed doubles ... Sania-Horia lose their match 5n the match tie-break after winning the first set comfortably against Babos-Butorac.

Rohan-Katarina score huge win against tricky and experienced pair of Cara-Farah in match tie-break ... After winning the first set Rohan-Katarina loses the second set but they recover to win close match tie-break ... In the quarters they r facing 8th seed Goerges-Zimo.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326) 46 63 5-0 retd.

[F] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (7) Lin Zhu (CHN,462)

After losing the first set Ankita keep fighting which help her for winning the second set ... In the final set when Ankita was leading 5-0 Miyabi retire from the match ... In the final Ankita is facing 7th seed Chinese Lin Zhu.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt (3) Yuuya Kibi (JPN,539) 61 57 75

[F] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs (2) Takuto Niki (JPN,507)

After winning the first set easily Jeevan get stretched by Yuuya Kibi in next two sets ... Jeevan managed to win and in the final he is facing another Japanese opponent 2nd seed Takuto Niki.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Marc Lopez (ESP) 76(3) 75

[R2] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Cara Black (ZIM)/ Robert Farah (COL)

Rohan-Katarina wins tricky match against clay court specialists Hlavackova-Lopez ... Rohan-Katarina needed to dig deep to win the first set in tie-break and then in the second set also they were stretched to 12th game by Hlavackova-Lopez ... Next they r facing Cara-Farah.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,344) 62 64

[SF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) l (1) Varatchaya Wongteanchai (THA)/ Varunya Wongteanchai (THA) 75 16 3-10

Ankita easily dispatch top-350 Lertpitaksinchai in the quarter-final losing only 6 games ... Next she is facing 3rd seed and top-325 type Miyabi Inoue.

In the doubles Ankita-Sharmadaa lose after winning the first game ... After losing the first set top-seed Thai girls dominated the match.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt Gengo Kikuchi (JPN,904) 76(3) 63

[SF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs (3) Yuuya Kibi (JPN,539)

Despite lower ranked opponents Jeevan is keeping his focus to win these matches ... In the semis he is facing top-550 Japanese Kibi.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 36 46

[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Shahar Peer (ISR) 63 63

[R2] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)/ Alicja Rosolska (POL)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) bt (4) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL) 46 63 10-7]

Juniors
[Q1] Ojasvinee Singh (IND,97) l (11) Elena Gabriela Ruse (ROU,69) 67(2) 06

Rohan-Aisam fail to lift their game against Erlich-Melo and lose their match easily in the second round.

Sania-Cara start with comfortable straight sets win over experienced Hantuchova-Peers ... Next they r facing Canadian-Polish pair of Dabrowski-Rosolska.

Sania score comeback win with Tecau against 4th seed Peschke-Matkowski in mixed doubles ... This is a really good win in match tie-break against better clay court specialist pair.

Ojasvinee give fighting performance in the first set before blown away by Romanian girl Elena Gabriela Ruse in first qualifying round.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt Mai Minokoshi (JPN,602) 64 3-0 retd.
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,522) l (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326) 26 16
[R2] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) l (4) Barbara Bonic (SRB,342) 26 26

[QF] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,344)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Tomoko Dokei (JPN)/ Ayaka Okuno (JPN) 61 61

[SF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs (1) Varatchaya Wongteanchai (THA)/ Varunya Wongteanchai (THA)

As expected Ankita win her match but Natasha and Sneha overpowered by top-350 ranked opponents ... Next she is facing her real first test against top-350 Thai girl Lertpitaksinchai.

In the doubles also Ankita win her match with Sharmadaa very easily ... Next they r facing top-seed Thai Wongteanchai sisters.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (ALT) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS) 75 67(4) 75

[R2] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Divij enter in main-draw with Rameez as alternate pair but they were unlucky to face Rohan-Aisam in the first round ... They had titanic battle and Rohan-Aisam used their experience in the final set ... Take important break in 11th game before holding their serve from 0-30 and completed the victory.
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At $50K Vicenza Challenger, Italy (clay)

[R1] (1) Purav Raja (IND)/ Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) l Martin Alund (ARG)/ Guido Pella (ARG) 67(3) 76(3) 7-10

Another very close loss for Purav ... Playing with different partner every week is not helping Purav.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R1] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt Sharmadaa Baluu (IND,651) 75 62
[R1] Shweta Rana (IND,577) l (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,345) 16 16
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,522) bt (Q) Abbie Myers (AUS,1004) 62 63
[R1] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) bt (Q) Leah Daw (AUS,1210) 63 16 64

[R2] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs Mai Minokoshi (JPN,602)
[R2] Natasha Palha (IND,522) vs (3) Miyabi Inoue (JPN,326)
[R2] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) vs Barbara Bonic (SRB,342)

Expected wins for Ankita and Natasha but impressive performance by 16 yrs old Sneha ... In the second round Natasha and Sneha having tough matches.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R2] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt Thomas Shubert (USA,1646) 64 75
[R2] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) l (8) Woong-Sun Jun (KOR,970) 46 26

[QF] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs Gengo Kikuchi (JPN,904)

Tougher win than expected for Jeevan.
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At $10K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) l Pruchya Isarow (THA,812) 57 26

Doubles
[QF] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) l Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Wishaya TRONGCHAROENCHAIKUL (THA) 46 46<)

Shocking loss of Jeevn against lowly ranked Thai player ... In the doubles also he and Agar loses against Ratiwatana and his partner.
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At $10K South Africa F1 Futures , Sun City

[R2] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) l (6) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,754) 26 26

Expected loss of Ronak against Roelofse.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France (Red clay)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Sania Mirza (IND)/ Horia Tecau (ROU) vs (4) Kveta Peschke (CZE)/ Marcin Matkowski (POL)
[R1] (2) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/ Marc Lopez (ESP)

Mixed doubles draw is out and our both pairs having tricky matches on the clay.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Balikpapan, Indonesia

[R1] (1) Ankita Raina (IND,288) vs Sharmadaa Baluu (IND,651)
[R1] Shweta Rana (IND,577) vs (5) Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA,345)
[R1] Natasha Palha (IND,522) vs (Q) Abbie Myers (AUS,1004)
[R1] (Q) Sneha Padamata (IND,1179) vs (Q) Leah Daw (AUS,1210)

Doubles
[R1] Leah Daw (AUS)/ Shweta Rana (IND) l Xiaorong Dong (CHN)/ Boyan Wang (CHN) 26 16
[R1] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) bt Miyabi Inque (JPN)/ Mai Minokoshi (JPN) 64 63
[R1] (4) Natasha Palha (IND)/ Zuzana Zlochova (SVK) l Yihong Li (CHN)/ Lin Zhu (CHN) 26 67(5)

[QF] (3) Sharmadaa Baluu (IND)/ Ankita Raina (IND) vs Tomoko Dokei (JPN)/ Ayaka Okuno (JPN)

In the doubles Ankita start with win partnering Baluu against Japanese pair ... In the quarters also they r facing another Japanese pair.
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At $10K Thailand F5 Futures, Bangkok

[R1] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) bt David Sofaer (HKG,929) 62 62
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,992) l (WC) Phassawit Burapharitta (THA,2075) 64 67(4) 36
[R1] (2) Karunuday Singh (IND,409) l (Q) Andre Dome (USA,1348) 0-1 retd.

[R2] (1) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,343) vs Pruchya Isarow (THA,812)

Doubles
[R1] Shotaro GOTO (JPN)/ Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) l Xin GAO (CHN)/ Bowen OUYANG (CHN) 26 61 7-10
[R1] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) bt Yuichi ITO (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 61 63

[QF] (2) Ryan AGAR (AUS)/ Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND) vs Sanchai RATIWATANA (THA)/ Wishaya TRONGCHAROENCHAIKUL (THA)

Only RamK start with comfortable win but KU retires from his match due to ongoing injury ... Kaza's poor run continues.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R1] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) bt (Q) Koichi Sano (JPN,UNR) 62 64
[R1] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) bt (WC) Daniel Llarenas (GUM,UNR) 75 64

[R2] (1) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,302) vs Thomas Shubert (USA,1646)
[R2] Neeraj Elangovan (IND,1667) vs (8) Woong-Sun Jun (KOR,970)

Winning start for Jeevan and Neeraj ... Tough match for Neraj in the second round.
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At $10K South Africa F1 Futures , Sun City

[R1] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) bt Joshua LUCK (RSA,UNR) 76(0) 62
[R1] Akash WAGH (IND,1033) l Juan Cruz ESTEVARENA (ARG,1628) 67(5) 26
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND,1698) l Tuki JACOBS (NAM,UNR) 36 26

[R2] Ronak MANUJA (IND,1363) vs (6) Ruan ROELOFSE (RSA,754)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Ronak MANUJA (IND)/ Akash WAGH (IND) l Brandon LAUBSER (RSA)/ Tucker VORSTER (RSA) 67(3) 16
[R1] Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Stefan MERUNKA (CRO) l Francois KELLERMAN (RSA)/ Okkie KELLERMAN (RSA) 36 46

Poor outing for Indians as only Ronak win his match ... In the doubles also Ronak-Akash lose against local pair.

Tennis News

At French Open 2014, Paris, France

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,95) l Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,99) 75 36 67(4) 36

Doubles
[R1] (6) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/ Stephane Robert (FRA)
[R1] (5) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Cara Black (ZIM) vs Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/ Shahar Peer (ISR)

I m disappointed by Buji's loss against similar ranked Nedovyesov ... Buji won the first set but afterwards he lost the plot ... After that Nedovyesov controlled rallies and bring out errors from Buji ... Buji was defending 70 points so this loss bring him down towards #120. After almost 20 years Lee and Mahesh r missing French open ... Only Rohan and Sania r in the doubles ... Rohan-Aisam r in the bottom draw ... Sania-cara in top draw.

Tennis News

At Open de Nice Cote d'Azur, Nice, France (Red clay)

Doubles Final
(1) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) l Martin Klizan (SVK)/ Philip Oswald (AUT) 26 06

Shocking one-sided loss of Rohan-Aisam against unseeded pair ... This was good opportunity for them lifting title but after two days break they were no match to Klizan-Oswald.
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At Roland Garros (French Open) 2014, Paris, France

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,95) vs Alexander Nedovyesov (KAZ,99)

Winnable first rounb for Buji against Nedovyesov, who is also struggling through out year ... In the second round if Buji win then meet Tomas Berdych.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Uber Cup - Semi Finals
India l Japan 2-3
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Minatsu Mitani (JPN,12) 21-12 21-13
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,13) 19-21 21-18 26-24
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 12-21 22-20 16-21
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) l Eriko Hirose (JPN,16) 14-21 15-21
[WD2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ P V Sindhu (IND) l Miyuki Maeda (JPN)/ Reika Kakiwa (JPN) 14-21 11-21

Saina gives really good start against Minatsu Mitani ... Saina won comfortably against her tricky opponent in 42 minutes ... In the second match Sindhu faced Sayaka Takahashi, against whome Sindhu lost in her only meeting ... Here also Sayaka started confidently winning first tight game ... Sindhu kept fighting hard and managed to win the second ... In the final game both players had few points lead but still leads kept changing ... Sayaka had a match point at 20-19 but Sindhu saved it ... After that Sindhu missed three match points before she converted 4th match point for this 72 minutes long match ... At this time Indian women were leading 2-0 but still this tie was tough as Japan's having two top-5 doubles pairs and another very experienced top-20 singles player ... Indians real hope for finishing this tie on Jwala-Ashwini but WR #4 Japanese pair had different idea ... They dominated the first game for winning it comfortably ... Jwala-Ashwini really fought hard on crowd support and won the close second game despite Japanese pair saving four game points ... In the final game Indians take 7-4 lead but Japanese pair take control from 8-all ... After that they opened couple of point lead and kept that through out the match for important win for Japanese team ... After that it was all Japanese show ... Hirose scored comfortable win over Thulasi without losing sweat ... And then for the final math our coach Gopichand made desperate change and decided to play Saina-Sindhu ... In this match Sindhu was looking very tired and Japanese WR #5 pair take full advantage of it winning this match and tie for Japan ... Still creditable performance by Indian women as they win their first medal, Bronze, in Uber cup.

Tennis News

At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) l (5) Chase Buchanan (USA,263) 46 46

Dream run of Jeevan ends in the semi-final against Buchanan but overall satisfactory performance by Jeevan ... In the first set Chase broke Jeevan early and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the second set also Chase kept pressure on Jeevan's serve and take important break in 9th game for winning this set and match.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[QF] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) l (Q) Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN,854) 46 57

Doubles
[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt (4) Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE)/ Chen Liang (CHN) 62 62

[F] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) l (3) Chang Liu (CHN)/ Ran Tian (CHN) 46 57

I was hoping win for Ankita in the singles but Chinese qualifier Yang prove better player ... Yang defeated Ankita in tight two sets ... After that Ankita played her doubles semi-final ... She won it comfortably against 4th seed pair with Fatma ... Surprisingly organizers decided to play final today only ... In the final our pair faced 3rd seed Chinese pair ... Ankita-Fatma fought hard but must be tired of playing 3rd match of the day and they lost in close match.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New Delhi

Uber Cup - Quarter Finals
India bt Indonesia 3-0
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Lidaweni Fanetri (INA,23) 21-17 21-10
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Bellaetrix Manuputty (INA,24) 21-16 10-21 25-23
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Greysia Poli (INA)/ Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (INA) 21-18 21-18

Korea bt Thailand 3-1
Japan bt Denmark 3-0
China bt England 3-0

Indian women enter into their first semi-final of Uber cup beating Indonesian women ... In the semis they r facing tricky Japanese women, as our players struggle against them ... Today Saina gave terrific start beating Lidaweni Fanetri comfortably though in their last meeting Lidaweni defeated her ... Sindhu also lost against Bellaetrix in their last meeting but here Sindhu started confidently winning the first game ... From the second game Bellaetrix changed tactics as she attacked more on Sindhu's serve and played long rallies ... That really helped as Bellaetrix won the second game comfortably ... In the final game Bellaetrix had momentum and she take 5-2 lead but after that Sindhu recovered and take 10-7 lead from 5-7 down ... Bellaetrix made it 10-all but Sindhu again take 13-10 and 15-12 lead ... This time also Bellaetrix caught her at 15-all ... Sindhu again take 19-17 lead but Bellaetrix got her 1st match point winning next 3 points ... Sindhu saved that but Bellaetrix got another at 21-20 ... This time also Sindhu saved it and after that Sindhu wasted 2 match points before converting third match point for really important win after 84 minutes ... In third match our in-form pair Jwala-Ashwini played another excellent match ... They defeated WR #9 Indonesian pair of Greysia Poli and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari in straight game for winning this tie for India.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[SF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt (3) Julien Benneteau (FRA)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 46 76(2) 10-8

Rohan-Aisam pull excellent but hard fought comeback win against French pair ... After losing the first set our pair was break down ... From 4-5 in the second set Rohan-Aisam broke them to take the set in tie-break ... Our pair dominated tie-break and kept that momentum for winning tight match tie-break.
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At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt (Q) Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS,881) 63 62
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) l Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,294) 16 26

[SF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (5) Chase Buchanan (USA,263)

Doubles
[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) l Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Alexander Bury (BLR) 46 46
[SF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 36 36

Only Jeevan enter into the semis with dominating win against former top-150 Russian Mikhail Ledovskikh ... In this match Jeevan was never under pressure as he served amazingly ... He served 17 aces and managed to put extra pressure on Mikhail's serve, whom he broke thrice in the match ... Other hand Saki struggles with his serve and managed only 2 aces ... Saki failed to give any fight and lost inside 49 minutes.

In the doubles also our both pairs lost easily against their respective opponents ... Overall disappointing day for Indians but silver line is this is Jeevan's first challenger semi-final and he is in still race for qualifying for Wimbledon qualifying.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R2] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) bt Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,399) 46 64 61

[QF] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs (Q) Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN,854)

In their last meeting Ankita lost her match against Zhang at Asian Australian qualifying tournament ... Here also Zhang started well and won the first set ... Ankita raised her game from the second set which she won with a single break ... In the final Ankita broke Zhang in 1st game and from 2-1 she won next four games to complete excellent comeback win ... Next she is facing another Chinese player, this time qualifier Yang who upset 8th seed player in the first round.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India bt Germany 3-2
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) bt Marc Zwiebler (GER,13) 21-18 18-21 21-18
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Michael Fuchs (GER)/ Johannes Schoettler (GER) 15-21 6-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,21) l Dieter Domke (GER,59) 21-23 21-14 14-21
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) bt Peter Kaesbauer (GER)/ Josche Zurwonne (GER) 21-9 17-21 21-19
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Lukas Schmidt (GER,80) 21-14 19-21 21-19

This was crucial match for both teams to avoid wooden spoon in the group ... Srikanth started with upset win over top-10 Marc Zwiebler but in 3rd match Kashyap lost against lowly ranked Dieter Domke ... This put extra pressure on our doubles team and Guru ... Akshay-Pranaav started well after winning the first game comfortably but after that German pair fought back and won the second game ... Akshay-Pranaav pulled of tight third game to make score 2-all in the tie ... In the final match Guru also started well after winning first game comfortably ... But after that Guru take extra pressure and choked up to lose the second game ... In the final game he kept his cool at crucial points and completed victory for Indians.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Oliver Marach (AUT) 57 76(5) 10-5

Rohan-Aisam really need to dig deep for this comeback victory over Bracciali-Marach ... After losing the first set they needed tie-break for winning the second before winning the match tie-break.
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At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt (3) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS,242) 63 26 64
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED,318) 76(4) 62

[QF] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (Q) Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS,881)
[QF] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO,294)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) bt Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) 76(5) 63
[QF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Antal Van Der Duim (NED)/ Boy Westerhof (NED) 62 75
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) l Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE) 36 64 6-10

[SF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Sergey Betov (BLR)/ Alexander Bury (BLR)
[SF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)

Jeevan score huge upset win over 3rd seed Konstantin Kravchuk ... Jeevan started well and won the first set but in the second set from 2-3 he lost his serve twice for losing it ... In the final set Jeevan broke Kravchuk in 1st game and kept that advantage for winning this match ... Next he is facing former top-150 Russian player Mikhail Ledovskikh for place in the semis.

Saketh score straight sets win over Dutch player Antal Van Der Duim ... After winning the first set in tie-break Saki dominated the second set ... Next he is facing Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili ... Saki is in the doubles semi-final ... He defeated Jeevan-Buchanan in straight sets with Clusky ... In the semis they r facing Belarusean pair.

Divij-Huang wins their match in straight sets ... In the semis they r facing conquerors of Bala-Chen.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,288) bt (WC) Yan Wang (CHN,799) 61 61

[R2] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,399)

Doubles
[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt (2) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Aleksandrina Nayedenova (BUL) 64 62

[SF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs (4) Wen-Hsin Hsu (TPE)/ Chen Liang (CHN)

Expected comfortable win for Ankita ... Next she is having tricky match against former top-250 Yuxuan Zhang.

In the doubles Ankita-Fatma score dominating upset win over 2nd seed pair ... In the semis they r facing 4th seed Chinese-Taiwani pair.
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At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) l Pedro Brenardi (BRA)/ Guilherme Hadlich (BRA) w/o

Disappointing Mexican futures for Sanam.
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At $10K Thailand F4 Futures, Kutching, Malaysia

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) l Jacob GRILLS (AUS,735) 16 36

Marquis run end in the second round against Grills.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Thailand 3-2
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Ratchanok Intanon (THA,4) 22-20 21-14
[WS3] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,9) 21-19 21-14
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Duanganong Aroonkesorn (THA)/ Savitree Amitrapa (THA) 21-16 21-13
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) l Busanan Ongbumrungpan (THA,17) 15-21 10-21
[WD2] Saina Nehwal (IND)/ P V Sindhu (IND) l Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (THA)/ Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) 12-21 21-18 15-21

Indians women wins the group with upset win over higher seeded Thai girls and mostly face England in the quarters ... In the singles Saina and Sindhu scored straight games upset win over #4 Intanon and #9 Buranaprasertsuk respectively ... After that Jwala-Ashwini upset Thai #1 pair ... In 2nd doubles Saina-Sindhu played may be Indian coaches r practicing different options before big ties.

Tennis News

At €485,760 Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, France (Red clay)

[R1] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) bt Mathew Ebden(AUS)/ Dimitry Tursunov (RUS) 64 64
[R1] (WC) Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Carlos Berlocq (ARG)/ Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 26 46

[QF] (1) Rohan Bopanna(IND)/ Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi (PAK) vs Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/ Oliver Marach (AUT)

Rohan-Aisam start with straight sets win over against tricky pairing of Ebden and Dima ... Next they r facing Bracciali-Marach ... Other hand Buji-Purav pairing fails to give challenge to Argentine pair.
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At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) bt Dzmitry Zhyrmont (BLR,335) 75 61
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND,323) l Boy Westerhof (NED,286) 36 46
[R1] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) bt Artem Smirnov (UKR,285) 76(1) 76(5)

[R2] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND,359) vs (3) Konstantin Kravchuk (RUS,242)
[R2] Saketh Myneni (IND,348) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED,318)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Alexander Lokov (RUS)/ Valery Rudnev (RUS) 63 61

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)
[QF] (4) Liang-Chi Huang (TPE)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED)/ Boy Westerhof (NED)
[QF] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) vs Mao-Xin Gong (CHN)/ Hsien-Yin Peng (TPE)

Saki score excellent win against in form Artem Smirnov ... In the first set Saki was break up but failed to hold his serve when serving for the set at 5-4 ... In tie-break Saki dominated to win it ... In the second set Saki got broke in 1st game but Saki fought back to broke Artem in 8th game ... Again in tie-break Saki's huge serve helped him to finish it off ... Next he is facing Dutch player who defeats 2nd seed Canadian..

Jeevan score dominating win against Zhyrmont ... After winning close the first set Jeevan dominated the second ... Next he is facing 3rd seed Russian.
Divij start with comfortable win with his partner Huang ... Next they r facing Dutch pair.

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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) bt Siyu Chen (CHN)/ Xu Liu Sun (CHN) 62 63

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs (2) Jessica Moore (AUS)/ Aleksandrina Nayedenova (BUL)

Ankita-Fatma start with comfortable win against young Chinese pair ... Next they r facing 2nd seed pair.
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At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,376) l Tyler Hochwalt (USA,508) 46 16

Another poor outing for Sanam.
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At $10K Thailand F4 Futures, Kutching, Malaysia

[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,923) l Jonathon COOPER (AUS,881) 63 26 26
[R1] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) bt David SOFAER (AUS,932) 46 75 60

[R2] (Q) Christopher MARQUIS (IND,1715) vs Jacob GRILLS (AUS,735)

Christopher score superb comeback upset win over Aussie Sofaer in the first round ... Next he is facing another Aussie Jacob Grills ... Other hand Kaza lose after winning the first set.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India l Korea 2-3
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) l Wan Ho Son (KOR,9) 21-17 12-21 18-21
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Yeon Seong Yoo (KOR)/ Yong Dae Lee (KOR) 18-21 17-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,27) bt Dong Keun Lee (KOR,32) 21-17 21-14
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) l Sa Rang Kim (KOR)/ Ki Jung Kim (KOR) 16-21 16-21
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Hwang Jong Soo (KOR,102) 24-22 21-13

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Hong Kong 4-1
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Pui Yin Yip (HKG,21) 21-9 21-10
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Hoi Wah Chau (HKG)/ Lok Yan Poon (HKG) 21-17 21-13
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Ying Mei Cheung (HKG,434) 21-8 21-10
[WD2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) l Tsz Ka Chan (HKG)/ Ying Suet Tse (HKG) 14-21 11-21
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) bt Hung Yung Chan (HKG,603) 19-21 21-16 21-7

Indian men lost their second match in the group against Korea ... Srikanth failed to win his singles again Wan Ho Son ... Before this Srikanth had perfect 2-0 win-loss record against him ... This loss cost tie for India as Koreans won their both doubles for the victory .. So with this loss Indian men's chances of reaching quarter-finals r over.

Other hand Indian women score expected comfortable win over Hong Kong girls in another easy win ... Saina and Sindhu lose only 19 and 18 points in their respective matches ... Ashwini-Jwala score comfortable win giving tie to India ... Pradnya-Siki lose their match before Thulasi needs comeback win against lowly ranked Chan.

Tennis News

At $50K Karshi Challenger, Uzbekistan

[R1] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) bt (WC) mad Boboqulov (UZB)/ Mikhail Esipov (UZB) 61 61
[R1] Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND) bt (PR) James Cerretani (USA)/ Olivier Charroin (FRA) 75 46 10-3
[R1] (2) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Ti Chen (TPE) bt Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Artem Smirnov (UKR) 76(5) 64

[QF] (3) Saketh Myneni (IND)/ James Clusky (IRL) vs Chase Buchanan (USA)/ Jeevan Nenduncheziyan(IND)

Winning start for our pairs in the doubles ... In that really good win by Jeevan with Buchanan against experienced doubles players.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Tianjin, China

[R1] (3) Ankita Raina (IND,290) vs (WC) Yan Wang (CHN,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) vs Siyu Chen (CHN)/ Xu Liu Sun (CHN)

This week Ankita in 3rd seed and facing unranked local player ... I m hoping at least she perform as per her seeding.
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At $15K Mexico F5 futures , Obregon City

[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND,376) vs Tyler Hochwalt (USA,508)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Sanam Singh (IND)/ Michael Shabaz (USA) vs Pedro Brenardi (BRA)/ Guilherme Hadlich (BRA)

Again tough match for Sanam, who lost in their last meeting in October.

Badminton News

At Li Ning BWF Thomas & Uber Cups 2014, New

Thomas Cup - Group C
India l Malaysia 1-4
[MS1] Srikanth K. (IND,18) l Chong Wei Lee (MAS,1) 19-21 12-21
[MD1] Sumeeth Reddy B. (IND)/ Manu Attri (IND) l Boon Heong Tan (MAS)/ Thien How Hoon (MAS) 14-21 11-21
[MS2] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,27) l Wei Feng Chong (MAS,21) 13-21 6-21
[MD2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND) l V Shem Goh (MAS)/ Wee Kiong Tan (MAS) 17-21 21-14 14-21
[MS3] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,30) bt Daren Liew (MAS,66) 21-18 13-21 21-19

Uber Cup - Group Y
India bt Canada 5-0
[WS1] Saina Nehwal (IND,8) bt Joycelyn Ko (CAN,218) 21-4 21-12
[WS2] P V Sindhu (IND,11) bt Rachael Honderich (CAN,339) 21-16 21-3
[WD1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Bruce Alex (CAN)/ Phyllis Chan (CAN) 21-111 21-12
[WS3] Thulasi P. C. (IND,65) bt Brittney Tam (CAN,UNR) 21-11 21-13
[WD2] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) bt Grace Gao (CAN)/ Rachael Honderich (CAN) 20-22 21-18 21-16

Malaysian men team prove too strong for Indian men ... In that shocking one-sided loss was of Kashyap ... Only Guru managed to win his match and Akshay-Pranaav gave fighting performance against Goh-Tan.

Indian women start with expected comfortable win against Canadian women ... Only Pradnya-Siki lose a game against Canadian pair in the final rubber.