Tennis News

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

Singles Final
(4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325) 62 62

Ankita wins her first $25K title comfortably beating British girl Katy Dunne losing only four games ... Ankita played percentage tennis but helped lot by Katy's erratic game ... With this win Ankita will enter into top-250 in ranking and will get chance of playing in Australian open qualifying.

Tennis News

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

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Cristina Ene (ROU,576) 61 36 63

[F] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (6) Katy Dunne (GBR,325)

Ankita enter into her third $25K tournament final and this is her first $25K final in India ... In last two finals she lost but hoping for third time lucky ... In the final she is facing British teenager Katy Dunne ...In the semis she beat Romanian Ene in three sets to book berth in the final.

Badminton News

2014 Year-end rankings of Indian Players

Men's Singles
4 Srikanth Kidambi
16 Parupalli Kashyap
21 H. S. Prannoy
39 B. Sai Praneeth
40 Sourabh Varma
43 R. M. V. Gurusaidutt
45 Anand Pawar

Women's Singles
4 Saina Nehwal
11 P. V. Sindhu
40 P. C. Thulasi

Men's Doubles
38 Manu Attri / B. Sumeeth Reddy
40 Pranaav Jerry Chopra / Akshay Dewalkar

Women's Doubles
24 Jwala Gutta / Ashwini Ponnappa
47 Pradnya Gadre / N. Sikki Reddy

Mixed Doubles
51 Ashwini Ponnappa / Tarun Kona
52 Aparna Balan / Arun Vishnu

Srikanth Kidambi climbs to his career best WR #4 ranking after his BWF World SuperSeries Finals semi-final appearance.

Our 7 male players in top-50 singles ranking ... Srikanth is a find of year for us but next year he need to show consistent performance to remain in top-10 rankings ... Prannoy is also showing rapid improvement ... I am hoping injury free Guru can be in top-15 ... Other hand Anand and Sourabh are stagnant.

In women's singles Saina is showing vast improvement in her overall game after poor 2013 but in 2014 Sindhu fail to show improvement ... All over year she was inconsistent ... Thulasi is showing steady progress but she still need to travel long journey.

In doubles only re-united pair of Ashwini-Jwala starting to show some promise ... Other pairs are far behind though I am hoping improve performance by our young male pairs of Manu Attri-B. Sumeeth Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar in 2015 ... But in mixed doubles currently we don't have a single proper pair.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461) 64 63

[SF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Cristina ENne (ROU,576)

Ankita score comfortable straight sets win over her Serbian opponent Nina Stojanovic ... In the semis she is facing unseeded Romanian opponent Cristina Ene.

Tennis News

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

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) bt (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558) 63 67(3) 61
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) l (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228) 46 76(4) 67(6)

[QF] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs Nina Stojanovic (SRB,461)

Ankita get stretched by Thai qualifier in the second round ... In the quarters she is facing 18 yrs old Serbian Stojanovic ... Other hand Prarthana give valiant efforts against top-230 Shapatava ... After losing first set Prarthana gave errific performance ... She won second set in tie-break but lost final set tie-break in extra points.

Tennis News

At Chennai Open 2015, India

After Somdev and RamK receiving Indian wild-cards for the singles yesterday doubles wild-cards are announced ... Mahesh Bhupathi-Saketh Myneni and local pair N.Sriram Balaji - Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan are received doubles wild-card ... In that Mahesh is making comeback on pro tour after nine moths gap and hopefully he help Saki to defend last year's semi-final appearance points.
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At $25K ITF Women's Tournament, Pune, India

[R1] (1) Anastasiya Vasylyeva (UKR) bt (WC) Sharrmadaa Baluu (IND) 61 60
[R1] Ayaka Okuno (JPN) bt (Q) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) 62 64
[R1] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND) bt (Q) Katarzyna Kawa (POL) 62 61
[R1] (4) Ankita Raina (IND) bt (Q) Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 63 26 76(6)
[R1] (8) Veronika Kapshay (UKR) bt (WC) Mihika Yadav (IND) 75 75
[R1] Sviatlana Pirazhenka (BLR) bt (WC) Natasha Palha (IND) 60 76(2)

[R2] (4) Ankita Raina (IND,294) vs (Q) Kamonwan Buayam (THA,558)
[R2] (WC) Prarthana G. Thombare (IND,491) vs (3) Sofia Shapatava (GEO,228)

Rutuja and Karman qualified for main-draw with top-500 wins ... In first round Rutuja gave terrific fight to Ankita ... After losing first set Rutuja fought back to win second comfortably ... In the final set Rutuja take set to tie-break but Ankita won it in extra points ... In next round Ankita is facing Thai qualifier.

With Ankita only Prarthana qualify for second round ... She defeated Polish qualifier comfortably but next she is facing top-225 type Shapatava ... In other matches wild-card Mihika Yadav give fighting performance against 8th seed Ukrainian.

Golf News

At $500K Dubai Open, UAE

1 Arjun Atwal (IND) 73 65 68 66 -16 $90,000
T11 Shiv Kapur (IND) 69 69 69 71 -10 $7,912.50
T11 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 71 66 69 72 -10 $7,912.50
T31 Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 73 71 70 68 -6 $3,862.50

Arjun Atwal ended a frustrating four-year title drought by winning the inaugural Dubai Open by one stroke on Sunday after Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun bogeyed the final hole ... This is is his first title since 2010 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour and first win on Asian Tour since 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open.

Shiv Kapur was joint leader with Arjun after 3rd round but today he managed only PAR to find outside top-10 ... Gagan was also in top-5, he also finishes outside top-10.

Arjun Atwal - “This one feels really special.”
“I think the last time I won on the Asian Tour was 2008. I’ve gone through some really tough times the last few years with injuries and losing my card on the PGA TOUR and all that stuff. It was at a point where I almost wanted to quit. Thanks to a few of my family and friends, I didn’t, and here we are.”
“I just found a little something in my putting. I adjusted to something that I used to do because the greens in Asia are a little bit slower than the ones I’m used to on the PGA TOUR. Just making that adjustment got me rolling the ball a little bit better, so I made some putts.”
“It was like just more relief than anything else that the day is over. I was feeling a little bit with my nerves but it was a gift today. I haven’t won a tournament like this where someone has actually gifted it to me. I got lucky.”
“He’s a great young player. I couldn’t believe he’s only 19. He’s old enough to be my son. It’s a tough loss for him but I’m sure he’s going to win a lot.”

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) l Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9) 21-11 13-21 9-21
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Long Chen (CHN,2) 18-21 9-21

Tzu Ying Tai hands another loss to Saina, this time in this big SuperSeries Finals semi-final ... It looks like Tzu has Saina's number, she also defeated Saina in recently concluded Hong Kong Superseries ... Here also Saina started confidently for winning the first game but after that it was all Tzu show ... With this loss Saina miss huge opportunity of winning Superseries Finals title as in rare occasion there was not a single Chinese girl in the semis.

Srikanth lose in straight games against in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis and with that Indian challenge get over in the tournament ... In first game from start Srikanth take lead ... He increased his lead to 16-10 but from here Long Chen fought back ... From 15-18 he won next six points in a row for winning this game ... Long Chen dominated second game and won it comfortably ... Still creditable performance by Srikanth, who managed to reach in the semis of his first Superseries Finals.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) l (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3) 2-5 (36-84, 71-8, 74-4, 38-81(56), 0-81(74), 43-74, 20-71(50))

Multiple time World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan score expected win over Aditya but this time Aditya give decent fight ... Before this match Aditya never won a frame against Ronnie but this time he take 2-1 lead after winning 2nd and 3rd frames ... After that Ronnie take control and won the match scoring three 50+ breaks.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 15-21 21-7 21-17
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-721-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) l Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 21-17 12-21 14-21
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 23-21 7-21 21-15

[SF] Saina Nehwal (IND,4) vs Tzu Ying Tai (TPE,9)
[SF] Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) vs Long Chen (CHN,2)

Saina score comeback win over Yeon Ju Bae after losing the first game ... With this win Saina top Group A and facing Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai in the semis.

Srikanth lose after despite starting well against Jan O Jorgensen ... Srikanth won first game but after that he failed to keep momentum ... Though he qualify for semis in second position from Group B but he is facing in-form Chinese Long Chen in the semis.

Snooker News

At German Masters Qualifiers 2014, Wigan, England

[QR1] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) bt (A) Adam Duffy (ENG) 5-3 (3-121(121), 141(141)-0, 63-48, 8-68, 60-44, 58-77, 82 (82)-8, 101(101)-0, )

[QR2] Aditya Mehta (IND,54) vs (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG,3)

Surprisingly tougher match for Aditya against his amature British opponent Adam Duffy ... Adam started with 121 points break for winning first frame ... Aditya immediately responded scoring 141 points break for winning the second frame ... After that both players shared frames till 3-all ... Aditya scored 82 points break for winning seventh frame and with another 100+ frame Aditya completed victory ... Next Aditya having toughest challenge as he is facing former WR #1 and also five World Championship, five Masters, and five UK Championship winner Ronnie O'Sullivan ... In their last two meetings Aditya fails to win a single frame ... Hoping for better performance.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) 21-12 21-18
Yeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-17

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-18 21-13
Kento Momota (JPN,15) bt Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) 20-22 21-18 21-12

Saina and Srinath complete second win in two days to almost securing their respective semi final place ... Saina score comfortable win over Ji Hyun Sung ... Srikanth also score comfortably win over top-5 Indonesian Sugiarto in straight games.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) l (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3) 1-3 (11-7 5-11 3-11 6-11) (50m)

After winning the first game Dipika's game faded away and Welily won next three games convincingly.

Tennis News

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

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) l Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494) 46 06

Sharmadaa's excellent run ends in quarter final against Frech girl Chole Paquet.
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[QF] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) l (7) Maximilian NEUCHRIST (AUT,539) 76(9) 36 46
[QF] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) l (5) Guillaume RUFIN (FRA,369) 36 57

Sunit give fighting performance in his loss against Austrian Maximilian ... After winning long tie-break Sumit failed to keep momentum and lost next two sets ... Other hand surprising loss of RamK against Frenchman Rufin.

Badminton News

At BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals 2014, UAE

WS - Group A
Saina Nehwal (IND,4) bt Shixian Wang (CHN,2) 21-17 21-18
Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,5) btYeon Ju Bae (KOR,9) 21-15 21-11

MS - Group B
Srikanth Kidambi (IND,8) bt Kento Momota (JPN,15) 15-21 21-16 21-10
Jan O Jorgensen (DEN,3) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,5) 21-15 21-9

Winning start for Indian players on first day of World Superseries Finals ... Saina score terrific win over Shixian Wang in well fought 58 minutes match ... What a top class match both players played! Hats off for their efforts ... In the first game from 8-10 Saina won next 10 points, those points were high quality points ... In this match too many long rallies and in those rallies amazing shot making by both players ... After 10-18 down Shixian tried fight back but difference was too much recover ... In the second game Shixian was leading 8-4 but Saina caught her at 9-all ... From 10-all Saina take couple of points lead and she kept that lead in this game ... Shixian saved couple of match points at 16-20 but Saina converted third match point for exciting win.

Srikanth score comeback win over his Japanese opponent Kento Momota for exciting start in his first World Superseries Finals ... After losing the first game Srikanth made solid comeback, he dominated the third game for completing the win.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) l (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7) 2-3 (11-6, 3-11, 13-11, 7-11, 8-11) (64m)

Joshana play competitive match against WR #7 Malaysian girl Low Wee Wern ... Joshana was leading 2-1 after winning the third game in extra points but afterwards she failed to keep momentum in last two games ... Low Wee Wern won last closely fought games for winning the match.

Tennis News

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

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) l (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226) 36 57
[R2] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 26 26
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361) 63 64

[QF] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Chloe PAQUET (FRA,494)

Sharmadaa continue with terrific run ... She beats top-360 Greece girl Despina in straight sets ... In the quarter final she is facing French girl Chole Paquet.

Nidhi give decent fight to top-seed Dutch player Cindy Burger but Rutuja lose one-sided match against her Russian opponent.
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) l (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191) 16 16
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) l (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381) 36 36
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127) 63 61
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) l James MARSALEK (GBR,947) 67(4) 36
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Michael GEERTS (BEL,924) 63 57 76(4)

RamK need to dig deep for comeback win over his Belgian opponent ... After losing the second set RamK was under pressure ... He saved 3 match points at 4-5 before winning the tie-break ... Sunit joins him in the quarter-final with easy straight sets win over his Chinese opponent.

Bala's poor run continue with his another loss against lower ranked opponent.

Squash News

At $150K Women's World Championship 2014, Wadi Degla, Cairo, Egypt (World Series Platinum)

[R1] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) bt (Q) Samantha Teran (MEX,34) 3-2 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7) (75m)
[R1] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) bt (12) Madeline Perry (IRL,14) 3-1 (14-12, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7) (50m)

[R2] (14) Dipika Pallikal (IND,16) vs (3) Raneem El Welily (EGY,3)
[R2] Joshana Chinappa (IND,22) vs (7) Low Wee Wern (MAS,7)

Great start for Indians as our both players crossed first hurdle in contrasting style ... Joshana score upset win over top-15 Irish player in four games after winning the first game in extra points ... Next she is facing Malaysian WR #7 Low Wee Wern.

Dipika dig deep to score comeback win over Mexican veteran and former WR #11 Teran in 75 minutes long match ... Dipika lost first 2 games before fighting back to win last three games ... Next she is facing in-form WR #3 Egyptian Raneem El Welily.

Tennis News

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

[R1] (3) Ankita RAINA (IND,297) l Miyabi INOUE (JPN,351) 36 26
[R1] (WC) Prarthana THOMBARE (IND,500) l Natela DZALAMIDZE (RUS,325) 36 16
[R1] (Q) Natasha PALHA (533) l (6) Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR,308) 46 62 26

Today turn terrible for Indian players after terrific yesterday ... All three players lose their match that include 3rd seed Ankita
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At $10K Qatar F6 Futures , Doha

[R1] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) bt Pirmin HAENLE (GER,717) 62 61
[R1] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) bt (Q) Delf GOHLKE (GER,UNR) 75 62
[R1] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,UNR) bt (4) David RICE (GBR,351) 62 63
[R1] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) bt (WC) Ali AL-SAYGH (QAT,UNR) 61 60
[R1] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (Q) Sidharth RAWAT (IND,1204) 62 61

[R2] Vinayak Sharma KAZA (IND,916) bt (1) Nikoloz BASILASHVILI (GEO,191)
[R2] Karunuday SINGH (IND,518) vs (6) Joris DE LOORE (BEL,381)
[R2] (Q) Sumit NAGAL (IND,NR) vs (Q) Yuqing NING (CHN,2127)
[R2] (3) N.Sriram BALAJI (IND,349) vs James MARSALEK (GBR,947)
[R2] (2) Ramkumar RAMANATHAN (IND,224) vs Michael GEERTS (BEL,924)

Terrific comfortable win by young Sumit against top-350 ranked experienced British player David Rice ... Sumit needed to qualify ... Other hand expected win by our players ... Sumit facing qualifier Chinese player in the second round.

Tennis News

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

[R1] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) bt (Q) Karman Kaur THANDI (IND,963) 76(5) 63
[R1] (WC) Rutuja BHOSALE (IND,907) bt (7) Polina LEYKINA (RUS,321) 76(4) 16 62
[R1] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) bt (4) Manon ARCANGIOLI (FRA,313) 63 64

[R2] (WC) Nidhi CHILUMULA (IND,624) vs (1) Cindy BURGER (NED,226)
[R2] (WC) Sharmadaa BALUU (IND,642) vs Despina PAPAMICHAIL (GRE,361)

Excellent upset wins by Sharmadaa and Rutuja against seeded players ... Sharmadaa beat top-315 French girl convincingly in straight sets ... Rutuja beat top-325 Russian girl in three sets ... After winning first set in tie-break Rutuja lost focus to lose second set easily against Leykina ... But Rutuja recovered in the third for winning it breaking opponent twice ... Other hand Nidhi also start with straight sets win against Karman ... In the next round she is facing top-seed Dutch girl ... Sharmadaa is facing Greece girl in the second round.