Seasoned shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is impressed with the progress made by India's doubles players on the Pro circuit but says they will take some time to develop into world beaters.
Indian tennis stalwarts Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who were locked in a selection row for the London Olympics recently, saw their fortunes take different turns with the former reaching the third round of the men's doubles event while the latter crashed out of mixed doubles competition of the Wimbledon.
Admitting that his pairing with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles category would have been the best bet for India in the London Olympics, Mahesh Bhupathi on Tuesday said that the Indian star player was used without even being consulted.
Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina moved into the semi-finals of the mixed doubles of Wimbledon with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 win over Paul Hanley and Alla Kudryavtseva on Friday.
India have a good chance of winning medals in both, men's doubles and mixed doubles events at next year's Rio Olympics, feels former player Mahesh Bhupathi.
The three-time major winner would be given a protected ranking of number two, the Australian Open organisers said
India's tennis campaign at the Rio Olympic Games ended in disappointment as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were blown away by the Czech Republic team of Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradceka in the bronze medal play-off in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Track and field athletes, who were leading the Indian charge in the past few days, fetched the maximum 12 medals but just two of them were gold.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski dished out a dominating show to make a positive start to their mixed doubles campaign at the French Open.
Sania Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia bested defending champions Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
Leander Paes had a productive day at the Australian Open, entering the men's doubles semi-finals with Radek Stepanek, and the mixed doubles quarter-finals with Elena Vesnina, in Melbourne, on Wednesday.
Taking potshots at the All India Tennis Association, senior pro Mahesh Bhupathi, on Thursday, said he is not sure of pairing with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event of the London Olympics because of the national body's "funny politics".
Pune Pistons secured a close 3-2 victory after icon player Ashwini Ponnappa and Fischer Nielsen Joachim won the deciding mixed doubles match.
Saina and Busanan engaged in some long rallies but it was the Thai shuttler who had the last laugh
China's Xu Xin and Yang Ha-eun of South Korea have teamed up to become the first cross-border partnership to win the world mixed doubles table tennis championship.
The Williams sisters - Serena and Venus - defeated Hungarian Timea Babos and her Kazakhstani partner Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-4 to win the Wimbledon doubles championship in London on Saturday.
Ajay Jayaram, who skipped the ongoing Korea Open, slipped a place to be at 17th.
Indian tennis stars Leander Paes and Sania Mirza cruised into the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the French Open along with their respective partners in Paris on Thursday. While Paes and his Swiss Partner Martina Hingis, winners of three Grand Slam titles last season, beat German-Colombian pair of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah 6-4 6-4 in the opening round, second seeded Sania and Ivan Dodig of Croatia eased past French duo of Mathilde Johansson and Tristan Lamasine 6-4 6-3 in their opener later in the day. However, it was curtains for another Indian Purav Raja, who, along with Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, crashed out in the opening round of the men's doubles event. The duo lost 1-6 2-6 against ninth seeded Polish-Austrian pair of Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.
Batra created history in Gold Coast, single-handedly taking India to a maiden team gold before winning a singles gold, another first.
Manika Batra, on Saturday, won a first ever women's singles table tennis gold for India at the CWG
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup ended after they went down 0-3 against top seed and 10-time champions China in the quarter-finals of the mixed team championship in Gold Coast.
Legendary Rafael Nadal was at his energetic best in his two wins as rampaging Indian Aces continued their sparkling run in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) with a 30-12 rout of the Philippines Mavervicks, on the opening day of the Indian leg of the event.
Sania Mirza has posed as an angel alongside images of dogs and cats. The poster reads: "Be an Angel for Animals: Adopt, Never Buy" during a photo shoot for a new PETA India campaign.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who created history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a BWF Super 500 tournament, are placed ninth in the men's doubles rankings issued on Tuesday.
Switzerland won their third Hopman Cup on Saturday as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany's Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-3(3), 4-2 in the deciding mixed doubles to secure a 2-1 victory in the final at the Perth Arena.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna sqaundered a set advantage to lose to USA's Venus Williams and Rajiv Ram 6-2, 2-6, 3-10 in the Rio Olympics semi-finals on Saturday.
In what would come as a massive blow to India's chances at the Davis Cup, tennis ace Leander Paes pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles semi-finals due to back spasms which also makes him doubtful for the World Group playoff tie against Japan next week.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza expressed happiness over India winning five medals at the recently-concluded Asian Games at Incheon, although she felt many people did not expect them to do well with the team the country had sent.
India's shuttlers, as expected, made a good start at the Commonwealth Games. They proved a class above Sri Lanka in a preliminary round mixed team event match, in Gold Coast, on Thursday. Spearheaded by Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth in singles, India won 5-0.
'One of the biggest things I've learned over the years is adaptability. Playing with different partners teaches you that.'
Pint-sized 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya took gold in street skateboarding -- new to the Olympics in Tokyo -- while in one of the Games's staple sports a "Terminator" hunted down a dominator to set the swimming pool alight.
It was a bad day for Sania Mirza at Wimbledon on Friday. The Indian ace lost in the mixed doubles quarter-finals and women's doubles semi-finals.
Defending champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis brushed aside Christina Mchale and Jelena Ostapenko to move into the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon Championships on Monday.
But the Indian mixed doubles pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan suffered a close 18-21, 21-10, 22-24, loss to Russian pair of Evgenij Dremin and Evgenia Dimova, while another pair of Tarun Kona and Sikki N Reddy too went down 13-21, 17-21 against Liao Min Chun and Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei.
India's Davis Cup legend Leander Paes made it clear that he opted to play World Team Tennis during India's last tie against New Zealand in order to give youngsters a chance to prepare for the bigger battles ahead of them.
Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski stormed into the semi-finals of the mixed doubles event of the French Open with a straight-set upset win over the duo of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig of Croatia on Monday.
'I do understand Rohan is disappointed for not getting the award, but it was because he did not meet the criteria for the award in 2016. He should see the criteria before making any comment'
Srikanth had last reached the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open in April.
Star India shuttler PV Sindhu was stunned by North Eastern Warriors' Michelle Li in straight games as former champions Hyderabad Hunters' made a disappointing start to its home leg of the Premier Badminton League in Hyderabad on Wednesday. World champion Sindhu suffered an 8-15, 9-15 defeat against World No 10 Canadian Li in a lop-sided women's singles contest.
It was Novak Djokovic's first match this year after his Australian Open hopes were dashed when he was deported following an 11-day saga revolving around his decision not to have a COVID-19 vaccination.
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