Tennis News

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[QF] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) bt (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) 64 64
[QF] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) bt (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) 0-0 retd.

[SF] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ,211)
[SF] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) vs Brayden Schnur (CAN,233)

Doubles
[SF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) bt Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) 36 62 10-8

[F] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)

Saki scored straight sets win over the defending champion Sumit and will face Nedo in the semis ... Mukund gave a walkover to Prajnesh due to his back injury ... Prajnesh will face the Canadian Brayden Schnur.

Purav and Sancic enter into the another final with a comeback win over Saki and Arjun ... After losing the first set they made a strong comeback to win this match into the match tie-break ... In the final, they r facing the Aussie pairing of Max Purcell and Luke Saville.

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At $150K+H Houston Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) bt Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA) 16 76(3) 10-8

[SF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs (3) Marcelo Arevalo (ESA)/ Jamie Cerretani (USA)

Lee-Miguel scored another comeback win in the match tie-break against Bambridge and Sandgren ... In the semis, they r facing the 3rd seeds Cerretani and Arevalo.

Football News

At the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament - First Round, Myanmar

Group C
India dw Nepal 1-1 (1-1)
India bt Bangladesh 7-1 (3-0)
India l Myanmar 1-2 (1-1)

A terrific feat by our women's football team, who qualified for the Olympic Qualifiers second round for the first time ... The Indian women's team advanced to the second round after finishing second in Group C with four points from three matches, behind table toppers Myanmar ... The second round of the Olympic Qualifiers will be played in April next year.

Badminton News

At $400K YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2018, Kowloon (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[R2] (4) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) bt Prannoy H. S. (IND,23) 8-21 30-29 21-18
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,17) bt (5) Chen Long (CHN,5) w/o

[R2] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) l Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,10) 24-26 20-22

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) l Jhe-Huei Lee (TPE)/ Yang Lee (TPE) 16-21 15-21

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) l Yang Lee (TPE)/ Ya Ching Hsu (TPE) 17-21 11-21

[QF] (4) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,8) vs (8) Kenta Nishimoto (JPN,11)
[QF] Sameer Verma (IND,18) vs Cheuk Yiu Lee (HKG,47)

Srikanth scored a hard-fought win over Prannoy in three games ... After losing the first game Srikanth faced a tough challenge from Prannoy in the second ... Both players were neck to neck throughout the game ... Srikanth saved the three match-points and converted the 7th game point for winning the game in extra points ... In the third game, Srikanth took an early lead 11-4 and 16-12, but Prannoy caught him at 16-all ... Srikanth kept his cool and regained couple of points lead and maintained for an exciting win ... Next, he is facing the Japanese challenge of .Kenta Nishimoto

Sameer enters into the quarters as his opponent the former WR #1 Chen Long gave a walkover ... Next, Sameer is facing Hong Kong's Cheuk Yiu Lee.

A disappointed loss for Sindhu against the former WR #2 Korean, Ji Hyun Sung in two games ... In both games, Sung took an early lead and Sindhu caught up ... In the first game, Sindhu missed a game point and Sung converted the fifth one ... In the second game, Sindhu saved two match points but Sung converted the third match point.

In the doubles, Manu and Sumeeth lost in straight games against Taipei pair.
In MXD, Satwik and Ashwini lost in straight games against Taipei pair.

Tennis News

At Davis Cup 2019 - Qualifiers 1st Round, Kolkata, India

The AITA announced the venue for our tie against the Italian team ... The tie will be played on the grass at South Club in Kolkata ... Kolkata was chosen as the venue only after the AITA secured two key exemptions from the ITF ... The rules require that World Group and Play-off ties be played at a venue where the space behind the baseline is 27 feet and there is a seating capacity of 4000 ... Only DLTA and the center court at MSLTA (Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune) fulfill both requirements but they don't have the grass courts.

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At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[R2] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) bt (Q) Youssef Hossam (EGY,483) 61 36 61
[R2] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) bt James Ward (GBR,199) 63 76(4)
[R2] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO,196) 76(2) 3-1 retd.
[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) bt (Q) Sebastin Fanselow (GER,431) 46 64 75

[QF] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) vs (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315)
[QF] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) vs (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418)

Doubles
[QF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS) 67(3) 36
[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) 63 76(5)
[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) bt Blaz Kavcic (SLO)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) w/o

[SF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND)

Mukund enters into the quarters after his opponent the top-200 Slovak, Blaz Kavcic retired in the second set ... Mukund was down in the first set but he broke Kavcic when he was serving for the set at 4-5 ... Mukund won the tie-break comfortably and when he was a break up in the second Kavcic conceded the match.
Saki stretched to three sets by the Egyptian qualifier, Youssef Hossam ... After winning the first set comfortably Saki lost focus in the second, he recovered and won the third set convincingly ... Next, he is facing Sumit.
Sumit scored another good win over the British experienced player, James Ward ... After winning the first set Sumit faced resistance from James Ward in the second but he completed the win in two sets after winning this set in the tie-break.
Prajnesh made a tough match as he started slowly and a German qualifier Fanselow took advantage of it to win the first set ... Prajnesh fought back and won the second set ... Fanselow started well and broke Prajnesh in the 6th game to lead 2-4 in the final set, which he increased after holding his serve 2-5 ... From here, Prajnesh made an excellent comeback, he won next 5 games breaking Fanselow twice for completing the win ... In the quarters, Prajnesh is facing Mukund.

Purav and Sancic receive a walkover from Kavcic and Weissborn ... They r meeting Saki and Arjun in the semis, who defeated Prajwal and Niki in straight sets ... But Vishnu and Bala had a disappointing loss in straight sets against the Aussie pair.

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At $150K+H Houston Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) bt Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ David Vega Hernandez (ESP) 46 75 10-6

[QF] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs Luke Bambridge (GBR)/ Tennys Sandgren (USA)

Lee-Miguel scored a comeback win over Margaroli and Vega Hernandez after losing the first set ... Next, they r facing Bambridge and Sandgren.

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At $125K Taipei OEC Open 2018, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) bt (Alt) Joanna Garland (TPE)/ Hua Chen Lee (TPE) 63 63
[R1] Ji-Hee Choi (KOR)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l Junri Namigata (JPN)/ Peangtarn Plipuech (THA) 46 57

[QF] Ankita Raina (IND)/ Karman Kaur Thandi (IND) vs (WC) Ya-Hseun Lee (TPE)/ En Liang (TPE)

Ankita and Karman started with a comfortable win against the alternate pair ... Next, they r facing the local wildcard pair, they defeated the top-seeds in the first round.
Prarthana and her Korean partner lost in the first round.

Badminton News

At $400K YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2018, Kowloon (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500)

[Q1] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,52) bt Iskandar Zulkarnain (MAS,74) w/o
[Q2] Parupalli Kashyap (IND,52) bt (1) Jen Hao Hsu (TPE,40) 21-7 12-21 21-18

[R1] (Q) Parupalli Kashyap (IND,52) l (7) Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA,7) 16-21 13-21
[R1] Sai Praneeth B. (IND,24) l Khosit Phetpradab (THA,15) 21-16 11-21 15-21
[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,23) bt Anders Antonsen (DEN,19) 21-14 13-21 21-19
[R1] (4) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) bt Wing Ki Vincent Wong (HKG,34) 21-11 21-15
[R1] Sameer Verma (IND,17) bt Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA,21) 21-17 21-14

[R1] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Nitchaon Jindapol (THA,14) 21-15 13-21 21-17
[R1] Saina Nehwal (IND,11) l (2) Akane Yamaguchi (JPN,2) 21-10 10-21 19-21

[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Mathias Boe (DEN)/ Carsten Mogensen (DEN) 19-21 21-23
[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) bt Bodin Isara (THA)/ Maneepong Jongjit (THA) 21-12 21-18

[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (2) Misaki Matsutomo (JPN)/ Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 21-18 10-21 8-21

[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Chi-Lin Wang (TPE)/ Chia Hsin Lee (TPE) 21-16 19-21 21-14

[R2] (4) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) vs Prannoy H. S. (IND,23)
[R2] Sameer Verma (IND,17) vs (5) Chen Long (CHN,5)

[R2] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs Ji Hyun Sung (KOR,10)

[R2] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs Jhe-Huei Lee (TPE)/ Yang Lee (TPE)

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs Yang Lee (TPE)/ Ya Ching Hsu (TPE)

Srikanth started with a comfortable win over the Hong Kong player ... Next, he is facing Prannoy, who defeated Antonsen in three games.
Sameer scored straight games win over Avihingsanon, but next, he is having a tough match against the former WR #1 Chen Long.
Sindhu stretched to three games by Jindapol in the first round ... Next, she is facing the former WR #2 Korean, Ji Hyun Sung.
Sai won the first game against Phetpradab, but failed to keep momentum in next two games.
Kashyap qualifies for the main draw with a win over Hsu ... But he lost in the first round against in-form Indonesian and WR #7 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Saina started well against the WR #2 Akane Yamaguchi in the first round ... She won the first game but Yamaguchi fought back to win the second comfortably ... Yamaguchi kept momentum in the third game and kept lead for winning the match.

In the doubles, Manu and Sumeeth scored a comfortable win over their Thai opponents ... Next, they r facing Taiwani pair ... But Satwik and Chirag lost in well fought straight games against experienced Danish pair ... Ashwini and Sikki won the first game but after that the WR #2 Japanese pair dominated the match.
In MXD, Satwik and Ashwini started with three games win over the higher ranked Taipei pair ... Next, they r facing another Taipei pair, who scored an upset win over the 4th seeds Danish pair.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) bt (WC) Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034) 63 76(3)
[R1] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Collin Altamirano (USA,286) 76(6) 63
[R1] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) bt Ivan Nedelko (RUS,264) 62 62
[R1] (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND,841) l (6) Quentin Halys (FRA,145) 36 16

[R2] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs (Q) Youssef Hossam (EGY,483)
[R2] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) vs James Ward (GBR,199)
[R2] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Blaz Kavcic (SLO,196)
[R2] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) vs (Q) Sebastin Fanselow (GER,431)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) 36 63 7-10
[R1] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Brayden Schnur (CAN) 64 63
[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) bt Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Quentin Halys (FRA) 64 67(6) 11-9

[QF] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)
[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND)
[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs Blaz Kavcic (SLO)/ Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT)

Mukund continues with his terrific run and defeated Altamirano in straight sets ... Next, he si facing the top-200 Slovak, Blaz Kavcic.
Adil gave decent fighting performance against Saki in his straight sets loss ... Next, Saki is facing the Egyptian qualifier, Youssef Hossam, who defeated the top-seed Radu Albot in the first round.
Prajnesh scored a dominating win against the Russian ... Next, he is facing the German qualifier.
Suraj failed to challenge the top-150 Frenchman Halys.

In the doubles, Bala and Vishnu scored straight sets win and they r facing the Aussie pair in the quarters ... Purav and Sancic scored a fighting win in the match tie-break against Arneodo and Halys ... Next, they r facing Kavcic and Weissborn ... But a surprising loss for Jeevan and his German partner Krawietz in the match tie-break.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q3] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) l Youssef Hossam (EGY,480) 46 46
[Q3] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Mick Lescure (FRA,494) 61 61

[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) bt (7) Jay Clarke (GBR,174) 64 75
[R1] (Q) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Collin Altamirano (USA,286)

[R2] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,309) vs James Ward (GBR,199)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) l Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS) 26 26
[R1] (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) bt Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS)/ Filip Peliwo (CAN) 16 76(3) 10-2
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) bt (4) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 63 36 11-9

[QF] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND)

This time, the last year's finalists met each other in the first round and last year's result repeated again ... Sumit scored straight sets win over the top-175 ranked Jay Clarke ... In the first set, Sumit was a break up at 3-2 but Jay broke back at 3-all ... Sumit took a crucial break in the 9th game on Jay's serve and held his serve for winning the set ... In the second set Sumit broke Jay in the 3rd game to lead 3-1 but this time also Jay broke back for 3-all ... Sumit took a crucial break in the 11th game and then held his serve for an exciting win ... Next, he is facing a British veteran, James Ward.

Mukund qualified for the main draw with a comfortable win over Frenchman Lescure ... In the main draw, he is facing the American Collin Altamirano.
Siddharth Vishwakarma lost in straight sets against Youssef Hossam.

In the doubles, the youngsters Dev-Niki started with an excellent comeback win against Pavlioutchenkov and Peliwo ... Next, they r facing Saki and Arjun ... They scored an exciting win over the experienced Ratiwatanas in the match tie-break ... The Sood twins failed to challenge the Aussie pair.

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At $150K+H Houston Challenger 2018, Texas, USA

[R1] (2) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs Luca Margaroli (SUI)/ David Vega Hernandez (ESP)

Lee and Miguel r facing Margaroli and Vega Hernandez in the first round.

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At $125K Taipei OEC Open 2018, Chinese Taipei

[Q1] (2) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,198) bt (WC) Kwan Yau NG (HKG,841) 64 64

[Q2] (2) Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,198) l (6) Yuxuan Zhang (CHN,213) 26 26

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,197) l (5) Nao Hibino (JPN,119) 67(6) 16

Disappointing results for Indian girls ... Karman failed to overcome the Chinese challenge in the final qualifying round ... Ankita gave a fighting performance in the first set against the top-125 player Hibino but proved too strong in the second.

Golf News

At $7.2M Mayakoba Golf Classic 2018, Playa del Carmen, Mexico (PGA Tour 2019)

T10 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 65 66 69 68 -16 $165,600.00

Anirban showed consistency on the course to finish inside the top-10 ... After the first 2 rounds expectations were the top-5 finish but in end, he finished on the tied 10th position.

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At $7M Nedbank Golf Challenge 2018, Sun City, South Africa (European Tour 2018)

T27 Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 74 75 71 68 PAR € 57,511.00

Shubhankar finished with the PAR score, which helped him the top-30 finish ... He recovered after the first 2 rounds and scored a 4-under final round for a decent finish.

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At $2.1M Blue Bay LPGA 2018, China (LPGA Tour 2018)

76 Aditi Ashok (IND) 80 79 80 75 +26 $3,948.00

Aditi had a terrible tournament ... She struggled throughout the tournament, her best round was a 3-over, which she managed in the final round ... A forgettable performance.

Squash News

At $28K Men's Kolkata International 2018, India (PSA 30)

P.C. to Squashsite.co.uk site

Final
(1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) bt (2) Zahed Salem (EGY,27) 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-13 11-5 (86m)

Saurav lifted the Kolkata open title in an 86 minutes marathon match against Egyptian, Zahed Salem.

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At $11K Men's APM Kelowna Open 2018, Canada (PSA 10)

Final
(2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bt (4) Robertino Pezzota (ARG,76) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7 (98m)

Vikram lifted another PSA-10 title beating Robertino Pezzota ... Vikram needed to dig deep for completing this hard fought win over the Argentine.

Tennis News

At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q2] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) bt (5) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,396) 76(3) 36 63
[Q2] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) l Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,563) 46 16
[Q2] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Lucas Gerch (GER,785) 61 64
[Q2] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) l (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419) 57 64 36

[Q3] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) vs Youssef Hossam (EGY,480)
[Q3] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Mick Lescure (FRA,494)

Doubles
[R1] (1) Kevin Krawietz (GER)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)
[R1] (3) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) vs (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Brayden Schnur (CAN)
[R1] (WC) Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) vs Max Purcell (AUS)/ Luke Saville (AUS)
[R1] (WC) S.D. Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) vs Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (RUS)/ Filip Peliwo (CAN)
[R1] Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Saketh Myneni (IND) vs (4) Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/ Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
[R1] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) vs Romain Arneodo (MON)/ Quentin Halys (FRA)

The national champion Siddharth Vishwakarma continues with his good performance ... He defeated the top-400 Frenchman in well-contested three sets ... In the final qualifying, he is facing Egypt's Youssef Hossam.
Mukund scored a comfortable win over his German opponent and facing Frenchman Lescure, who defeated Arjun in the first qualifying, for a place in the main draw.
Ranjeet lost in straight sets ... Aryan stretched the top-425 Belgian opponent to three sets.

The doubles draw is out ... Jeevan is the top seeds with Kevin Krawietz ... Bala is back with Vishnu and they r the 3rd seeds ... Sood brothers and Dev-Niki pairs have received wild cards ... Purav and Sancic r the 2nd seeds ... Also, Saki and Arjun r playing together.

Squash News

At $28K Men's Kolkata International 2018, India (PSA 30)

[R1] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) bye
[R1] Abhay Singh (IND,112) l (9/16) Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS,84) 3-11, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 13-15
[R1] (WC) Aadit Zaveri (IND,205) l (9/16) Christopher Gordon (USA,85) 6-11, 6-11, 11-13
[R1] (9/16) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,64) bt Guhan Senthilkumar (IND,274) 11-1, 11-5, 11-3
[R1] Aditya Jagtap (IND,127) l (9/16) Carlos Cornes (ESP,96) 3-11, 16-14, 5-11, 9-11
[R1] (8) Ramit Tandon (IND,68) bye
[R1] (7) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,59) bye

[R2] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) bt (9/16) Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS,84) 11-9, 11-7, 11-1
[R2] (9/16) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND,64) l (6) Nathan Lake (ENG,49) 6-11, 8-11, 8-11
[R2] (8) Ramit Tandon (IND,68) l (9/16) Carlos Cornes (ESP,96) 11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 6-11, 7-11
[R2] (7) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,59) bt (9/16) Ahmed Hosny (EGY,86) 11-1, 12-10, 12-14, 5-11, 11-8

[QF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) bt (5) Karim El Hammamy (EGY,51) 11-5, 11-7, 11-2
[QF] (7) Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND,59) l (2) Zahed Salem (EGY,27) 11-7, 4-11, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11

[SF] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) bt (4) Todd Harrity (USA,48) 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (41m)

[F] (1) Saurav Ghosal (IND,11) vs (2) Zahed Salem (EGY,27)

As expected Saurav is in the final of the Kolkata International ... He won his matches in straight games and facing the 2nd seed Egyptian, Zahed Salem, for the title ... But other hands other Indians failed to take advantage of the home court.

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At $11K Men's APM Kelowna Open 2018, Canada (PSA 10)

[R1] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bye
[R2] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bt (9/16) Hugo Varela (ESP,182) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (25m)
[QF] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bt (5) Leonel Cardenas (MEX,110) 9-11, 12-10, 15-13, 13-11 (68m)

[SF] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) bt (9/16) Leandro Romiglio (ARG,165) 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 (60m)

[F] (2) Vikram Malhotra (IND,66) vs Robertino Pezzota (ARG,76)

Vikram continues with his good run in the North American tournaments ... He is in the final and facing the Argentine, Robertino Pezzota ... In the semis he defeated another Argentine Romiglio after losing the first game ... In the quarters, the 18 yrs Mexican kid, Cardenas gave him a tough time.

Table Tennis News

At $251K Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum LIEBHERR Austrian Open 2018, Linz, Austria

[PR1] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) bye
[PR2] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) bt Chuqin Wang (CHN,103) 4-1 (11-8, 12-14, 11-8, 11-7, 18-16)
[PR3] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) bt Lubomir Pistej (SVK,70) 4-0 (13-11, 12-10, 13-11, 12-10)
[PR4] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) bt Sangeun Jeong (KOR,17) 4-2 (6-11, 11-13, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6)

[R32] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) bt Marcos Freitas (POR,16) 4-3 (4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7)

[R16] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND,35) l Xin Xu (CHN,2) 1-4 (1-11, 7-11, 11-7, 2-11, 4-11)

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran had a terrific Austrian Open ... He scored a couple of big wins over the WR #17 Korean Sangeun Jeong and the WR #16 Marcos Freitas before losing to the WR #2 Chinese legend Xin Xu ... In the preliminary second round, he defeated the current Youth Olympic Games champion, Chuqin Wang, in a close match.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Bratislava Challenger 2018, Slovakia

Doubles Final
Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) l (3) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK) 26 63 9-11

RamK and Vasilevski lost in the final against Zelenay and Molchanov ... After losing the first set RamK and Vasilevski tried fightback winning the second ... But they failed to keep momentum in the match tie-break.

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At $150K+H Bangalore Challenger 2018, India

[Q1] (WC) S D Prajwal Dev (IND,1075) l Youssef Hossam (EGY,480) 67(3) 36
[Q1] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) bt Chien-hsun Lo (TPE,664) 62 26 75
[Q1] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) bt Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND,641) 75 63
[Q1] Manish Sureshkumar (IND,522) l Sebastian Fanselow (GER,435) 16 26
[Q1] Sidharth Rawat (IND,623) l (6) Benjamin Hassan (GER,409) 67(1) 64 36
[Q1] (3) Arjun Kadhe (IND,362) l Mick Lescure (FRA,494) 46 64 26
[Q1] (WC) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,877) l Lucas Gerch (GER,785) 36 46
[Q1] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) bt Michael Zhu (USA,758) 62 60
[Q1] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) bt (WC) Karunuday Singh (IND,757) 63 67(4) 4-1 retd.
[Q1] (WC) Vasisht Cheruku (IND,1467) l (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419) 46 36

[Q2] Siddharth Vishwakarma (IND,1223) vs (5) Antoine Escoffier (FRA,396)
[Q2] (WC) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,971) vs Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB,563)
[Q2] (7) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,418) vs Lucas Gerch (GER,785)
[Q2] Aryan Goveas (IND,794) vs (8) Zizou Bergs (BEL,419)

[R1] (WC) Saketh Myneni (IND,315) vs (WC) Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034)
[R1] (WC) Sumit Nagal (IND,310) vs (7) Jay Clarke (GBR,174)
[R1] (4) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,141) vs Ivan Nedelko (RUS,264)
[R1] (WC) Suraj R. Prabodh (IND,841) vs (6) Quentin Halys (FRA,145)

I was hoping much stronger performance from Indians ... Mukund started with a solid win but a disappointing loss for Arjun.

In the main draw, Saki is facing against Adil ... Suraj having a tough match against the top-150 Frenchman, Quentin Halys ... Prajnesh is facing Russian Ivan Nedelko ... The defending champion Sumit needs to start with an upset win against the top-175 Britisher, Jay Clarke.

Hockey News

At FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2018, India

The Indian Squad
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (captain), Chinglensana Singh (vice-captain), Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Sumit
Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Simranjeet Singh

The Indian squad for the Men's World Cup is announced ... The seniors like Ramandeep and Sunil have been left out on the fitness and Rupinder Pal Singh has been left out on his poor form ... Some selections are dodgy considering repeated poor performance from Akashdeep and Mandeep ... In the defense also we have a better option than Amit Rohidas, now penalty corner conversion solely depends upon Harmanpreet and he is not convincing with his PC conversion rate ... on the midfielder position also we look weak ... Despite this, hoping for a better performance from our team.

Badminton News

At $700K Fuzhou China Open 2018, China (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750)

[QF] (5) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) l (4) Tien Chen Chou (TPE,3) 14-21 14-21

[QF] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) l (8) Bingjiao He (CHN,7) 17-21 21-17 15-21

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) l Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA) 11-21 21-16 12-21

Srikanth failed to challenge the WR #3 Tien Chen Chou, I was expecting a better result from Srikanth.
Sindhu's struggle continues against Bingjiao He ... She had a third consecutive loss against He.
Satwik-Chirag failed to repeat their performance of previous matches and lost in three games against the experienced Indonesian pair.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Bratislava Challenger 2018, Slovakia

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) bt (4) Gerard Granollers (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP) 75 46 10-6

[F] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) vs (3) Denys Molchanov (UKR)/ Igor Zelenay (SVK)

RamK and Vasilevski r in the final with a win over the 4th seed Spaniards in the match tie-break ... In the final, they r facing the 3rd seeds Molchanov and Zelenay.

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At $15K Kuwait F2 Futures 2018, Meshref

[R1] Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034) bt Ali Alshti (KUW,UNR) 60 61
[R2] Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034) bt (6) Aidan McHuge (GBR,706) 26 61 64

[QF] Adil Kalyanpur (IND,1034) l (3) Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine (FRA,637) 46 06

Adil lost in the quarters against the top-650 ranked Frenchman ... But before that in the second round, he scored an upset win over the last week's winner, Britisher Aidan McHuge.

Badminton News

At $750K Fuzhou China Open 2018, China (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750)

[R2] (5) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) bt Tommy Sugiarto (INA,10) 10-21 21-9 21-9

[R2] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA,26) 21-12 21-15

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira (INA)/ Ade Yusuf Santoso (INA) 16-21 21-14 21-15

[QF] (5) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) vs (4) Tien Chen Chou (TPE,3)

[QF] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs (8) Bingjiao He (CHN,7)

[QF] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs Mohammad Ahsan (INA)/ Hendra Setiawan (INA)

Srikanth scored an excellent comeback win over Sugiarto ... Srikanth had a tough outing against Sugiarto, so good to see this time he managed to win it ... Next, he is facing the WR #3 Tien Chen Chou.

An expected comfortable win for Sindhu against Ongbamrungphan ... Next, she is facing the Chinese girl, Bingjiao He, with her Sindhu has lost last couple of matches including in the French Open in October.

Satwik-Chirag scored a fighting comeback win over the similar ranked Indonesian pair ... In the quarters, they r facing another experienced Indonesian pair.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Bratislava Challenger 2018, Slovakia

[R2] (6) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,122) l Matthias Bachinger (GER,139) 36 63 26

Doubles
[QF] Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) l (1) Jonny O'Mara (GBR)/ Ken Skupski (GBR) 64 46 6-10
[QF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) bt (WC) Andrej Martin (SVK)/ Filip Polasek (SVK) 46 63 10-8

[SF] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) vs (4) Gerard Granollers (ESP)/ David Marrero (ESP)

RamK's patchy performance continues, he lost in three sets against the German Matthias Bachinger.

In the doubles, RamK and Vasilevski enter into the semis with a comeback win over local experienced players after losing the first set ... Next, they r facing the 4th seed Spaniards ... Purav and Sancic lost after winning the first set against the top seeds British pair.

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At $100K Mumbai Open 2018, India

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,197) l (1) Saisai Zheng (CHN,46) 36 16

Saisai Zheng proved too strong for Ankita.

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At $75 Knoxville Challenger 2018, Tennessee, USA

[QF] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) l Alex Lawson (USA)/ Jackson Withrow (USA) 36 46

Lee and Miguel had a disappointing straight sets loss against the American pair.

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Badminton News

At $750K Fuzhou China Open 2018, China (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750)

[R1] Prannoy H. S. (IND,23) l Jonatan Christie (INA,12) 11-21 14-21
[R1] (5) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) bt Lucas Corvee (FRA,42) 21-12 21-16

[R1] Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka (IND,59) l Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA,22) 12-21 16-21
[R1] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) bt Evgeniya Kosetskaya (RUS,30) 21-13 21-19

[R1] Manu Attri (IND)/ B. Sumeeth Reddy (IND) vs (6) Kim Astrup (DEN)/ Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) 16-21 25-27
[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) bt (7) Mads Conrad-Petersen (DEN)/ Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 23-21 24-22

[R1] Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)/ N. Sikki Reddy (IND) l (7) Peng Soon Chan (MAS)/ Liu Ying Goh (MAS) 21-18 19-21 17-21

[R1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) vs (6) Shiho Tanaka (JPN)/ Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) 19-21 21-15 17-21

[R2] (5) Kidambi Srikanth (IND,9) vs Tommy Sugiarto (INA,10)

[R2] (3) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND,3) vs Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA,26)

[R2] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND)/ Chirag Shetty (IND) vs Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira (INA)/ Ade Yusuf Santoso (INA)

Satwik and Chirag started with an upset win over the 7th seed Danish pair ... Next, they r facing the Indonesian pair.

Srikanth and Sindhu scored straight games win over their respective opponents ... Next, Srikanth is having a tricky match against Sugiarto and Sindhu is facing Ongbamrungphan.

Our other players and pairs failed to overcome their higher ranked opponents.

Tennis News

At $125K+H Bratislava Challenger 2018, Slovakia

[R1] (6) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,122) bt Sergio Gutierrez-Ferrol (ESP,161) 63 75

[R2] (6) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,122) vs Matthias Bachinger (GER,139)

Doubles
[R1] Purav Raja (IND)/ Antonio Sancic (CRO) bt Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI)/ Stephane Robert (FRA) 64 64
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) bt (2) Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Philipp Oswald (AUT) 63 36 10-6

RamK started with a good win, considering his recent patchy form, against Gutierrez-Ferrol in the first round ... Next, he is facing the top-140 German Matthias Bachinger.

In the doubles, RamK partnering Belarusian Vasilevski started with an upset win over the 2nd seeds experienced players, Matkowski and Oswald ... Purav and Sancic also started with a win over Huesler and Robert.

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At $100K Mumbai Open 2018, India

[R1] Ankita Raina (IND,197) bt Fang Ying Xun (CHN,206) 76(7) 63

[R2] Ankita Raina (IND,197) vs (1) Saisai Zheng (CHN,46)

This is a good win for Ankita as she lost her last two matches against Xun ... Next, she will faced the top-50 ranked Saisai Zheng.

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At $75 Knoxville Challenger 2018, Tennessee, USA

[R1] (1) Leander Paes (IND)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) bt Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/ Ruan Roelofse (RSA) 64 62

Lee and Miguel started with a comfortable win against Hach Verdugo and Roelofse.

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