Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri scored straight-set victories to put India 2-0 ahead in the Asia-Oceanic Davis Cup Group I first-round relegation play-off tie against Indonesia in Bangalore on Friday. Somdev defeated Wisnu Adi Nugroho 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 before Yuki saw off Christopher Rungkat 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association stadium.
Team India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category.
'I'm also happy to receive support from back home in India, my coach and association officials are in constant touch. I've got another ticket for May 11, and hopefully, the situation will become normal by then, and I will return'
India's top singles player Somdev Devvarman's decision to concentrate on the ATP tour at the expense of the upcoming Asian Games has come under sharp criticism from the All India Tennis Federation.
Leander Paes has preferred the Brisbane International over India's only ATP event, the Chennai Open, and the fans will definitely miss him, but tournament organisers said they have learnt to live without India's most celebrated player.
'We are not interested in forfeiting the tie. We look forward to working with the ITF to find a solution that guarantees the safety of all the players'
Indian Davis Cupper Prakash Amritraj beat Jasper Smit of The Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinal.
AITA on sticky wicket after shift in venue
Playing only his second junior Grand Slam, 17-year-old won 7-5, 6-3
The second seed demolished qualifier Minori Takemoto of Japan in the ITF Women's Futures tournament.
The All India Tennis association (AITA), taking a more aggressive stance than earlier, said it would not request for a neutral venue for the Asia Oceania Zone 1 tie on September 14-15 as is being asked by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Top seed Chia-Jing Chuang and India's No. 2 seed Rushmi Chakravarthi crashed to lesser-known opponents in the quarter-finals of the ITF Women's Futures tournament.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.'
Rushmi Chakravarthy also made the grade in the CCI-ITF Futures tournament in Mumbai.
The victory saw the Indian wild card enter the second round in the Mother's Recipe-ITF Women's Futures tournament.
Bopanna is justified in picking a partner of his choice since rules permit him to do so, but at the same time it holds true that even if Bopanna had ended up at No. 11 in the world rankings on the cut-off date, he and Paes, with their combined ranking, would have made the draw by a margin if not comfortably.
Leander Paes is set to return to the Indian Davis Cup squad after making himself available for the upcoming tie against Pakistan as the country's top players and non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi have refused to travel to the neighbouring nation, citing security concerns.
Rohan Bopanna, Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, Manoj Mahadevan and Vinod Sridhar made it to the second round in the Delhi leg of the tournament.\n\n
Mhieslhouto (left) of Nagaland and Khamgailung of Manipur, among the ball kids selected for the Australian Open '09, at a function in New Delhi on Monday.
Union Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas on Saturday made it clear that Saketh Myneni is "no less deserving" than Rohan Bopanna for the prestigious Arjuna award despite questions being raised about his merit.
Miffed at not getting a 'specialist' men's doubles partner, veteran tennis star Leander Paes, on Thursday, pulled out of the 18th Asian Games starting on Saturday.
40-year-old Sharath showed that age was just a number.
INOX Group has earlier supported various sporting events, teams and leagues in table Tennis, football, badminton, running, basketball and cricket, and building awareness among masses through effective promotional initiatives.
Achanta Sharath Kamal said the ongoing protest by the wrestlers has shown the importance of an athletes' body in all National Sports Federations.
All these male politicians are unlikely to risk their sinecures to speak up in support of a bunch of women wrestlers who have chosen to challenge a politician who appears to have the ruling regime in a stranglehold, points out Kanika Datta.
The All India Tennis Association says an unflattering perception is being created about it in the wake of Mahesh Bhupathi's removal as captain when it actually selected Rohit Rajpal because the ITF, till the last moment, had not given the impression that it would move the Davis Cup tie out of Islamabad.
AITA won't force any player to travel to Pakistan and is willing to send even a second-string team to avoid suspension
Why did the AITA pair Sania Mirza with Rohan Bopanna for the mixed doubles at the Olympics?
The Indian ace dropped two places to be ranked 34th in the WTA rankings
Sharath will be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country's highest sports recognition, later this month.
The Athletes Commission of the IOA has recommended the national Olympic body to put systems in place to deal with issues of the players "with respect and dignity" in the light of the protest by India's top wrestlers.
Promising Indian tennis ace Karan Rastogi says though he didn't play a game in the Davis Cup match against New Zealand, all the same it was a great learning experience.
The former US Open champion has withdrawn from this year's tournament because of a lingering wrist injury.
Ram Kumar Ramanathan will take on Seong-Chan Hong, ranked more than 200 places below him, in the first singles match of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group-I tie between India and South Korea starting in Chandigarh on Friday.
The contingent comprises 277 men and 247 women athletes. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the Indian contingent featured 541 athletes across 28 disciplines.
Bhupathi had, on Sunday, made public his WatsApp chat with Paes, to counter accusations that he used his position as Davis Cup team captain to exclude the latter from the playing squad.
'They are behaving according to their convenience. They have no right to ask question on areas which are outside players' domain. Their job is to play. Who is he (Bopanna) to ask such questions? There is (AITA) administration to look into these matters'
Yuki Bhambri is aghast at being excluded from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after preferring the US Open over Asian Games
In keeping with the main theme of 'Tides Surging in Asia', the ceremony was about the intermingling of China, Asia and the world in the new era
