Boxing News
At Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012, Astana, Kazakhstan

Middleweight - 75 kg
[QF] Vijender Singh (IND) bt Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag (MGL) 27-17

[SF] Vijender Singh (IND) vs Nursahat Pazziyev (TKM)

Light Heavyweight - 81 kg
[QF] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt Hyeong Kyu Kim (KOR) 22-12

[SF] Sumit Sangwan (IND) vs Ahmad Suleiman Al-Teimat (JOR)

Heavyweight - 91 kg
[QF] Manpreet Singh (IND) bt Chyngyz Borbashev (KGZ) 8-4 RSC

[SF] Manpreet Singh (IND) vs Ali Mazaheri (IRI)

Vijender Singh become fifth boxer to qualify for London Olympic ... Vijender defeated Mongolian Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag in quarter-final ... Vijender had a slow start, he was 4-6 down after the first round but gained lead after winning second round 13-11 ... In the final round he didn't give any chance to Mongolian after dominating it, he won this round 14-6 ... In the semi-final he is facing Turkmenistan's Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Nursahat Pazziyev.

Manpreet Singh scored another impressive win against Borbashev ... Manpreet was leading 8-4 in the first round when refree stopped the match ... So 2 consecutive RSC win for Manpreet ... Next he is facing former multiple Asian champion Iranian Ali Mazaheri, who also won with RSC.

18 yrs old Sumit Sangwan continues with impressive performance ... He is only one win away from qualifying for London Olympic ... In the quarters he scored authoritative win against regaining Asian Champion South Korean Kim Hyeong Kyu ... After the first round both boxers were tied 4-all but from the second round Sumit take control winning it 7-3 ... In the final round Sumit dominated Kim to won it 11-5 ... Next in the semis he is facing Jordan boxer Ahmad Suleiman Al-Teimat, who was training at Cuba for 15 days before this tournament.

Tennis News
At 2012 Davis Cup - Asia/Oceania - Group I, Namangan, Uzbekistan (Indoor clay)

India l Uzbekistan 2-3

Day 1
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,446) l Denis Istomin (UZB,43) 36 26 46
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) l Farrukh Dustov (UZB,262) 46 46 36

Day 2
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Murad Inoyatov (UZB)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 67(4) 46 63 36

Day 3
[R4] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) bt Denis Istomin (UZB,43) 67(1) 76(3) 76(3)
[R5] Rohan Bopanna (IND,UNR) bt Sarvar Ikramov (UZB,630) 62 67(0) 61

Yuki scored his first top-50 win beating Istomin in closely fought tie-breaks ... Though this win was in dead rubber still very important win for Yuki because it was on clay against better player who love to play on the clay.

In last rubber Rohan played and won his match in 3 sets against Sarvar Ikramov to gave India 2nd win of this tie.,

Boxing News
At Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012, Astana, Kazakhstan

Flyweight - 52 kg
[R2] Suranjoy Mayengbam Singh (IND) l Tugstsogt Nyambayar (MGL) 10-30

Bantamweight - 56 kg
[R2] Shiva Thapa (IND) bt Mohammad Khaiber (AFG) 15-7

[QF] Shiva Thapa (IND) vs Worapoj Petchkoom (THA)

Suranjoy singh lost in one-sided match against World championship silver medalist Mangolian Tugstsogt Nyambayar ... Mangolian boxer won all 3 rounds, he won first 2 rounds 6-2 and 9-4 ... Nyambayar dominated final round to won it 15-4 ... So with that Suranjoy failed to fulfill his Olympic dream.

Shiva Thapa gave clinical performance to scored victory over Afghan boxer and book place in the quarter-final ... Thapa won all 3 rounds, 5-2, 5-3 and 5-2 ... Next in the quarters he is facing Thailand's Athens Olympic Games silver medallist Worapoj Petchkoom.

Tennis News
At 2012 Davis Cup - Asia/Oceania - Group I, Namangan, Uzbekistan (Indoor clay)

India l Uzbekistan 0-3

Day 1
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,446) l Denis Istomin (UZB,43) 36 26 46
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) l Farrukh Dustov (UZB,262) 46 46 36

Day 2
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Murad Inoyatov (UZB)/ Denis Istomin (UZB) 67(4) 46 63 36

In shocking display we lost doubles against Istomin and Inoyatov in 4 sets ... After ages we lost doubles rubber in the Davis cup ... I m shocked and surprised to see Lee and Rohan failed to get together in this crucial match ... With this loss we lose this tie and remain in Asia/Oceania - Group I.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $740K Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA

[R2] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (WC) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Luci Safarova (CZE) 76(2) 57 7-10

Our pair was one set up when yesterday match stopped due to rain but today after rain break Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova turned table on our pair ... They won the second set and STB and moved into the quarters.

Boxing News
At Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012, Astana, Kazakhstan

Middleweight - 75 kg
[R1] Vijender Singh (IND) bt Ishak Waez (SYR) 11-5

[QF] Vijender Singh (IND) vs Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag (MGL)

Heavyweight - 91 kg
[R1] Manpreet Singh (IND) bt Yerbolat Tulyek (MGL) RSC

[QF] Manpreet Singh (IND) vs Chyngyz Borbashev (KGZ)

Manpreet Singh won the first round when referee stopped the contest in the first round against Mongolian boxer ... Next he is facing Kyrgyzstan's Chyngyz Borbashev.

Vijender scored expected comfortable victory over his Syrian opponent ... Vijender won the first 2 rounds 5-1 and 4-2 to take 9-3 lead ... In the last round he defended to complete the victory ... Vijender need to avoid this defending after leading because such can turn risky against better boxer and he lost few matches in the past due to defensive tactics ... Vijender needs to keep attacking until end of the match.

Tennis News
At 2012 Davis Cup - Asia/Oceania - Group I, Namangan, Uzbekistan (Indoor clay)

India vs Uzbekistan 0-2

Day 1
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,446) l Denis Istomin (UZB,43) 36 26 46
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) l Farrukh Dustov (UZB,262) 46 46 36

Was hoping upset from Yuki but Yuki failed to deliver fighting performance on indoor clay ... Sanam gave decent performance against top-50 Istomin.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $740K Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA

[R2] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (WC) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Luci Safarova (CZE) 76() 1-2

Our pair won the first set in tie-break but match was stopped due to heavy rain in the second.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F2 Futures 2012, Astana

[SF] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) l (8) Alexey Vatutin (RUS,858) 57 36

Vatutin broke Karan in 11th game to won the first set ... In the second set Vatutin take early break and kept that lead to won the second set.

In whole tournament Karan struggled with all opponents and lost against below 850 ranked opponent ... Sad to see his struggle.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Saudi Arabia F1 futures 2012, Riyadh

[F] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt Joshua JONES (GBR)/ Matthew SHORT (GBR) 75 75

Ashwin lifted his first ITF futures title after winning doubles with his Australian partner Zach Itzstein ... They defeated British doubles pair in the final ... Though they won this match in straight sets still both sets were closely fought.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 futures 2012, Ho Chi Minh City

[F] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (1) Dane PROPOGGIA (AUS)/ Jose STATHAM (NZL) 63 64

Sriram Balaji and Rohan lifted doubles title beating top-seed pair in straight sets ... Hopefully next week they perform better in the singles also.

Boxing News
At Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament 2012, Astana, Kazakhstan

Flyweight - 52 kg
[R1] Suranjoy Mayengbam Singh (IND) bt Dong-Myung Shin (KOR) 16-14

[R2] Suranjoy Mayengbam Singh (IND) vs Tugstsogt Nyambayar (MGL)

Bantamweight - 56 kg
[R1] Shiva Thapa (IND) bye

[R2] Shiva Thapa (IND) vs Mohammad Nooristani (AFG)

Middleweight - 75 kg
[R1] Vijender Singh (IND) vs Ishak Waez (SYR)

Light Heavyweight - 81 kg
[R1] Sumit Sangwan (IND) bt Van Toan Luong (VIE) 14-2

Heavyweight - 91 kg
[R1] Manpreet Singh (IND) vs Yerbolat Tulyek (MGL)

Super Heavyweight - +91 kg
[QF] Paramjeet Samota (IND) bye

[SF] Paramjeet Samota (IND) vs Soumar Ghosoun (SYR)

Suranjoy won very hard fought match against Korean .. He won the first 2 rounds 5-3 and 8-5 to lead 13-8 but he relaxed in the final round and Korean take advantage of it ... Korean tried fightback and won this round 6-3 but 5 points lead helped Suranjoy for victory ... Next Suranjoy is facing tough challenge from Mangolian Tugstsogt Nyambayar, who won silver medal at Milan AIBA World Championships in 2009.

18 yrs old Sumit Sangwan scored very dominating win over Vietnamese boxer ... He won all 3 rounds comfortably, 5-0 3-1 and 6-1 ... He will most probably play his next match against South Korean current Asian Champion Kim Hyeong Kyu ... Real test for him.

Favourable draw for Vijender in Middleweight ... Having good opportunity to reach in the semis.

In Super Heavyweight category Paramjeet Samota receive bye in the quarters and he is facing Syrian Soumar Ghosoun in the semis ... Winnable match for him.

Shiv Thapa's real test will start from quarters ... Manpreet Singh having tough matches from the second round.

Tennis News
At 2012 Davis Cup - Asia/Oceania - Group I, Namangan, Uzbekistan (Indoor clay)

Day 1
[R1] Sanam Singh (IND,446) vs Denis Istomin (UZB,43)
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) vs Farrukh Dustov (UZB,262)

Day 2
[R3] Leander Paes (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Farrukh Dustov (UZB)/ Denis Istomin (UZB)

Day 3
[R4] Yuki Bhambri (IND,295) vs Denis Istomin (UZB,43)
[R5] Sanam Singh (IND,446) vs Farrukh Dustov (UZB,262)

Draw is out and Sanam will play first rubber against Istomin ... We need win from young Yuki on day one but very tough task for our these young players on indoor clay court ... If we manage to lead 2-1 after day two then may be our captain Misra can play gamble of playing Rohan in the final rubber against Dustov but before that we really need win from Yuki on day one.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $740K Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA

[R1] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 64 63

[R2] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (WC) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Luci Safarova (CZE)

Sania and Elena made superb comeback after 0-3 down in the first set ... They scored straight sets victory over tricky pair but next they r facing wild-card pair of Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Czech Luci Safarova ... Our pair lost against same pair at Miami Masters so tough match for them.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F2 Futures 2012, Astana

[QF] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) bt (Q) Egor PUNTUS (BLR,UNR) 64 4-3 Retd

[SF] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) vs (8) Alexey Vatutin (RUS,858)

Karan won the first set with a single break in 9th game but his opponent retired in the second set ... In the semis Karan is facing 8th seed Russian player.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Saudi Arabia F1 futures 2012, Riyadh

[SF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt Mohammad GHAREEB (KUW)/ Abdullah MAQDAS (KUW) 76(7) 57 10-7

[F] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) vs Joshua JONES (GBR)/ Matthew SHORT (GBR)

This was really good hard fought win by Ashwin and Zach against Kuwaiti Davis cup doubles pair ... In the final they r facing British pair, who upset 2nd seed pair in the first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 futures 2012, Ho Chi Minh City

[SF] (3) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) l (1) Dane PROPOGGIA (AUS)/ Jose STATHAM (NZL) 16 46
[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt (WC) Minh-Quan DO (VIE)/ Quoc-Khanh LE (VIE) 62 61

[F] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) vs (1) Dane PROPOGGIA (AUS)/ Jose STATHAM (NZL)

Gajjar and Balaji r in the final with very convincing win over local wild-card pair ... In the final they r facing top-seed pair, who also scored comfortable win over 3rd seed Indian pair of Kaza and Vignesh.

Tennis News
At $35K+H St. Brieuc Challenger, France (clay)

[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Olivier Patience (FRA)/ Nicolas Renavand (FRA) 46 26

This time this experienced French pair defeated Purav and Divij convincingly.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F2 Futures 2012, Astana

[R2] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) bt Vitaliy Kachanovskiy (RUS,1081) 64 64

[QF] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) vs (Q) Egor PUNTUS (BLR,UNR)

More comfortable win for Karan in the second round ... Next he is facing unranked Belarus player who upset 5th seed Russian in the second round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 futures 2012, Ho Chi Minh City

[R2] Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND,977) l (7) Dane Propogia (AUS,661) 06 1-2 Retd
[R1] (6) Sriram Balaji (IND,662) l (Q) Daniel Geib (AUT,1311) 26 16

Doubles
[QF] (3) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) bt Blake MOTT (AUS)/ Jack SCHIPANSKI (AUS) 67(5) 63 10-4
[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt Hiromasa OKU (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN) 62 63

[SF] (3) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) vs (1) Dane PROPOGGIA (AUS)/ Jose STATHAM (NZL)
[SF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) vs (WC) Minh-Quan DO (VIE)/ Quoc-Khanh LE (VIE)

Our higher ranked players struggle in the singles outside India continues ... In doubles our both pairs r into the semis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Saudi Arabia F1 futures 2012, Riyadh

[R2] Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) l (2) Enrique LOPEZ-PEREZ (ESP,540) 57 46

Doubles
[QF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt Antonio GARCIA SANCHEZ (ESP)/ Hasier PASTOR (ESP) 63 64

[SF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) vs Mohammad GHAREEB (KUW)/ Abdullah MAQDAS (KUW)

Good fighting performance from Ashwin against seeded Spanish player ... In doubles he is in the semis with his Australian partner and next they r facing tough Kuwaiti pair.

Tennis News
At $740K Family Circle Cup, Charleston, USA

[R1] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS)/ Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)

Tricky first round match for Sania and Elena.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H St. Brieuc Challenger, France (clay)

[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Augustin Gensse (FRA)/ Vincent Millot (FRA) 62 76(6)

[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Olivier Patience (FRA)/ Nicolas Renavand (FRA)

Good winning start for Purav and Divij .. Next they r facing another French experienced pair in the quarters.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F2 Futures 2012, Astana

[R1] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) bt (Q) Fedor Doudtchik (BLR,1711) 63 76(4)

[R2] (2) Karan Rastogi (IND,477) vs Vitaliy Kachanovskiy (RUS,1081)

Win was lot closer than expected.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Saudi Arabia F1 futures 2012, Riyadh

[R2] Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) vs (2) Enrique LOPEZ-PEREZ (ESP,540)

Tough second round for Ashwin.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 futures 2012,

[R1] (3) Rohan Gajjar (IND,534) l Jack Carpenter (GBR,1115) 16 46
[R1] Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND,977) bt (WC) Pannhara Mam (CAM,UNR) 64 63
[R1] (6) Sriram Balaji (IND,662) bt Leon Frost (AUS,877) 62 63
[R1] Vignesh Peranamallur (IND,941) l Robin Kern (GER,930) 64 16 26

[R2] Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND,977) vs (7) Dane Propogia (AUS,661)
[R1] (6) Sriram Balaji (IND,662) vs (Q) Daniel Geib (AUT,1311)

Winning start for Sriram Balaji and Kaza but Rohan's poor run continues.

Tennis News

ATP Doubles Rankings - 2nd April 2012
7 Leander Paes (IND) 6,015
8 Rohan Bopanna (IND) 4,790
15 Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) 3,770

After Miami Masters as expected Lee remain on #7 ... Other hand Rohan climb 4 positions to re-enter in top 10 and Mahesh drop 2 places ... Radek also enter into top -15 ... Only 100 points difference between 8 to 12 ranked players so top 10 race is very crowded and interesting for last 3 places
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H St. Brieuc Challenger, France (clay)

[Q2] (7) Divij Sharan (IND) l Tomasz Bednarek (POL,1032) 63 26 67(2)
[Q2] Purav Raja (IND) l (1) Victor Crivoi (ROM,256) 26 46

Missed opportunity for Divij but other hand another fighting performance from Purav against top-250 type player.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F2 Futures 2012, Astana

[R1] Karan Rastogi (IND,) vs (Q) Fedor Doudtchik (BLR,1711)

Karan need to start winning more matches.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Saudi Arabia F1 futures 2012, Riyadh

[R1] Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) bt (Q) Gregory HOWE (GBR,UNR) 62 61

Doubles
[R1] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt (4) Jan BLECHA (CZE)/ Lucas RENARD (SWE) 76(5) 64

[QF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) vs Antonio GARCIA SANCHEZ (ESP)/ Hasier PASTOR (ESP)

Happy to Ashwin earned his first ATP point of 3 weeks after scoring win over British qualifier.

In doubles this week also Ashwin is playing with Zach and they scored upset win over 4th seed pair in the first round.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Vietnam F1 futures 2012,

[R1] (3) Rohan Gajjar (IND,534) vs Jack Carpenter (GBR,1115)
[R1] Kaza Vinayak Sharma (IND,977) vs (WC) Pannhara Mam (CAM,UNR)
[R1] (6) Sriram Balaji (IND,662) vs Leon Frost (AUS,877)
[R1] Vignesh Peranamallur (IND,941) vs Robin Kern (GER,930)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) bt Nuttanon KADCHAPANAN (THA)/ Perakiat SIRILUETHAIWATTANA (THA) 63 63
[R1] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) bt Constantin BELOT (FRA)/ Kevin BOTTI (FRA) 61 64

[QF] (3) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND)/ Kaza Vinayak SHARMA (IND) vs Blake MOTT (AUS)/ Jack SCHIPANSKI (AUS)
[QF] (2) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Rohan GAJJAR (IND) vs Hiromasa OKU (JPN)/ Kento TAKEUCHI (JPN)

Expected winning start in doubles for Indian pairs.

Wrestling News
At Asian Qualifying Tournament 2012, Astana

Freestyle Women - 55Kg
[R1] Geeta (IND) bt Gulina Kubatbek Kyzy (KGZ) 8-0 (5-0)
[QF] Geeta (IND) bt Wilaiwan Thongkam (THA) 5-0 (3-0)
[SF] Geeta (IND) bt Aiym Abdildina (KAZ) 9-4 (3-1)

[F] Geeta (IND) bt Ji-eun Um (KOR) 0-0 (5-0 on technical points)

In Freestyle Women (55Kg) Geeta won the Gold and became the first Indian woman to qualify for London Olympic ... She also become 3rd wrestler to qualify with Yogeshwar Dutt and Amit Kumar.

After winning the first 2 matches easily in the semis Geeta was down 0-4 against Aiym ... Geeta fought back won the second round 3-0 but she was still 3-4 down ... Geeta dominated the final round to won it comfortably, 6-0, and book her ticket for London ... In the final she faced Korean wrestler ... Geeta won the final on technical points.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

Final
(7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 36 61 10-8

Leander won his third straight title at Sony Ericsson Open ... Before this he won this title with Lukas Dlouhy in 2010 and Mahesh Bhupathi in 2011 ... He also became the 24th player in ATP history to win 50 doubles ATP titles.

After losing the first set Radek was facing 3 break points on his serve in 1st game of the second set ... Lee and Radek saved those and then broke Mirnyi and Nestor twice in the second to take match in super tie-break ... In STB they were 1-4 down before winning next six points to take a lead and completed the win in 82 minutes.

Radek Stepanek - "We fought through it, and we got on top of them in the second set all the way. We [were] the more aggressive, and, I would say, creative team in the [Match] Tie-break, as well. That's why we won."

Leander Paes - "[It's] really, really special. 50 tournaments takes a little doing. 600 matches takes a little bit of doing. Having done a three peat here in Miami is awesome. Next year, I hope to start another one."

Press Conference from Official website

-------------------------------------------------------------------
At $35K+H St. Brieuc Challenger, France (clay)

[Q1] (7) SHARAN Divij (IND,765) bt (WC) DUPUY Jean-Baptiste (FRA,673) 76(6) 62
[Q1] RAJA Purav (IND,1219) bt (5) NIESTEN Miliaan (NED,657) 46 64 75

[Q2] (7) SHARAN Divij (IND,765) vs BEDNAREK Tomasz (POL,1032)
[Q2] RAJA Purav (IND,1219) vs (1) CRIVOI Victor (ROM,256)

Doubles
[R1] (2) (7) SHARAN Divij (IND)/ RAJA Purav (IND) vs GENSSE Augustin (FRA)/ MILLOT Vincent (FRA)

Purav scored superb comeback fighting win over seeded Dutch player but in the final qualifying he is facing top-seed Romanian player ... Divij also moved in the final qualifying round ... He is facing Polish player in the final qualifying.

In the doubles Divij and Purav r 2nd seed and facing local French pair in the first round.

Wrestling News
At Asian Qualifying Tournament 2012, Astana

Freestyle - 55kg
[QF] Amit Kumar (IND) bt Basheer Ahmed Mohammed Al Yamani (YEM) 6-0
[SF] Amit Kumar (IND) bt Xiaobin Hong (CHN) 6-1

[F] Amit Kumar (IND) bt Shinichi Yumoto (JPN) 0-0 (5-0 on technical points)

Freestyle - 60kg
[R1] Yogeshwar Dutt (IND) bt Ulan Nadyrbek Uulu (KGZ) 7-7 (3-1 on technical points)
[QF] Yogeshwar Dutt (IND) bt Dilshod Mansurov (UZB) 8-2
[SF] Yogeshwar Dutt (IND) bt Mandakhnaran Ganzorig (MGL) 8-0

[F] Yogeshwar Dutt (IND) l Masoud Mahmoud Esmaeil Poorjouybari (IRI) 2-4

Freestyle - 66kg
[R1] Sushil KUmar (IND) bt Innokentii Innokentev (KGZ) 4-1
[QF] Sushil Kumar (IND) bt Zalimkhan Yusupov (TJK) 3-3 (3-1 on technical points)

[SF} Sushil Kumar (IND) l Akzhurek Tanatarov (KAZ) 2-5

Young Amit Kumar (55kg) and Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg) became the first set of Indian wrestlers to book their London Olympics berths by clinching a gold and silver medal respectively at the Asian Qualifying Tournament ... But the fancied Sushil Kumar (66kg) failed to make the cut in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The finalists in each weight category won tickets to the London Games in the ongoing event and Asian champion Yogeshwar and Amit were the only Indians who were able to do so in the freestyle event today.

Sushil won a medal when he defeated China's Ye Erlanbieke Katai 3-1 in the repechage bout to clinch the bronze.

Narsingh Yadav (74Kg), Pawan Kumar (84kg) and Mausam Khatri (96kg) crashed out in the first round of the tournament ... They all need to try their London Olympics qualification from these last 2 tournaments at China (April 27-29) or Finland (May 4-6).

Squash News
At $70K KL Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[Q1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,15) bt Zuljijah Binti Azan (MAS,133) 11-2 11-5 11-7 (26m)
[Q1] Siddarth Suchde (IND,64) l Leo Au (HKG,106) 11-6 13-11 7-11 12-14 10-12 (122m)

[Q2] Dipika Pallikal (IND,15) bt Nour El Tayeb (EGY,18) 12-10 5-11 11-8 9-11 11-6 (60m)

[R1] Saurav Ghosal (IND,26) bt (Q) Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW,91) 9-11 11-8 11-8 11-6 (45m)
[R1] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,15) bt (8) Kasey Brown (AUS,7) 11-6 11-7 11-9 (40m)

[QF] Saurav Ghosal (IND,26) l (3) Omar Mosaad (EGY,14) 7-11 9-11 11-4 7-11
[QF] (Q) Dipika Pallikal (IND,15) l (1) Nicol David (MAS,1) 5-11 2-11 6-11

At Kuala Lumpur open Dipika scored her first win against a top-10 player in her short career ... She defeated WR #7 Australian Kasey Brown in straight games ... In the final qualifying Dipika scored very hard fought win over current junior world championship runner-up and very talented young Egyptian Nour El Tayeb in 5 games ... In the quarters Dipika lost against Malaysian WR #1 Nicol David.

Saurav also played here and lost in the quarters against Egyptian Omar Mosaad.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN) 26 46
[SF] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt (1) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA) 64 64

[F] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Lee and Radek score convincing victory over Bryans and enter into the final ... Simply showed their win against Bryans at Australian open wasn't fluke ... In the first set Radek and Lee didn't face a single break point on their serves but had 5 break points on Bryans serve and converted one to won the first set ... In the second set Bryans converted one break point which they got but Lee and Radek converted two from six to won this set and match.

Mahesh and ROhan failed to take advantage ... In this match both pairs got six break points, our pair failed to convert one but Nestor and Zimo converted three ... In the first set Nestor and Zimo converted 2 from 2 and our pair wasted 2 break points ... In the second Nestor and Zimo converted 1 from 4 but again our pair wasted all 4.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Bahrain F1 Futures 2012, Manama

[SF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) l Jeremy JAHN (GER)/ Matthew SHORT (GBR) 57 67(3)

Ashwin and his Australian partner lost close doubles semi-final.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

[QF] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 76(6) 64

[SF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (2) Max Mirnyi (BLR)/ Daniel Nestor (CAN)
[SF] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (1) Mike Bryan (USA)/ Bob Bryan (USA)

Spanish pair stretched Lee and Radek in the first set but after winning the first set in tie-break they won the second with a single break ... In the semis they r facing top-seed Bryans and Mahesh-Rohan r facing 2nd seed Nestor and Mirnyi.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F1 Futures 2012, Almaty

[R2] (1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,524) l Dmitriy MAKEYEV (KAZ,997) 62 36 1-4 Retd

Doubles
[SF] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) l (1) Vitaliy KACHANOVSKIY (RUS)/ Alexander PAVLIOUTCHENKOV (RUS) W/O

In the second set Jeevan got injured and then he retired in the final set ... They gave walkover in the doubles and Jeevan withdraw from next week's Kazak futures ... So looks serious injury ... Hopefully he will be fit before Indian futures.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Bahrain F1 Futures 2012, Manama

[QF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt (4) Libor SALABA (CZE)/ Michal SCHMID (CZE) 76(2) 64

[SF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) vs Jeremy JAHN (GER)/ Matthew SHORT (GBR)

After winning the first round in STB against local pair they upset 4th seed Czech pair in the quarters ... In the semis they r facing another unseeded German-British pair who upset top-seed in the quarters.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt (3) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 26 63 10-8

Mahesh and Rohan scored superb comeback win over strong pairing of Llodra and Zimo ... After losing the first set easily they fought back to won the second and then STB ... Important win for Mahesh as he is defending 1000 pts in Miami.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F1 Futures 2012, Almaty

[R1] (1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,524) bt (Q) Kuatbek ABIYEV (KAZ,UNR) 75 63

[R2] (1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,524) vs Dmitriy MAKEYEV (KAZ,997)

Doubles
[QF] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt Vladislav DUBINSKY (RUS)/ Alexey VATUTIN (RUS) 63 64

[SF] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) vs (1) Vitaliy KACHANOVSKIY (RUS)/ Alexander PAVLIOUTCHENKOV (RUS)

Jeevan started with straight sets victory though little tight win against local qualifier ... Next in the second round he is facing another local player ... In doubles also Jeevan entered into the semis and facing top-seed Russian pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Bahrain F1 Futures 2012, Manama

[R1] (Q) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) l Libor SALABA (CZE,881) 63 57 36

Doubles
[R1] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) bt (WC) Omar AWADHY (UAE)/ Hamad Abbas JANAHI (UAE) 63 46 10-5

[QF] Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND) vs (4) Libor SALABA (CZE)/ Michal SCHMID (CZE)

Another close loss for Ashwin ... Last 2 weeks he qualified for main-draw and gave fighting performances ... Needs victory in main-draw to earn ATP point.

But winning start with Australian partner in doubles against local pair.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

[R2] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Colin Fleming (GBR)/ Ross Hutchins (GBR) 64 63
[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Rafael Nadal (ESP) 64 63

[QF] (7) Leander Paes (IND)/ Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs David Marrero (ESP)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (3) Michael Llodra (FRA)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Really good win by Rohan and Mahesh against tricky Spanish pair of Nadal and Granollers ... In last 2 matches they served really well ... Hopefully this will continue in next match against Zimo and Llodra.

Lee and Radek scored comfortable win over British pair ... Next they r facing unseeded Spanish pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Kazakhstan F1 Futures 2012, Almaty

[R1] (1) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND,524) vs (Q) Kuatbek ABIYEV (KAZ,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bye

[QF] (3) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) vs Vladislav DUBINSKY (RUS)/ Alexey VATUTIN (RUS)

Jeevan is facing local qualifier in the first round ... In the doubles he and his Uzbek partner received bye ... Next they r facing Russian pair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
At $10K Bahrain F1 Futures 2012, Manama

[Q1] (8) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) bt Hamad Abbas JANAHI (UAE,UNR) 62 60
[Q2] (8) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) bt (9) Antonio GARCIA SANCHEZ (ESP,1838) 60 61

[R1] (Q) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,1606) vs Libor SALABA (CZE,881)

Ashwin qualified for main-draw.

Tennis News
At $4.8M Miami Masters, USA

[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/ Jamie Murray (GBR) 75 63
[R1] (3) Elena Vesnina (RUS)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (WC) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE) 61 16 9-11

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs Marcel Granollers (ESP)/ Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Really good winning start for Mahesh and Rohan against potentially dangerous pair ... In the first set our pair saved a break point in 11th game before breaking opponent's in 12th game to won it ... In the second set our pair broke opponent's in 2nd game to lead 3-0 and kept that lead to won this match ... Next match also tricky one against Spanish pair, Marcel Granollers and Rafael Nadal.

After winning the first set comfortably Sania and Elena lost the second on similar score ... In STB Sania and Elena were dowm 4-7 but they fought back to make it 8-all ... Saved a match point at 8-9 but double faulted to gave 2nd match point to Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova, which they converted to score upset win.