Tennis News
At $50K Knoxville Challenger, Tennessee, USA

[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,124) vs Roko Karanusic (CRO,191) 67(8) 36
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,204) l Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,263) 36 26

Doubles
[R1] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) bt (WC) Ryan Harrison (USA)/ Rylan Rizza (USA) 26 62 10(8)
[R1] Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Cory Parr (USA)/ Todd Paul (USA)

Croatian was tricky one but still wasn't expected this loss after last week nice run ... Though Roko Karanusic was ranked as high as #88 in February 2009 ... But with this our singles challenge got over as Kash also lost cheaply against Van Der Merwe.

Good to see Harsh and Treat managed win in super tie-break ... Hopefully this week they will perform as per their seeding.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K+H Aachen Challenger , Germany

[R1] (Q) Rohan BOPANNA (IND,411) l Simon STADLER (GER,285) 26 57
[R1] (1) (WC) Rajeev RAM (USA,97) bt (ALT) Alexander SADECKY (SUI,324) 46 64 62

[R2] (1) (WC) Rajeev RAM (USA,97) vs (WC) Sebastian Rieschick (GER,414)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam Qureshi (PAK) bt (WC) Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Ivan Zovko (CRO) 75 62

[QF] (2) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam Qureshi (PAK) vs Dustin Brown (JAM)/ Jiri Krkoska (CZE)

Rohan failed to continue his nice singles win streak in main draw ... He lost to local player, must be tired after grueling 3 qualifying matches ... But as expected winning start for him and Aisam in doubles.

Chess News
At Tal Memorial 2009, Moscow, Russia - 4th to 19th November 2009

The Tal Memorial is the strongest tournament of the year and at category 21 (average Elo 2764) one of the strongest of all time ... It is a 10 players round robin with classical time controls – 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves in one hour and then 15 minutes for in this phase.

After 4 rounds Kramnik take lead with 2 wins but Anand joined him at top spot with 5th game victory over Leko ... Now both having 3 pts ... Anand-Leko was a Semi-Slav in which the Anand made a novel 22 move ... Which was very difficult for Leko to work out and then his position steadily deteriorated ... He resignation at move 45 ... In 6th round Anand is playing with Blacks against Magnus Carlsen.

Round 5 - Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Boris Gelfand ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian ½-½ Alexander Morozevich
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Viswanathan Anand 1-0 Peter Leko
Peter Svidler ½-½ Ruslan Ponomariov

Round 4 - Sunday, November 8, 2009

Vladimir Kramnik 1-0 Peter Svidler
Ruslan Ponomariov ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Peter Leko ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Levon Aronian
Alexander Morozevich ½-½ Boris Gelfand

Round 3 - Saturday, November 7, 2009

Alexander Morozevich 0-1 Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian 1-0 Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Ruslan Ponomariov
Viswanathan Anand 1-0 Peter Svidler

Round 2 - Friday, November 6, 2009

Vladimir Kramnik ½-½ Viswanathan Anand
Peter Svidler ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Ruslan Ponomariov ½-½ Levon Aronian
Peter Leko ½-½ Boris Gelfand
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Alexander Morozevich

Round 1 - Thursday, November 5, 2009

Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Morozevich ½-½ Peter Leko
Boris Gelfand ½-½ Ruslan Ponomariov
Levon Aronian ½-½ Peter Svidler
Vassily Ivanchuk ½-½ Viswanathan Anand

Badminton News
At $250K Hong Kong Super Series 2009,

[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponappa (IND) bt Savitree Amitrapai (THA)/ Vacharaporn Munkit (THA) 21-18 21-18
[R1] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Gabrielle White (ENG) 17-21 21-15 21-12

[R2] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponappa (IND) vs (3) Jing DU (CHN)/ Yang YU (CHN)
[R2] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Anthony CLARK (ENG)/ Donna KELLOGG (ENG)

Another scratchy start for seeded MXD pair of Jwala and Diju against British pair ... But importantly they won last 2 games comfortably after losing first game ... In second round they r facing another British pair ... Jwala and Ashwini produced positive start beating Thai opponents ... In second round they r facing 3rd seed Chinese pair.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News
At $50K Knoxville Challenger, Tennessee, USA

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Kevin Kim (USA) l (WC) David Sandgren (RSA)/ John Patrick Smith (AUS) 36 26

Not really surprised with this one-sided loss as local university pair of Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith r currently top ranked NCAA doubles pair ... So with local support they also had good experience of playing together.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News
At AFC Under 19 Qualification 2009, Arbil

India u-19 l Oman u-19 3-4

Goal Scored - Lalrindika Ralte (IND) 15' & 19', Akshay Mall (IND) 33' and Al-Rajaibi Basim Abdullah Taeeb (OMA) 4', Khalil Ibrahim Abdullah Al Alawi (OMA) 70', Abdullah Saif Rashid Al-Shibli (OMA) 75', Yaqoob Salim Nasser Al Nadabi (OMA) 89'

3 losses in 3 matches for our u-19 team ... In another disappointing performance our u-19 boys lost against Oman after leading 3-1 at half-time ... Again opposition team scored goals in last 20 minutes.

After checking these results I m wondering any fitness issues with these boys? Who r mostly struggling to play full 90 minutes.

Badminton News
At $250K Hong Kong Super Series 2009,

[R1] Arvind Bhat (IND,23) vs Chunlai Bao (CHN,14)
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,6) vs Jie Yao (CHN,16)

[R1] Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Qualifier
[R1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Ashwini Ponappa (IND) vs Savitree Amitrapai (THA)/ Vacharaporn Munkit (THA)
[R1] (8) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) vs Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Gabrielle White (ENG)

This week very few Indians managed to get entry in big Hong Kong Super Series ... Don't know why Chetan is skipping this ... Saina climbed back to her personal best #6 world ranking after reaching quarter-finals at last 2 Super Series French and Denmark ... She has already qualified for the season-ending eight-field Super Series Masters Finals to be held at Kuala Lumpur from December 2-6.

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[F] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) l (2) Kevin Kim (USA,105) 46 76(8) 46

First set won by Kim with single break ... In second set Kim started well breaking Somi's serve in 5th game but Somi broke back and take set in tie-break ... And won second set after long tie-break and in that he saved 3 match points ... In third set Somi struggling with his first serve but still managed to broke Kim's serve in third game ... In 5th game Kim committed couple of double faults but Somi failed to take advantage and I feel that was turning point ... Then in 7th game also Kim served double fault and saved 2 break point chances before holding his serve ... In 9th game at 15-all Kim sprained his ankle and take medical time out but that didn't affect his performance in remaining 2 games ... Kim won last 4 games from 2-4 breaking Somi's serve twice, he converted 6th match point.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Aachen Challenger , Germany

[Q3] (6) Rohan BOPANNA (IND,414) bt (2) Louk SORENSEN (IRL,337) 46 76(2) 63

[R1] (Q) Rohan BOPANNA (IND,411) vs Simon STADLER (GER,285)
[R1] (1) (WC) Rajeev RAM (USA,97) vs (ALT) Alexander SADECKY (SUI,324)

Doubles
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Aisam Qureshi (PAK) vs (WC) Nikola Mektic (CRO)/ Ivan Zovko (CRO)

Another excellent comeback win against top-350 type player ... In all 3 qualifying matches he was set down and needed fight back in the match ... Yesterday in a day he played 6 tough sets so that showing his fitness looks back to where he left before his injury ... In doubles Rohan is partnering his favorite partner Aisam ... This week Rajeev decided to skip doubles.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Knoxville Challenger, Tennessee, USA

[R1] (6) Somdev Devvarman (IND,124) vs Roko Karanusic (CRO,191)
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,204) vs Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA,263)

Doubles
[R1] (2) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs (WC) Ryan Harrison (USA)/ Rylan Rizza (USA)
[R1] Somdev DevVarman (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Cory Parr (USA)/ Todd Paul (USA)
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Kevin Kim (USA) vs (WC) David Sandgren (RSA)/ John Patrick Smith (AUS)

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[SF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) bt (5) (WC) Ryan Sweeting (USA,147) 64 46 62

[F] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) vs (2) Kevin Kim (USA,105)

Somi started well breaking Ryan serve in second game but Ryan broke back in 7th game ... But at 5-4 Somi broke Ryan's serve to won first set ... In second set Somi was struggling with his first serve and moreover his defensive approach like standing 10 feets behind baseline while returning the serve was hurting him ... Ryan broke Somi in 7th game and that was enough for him to won second set ... Somi continued to struggle with his first serve in this match ... In third set he broke Ryan serve in 2nd game ... Then again Somi broke him in 6th game to go up 5-1 ... But here instead of finishing the match he played crappy service game and lost game on love ... But Somi managed to win match in next game as Ryan committed 2 double faults and Somi converted 3rd match point ... In the final he is facing Kevin Kim.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Aachen Challenger , Germany

[Q1] (6) Rohan BOPANNA (IND,414) bt Andrej MARTIN (SVK,457) 57 62 64
[Q2) (6) Rohan BOPANNA (IND,414) bt Thomas SCHOOREL (NED,459) 67(4) 62 76(9)

[Q3] (6) BOPANNA, Rohan (IND,414) v. (2) SORENSEN, Louk (IRL,337)

Bops win both matches after long dog fight ... In both matches he lost first set but in second match he was stretched to fullest ... Hopefully he has enough fuel in tank for final qualifying.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hockey News
At Asia Cup 2009, Thailand

Final
India l China 3-5

Goal Scored - Surinder Kaur (IND) 8', Mamta Kharab (IND) 43', Deepika (IND) 60' and Fu Bao Rang (CHN) 13', Ma Yi Bo (CHN) 16' PC, Zhao Yu Dia (CHN) 27', Ma Yi Bo (CHN) 44' PC, De Jiao Jiao (CHN) 55'

China wins the Asia Cup beating India 5-3 ...After 1-3 down in first half Indian women didn't lose hope and scored 2 goals in second half ... Other hand Chinese girls kept fighting with their counter attacking skill and they also scored 2 goals ... Though our women were controling most of second half but failing to score on penalty corners proved costly for them ... They wasted 3 penalty corners in second half.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News
At AFC Under 19 Qualification 2009, Arbil

India u-19 l Saudi Arabia u-19 1-3

Goal Scored - Malsawmfela (IND) 28' and Deepak Devrani (IND) 57' OG, Abdullah Ali S Almohammed (KSA) 89', Muhannad Hamed J Alfarsi (KSA) 90+'

Saudi Arabian boys scored late goals that was undoing for Indian boys.

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[QF] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) l (2) Kevin Kim (USA,105) 57 76(3) 67(5)
[QF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) bt Matwe Middelkoop (NED,370) 63 64

[SF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) vs (5) (WC) Ryan Sweeting (USA,147)

What a match played by Sanam ... He matched shot to shot with Kim ... I think experience of playing on this level helped Kim to win this match ... After losing first set Sanam take medical break but he kept fighting until end ... He won second set in tie-break ... Was up 2-0 with break in third set but Kim broke back immediately to make it 3-all ... In 8th game Sanam saved 3 break points ... In tie-break Kim take early mini-break to lead 2-1 but Sanam immediately broke back ... At 2-3 Sanam committed double fault to gave lead to Kim but again Sanam fought back to make it 5-all ... Again Sanam double faulted at this crucial moment to gave Kim match point and Kim take this opportunity with big service winner ... These 2 double faults were crucial but very encouraging performance by Sanam ... Hats off!!!

In first set Somi started strongly after 1-all he won next 4 games on a row to lead 5-1 but Middelkoop broke back but Somi hold his next serve to won this set ... Second set also went like first set and Somi kept control to moved into semis ... His next opponent is American Ryan Sweeting, with whom in their only meeting he lost 57 46 at Delray Beach ATP qualifying.

Football News
At I League 2009-10, India - Round VII

Pune FC dw Shillong Lajong FC 1-1

Goal Scored - Shanmugam Venkatesh (PFC) 62' and Daniel Bidemi (SL) 90+'

Pune FC is still searching for their first win ... In this match when only 30 seconds were remaining their Selwyn Fernandes unintentionally hand ball inside the box, which gave Lajong opportunity with spot kick and their Daniel Bidemi converted it coolly.
-----------------------------------------

Churchill Brothers SC bt Dempo SC 3-2

Goal Scored - Odafe Onyeka Okolie (CB) 8' P & 87', Felix Chimaokwu (CB) 79' and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 23' & 32'

Odafe's late goal helped Churchill to scored derby win against Dempo.
-----------------------------------------

Mumbai FC bt JCT Phagwara 2-0

Goal Scored - Bashiru Abbas Mohd. (MFC) 63', Abhishek Yadav (MFC) 81' P

Mumbai FC continued with their good run.
-----------------------------------------

Air India l East Bengal 0-1

Goal Scored - Abel Hammond (EB) 29'

This was East Bengal's first win at Cooperage after December 2003.
-----------------------------------------

Sporting Clube de Goa dw Mohun Bagan 2-2

Goal Scored - Nathaniel Adisa Amos (SCG) 23', Joseph Pereira (SCG) 43' and Branco Vincent Cardozo (MB) 32', Marcos Alexandro de Carvalho Pereira (MB) 42'

In well fought match Sporting managed to hold Bagan.
-----------------------------------------

Chirag United bt Salgaocar SC 2-0

Goal Scored - Joshimar (CU) 52' & 68'

With this win Chirag United grab top position in I-League.
-----------------------------------------

Mahindra United bt Viva Kerela 1-1

Goal Scored - Mohammed Rafi (MU) 54' and Wisut Bunpeng (VK) 29'

Viva hold Mahindra in their away match.

Hockey News
At Asia Cup 2009, Thailand

Semi Final
India bt South Korea 3-2

Goal Scored - Jasjeet Kaur (IND) 8' PC & 39', Rani Ramphal (IND) 55' and

Indian women defeated South Koreans to reach final at Asia Cup but importantly reaching final guaranteed their direct entry in 2010 World Cup.

After drawing in last pool match against Malaysia Indians women had tough task of facing South Korea ... And Indian team take that challenge, they dominated the match from start ... Our team was comfortably ahead leading 3-0 but South Koreans fought hard in last 15 mins ... Managed to scored 2 goals but in end Indians defended well to save penalty corners ... In the final they r facing China.

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) bt Scoville Jenkins (USA,230) 16 76(1) 64
[R2] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) bt Izaak Van der Merwe (RSA,264) 62 16 62

[QF] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) vs (2) Kevin Kim (USA,105)
[QF] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) vs Matwe Middelkoop (NED,370)

Sanam's amazing run continued in Charlottesville Challenger ... He scored another upset win in 3 sets over experienced American player, Scoville Jenkins ... In this match also he showed his never die attitude after losing first set.

In first set Jenkins was too strong with his first serve and pinpoint ground strokes ... He broke Sanam in 2nd and 6th games to won first set easily ... In second set Sanam started to find his game and his serve started to work for him ... He broke Jenkins in 4th game but Jenkins broke back Sanam's serve in 7th game ... Jenkins also saved couple of set points in 12th game to forced tie-break ... But in tie-break Sanam was too strong, he lost first point in tie-break after leading 5-0 ... Surprising to see Sanam kept fighting in this match ... As this was his 5th match in 6 days in which most of them went to 3 sets ... In third set also Sanam played controlled tennis .. His backhands were working and his first serve percentage was also high ... He broke Jenkins's serve in 3rd game and didn't face single break point on his serve ... He converted second match point to moved into his first challenger quarter-final ... In quarter final he is facing 2nd seed Kevin Kim.

In his match Somdev struggled with his game ... His first serve wasn't working and he didn't able to hit his sharp ground strokes ... But still he managed to hang on against big serving Van der Merwe and scripted victory to moved into quarters.

After both players shared first 2 sets in the beginning of third set momentum was with Van der Merwe ... He started well breaking Somi's serve in third game but Somi broke Van der Merwe's serve in next game to make it 2-all ... This was turning point of the match ... Somi again broke Van der Merwe's serve in 6th and 8th games to complete the victory ... Next in quarter he is facing Dutch player Matwe Middelkoop.

Somdev removed his name from doubles may be due to fatigue after first round and traveling from Asia.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $100K+H Chuncheon Challenger, South Korea

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND,223) l Igor Sijsling (NED,250) 57 46

Doubles
[SF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) l Andis Juska (LAT)/ Dmitri Sitak (RUS) 63 36 (12)14

Not sure but this week Sijsling looks hot player in this challenger ... But for Kash lost opportunity to go deep in this big challenger.

Purav and Sadik also got upset from unseeded pair in very closely fought super tie-break.

Football News
At AFC Under 19 Qualification 2009, Arbil

India u-19 l Iraq u-19 0-5

Goal Scored - Amjed Waleed Hussain (IRQ) 10' & 56', Mustafa Jalal (IRQ) 35', Mohaimen Saleem Mallakh (IRQ) 77', Mohamed Saad Abdullah (IRQ) 86'

Iraq side dominated match from the start and scored comfortable win against our boys ... Our boys didn't match their fast paced game.

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[R1] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) bt (WC) Denes Lukacs (HUN,1292) 63 26 75
[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) bt (6) Grega Zemlja (SLO,159) 62 57 64

[R2] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) vs Scoville Jenkins (USA,230)
[R2] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) vs Izaak Van der Merwe (RSA,264)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) l (WC) Cory Parr (USA)/ Todd Paul (USA) 67(2) 57
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Donald Young (USA)

Writing this report from onlooker report
Sanam won first set breaking Zemlja's serve in 3rd and 5th games ... In this set he had 8 aces ... In second set Sanam broke Zemlja's serve in 7th game and was serving for the match at 5-4 but Zemlja broke Sanam's serve saving 2 match points and Zemlja take full advantage of disappointed Sanam's breaking him again in 12th game to won second set ... In third set Zemlja started well breaking Sanam's serve in 2nd game, that means Zemlja won 6 games on a row ... But instead of going down Sanam showed excellent fighting ability (I feel true credit should go to UVa coach Brian Boland, that he is turning our players in to proper pro players, who never lose their hopes.), he broke Zemlja's serve in 3rd game and take another break in 5th game to taking control of third set ... In final game Sanam was down 0-30 but he won next 4 points to complete excellent victory.

Somi had expected tough match of 2 and 1/2 hours ... It was baseline duel from the start ... In first set Somi was in control and moved Lukacs all over the court ... He broke Lukacs's serve in 5th and 7th games to won first set ... Seconfd set was exactly opposite of first set and this time Lukacs dominated this set moving Somi all over the court ... He broke Somi's serve in 5th and 7th games to won second set easily ... In third set also Somi was struggling with holding his serve and Lukacs was comfortably holding his service games ... But from 3-2 Somi again started to find his range and from their tide started to move in his favor ... In game 8 Somi had a break point chance but couldn't convert it ... Somi broke Lukacs's serve in 12th game after leading 6-5, converting 2nd match point.

But in doubles our top-seed pair of Harsh and Treat lost against college pair ... As per report, match was close but Treat struggled with his net game ... Hopefully next week they will perform better.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $100K+H Chuncheon Challenger, South Korea

[R2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,223) bt Andis Juska (LAT,287) 61 26 76(4)

[QF] Prakash Amritraj (IND,223) vs Igor Sijsling (NED,250)

Doubles
[QF] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt Greg Jones (AUS)/ Pavel Snobel (CZE) 63 62
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Alex Kuznetsov (USA) l (2) Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN) 36 46

Prakash scored good tight win over Latvian in third set tie-break ... In quarters he is facing Sijsling, who upset 3rd seed in second round.

Purav and Sadik scored another easy victory to moved into semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS) l Martin Fischer (AUT)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 75 36 (11)13

Another disappointing loss for Rohan, next week we can find him outside top-100 doubles ranking.

Chess News
Pune's Soumya Swaminathan won World Junior Chess Championship, she became 3rd Indian girl to achieve this feat after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika ... This will also give her a direct entry to the Women's World Championship.

Soumya was leading in Argentina after 10 rounds ... But a draw in the 11th against Russian Zoja Severiukhina and a heartbreaking loss in the 12th to higher-rated Corri Tello Deysi of Peru [2361] reduce her title hopes ... After 12th round Turkish girl Yildiz Betul Cemre was leading by 0.5 point with 9.0 pts and Soumya & Corri were on second place with 8.5 pts ... In the dramatic final round Soumya clinched the title ... Soumya received help from another Indian girl, Kiran Manisha Mohanty ... Kiran Manisha Mohanty played excellent game without giving any chance to leader Yildiz Betul Cemre, who only managed draw ... Then Soumya defeated another Turkish girl Kübra Öztürk in 36 moves and Corri defeated WGM Iozefina Paulet of Romania ... This makes 3 way tie with 9.5/13 points but Soumya won on better tie-break.

At the u-20 World Junior Chess Championship 2009, Patagonia, Argentina

Girls' Championship - top rankings after thirteen rounds (final)
1 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND [2297] 9.5 (TB. 27314)
2 WIM Cori Tello Deysi PER [2361] 9.5 (TB. 27250)
3 WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre TUR [2224] 9.5 (TB. 27052)
4 WIM Zhang Xiaowen CHN [2391] 9.0 (TB. 27216)
5 WIM Mikadze Miranda GEO [2317] 8.5 (TB. 27071)
6 WIM Severiukhina Zoja RUS [2339] 8.0 (TB. 27135)
7 WGM Paulet Iozefina ROU [2342] 8.0 (TB. 26978)
8 WIM Padmini Rout IND [2331] 8.0 (TB. 26896)
9 WFM Tjolsen Katrine NOR [2178] 8.0 (TB. 26619)
10 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND [2153] 8.0 (TB. 26563)

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

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,223) bt (5) Kyu Tae Im (KOR, 165) 76(2) 62

Doubles
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) bt Kamil Capkovik (SVK)/ Pavol Cervenak (SVK) 62 61
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Alex Kuznetsov (USA) vs (2) Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)

In first set Kyu Tae Im broke Prakash's serve in 5th game @15 but Kash broke back Im's serve in 8th game after deuce ... But Im again broke Kash's serve on luv and while serving for the set Kash again broke back after deuce ... In tie-break Kash dominated to won losing just 2 points ... Second set Kash saved couple of break point in 2nd game but afterward he dominated the match ... He broke Im's serve in 3rd and 7th games @15 to won match in straight sets ... In final game he was up 40-0 but then Im saved all 3 match points but Kash converted next point.

Good winning start for Purav and Sadik over capable pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[Q3] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) bt (8) Kaden Hensel (AUS,514) 62 16 75

[R1] (Q) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) vs (6) Grega Zemlja (SLO,159)

Another good win by Sanam over top-500 player, this time tiring 3 sets ... He is really showing good progress with his stint at UVa ... He is having tough first round against 6th seed & #159 Grega Zemlja.

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[Q2] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) bt Adam Hubble (AUS,695) 64 64

[Q3] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) vs (8) Kaden Hensel (AUS,514)

[R1] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,116) vs (WC) Denes Lukacs (HUN,1292)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Treat Huey (PHI) vs (WC) Cory Parr (USA)/ Todd Paul (USA)
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Alex Bogomolov Jr. (USA) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)/ Donald Young (USA)

Another straights sets victory for Sanam ... Those who watched this match they reported Sanam was playing excellent from back side of court, generating lot of pace ... His backhand was treat to watch ... Next he is facing another Aussie 8th seed Hensel.

This week Somi climb to his PB singles ranking ... In first round he is facing UVa college player Denes Lukacs, this match is tricky for Somi as in his college days also as freshman Lukacs troubled Somi in his last year of college ... In doubles Harsh and Treat r top-seed ... First round they r facing wild card local (college?) pair ... Somi and Alex having very interesting match against Kevin and Young.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[Q2] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND,414) l Antal Van Der Duim (NED,631) 62 67(2) 26

Doubles
[R1] (3) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Rameez Junaid (AUS) vs Martin Fischer (AUT)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT)

After losing second set in tie-break Bops lost control over the match ... This was winnable match considering it was playing on fast Carpet courts.

Football News
At I League 2009-10, India - Round VI

Mumbai FC bt Mohun Bagan 2-1

Goal Scored - Abhishek Yadav (MFC) 1', Mohammad Abbas (MFC) 41' and Snehashish Chakraborty (MB) 60'

Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Shilton Paul was culprit of this loss.
-----------------------------------------

East Bengal bt Viva Kerala 1-0

Goal Scored - Syed Rahim Nabi (EB) 11'

East Bengal scored their first victory.
-----------------------------------------

Sporting Clube de Goa dw Chirag United SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Nathaniel Adisa Amos (SCG) 82' and Edmilson Marques Pardal 80' (CU)

Amos saved day for Sporting with late equalizer.
-----------------------------------------

Shillong Lajong FC dw Salgaocar SC 0-0
-----------------------------------------

Air India l Churchill Brothers 2-3

Goal Scored - Dada Nabeel (AI) 4', N D Opara (AI) 45' and Ogba Kalu (CB) 31' & 37', Odafa Okolie (CB) 86'

In well contested match Churchill Brothers defeated Air men.
------------------------------------------

Pune FC dw Dempo SC 1-1

Goal Scored - Izumi Arata (PFC) 76' and Anthony Pereira (DSC) 82'

Pune FC wasted golden opportunity of scoring their first win ... After leading Pune FC defenders gave opportunity to Goan team which taken by their Captain ... So 5th draw from 6 matches for Pune FC, still searching for their first win.
-----------------------------------------
JCT Phagwara dw Mahindra United 0-0

Tennis News
At $50K Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia, USA

[Q1] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) bt (3) Ricardas Berankis (LTU,421) 62 63

[Q2] (WC) Sanam Singh (IND,UNR) vs Adam Hubble (AUS,695)

[R1] (3) Somdev Devvarman (IND,121) vs (WC) Denes Lukacs (HUN,1292)

Excellent upset win by Sanam over 2007 year-end Junior WR #1 Ricardas Berankis ... So it looks true what I heard about him, Sanam improve a lot as a player at UVA ... Next Sanam facing Australian player.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $100K+H Chuncheon Challenger, South Korea

[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,232) vs (5) Kyu Tae Im (KOR, 163)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Purav Raja (IND)/ Sadik Kadir (AUS) vs Kamil Capkovik (SVK)/ Pavol Cervenak (SVK)
[R1] Prakash Amritraj (IND)/ Alex Kuznetsov (USA) vs (2) Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Frederik Nielsen (DEN)

Prakash having tough first round match against local player but then last week Prakash defeated Kyu Tae Im.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H Eckental Challenger, Germany

[Q1] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND,418) bt Michal Pazicky (SVK,743) 76(2) 76(3)

[Q2] (7) Rohan Bopanna (IND,418) vs Antal Van Der Duim (NED,634)

Surprisingly tougher match for Rohan, but he managed to pull in 2 tie-breaks ... Next he is facing Dutch player.

Badminton News
At $200K French Super Series 2009, Paris

[QF] (6) Diju Valiyaveetil (IND)/ Jwala Gutta (IND) l (2) Nova Widianto (INA)/ Liliyana Natsir (INA) 21-6 20-22 10-21

[QF] (8) Saina Nehwal (IND,8) l (1) Lin Wang (CHN,3) 21-15 11-21 15-21

Saina started positively against Lin Wang taking 5-0 early lead and managed to kept 2/3 points lead through out game ... Saina won first game comfortably in just 15 mins.

But second game was different story as Lin take control from the start and Saina was trying to catch her ... Soon Lin take 10-2 lead and won second game in 14 mins.

Lin kept her momentum in third game and take early lead from 2-all ... At turn over Lin take control of the game with 11-6 lead ... Saina tried but Lin Wang was too strong showing why she was WR #1 and she finished match in her favor in 49 mins.

Diju and Jwala started strongly winning first game without losing much sweat ... They had chance in second game after leading 6-2 but Indonasian pair came back strongly to won this closely fought game ... In third game they didn't give any chance to Indian pair to win match in 42 mins.

Golf News
At €3.25M Volvo World Match Play 2009, Finca Cortesin

This week Jeev was playing a prestigious Volvo World Match play in a group of 16 golfers ... 16 golfers were divided into 4 groups ... Jeev was in group D and he needed to win his group to move to the semifinal.

GROUP D
SEED PLAYER WGR
2 Lee WESTWOOD 5
7 Camilo VILLEGAS 18
10 Ross FISHER 26
15 Jeev Milkha SINGH 54

In Match 1, Jeev defeated WR #5 Lee Westwood by 6 holes ... In this match he didn't lose single hole ... After this he needed only 1 win to qualify for semi-final but that didn't happen ... Jeev didn't found same form in remaining matches ... In Match 2, Camilo Villegas defeated Jeev by 3 holes and in Match 3, Ross Fisher defeated Jeev by 1 hole ... Unlucky Jeev if he managed to win 1 more hole then he would be in semis ... Ross Fisher qualify for semi-final from Group D with this win.

Still Jeev recieved big prize money finishing last in the group, €120,000.

Tennis News
At $125K+H Seoul Challenger, Korea

[QF] (4) Somdev Devvarman (IND,121) l Dusan Lojda (CZE,283) 46 26

Lojda defeated Somi convincingly ... After winning first set he dominated match breaking Somi's serve twice ... I m disappointed with this result as Somi lost big opportunity to garnering ranking points which can helped him to achieve his aim of breaking inside top-100 before December ... More over he was highest seeded player remaining in top draw.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 Futures, Bin Duong

[SF] (8) Yannick NELORD (IND,942) l (3) Amir WEINTRAUB (ISR,705) 46 46

Though Yannick lost against Amir in straight sets still this was good tournament where he reached in semis.