Badminton News
At $700K Djarum Indonesia Open 2013, Jakarta (Superseries Premier)

[Q1] (4) Anand Pawar (IND,41) bt Dong Keun Lee (KOR,51) 21-15 19-21 21-11
[Q1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,55) bt Sukamta Evert (INA,150) 21-11 21-16
[Q1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,64) l (2) Kazumasa Sakai (JPN,39) 21-13 14-21 21-17
[Q1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,75) l Maziyyah Nadhir (INA,73) 21-23 19-21

[Q1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Arun Vishnu (IND) l Wijaya Rendra (INA)/ Rian Sukmawan (INA) 19-21 15-21
[Q1] Pranaav Jerry Chopra (IND)/ Akshay Dewalkar (IND) l Ronald Alexander (INA)/ Selvanus Geh (INA) 19-21 18-21
[Q1] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) bt Nurbeta Kwanrico (INA)/ Deariska Putri Medita (INA) 21-9 21-9
[Q1] Jwala Gutta (IND)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) l (4) Ririn Amelia (INA)/ Anggia Shitta Awanda (INA) 19-21 20-22

[Q1] Mohd Razif Abdul Latif (MAS)/ Prajakta Sawant (IND) l Adi Pratama (INA)/ Nadya Melati (INA) 11-21 21-12 19-21
[Q1] Arun Vishnu (IND)/ Aparna Balan (IND) l Patiphat Chalardchaleam (THA)/ Jongkonphan Kittiharakul (THA) 16-21 21-16 16-21

[Q2] (4) Anand Pawar (IND,41) l Riyanto Subagja (INA,71) 8-21 12-21
[Q2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,55) bt Kento Momota (JPN,49) 15-21 21-3 22-20

[Q2] (3) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) bt Rodjana Chuthabunditkul (THA)/ Jongkonphan Kittiharakul (THA) 18-21 22-20 24-22

[R1] (Q) Sai Praneeth B. (IND,55) vs Taufik Hidayat (INA,35)
[R1] Kashyap Parupalli (IND,10) vs Sho Sasaki (JPN,19)
[R1] Sourabh Varma (IND,37) vs Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (DEN,15)
[R1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) vs (Q) Riyanto Subagja (INA,71)
[R1] Gurusaidutt R. M. V. (IND,25) vs Andre Kurniwan Tedjono (INA,53)
[R1] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) bt Lindaweni Fanetri (INA,14) 21-17 27-29 21-13

[R1] Pradnya Gadre (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Mingtian Fu (SIN)/ Lei Yao (SIN)
[R1] (Q) Aparna Balan (IND)/ Siki Reddy N. (IND) vs Gebby Ristiyani Imawan (INA)/ Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah (INA)
[R1] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Praveen Jordan (INA)/ Vita Marissa (INA) 21-18 14-21 25-23

[R2] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) vs Sayaka Takahashi (JPN,24)

[R2] Tarun Kona (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (7) Robert Mateusiak (POL)/ Nadiezda Zieba (POL)

As expected big Indian contingent but surprisingly Sindhu is missing this event ... Hopefully nothing serious injury scare.

Only Sai Praneeth and pair of Aparna Balan-Siki Reddy qualify for the main-draw ... After losing the first game Sai dominated the second, he won 14 points in a row from 7-3 for winning this game ... In the final game also Sai was leading from the start but lost his concentration from 19-14 and gave chance to Momota ... Momota caught with him at 20-all but Sai converted 3rd match point.

Aparna Balan-Siki Reddy also scored hard fought win ... All three games were closely contested but Aparna-Siki lost the first game ... In the second game they had early lead which they conceded but Aparna-Siki saved a match point before winning this game ... In the final game also Aparna-Siki take early game but each time their Thai opponents fought back ... Our pair converted sixth match point for exciting win.

Other hand poor outing for our men's doubles pairs.
In main-draw,
Sai is facing local legend Taufik Hidayat, who already announced his retirement after this tournament ... I m hoping his match against Sai will be his last professional match ... :)

Saina had tough first round match against WR #14 and Indonesian top singles player Lindaweni Fanetri ... In the first game Saina take control from 9-all after opening 4 points lead which she kept till end for winning this game ... In the second game both players exchanged couple of point lead but Saina opened crucial 2 points lead at 15-all ... Saina was leading 20-18 but she wasted 6 match points in this long game which Fanetri won converting 4th game point in extra points ... In the final game Saina started with 5-0 lead which she kept increasing and won the match after 74 minutes ... Next she is facing little unknown Japanese opponent Sayaka Takahashi.

In MXD Tarun-Ashwini also had close match against local pair ... In the first game after 6-3 lead Tarun-Ashwini kept this lead throughout the game for winning this ... In the second game Indonesian pair won 10 points in a row from 3-7 down to take control which they won comfortably ... In the final game Our pair take early couple of points lead but Indonesian pair caught them at 12-all ... Then Indonesian pair take 2 points lead at 17-15 but Tarun-Ashwini managed to make it 18-all ... Tarun-Ashwini saved a match point at 19-10 before converting 4th match in extra points ... Next they r facing 7th seed Polish pair.

Tennis News
At $75K Nottingham-2 Challenger, Great Britain (grass)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,140) vs (Q) Brydan Klein (GBR,253)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Rik De Voest (RSA)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 61 36 10-7

[QF] (4) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Go Soeda (JPN)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA)

Tough matches for Buji ... Other hand very good win for Purav and Divij in their first match of the grass against good pair ... It would be great if they get couple of more matches before Wimbledon qualifying.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Bukhara, Uzbekistan

[Q1] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,430) bye [Q1] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) bt(6) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,580) 57 62 76(5)
[Q1] (8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,686) bt Amina MUKHAMETSHINA (UZB,UNR) 61 62

[Q2] (1) Ankita RAINA (IND,430) bt Guzal YUSUPOVA (UZB,UNR) 61 61
[Q2] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) bt (14) Anna SMOLINA (RUS,801) 63 60
[Q2] (8) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,686) l (13) Miyu KATO (JPN,769) 26 62 57

[R1] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,430) vs (Q) Indy DE VROOME (NED,467)
[R1] (Q) Sharmada BALU (IND,NR) vs (WC) Arina FOLTS (UZB,UNR)

Doubles
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) bt Ksenia KIRILLOVA (RUS)/ Polina MONOVA (RUS) 62 16 10-6
[R1] Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Kamila KERIMBAYEVA (KAZ) l (1) Angelina GABUEVA (RUS)/ Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR) 16 26

After terrific last week Ankita qualify for the main-draw this week with Balua ... And also good win in doubles for Ankita and Prarthana.
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At $10K India F8 Futures, Coimbatore

Singles First Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 61 62
(WC) Vigneshwaran RAMESH (IND) bt (Q) Vijay KANNAN (IND) 64 75
Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) bt Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS) 63 64
(8) Chandril SOOD (IND) bt (Q) Sumeet SHINDE (IND) 67(5) 63 3-1 Retd.
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 64 62
Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) bt Kunal ANAND (IND) 63 63
Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) bt Sagar AHUJA (IND) 62 62
(7) Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt (Q) Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) 63 63
(5) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (WC) Tarun Nath SURATH (IND) 63 61
Rakshit RISHI (IND) bt (LL) Bharatram BALAJEE (IND) 67(7) 64 75
(Q) Saurabh PATIL (IND) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND) 46 63 64
(4) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA) bt (WC) Lakshit SOOD (IND) 62 63
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) bt (6) Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 62 46 76(5)
(Q) Abdullah SHAIKH (IND) bt (Q) Suraj BENIWAL (IND) 60 3-0 Retd.
(Q) Tushar MANDLEKAR (IND) bt Sagar MANJANNA (IND) 75 62
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (Q) Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) 62 61

Doubles First Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND)/ Tushar MANDLEKAR (IND) 62 62
(WC) Sumeet SHINDE (IND)/ U M Gugan VERMA (IND) bt Suraj R PRABODH (IND)/ Rakshit RISHI (IND) 61 75
Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Shahbaaz KHAN (IND) bt (3) Amrit NARASIMHAN (USA)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 62 46 10-8
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Arpit SHARMA (IND)/ Aaditya TEWARI (IND) 67(4) 76(5) 10-8
Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) bt Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Saurabh PATIL (IND) 64 62
(4) Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) bt (WC) Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND)/ Fahad MOHAMMED (IND) 75 63
Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Sagar MANJANNA (IND) bt (WC) Srikar ALLA (IND)/ Tarun Nath SURATH (IND) 64 64
(2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE)/ Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS) 76(1) 64

Small upset of Anvit and Sagar in the singles.

Tennis News
At €780K Queens Open, London, Great Britain

[Q3] Rohan Bopanna (IND,UNR) l Ilija Bozoljac (SRB,323) 16 16

Doubles
[R1] (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) bye

Rohan lost in one-sided match in the final qualifying ... Rohan-Mahesh r 3rd seed in Queens open and receiving bye in the first round ... They r in top draw with top-seed Bryans.
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At $75K Nottingham-2 Challenger, Great Britain (grass)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) vs Qualifier

Tough match for Buji as he is directly playing after clay season and qualifier will be already played three matches on the grass.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon


Singles Final
(1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) bt Masato SHIGA (JPN,995) 60 61

Saketh scored very dominating win over his Japanese opponent to lift his 8th futures title and second overseas title ... He lost only one game in the final ... After this he is taking break and then try his luck on the challengers.

Badminton News
At $120K SCG Thailand Open 2013 (GP Gold), Bangkok

Men's Singles Final
(13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt (1) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,7) 21-16 21-12

Terrific performance by young K. Srikanth, who dominated the final and won it in 33 minutes ... This is Srikanth's first Gold GP title and definitely many more titles will come ... Mostly in next ranking update he will rise to his personal best ranking, previous was #45 in May 2013.

In the first game Srikanth take 7-2 early lead ... After that Ponsana tried hard to catch him and managed to reduce it to 1 point, 7-8, 8-9 and then 15-16 ... But Srikanth kept his focus and won next 4 points from 16-15 and converted second game point ... In the second game from 3-4 Srikanth won next 8 points to opened huge lead 11-4 and which he easily maintained till end for his big win over top-10 player to lift his first Gold GP title.

Tennis News
At €780K Queens Open, London, Great Britain

[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) l Jamie Baker (GBR,294) 36 46
[Q1] Rohan Bopanna (IND,UNR) bt Robert Carter (GBR,1295) 75 60

[Q2] Rohan Bopanna (IND,UNR) bt (7) John-Patrick Smith (AUS,225) 63 75

Prakash take bold move to play Queen's open qualifying but lost in the first round against Brit ... Other hand expected winning start for Rohan against local player ... Next Rohan faced top-225 Aussie player Smith in the second qualifying round and he again showed his abilities of playing on the grass ... He scored straight sets win and earned ATP singles ranking points after almost 2 years.
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At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (red clay)

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) l Dusan Lajovic (SRB,155) 16 36

Somdev played his bad match of this week against Dusan ... In the first set Buji was making too many UFEs and lost his serve in 2nd and 4th games, 0-5 ... At last he hold in 6th game before losing the set ... In the second set broke Buji in 3rd game to lead 2-1 ... He again broke Buji in 9th game for comfortable win.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[F] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) l Sabina Sharipova (UZB,363) 36 36

Sharipova ended Ankita's dream run with straight sets victory but still creditable performance by Ankita, who reached in the final as an qualifier.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, Chennai

Singles Final
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 67(6) 64 60

Doubles Final
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) 62 67(5) 10-5

Balaji scored much required win over Jeevan to lift the title ... After losing the first set in tie-break he made solid comeback to win the second ... Then dominated the third set for his first singles title of the year.

Bala lifted doubles title with Jeevan beating 2nd seed pair in match tie-break ... So with that Bala won double crown this week.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[SF] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) bt (4) Takuto NIKI (JPN,635) 64 76(4)

[F] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) vs Masato SHIGA (JPN,995)

More than expected tighter win for Saketh but he is in the final and facing his 5th Japanese opponent of the week.

Badminton News
At $120K SCG Thailand Open 2013 (GP Gold), Bangkok

[SF] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt Thammasin Sitthikom (THA,143) 21-14 21-18

[F] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) vs (1) Boonsak Ponsana (THA,7)

Srikanth is in his first Gold GP final with win over Thai Sitthikom in 43 minutes ... In the first game Srikanth take control after winning 8 points in a row from 7-6 ... After winning the first game Srikanth take 5-1 lead in the second ... Sitthikom caught with him at 7-all and after that he take couple of points lead ... Sitthikom maintained lead till 15-all but from 16-17 Srikanth won 4 points in a row and converted his second match point ... In the final Srikanth is facing top 10 local player Boonsak Ponsana.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (red clay)

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) bt Federico Delbonis (ARG,125) 64 60

[SF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB,155)

In the first set both players started confidently and comfortably holding their service games ... At 4-all Buji broke Delbonis at love and then while serving for the set Buji saved a break point before converting his 3rd set point ... In the second set Somi didn't give any chance to Delbonis and he served a second set bagel to Delbonis and moves into the Semifinals ... Next he is facing his Serbian doubles partner Dusan Lajovic.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[SF] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) bt (6) Veronika Kapshay (UKR,301) 06 76(1) 64

[F] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) vs Sabina Sharipova (UZB,363)

Ankita continues with her excellent performance ... Today after losing the first set against top-300 Ukrainian without winning a single game she showed tremendous courage for extraordinary comeback ... She fought hard to win the second set and then kept fighting before winning the final set ... Superb performance by Ankita to reach in the final ... In the final she is facing talented local girl Sabina Sharipova.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, Chennai

Singles Semi Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) 61 61
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) 63 63

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) 63 62
(2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 63 64

Prajnesh was playing his second match of the day after long quarter-final match and Balaji take advantage of it to won it comfortably ... Jeevan also take revenge of his previous week's loss against Karunuday.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[QF] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) bt (6) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,755) 62 63

[SF] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) vs (4) Takuto NIKI (JPN,635)

Another comfortable win for Saketh .. He is proving too stong for his Japanese opponents in this futures.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

[QF] (3) Kyra SHROFF (IND,720) l Lisa-Maria MOSER (AUT,1041) 16 26

Disappointing loss of Kyra.

Badminton News
At $120K SCG Thailand Open 2013 (GP Gold), Bangkok

[QF] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) l (8) Juan Gu (SIN,23) 21-13 12-21 18-21
[QF] Prannoy H. S. (IND,65) l Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo (INA,61) 12-21 19-21
[QF] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt Wan Ho Son (KOR,160) 21-17 21-18

[SF] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) vs Thammasin Sitthikom (THA,143)

Saina lost her first match against Juan Gu in their six meetings ... After winning the first game Sania lost her focus and lost the second game cheaply ... In the decider Saina tried comeback and were leading 14-11 and 15-13 ... But Juan won 6 points in a row to lead 19-15, after that Saina reduced it to 18-19 but Juan won last 2 points for her first victory over Saina.

In men's quarter-final Srikanth continued with his good performance and scored straight games victory over Korean in 40 minutes but Prannoy lost against Indonesian Wisnu in 34 minutes ... Next he is facing Thai Thammasin Sitthikom, who upset 2nd seed Tommy Sugiarto in the first round.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (red clay)

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) bt (3) Leonardo Mayer (ARG,73) 64 75

[QF] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) vs Federico Delbonis (ARG,125)

Somdev scored upset win over top-75 Argentine player Mayer in straights set and next meeting another Argentine player Federico Delbonis in the quarters ... Against Mayer in the first set Buji take crucial break in 7th game converting 4th break point ... After that Buji hold his service games for claiming the set ... In the second set Buji take control early from 2-all he won next 3 games in that breaking Mayer twice ... While serving for the match at 5-2 Buji lost his focus and this time he lost his service game twice to brought this set back on the serve, 5-all ... In crucial 11th game Buji broke Mayer and this time he hold his serve in 12th game for excellent victory.
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At $35K+H Furth Challenger, Germany (red clay)

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l (WC) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Dominik Schulz (GER) 57 36

Divij and Purav failed to raise their game against local pair and lost in straight sets.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[QF] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) bt (3) Nigina Abdurakhimova (UZB,250) 64 76(3)

[SF] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) vs (6) Veronika Kapshay (UKR,301)

Doubles
[SF] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) l (3) Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Teodora MIRCIC (SRB) 16 16

Ankita scored huge upset win over local favorite and top-250 Abdurakhimova in straight sets ... Last few months Ankita is showing progress in her career ... Next she is facing 6th seed Ukrainian.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, Chennai

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) 63 62
(7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt (4) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)67(5) 76(4) 61
(8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 46 63 62
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) 5-5 Retd.

Karunuday continued with his good form and defeated Vijayant after losing the first set ... Balaji and Jeevan entered comfortably in the semis.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R2] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) bt Hiromasa OKU (JPN,1551) 61 64
[R2] Neishit VAKIL (IND,UNR) l (6) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,755) 16 06

[QF] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) vs (6) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,755)

Straight sets win for Saketh ... Next he is facing 6th seed Japanese player Kikuchi.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Egypt

[R2] (3) Kyra SHROFF (IND,720) bt (Q) Jasmin LADURNER (ITA,UNR) 75 62
[R2] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,1041) l Lisa-Maria MOSER (AUT,1041) 26 36

[QF] (3) Kyra SHROFF (IND,720) vs Lisa-Maria MOSER (AUT,1041)

Expected win for Kyra ... Next she is facing Austrian Lisa-Maria, who defeated Sowjanya in the second round.

Badminton News
At $120K SCG Thailand Open 2013 (GP Gold), Bangkok

[R2] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) bt Febby Angguni (INA,59) 21-12 21-11
[R2] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,75) l (5) Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA,18) 16-21 13-21

[R3] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,56) l Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo (INA,61) 18-21 21-16 19-21
[R3] Prannoy H. S. (IND,65) bt (10) Anand Pawar (IND,41) 19-21 21-13 21-15
[R3] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt (Q) Hwang Jong Soo (KOR,276) 21-19 21-15

[QF] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) vs (8) Juan Gu (SIN,23)
[QF] Prannoy H. S. (IND,65) vs Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo (INA,61)
[QF] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) vs Wan Ho Son (KOR,160)

Prannoy scored another upset win over his senior countryman ... After losing the first game he made strong comeback and won next two games comfortably ... Next he is facing Indonesian Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo, who scored upset win over Sai Praneeth ... In their match Sai was down 12-20 in 3rd game, he saved 7 match points against him but Wisnu converted 8th match point ... Srikanth scoed straight games victory over Korean qualifier ... Next he is facing another Korean Wan Ho Son, who scored upset win over Sourabh Varma in 2nd round ... Saina scored another comfortable win in 31 minutes ... Next she is facing Singaporean veteran Juan Gu in the quarters.

Tennis News
At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) bt (PR) Eduardo Schwank (ARG,316) 63 4-1 Retd.

[R2] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) vs (3) Leonardo Mayer (ARG,73)

Schwank was early break up, when he broke Buji in 2nd game, 0-2 ... Buji had 3 break points in next game 0-40, but Schwank hold after winning next 5 points ... In 5th game Schwank gave break point chance to Buji with double fault at 30-all and this time Buji converted ... After this Buji dominated the match, he again broke Schwark in 7th and 9th games ... Buji won the set six games in a row after 0-3 for winning this set .... In the second set Buji was break up when Schwant conceded the match due to injury ... Next he is facing another Argentine, 3rd seed Mayer.
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At $75K Nottingham Challenger - 1, Great Britain (grass)

[R1] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) l (Q) Brydan Klein (GBR,275) 62 36 26

Prakash missed opportunity of accumulating more ranking points ... After winning the first set Prakash failed to keep momentum and lost next two sets easily.
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At $35K+H Furth Challenger, Germany (red clay)

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) 63 16 10-8

[QF] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs (WC) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Dominik Schulz (GER)

Divij-Purav needed match tie-break to win their first round ... After winning the first set they lost the second set easily but raised their game in match tie-break for win ... Next they r facing local wild-card pair for place in the semis.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R2] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) bt (5) Teodora Mircic (SRB,279) 16 61 63

[QF] (Q) Ankita Raina (IND,455) vs (3) Nigina Abdurakhimova (UZB,250)

Doubles
[QF] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) bt (1) Valentyna IVAKHNENKO (UKR)/ Kateryna KOZLOVA (UKR) w/o

[SF] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) vs (3) Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)

Ankita scored excellent comeback win over top-275 type Serbian player ... After losing the first set Ankita played attacking tennis ... In the third early she lost her service games twice but kept fighting and take crucial break in 7th and 9th for winning the match ... Next she is facing local title favorite girl.

In the doubles another walkover for Balu and her partner.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, Chennai

Singles Second Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 61 61
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) bt (WC) Vijay KANNAN (IND) 76(4) 16 61
(4) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN) bt (Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND) 62 63
(7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt Chandril SOOD (IND) 63 64
(8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) 61 63
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) 60 61
(6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) bt Ajai SELVARAJ (IND)67(5) 64 76(3)
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (WC) Garvit BATRA (IND) 60 62

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) 64 64
Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) bt (3) Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Amrit NARASIMHAN (USA) 63 36 10-8
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND)/ Tushar MANDLEKAR (IND) 62 67(4) 10-4
(2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Sagar MANJANNA (IND) 62 62

Couple of upset in the doubles otherwise expected results.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Egypt

[R1] (3) Kyra SHROFF (IND,720) bt Maria Del PRADOS CID (ESP,UNR) 61 61
[R1] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,1041) bt Nada ZAHER (EGY,UNR) 61 62

[R2] (3) Kyra SHROFF (IND,720) vs (Q) Jasmin LADURNER (ITA,UNR)
[R2] Sowjanya BAVISETTI (IND,1041) vs Lisa-Maria MOSER (AUT,1041)

Expected winning start for Kyra and Sowjanya.

Badminton News
At $120K SCG Thailand Open 2013 (GP Gold), Bangkok

[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,56) bt Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (MAS,140) 21-12 9-21 22-20
[R1] (5) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) bt (Q) Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (INA,197) 21-11 19-21 21-9
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,65) bt Nonpakorn Nantatheero (THA,515) 21-11 21-19
[R1] (10) Anand Pawar (IND,41) bt Riyanto Subagja (INA,71) 21-15 9-21 21-14
[R1] (8) Sourabh Varma (IND,37) bt (Q) Khosit Phetpradab (THA,209) 21-16 21-18
[R1] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt (Q) Hyuk Jin Jeon (KOR,529) 21-17 21-12

[R1] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) bt Shih Han Hung (TPE,126) 21-11 21-16
[R1] Thulasi P. C. (IND,86) l (3) Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA,13) 14-21 17-21
[R1] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,75) bt Min Ji Lee (KOR,144) 14-21 21-9 21-15

[R2] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,56) bt (4) Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (INA,26) 21-12 18-21 21-18
[R2] Prannoy H. S. (IND,65) bt (5) Ajay Jayaram (IND,28) 14-21 21-16 21-13
[R2] (10) Anand Pawar (IND,41) bt Poodchalat Pisit (THA,94) 21-14 Retd.
[R2] (8) Sourabh Varma (IND,37) l Wan Ho Son (KOR,160) 12-21 17-21
[R2] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) bt Toby Penty (ENG,82) 21-4 21-14

[R2] (1) Saina Nehwal (IND,2) vs Febby Angguni (INA,59)
[R2] Arundhati Pantawane (IND,75) vs (5) Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA,18)

[R3] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,56) vs Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo (INA,61)
[R3] (10) Anand Pawar (IND,41) vs Prannoy H. S. (IND,65)
[R3] (13) Srikanth K. (IND,45) vs (Q) Hwang Jong Soo (KOR,276)

In latest rankings update Sindhu climb to her personal best ranking, #11 ... This week Saina is participating in Thai open and testing her toe before next 2 weeks big Super Series tournaments.

Expected winning start for our players but Sai saved a match point in 3rd game before winning it ... Anand Pawar also played 3 games against top-75 Indonesian player.

Saina started with comfortable win in 29 minutes ... Arundhati required comeback after losing the first game but she responded well and won next two games comfortably.

In men's second round Sai Praneeth scored huge upset win over 4th seed Indonesian Rumbaka in three games ... Prannoy also joined him in the third round with upset comeback win over Ajay but surprised loss of Sourabh against lowly ranked Korean ... Anand Pawar and Srikanth scored comfortable wins.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Doubles
[R3] (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l (11) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE) 67(0) 5-3 Retd.

Mixed Doubles
[R2] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (8) Liezel Huber (USA)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 57 76(1) 2-10

Sania and Bethanie lost one-sided tie-break but they fought well and were double break up at 5-2 ... But after losing their own service game due to Bethanie's groin injury they conceded the match ... Tough luck.

Leander-Jelena lost in well fought match against Huber-Melo in MXD ... After losing the first set our pair fought back and won the second set after dominating tie-break ... But surprisingly they failed to create challenge in match tie-break and lost it winning only 2 points ... So with this Indian challenge got over in this French open ... Very poor outing for our all doubles pairs as they failed to cross third round.
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At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy (red clay)

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB) l (4) Renzo Olivo (ARG)/ Marco Trungelliti (ARG) 67(7) 67(4)

Somi and his Serbian partner lost their first round match against 4th seed Argentine pair but both sets went in tie-breaks.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R2] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,455) vs (5) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,279)

Doubles
[R1] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) bt Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Yuuki Tanaka (JPN) w/o
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) l (3) Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Teodara MIRCIC(SRB) 36 64 6-10

[QF] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) vs (1) Valentyna IVAKHNENKO (UKR) / Kateryna KOZLOVA (UKR)

Ankita is facing 5th seed Serbian girl in the second round.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R1] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) bt (WC) Jun ITO (JPN,UNR) 63 64

[R2] (1) Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) vs Hiromasa OKU (JPN,1551)

Expected straights sets win for Saketh ... Next he is facing another Japanese opponent.
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At $10K Spain F16 Futures, Santa Margarida de Montbui (Barcelona)

[R1] (Q) Mohit Mayur JAYAPRAKASH (IND,1044) l (1) Steven DIEZ (CAN,242) 26 06
[R1] (Q) Ashwin VIJAYRAGAVAN (IND,980) l Nick LINDAHL (AUS,859) 57 67(4)
[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,800) l (2) Jose CHECA-CALVO (ESP,276) 36 26

This week Ashwin and Mohit Mayur qualified for main-draw but all had tough draw ... Mohit Mayur and Ramkumar faced top 2 seeds players in their respective matches and they lost those matches without much fight ... Ashwin faced former top-200 Aussie player Nick Lindahl and he gave creditable fight but lost in tight two sets.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Lauren Davis (USA)/ Megan Moulton-Levy (USA) 16 63 60

[R3] (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs (11) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)/ Lucie Safarova (CZE)

Sania and Bethanie made strong comeback after losing the first set ... They won the last set without losing a game ... In the third round they r facing good clay court pair of 11th seed Pavlyuchenkova-Safarova.
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At $75K Nottingham Challenger - 1, Great Britain (grass)

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) bt Greg Jones (AUS,298) 76(2) 46 61

[R1] (Q) Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) vs (Q) Brydan Klein (GBR,275)

In the first set Praksha was holding his serve comfortably and missed couple of break points on Greg's serve in 3rd game ... Prakash take break in 7th game to lead 4-3 but Greg immediately broke back and made it 4-all ... Prakash dominated tie-break which he won losing only couple of points ... In the second set also Prakash take first break, he broke Greg's serve in 4th game to lead 3-1 ... This time also Pralkash failed to consolidate his break and lost his serve in next game and back on serve, 3-2 ... Greg take crucial break on Prakash's serve in 9th game to lead 4-5 ... Greg won the second set after holding his serve (after deuce).

In the opeing game of 3rd set Prakash saved a break point before holding his serve and immediately broke Greg in next game to lead 2-0 ... Prakash managed crucial hold in 3rd game after saving break point ... Prakash take full control of the set after again breaking Greg's serve in 4th game, 4-0 ... I m surprised to see Prakash's struggle on holding his own service game, Greg broke back in 5th game and made it 1-4, but Prakash was still holding one break advantage ... Again Prakash broke Greg and take 5-1 lead ... This time Prakash hold comfortably and completed win after 2 hours and 8 minutes ... In the last set which Prakash dominated Greg failed to hold his service game ... So great start for grass season for Prakash as he qualify for main-draw ... In the first round he is facing British qualifier Brydan Klein.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[Q1] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) bt Albina KHABIBULINA (UZB,UNR) 63 36 61
[Q1] (2) Ankita RAINA (IND,455) bt Arina FOLTS (UZB,UNR) 60 61
[Q1] (5) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,580) bt Farangiz SHAMSIEVA (UZB,UNR) 63 62
[Q1] (7) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,586) bt Jamilya SADYKZHANOVA (UZB,UNR) 62 61

[Q1] Sharmada BALU (IND,NR) l (1) Angelina GABUEVA (RUS,433) 46 26
[Q1] (2) Ankita RAINA (IND,455) bt Ya ZHOU (CHN,UNR) 61 64
[Q1] (5) Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND,580) l (12) Yi YANG (CHN,1023) 46 26
[Q1] (7) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,586) bt (WC) Ekaterina ILINA (UZB,UNR) 60 63

[R1] (Q) Ankita RAINA (IND,455) bt Daria MIRONOVA (RUS,412) 75 61
[R1] (Q) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,586) l Miharu IMANISHI (JPN,429) 36 26

Doubles
[R1] Sharmada BALU (IND)/ Margarita LAZAREVA (RUS) vs Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND)/ Yuuki Tanaka (JPN)
[R1] Ankita RAINA (IND)/ Prarthana G. THOMBARE (IND) vs (3) Veronika KAPSHAY (UKR)/ Teodara MIRCIC(SRB)

Terrific performance by Ankita, who take full advantage of weaker qualifying draw ... And after qualifying to main-draw she scored straight sets win over higher ranked Russian player.
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At $10K India F7 Futures, Chennai

Singles First Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (WC) Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND) 61 36 61
Jatin DAHIYA (IND) bt Rakshit RISHI (IND) 62 63
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND) bt (Q) Lakshit SOOD (IND) 26 64 63
(WC) Vijay KANNAN (IND) bt (5) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA) 36 76(8) 60
(4) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN) bt (Q) Fahad MOHAMMED (IND) 64 61
(Q) Suraj R PRABODH (IND) bt Kunal ANAND (IND) 75 62
Chandril SOOD (IND) bt Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 76(5) 46 62
(7) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS) 63 61
(8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (Q) Kumara P Saradhi ADAVELLY (IND) 63 64
Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) bt (Q) Sagar MANJANNA (IND) 76(1) 1-0 Retd.
Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) bt (Q) Rithvik ANAND (IND) 64 63
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 76(4) 61
(6) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) bt Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 67(1) 61 62
Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) vs (WC) Abdullah SHAIKH (IND) 76(5) 53
(WC) Garvit BATRA (IND) bt (Q) Gurvinder MANN (IND) 61 63
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (Q) Suraj BENIWAL (IND) 4-0 Retd.

Doubles First Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND)/ Shahbaaz KHAN (IND) 63 62
Sagar AHUJA (IND)/ Jui-Chen HUNG (TPE) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 63 36 10-5
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND)/ Amrit NARASIMHAN (USA) bt Chandril SOOD (IND)/ Lakshit SOOD (IND) 64 63
Zach ITZSTEIN (AUS)/ Vignesh VEERABADRAN (IND) bt (WC) Arpit SHARMA (IND)/ Aaditya TEWARI (IND) 64 63
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt (WC) Garvit BATRA (IND)/ Suraj R PRABODH (IND) 63 63
Anvit BENDRE (IND)/ Tushar MANDLEKAR (IND) bt (4) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 64 57 10-8
Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Sagar MANJANNA (IND) bt Fahad MOHAMMED (IND)/ Rakshit RISHI (IND) 61 57 10-7
(2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Rithvik ANAND (IND)/ Bharatram BALAJEE (IND) 64 61

In the singles veteran Vijay Kannan scored upset win over 5th seed South African ... Suraj Prabodh also scored upset win over Kunal Anand ... In the doubles good upset win by young pairing of Anvit-Tushar against 4th see Kaza-Tiwari.
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At $10K Guam F1 Futures, Tumon

[R1] Saketh MYNENI (IND,302) vs (WC) Jun ITO (JPN,UNR)
[R1] Neishit VAKIL (IND,UNR) bt (Q) Joshua CEPEDA (GUM,UNR) 63 62

[R2] Neishit VAKIL (IND,UNR) vs (6) Gengo KIKUCHI (JPN,755)

Vakil scored his 1st ATP point taking advantage of weak draw.
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At $10K Spain F16 Futures, Santa Margarida de Montbui (Barcelona)

[R1] Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,800) vs (2) Jose CHECA-CALVO (ESP,276)

Very tough first round for Ramkumar.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Doubles
[R1] (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) bt Alize Cornet (FRA)/ Virginie Razzano (FRA) 63 64

[R2] (7) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/ Sania Mirza (IND) vs Lauren Davis (USA)/ Megan Moulton-Levy (USA)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)/ Daniele Bracciali (ITA) 75 63

[R2] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (8) Liezel Huber (USA)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Sania-Bethanie started with straight sets win over French pair ... In the second round they r facing American pair.

Lee and Jelena started with straight sets win in MXD first round ... Next they r facing 8th seed pairing of Liezel Huber-Marcelo Melo.
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At $100K+H Caltanissetta Challenger, Italy

[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) vs (PR) Eduardo Schwank (ARG,316)

Doubles
[R1] Somdev Devvarman (IND)/ Dusan Lajovic (SRB) vs (4) Renzo Olivo (ARG)/ Marco Trungelliti (ARG)

Buji is playing against former top-50 Argentine player in the first round but after injury break Schwank is on the tour from May ... So after good performance at French open Buji is favorite in this match.

Buji is playing doubles with Serbian partner, Dusan Lajovic, and they r facing 4th seed Argentine pair.
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At $75K Nottingham Challenger - 1, Great Britain

[Q1] Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) bt (WC) Alexander Jhun (GBR,1872) 62 60

[Q2] Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) bt (1) Dustin Brown (GER,191) 63 62

[Q3] Prakash Amritraj (IND,314) vs Greg Jones (AUS,298)

Expected easy win in the first qualifying round but next he faced top-seed and top-200 German Dustin Brown ... He scored superb confident upset win against Dustin ... Next match is against grass court specialist Aussie player.
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At $35K+H Furth Challenger, Germany (red clay)

[R1] (3) Divij Sharan (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)

Divij-Purav pairing is back on the tour and they r playing in Furth challenger ... They r 3rd seed and facing Andrej Martin-Hans Podlipnik-Castillo in the first round.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Doubles
[R2] (9) Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/ Leander Paes (IND) l Pablo Cuevas (URU)/ Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 75 46 67(6)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (7) Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/ Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) l Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/ Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) 46 61 9-11
[R1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) l Lucie Hradecka (CZE)/ Frantisek Cermak (CZE) 46 46

Turned to be disappointing day for Indian players ... Leander lost his doubles match pairing Jurgen against South American pair ... Lee-Jurgen had many chances but they failed to convert it ... They created 16 break point chances and managed to convert only two ... In the final set also Lee-Jurgen had four match point chances which they failed to convert.

In mixed doubles, Rohan-Ashleigh lost in straight sets against Czech pair ... After losing the first set Mahesh-Casey won the second set comfortably but they lost closely fought match tie-break.
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At $10K Thailand F2 Futures, Bangkok


Singles Final
(3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) bt (Q) Andrew HARRIS (AUS,1598) 76(4) 61

Saketh wins his first futures title outside of Indian beating Aussie qualifier in straight sets ... Hopefully Saketh built on this platform and move to bigger challenger level without much problem.
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At $10K India F6 Futures, Chennai

Singles Final
Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt (3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) 76(5) 63

Turned to be terrific week for Prajnesh as he lifted his first ITF futures title beating Vijaynt in straight sets ... He wins this title beating two in-form Indian players in his final 2 matches.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (1) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Robert Lindstedt (SWE) l Cara Black (ZIM)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)26 36

Junior Qualifying
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,78) l (16) Simon Friis Soendergaard (DEN,71) 16 16
[Q1] (13) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,76) l (WC) Naiktha Bains (AUS,103) 36 46
[Q1] Simran Kaur Sethi (IND,114) l (9) Beatrecia Lombardo (ITA,65) 26 36

Disappointing loss for top-seed Sania and Robert, who managed to win only 5 games in their first round against Cara and Aisam.

Our all junior players lost in the first qualifying round ... Surprised to see this one-sided loss of Sumit against similar ranked Danish opponent ... This 15 yrs old Naiktha Bains looks very talented.
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At $10K India F6 Futures, Chennai

Singles Semi Finals
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt (1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) 76(5) 76(6)
Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt (8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) 75 75

Doubles Final
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt (3) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)/ Bumpei SATO (JPN) 61 64

Prajnesh continues with his good run and scored upset win over Karunuday in tight two sets ... Karunuday was showing form as last week he reached the final at Thai futures and this week he defeated 2nd seed Jeevan comfortably but Prajnesh gave more solid performance ... Vijayant also kept his upper-hand over Balaji with another win though this time both sets went to tie-breaks ... So final is between Vijayant and Prajnesh.

In the doubles Balaji and Jeevan lifted the title.
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At $10K Thailand F2 Futures, Bangkok

[SF] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) bt Jacob GRILLS (AUS,1086) 61 64

[F] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) vs (Q) Andrew HARRIS (AUS,1598)

Saketh scored another comfortable win over his Aussie opponent in the semis ... In the final he is facing Aussie qualifier Harris, who scored upset win over top-seed Udomchoke in the quarter-final.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[QF] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) l Yi YANG (CHN,1023) 16 46

Sharmada failed to continue with her good run and lost against her Chinese opponent..

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

Junior Qualifying
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,78) vs (16) Simon Friis Soendergaard (DEN,71)
[Q1] (13) Snehadevi S Reddy (IND,76) vs (WC) Naiktha Bains (AUS,103)
[Q1] Simran Kaur Sethi (IND,114) vs (9) Beatrecia Lombardo (ITA,65)

Junior French open qualifying draw is out ... Sumit is facing 16th seed Danish player in the first round and other seeded player in their draw is 8th seed/#59 ranked Tunisian Skander Mansouri.

13th seed Snehadevi is facing talented 15 yrs old Aussie player Naiktha Bains and 5th seed/#59th ranked Russian Alina Silich is another seeded from her draw ... Tough match for Simran against Italian girl.
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At $10K India F6 Futures, Chennai

Singles Quarter Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (6) Bumpei SATO (JPN) 16 63 63
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt (Q) Garvit BATRA (IND) 60 63
Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt (4) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN) 75 76(3)
(8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt (2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) 63 63

Doubles Semi Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 62 76(3)
(3) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)/ Bumpei SATO (JPN) bt (2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) 67(4) 62 10-7

All Indian semi-finals at Chennai ... Expected Karunuday's win over Jeevan but good upset win by Prajnesh over experienced and top-600 Matsui ... Vijayant proved too strong to Garvit and good recovered win by Balaji after losing the first set against Sato.
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At $10K Thailand F2 Futures, Bangkok

[QF] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) bt (6) Yuichi ITO (JPN,638) 61 64

[SF] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) vs Jacob GRILLS (AUS,1086)

With another comfortable win Saketh is in the semis ... In the semis he is facing Aussie 17 yrs old Jacob Grills, who upset 2nd seed Adam Feeney in the second round and 5th seed Niki in the quarters.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R2] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) bt (2) Alyona SOTNIKOVA (UKR,363) 16 64 62

[QF] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) vs Yi YANG (CHN,1023)

Sharmada scored superb upset comeback win over top-400 Ukrainian ... That's also on foreign soil.

Tennis News
At French Open 2013, Paris (red clay)

[R2] (Q) Somdev Devvarman (IND,188) l (2) Roger Federer (SUI,3) 26 16 16

As expected Roger came out all cylinders firing ... He broke Buji in 1st game to lead 2-0 ... After losing 8 points in a row Buji won his 1st point of the match on his serve in 3rd game ... Somi hold his serve on love and had couple of break points on Roger's serve but Roger hit couple of big second serve to hold ... Roger again broke Buji in 5th game to lead 4-1 ... After that both players hold their respective service game and Roger won the first set in 23 minutes ... In the second set Somi started with holding his service game but after that it was one way traffic as Roger won eleven games in a row ... He won the second set in 31 minutes ... Somi missed couple of game points in 4th game after leading 40-15 due to unforced errors ... At last Somi managed to win his first game of the third set in 6th game ... Roger won the third set in 28 minutes for one-sided victory.

In this match Federer played his A game ... He showed all range of shots from back of the court ... Played his powerful forehands and sublime backhands ... Roger was looking fit and played high quality tennis ... Roger is in great touch and with favorable draw he will be definitely in the final ... Today Somi wasn't played badly but FedEx was too good ... Somi hit few excellent passing shots and cross-court winners in this match.
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At $10K India F6 Futures, Chennai

Singles Second Round
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND) bt (Q) Lakshit SOOD (IND) 63 62
(6) Bumpei SATO (JPN) bt Ronak MANUJA (IND) 64 60
(3) Vijayant MALIK (IND) bt Jatin DAHIYA (IND) 62 62
(Q) Garvit BATRA (IND) bt (7) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND) 46 76(2) 76(5)
Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND) bt (5) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA) 62 64
(4) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN) bt Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) 64 61
(8) Karunuday SINGH (IND) bt Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 26 64 61
(2) Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Sidharth RAWAT (IND) 76(4) 64

Doubles Quarter Finals
(1) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND)/ Jeevan NEDUNCHEZHIYAN (IND) bt Anvit BENDRE (IND)/ Tushar MANDLEKAR (IND) 64 63
Fariz MOHAMMED (IND)/ Vignesh PERANAMALLUR (IND) bt (4) Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND)/ Abhijeet TIWARI (IND) 63 62
(3) Toshihide MATSUI (JPN)/ Bumpei SATO (JPN) bt Kunal ANAND (IND)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 62 61
(2) Keith-Patrick CROWLEY (RSA)/ Arun-Prakash RAJAGOPALAN (IND) bt Neeraj ELANGOVAN (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 64 62

Another impressive win by young Garvit in very long match against Kaza, Garvit won last two sets in tie-break after losing the first set ... Prajnesh also scored upset win over South African ... Karunuday lost first set against Abhijeet before recovering.
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At $10K Thailand F2 Futures, Bangkok

[R2] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) bt (Q) Blake MOTT(AUS,1265) 64 63

[QF] (3) Saketh MYNENI (IND,300) vs (6) Yuichi ITO (JPN,638)

Doubles
[QF] Patrick DAVIDSON (USA)/ Saketh MYNENI (IND) l Elbert SIE (INA)/ David Agung SUSANTO (INA) 46 16

Expected comfortable straight sets win for Saketh against Aussie qualifier ... Next he is facing Japanese opponent.
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At $10K ITF Women's Tournament, Karshi, Uzbekistan

[R1] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) bt Polina MERENKOVA (UZB,UNR) 63 62

[R2] Sharmada BALU (IND,UNR) vs (2) Alyona SOTNIKOVA (UKR,363)

Good to see Sharmada is playing in Uzbek ... Last week also she scored first round win ... Here also she take advantage of weaker opponent.

Hockey News
The Men's and Women's Teams for World Hockey League Round 3, Rotterdam

Men's Team
Goalkeepers - P R Sreejesh, P T Rao
Defenders - VR Raghunath (Vice-Captain), Sandeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harbir Singh Sandhu
Midfielders - Birendra Lakra, Sardar Singh (Captain), Manpreet Singh, Kothajit Singh, Gurmail Singh
Forwards - SV Sunil, Shivendra Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Nithin Thimmaiah, Dharamvir Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep SinghIndia vs Malaysia

Women's Team
Goalkeepers - Savita, Rajni Etimarpu
Defenders - Deep Grace Ekka, Kirandeep Kaur, Namita Toppo, Sushila Chanu, Sunita Lakra,Manjeet Kaur
Midfielders - Ritu Rani (Captain), Chanchan Devi (Vice-Captain), Navjot Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Lily Chanu
Forwards - Anupa Barla, Poonam Rani, Roselin Dung Dung, Lilima Minz, Ritusha Arya

The Men's Team for World Hockey League Round 3, Rotterdam has been announced ... Few changes in the team ... Shivendra Singh and Sandeep Singh r back in the regular team.

Also the Women's team for World Hockey League Round 3, Rotterdam has been announced.