Dehradun, February 11 – Gujarat’s Vaidehi Chaudhari secured her second gold medal at the National Games on Tuesday after defeating Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi Adkar in straight sets to win the women’s singles title. Vaidehi, who had claimed the women’s doubles gold with Zeel Desai on Monday, triumphed over Vaishnavi 6-4, 6-4 in the singles final. Maharashtra’s Akanksha Nitture and Karnataka’s Amodini Naik settled for bronze medals.

In the men’s singles final, Army’s Ishaq Iqbal made a stunning comeback after losing the first set to defeat Gujarat’s Dev Javia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, claiming the gold medal. Manish Suresh Kumar of Tamil Nadu and Prajwal Dev of Karnataka took home the bronze medals.

The mixed doubles gold went to the Tamil Nadu duo of Lohith Aksh Badrinath and Lakshmi Prabha Arun Kumar, who defeated Karnataka’s Niki Poonacha and Soha Sadiq 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Haryana’s Sunil Kumar and Aditi Rawat, along with West Bengal’s Nitin Kumar Sinha and Yubarani Banerjee, won the bronze medals in the category.

Mumbai – Former World No. 1 tennis player Rohan Bopanna is set to participate in the highly anticipated sixth edition of the Tennis Premier League (TPL), which begins in December. This marks Bopanna's first appearance in the tournament, which has successfully completed five previous seasons.

Bopanna, 44, a two-time Grand Slam champion (2024 Australian Open in men's doubles and 2017 French Open in mixed doubles), has represented India in three Olympic Games. His best finish came in the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he placed fourth. Bopanna also holds the distinction of being the oldest player to achieve the World No. 1 ranking, a feat he accomplished earlier this year in January. With over 25 career titles, he joins the ranks of Indian tennis greats like Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Sania Mirza, who have reached the top of the tennis rankings and are also supporters of this league.

After nearly two decades on the ATP Tour, Bopanna will now embrace a new style of tennis in the TPL. Each franchise will play a total of five matches to qualify for the semifinals, following the league’s unique 25-point format, which has gained significant attention from tennis fans. Matches between two franchises will include men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles, and men's doubles, with 100 points at stake in each match. Each category will contribute 25 points, and teams will aim for a total of 500 points during the league stage to secure a spot in the semifinals.

Bopanna will compete alongside players like Sumit Nagal, France’s Hugo Gaston, and Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan, all vying for the top prize at the prestigious Cricket Club of India.

Expressing his enthusiasm, Rohan Bopanna said, "I am thrilled to be a part of the Tennis Premier League, especially with its innovative 25-point format. It’s the perfect way to end the year. I believe tournaments like TPL, which actively contribute to grassroots development, will inspire more young players."

Commenting on Bopanna’s inclusion, TPL co-founder Kunal Thakur said, "Having Rohan Bopanna join us is fantastic. His credentials and abilities are undeniable, and we believe his presence will not only elevate TPL’s sixth season but also inspire other players, especially with a former World No. 1 on the court."

TPL co-founder Mrunal Jain added, "Rohan Bopanna is one of the icons of Indian tennis, and we are delighted to have him play in TPL Season 6. This will create a buzz not only in Mumbai but also across the tennis world. We look forward to some top-notch tennis from Rohan and the other players."

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes and ex-player, broadcaster and promoter Vijay Amritraj, become the first Asian men to be elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Paes, an 18-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles, has been selected in the Player Category while Amritraj are inductee in the Contributor Category, which is considered for election every two years, along with British journalist and historian Richard Evans.

The Contributor Category recognizes true pioneers, visionary leaders, or individuals/groups who have made a transcendent impact on the sport.

The official induction ceremony will take place on July 20, 2024 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Paes, Amritraj and Evans will join an elite group of 264 inductees from 27 nations – with India set to become the 28th nation represented in the Hall of Fame.

With eight doubles Grand Slam titles and 10 in mixed doubles, Paes is one of only three men in tennis history to capture a career Grand Slam in both disciplines. He won 55 doubles titles on tour and also spent a total of 462 weeks inside the ATP doubles top 10, including 37 weeks at No. 1.

"It has been my life’s honor to play for my country for over three decades in a sport that has given and taught me everything. This acknowledgment is indeed the ultimate accolade for every tennis player. Induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame belongs not just to me, but to our billion-plus Indians.

"Receiving this honor culminates a professional journey of a lifetime, standing on the shoulders of greats and sets the tone for other youngsters in Asia and around the world, Paes said.

Paes competed in a record seven consecutive Olympic Games, the most in tennis history, and is India’s only Olympic medalist in tennis, capturing bronze in singles at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Amritraj was one of India’s greatest players in the Open Era, anchoring India’s Davis Cup squad to its only two Finals appearances in 1974 and 1987; in 1974, he played a key role in India’s boycott of the Final against South Africa to demonstrate against Apartheid.

Post-retirement, he has become the face of tennis broadcasting in Asia and the Middle East.

Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who was a state level tennis player, along with his three children Ira, Junaid and Azad was seen at the Wimbledon finals at the All England Club in London.

Ira took to Instagram Stories and posted a selfie featuring all three of them from the match. 

The picture shows, Ira taking selfie as she sits next to her father. Azad and Junaid can be sitting beside Aamir.

For the caption, Ira just added a 'Centre court' sticker with #Wimbledon. 

Several personalities were seen attending the event such as Sonam Kapoor, Mohanlal, Nick Jonas, Brad Pitt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Emma Watson among many others.

London, July 16 (IANS) The Spanish world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz fought back from a set down to defeat Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller, claiming his maiden Wimbledon men's singles title, denying the Serbian legend a fifth consecutive crown at SW19 and prolonging his wait for a 24th major.

Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion after winning the title last year, came up with an inspired performance to overcome Djokovic for a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory that would now extend his stay at the top of the World Rankings.

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Alcaraz. “As I said before, of course, it’s great to win, but even if I had lost, I would be really proud of myself for this amazing run. Making history in this beautiful tournament, playing a final against a legend of our sport.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to play on these stages. It’s amazing for a boy, 20 years old, to reach this kind of situation really fast. I’m really, really proud of myself and the team that I have. The work we put in every day, to be able to lift this,” Alcaraz said in his post-match address.

Alcaraz recovered from a shaky start to deliver a high-quality championship-match display and become just the fifth man in the Open Era to win multiple major titles before turning 21.

With this win, Alcaraz snapped Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon with his four-hour, 42-minute victory. The 20-year-old, known for his huge groundstrokes and delicate touches, lit up the All England Club courts this fortnight and became just the fourth active male player to lift the trophy at the All England Club, after Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

It was a disappointing end for Djokovic after he came to Wimbledon after winning the Australian and French Open titles. Djokovic was trying to win his fifth successive crown at Wimbledon and an eighth title in the grass-court major to equal Roger Federer's record.

Seven-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic made a sizzling start in the final as he surged to a 5-0 lead and claimed the first set 6-1. But Alcaraz dug deep to clinch a crucial second-set tie-break. He then surged to a 2-1 lead and then Djokovic came back to level scores. Alcaraz however, held off a Djokovic comeback to claim the title. 

With the pair going toe to toe in a series of scintillating exchanges on the slick Wimbledon grass, their third ATP head-to-head encounter frequently had the crowd on its feet on Centre Court.

Djokovic got off to a brisk start when he converted two of his six break points to win the first set 6-1. Alcaraz, whose huge groundstrokes helped him reach his maiden Wimbledon final for the loss of just two sets, was unable to penetrate his opponent’s defence with any kind of regularity.

Alcaraz made a fast response, and he engineered one by claiming his first break of serve in the second game of the second set. It was just the fourth time that Djokovic dropped his serve. Djokovic immediately reasserted himself as he broke back in the following game, before crucially outlasting his younger opponent in a mesmerising 29-shot rally when breakpoint down at 1-2, 30/40.

The set went into a tiebreak in which Djokovic looked on course for his 15th consecutive tie-break win before Alcaraz held firm behind serve before powering a backhand return winner on his first set point.

Alcaraz continued his resurgence in the third set as he continued the momentum through to the third set as he continued to showcase his full repertoire of shotmaking. Alcaraz opened up a 3-1 lead with a single break as he combined his forehand power with some stunning deft touches to keep the pressure on Djokovic, who made 18 unforced errors to lose the third set 6-1.

Djokovic had no intention of fading away in his bid for a historic 24th major, however, and the Serbian raised his game again in the fourth set of what was rapidly becoming an all-time classic final on Centre Court. He recovered from 15/40 to hold in the second game but then rediscovered his rock-solid form from the first set, breaking Alcaraz twice to recapture the momentum and set up a one-set shootout for the title.

With the match going into the fifth set, Djokovic had the advantage because of his vast experience and success in Grand Slams. But Alcaraz let slip a breakpoint in the opening game and then found himself under pressure in the rally at 30/40 down in the next game. At such a pivotal moment, it was Alcaraz’s athletic ability while chasing a wide ball which came to his rescue, as he forced Djokovic to net a forehand drive volley on a high ball.

The 20-year-old Spaniard continued to persist and gained the crucial break of the final set. Alcaraz dropped just five further points on serve in the match as he completed a famous victory. 

Saskatoon (Canada), July 16 (IANS) India's Karman Kaur Thandi finished runner-up in the women's doubles event of the ITF W60 Saskatoon Challenger tennis tournament, here on Sunday.

The Indian paired with Canadian Stacey Fung in the 60000-dollar tournament. The pair lost to USA's Abigail Renchell and Alana Smith in a thrilling final in a super tiebreaker 6-4, 4-6, 7-10.

Karman and Stacey had earlier beaten the pair of Savanna Ly-Nguyen of Vietnam and Martina Okalova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2 in Round 1.

The pair created an upset in the quarterfinals, beating the No.1 seeded pair of Victoria Hu of USA and Renata Zarazua of Mexico in straight sets 7-6, 6-4. In the semifinals, they beat another American pair Carmen Corley and Ivana Corley 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 before going down fighting in the finals.

RoundGlass Tennis Academy athlete Karman is currently 233rd in the WTA singles rankings and is the second-ranked women's player in the country. Her current doubles ranking is 702. This is her second runner-up finish in recent months as she had also finished second in the W60 Sumter Palmetto Pro Open held in the US.

She has also been included in the Indian squad for the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.

Renowned coach and Technical Director of RoundGlass Tennis Academy, Aditya Sachdeva and his team have been training Karman at the Academy.

"Karman has been performing well in the ITF circuit in the last couple of months. She is showing good signs of progress towards her best form, and it will benefit Team India in the upcoming Asian Games. Her performance in Saskatoon is proof of her perseverance and hard work," said coach Sachdeva about Karman's performance.

Kuala Lumpur, May 26 (IANS) India's PV Sindhu and H.S Prannoy continued their magical runs at the Malaysia Masters 2023 badminton championship, storming into the semifinals with hard-fought victories in the quarterfinals here on Friday.

Sindhu and Prannoy, India's highest-ranked players in the women's and men's singles rankings respectively, were the only Indians remaining in the contention as Kidambi Srikanth's campaign ended in the quarterfinals, losing to Christian Adinata of Indonesia in three games.

Playing on Court 1 at Axiata Arena in the Malaysian capital, two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu won her quarter-final tie in a thrilling match against Zhang Yi Man of China 21-16, 13-21, 22-20. She will next face Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, who is ranked 9th in the BWF World Rankings, in the semifinals. Georgia stunned China's second-seeded Wang Zhi Yi 21-11, 21-14 in the first women's singles quarterfinal of the day.

In the men's singles, Prannoy continued his brilliant run in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event as he defeated Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 25-23, 18-21, 21-13 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he will face Christian Adinata of Indonesia.

Adinata got the better of India's Kidambi Srikanth, who won the first game and enjoyed a 15-13 lead in a neck-and-neck battle in the second before losing 16-21, 21-16, 11-21 in a 57 minutes encounter in which the Indonesian won 58 rallies as compared to 48 by the Indian.

In their quarterfinal clash on Friday, China's Zhang Yi Man got off to a good start and jumped to a 5-0 lead before Sindhu won her first point. However, the Indian shuttler, who won a silver in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and followed it up with a bronze in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, came back strongly to level scores at 10-10 before taking the lead.

Sindhu went ahead 15-11 and went on to win the opening game at 21-16. Zhang turned the tables in the second game as she took the lead at 4-3 before extending it to 10-3 and 15-9 as she went on to win the game 21-13.

the 27-year-old Sindhu took an early 5-1 lead but Zhang caught up with her at 12-12. She gained a tw0-point lead at 15-13. A neck-and-neck battle ensured before Sindhu got her first match point at 20-17. However, the Chinese player was not done yet and tied it at 20-20. But Sindhu won the next two points to win the game 22-20 and the match in 74 minutes.

In their men's singles quarterfinal, Prannoy conceded an early 0-3 lead but fought back to level at 5-5. Moshimoto won the next four points to make it 9-5 before the Indians caught up with him again and too lead at 13-12. The Indian shuttler maintained his lead as they reached 16-13 but his Japanese opponent earned a game point at 20-17. Prannoy saved it and then went on to win 25-23 after a keen tussle.

In the second game, after the two players fought hard for each point and remained neck-and-neck till 9-11, Nishimoto opened a 17-11 lead and though Prannoy cut the gap to 18-19, the Japanese shuttler won the next two points to win the game 21-18.

In the decider, Prannoy took the lead from 4-all and took the lead at 7-5 and extended it to 11-5. Nishimoto reduced the margin to 10-14, there was no denying Prannoy and the Indians went on to win the game 21-13 and sealed his place in the semifinal.

Bengaluru (IANS) India's Vaidehi Choudhari on Monday earned a singles main draw berth in the KPB Trust ITF Women's Open as six Indian players will compete in the $40K tournament at the KSLTA Stadium here.

Vaidehi, who was included in India's Fed Cup squad earlier on Monday, eased past Punnin Kovapitukted of Thailand 6-1, 6-2 in the final qualifying round. Vaidehi will face Indonesia's Madelyn Nugroho in the opening round of the main draw, which will start on Tuesday.

The tournament is part of the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour and it is hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).

Brenda Fruhvirtova, the 15-year-old from the Czech Republic, will be the top seed in the event and she will take on Taipei's Lee Ya-Hsuan, the organisers informed in a release on Monday.

Top-rated India player Ankita Raina, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, will face compatriot and wildcard entrant local girl Vanshita Pathania.

Sahaja Yamalapalli, another player who features in India's Fed Cup squad, will play Latvia's Diana Marcinkevica. Sahaja is also a wildcard entry along with Sharmada Balu of Karnataka and Zeel Desai. Rutuja Bhosale will also represent India in the singles.

Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, a former World No. 38, who has appeared in all four Grand Slams, will headline the doubles competition with her partner Amandine Hesse of France.

They will face the Indian duo of Vaidehi Chaudhari and B Srivalli.

New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) Tributes poured in for the former doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza, one of India's most celebrated athletes, after she retired from professional tennis at the age of 36, playing her last match in Dubai on Tuesday.

Mirza and her American women's doubles partner Madison Keys lost their Dubai Tennis Championships 2023 first-round match 4-6, 0-6 to Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova.

From Mirza's mixed doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom Sania won her first-ever Grand Slam in 2009 (Australian Open), to former India pacer Jhulan Goswami shared their reactions on social media to the Indian tennis icon's retirement.

Taking to Twitter, Bhupathi took a walk down the memory lane, sharing a picture from their Grand Slam win and said: "Welcome to retirement @MirzaSania you outdid yourself time and time again both on and off the court , Proud of you !!"

Goswami wished Mirza a happy retirement, calling her a role model and inspiration, "End of an era! Today #IndianTennis bids its goodbye to the icon who became a role model and inspiration for millions. Happy retirement @MirzaSania"

"Sania Mirza - An island of hope in a sea of mediocrity ... A story of hard work, grit, determination & dedication finally comes to an end. From an emerging Tennis star to one of India's national sports icons, thank you for all the memories & love..." All India tennis Association tweeted.

Women's Tennis Association said: "Six-time major champion, Former doubles World No.1 Congrats on a fantastic career"

Former India cricketer Rudra Pratap Singh wrote: "You are one of the finest athletes of this generation and have set a great benchmark so high with your extraordinary performances. Happiest retirement to you!"

Mirza, a six-time Grand Slam winner, has won 44 WTA titles in her career. Her last doubles triumph came at the Ostrava Open2021 in the Czech Republic, where she partnered with China's Zhang Shuai.

India tennis star wrapped up her legendary Grand slam career as Australian Open mixed doubles runner-up last month.