London: Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei are world and Asian champions and the new Olympic gold medalists " but they say their badminton partnership is just getting going. "This gold medal is the beginning of our career," Zhao said after their win in the mixed doubles final on Friday. The duo, who are a couple off court as well as on, easily handled second-ranked Xu Chen and Ma Jin 21-11,...
01:30 AM, Aug 04, 2012
Jwala Gutta is the second most famous name in Indian badminton right now after Saina Nehwal. She is big, she is strong and she is one of the contenders to get a medal for India in the doubles categories at the upcoming Olympics in London. Standing 5ft 10in, Jwala is a force both in women's doubles and mixed doubles. Though she has been playing for a long time, the 28-year-old...
04:29 PM, Jul 19, 2012
Wimbledon: Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina will have to wait for their first Grand Slam title together as they lost the closely fought Wimbledon mixed doubles summit clash to Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond, here on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Indo-Russian pair suffered a 3-6 7-5 4-6 defeat at the hands of second seed Americans after battling for two hours and four minutes. It is for the second time in this...
01:44 AM, Jul 09, 2012
Prague: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will team with countryman Radek Stepanek to play the mixed doubles at the London Olympics. Kvitova, who also considered Tomas Berdych as a partner, announced her plan on Friday. Stepanek won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open when he and Leander Paes of India won the doubles final. Kvitova said, "As an experienced doubles player, Radek will be the leader." Kvitova and...
08:35 PM, Feb 17, 2012
Karachi: They may no longer be partners on the international circuit but Pakistan's top tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has not given up on the idea of teaming up with India's Rohan Bopanna for a 'peace match' to bolster Indo-Pak ties. Bopanna and Qureshi parted ways after the Indian decided to team up with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi for this season. "We may no longer be playing as a doubles team but...
12:55 PM, Jan 31, 2012
Melbourne: A second title eluded Leander Paes at this year's Australian Open as he and Elena Vesnina ended runners-up in the mixed doubles event after being outplayed by Horia Tecau and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the summit clash in Melbourne on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Indo-Russian pair lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-10 to the eighth-seeded Romanian-American combination in one hour and 48 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena. Paes and Vesnina hit 14...
01:37 PM, Jan 29, 2012
Melbourne: India's veteran tennis ace Leander Paes created history by becoming the first Indian to complete a career Grand Slam of winning all the four Major titles by winning the Australian Open men's doubles event in Melbourne on Saturday. Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek thrashed world No.1 pair Mike and Bob Bryan from the US in straight sets in the final at the Rod Laver Arena. The Indo-Czech...
06:12 PM, Jan 28, 2012
Melbourne: Leander Paes is in line to win two Grand Slam titles as he and Elena Vesnina reached the mixed doubles summit clash even as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out after their semi-final defeat at the Australian Open on Friday. Fifth seeds Paes and Vesnina came from behind to tame a fighting Italian pair of Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in the semi-finals. Paes has...
03:34 PM, Jan 27, 2012
Melbourne: Sania Mirza yanks her thumb down to touch the underside of her forearm. "See?" she giggles. "I'm double-jointed." The 25-year-old Indian, whose tennis world ranking once rose as high as 27th in singles, has endured a torrid time with injuries that left her unable to hold cutlery properly let alone a racquet. The Mumbai native, who married former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik and is now based out of...
10:37 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Melbourne: Leander Paes had a great day at the Australian Open as he reached the final of the men's doubles pairing Radek Stepanek, and also made it to the mixed doubles semi-finals with Elena Vesnina in Melbourne on Thursday. The unseeded Indo-Czech pair of Paes and Stepanek fought brilliantly to come back from a set down and stun second seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canadian Daniel Nestor 2-6, 6-4,...
02:26 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Melbourne: Sania Mirza had a productive day at the Australian Open on Monday as the Indian ace reached the quarter-finals of both the women's doubles and the mixed doubles events with Elena Vesnina and Mahesh Bhupathi respectively. Sania and Bhupathi, the 2009 mixed doubles champions, came from behind to beat Czech Iveta Benesova and Austria's Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 in the second-round match. The sixth-seeded Indian team took one...
02:01 PM, Jan 23, 2012
Melbourne: India's veteran tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi slammed the All India Tennis Federation's (AITA) policies when it comes to pairing players for big international events. Bhupathi was baffled by the AITA's decision to pair Sania Mirza with Leander Paes for the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, even though he and Sania won the Australian Open mixed doubles title in 2009 and also reached the final once. Asked if he...
09:28 PM, Jan 19, 2012
Melbourne: The mixed doubles draw is a little more star-studded than usual at the Australian Open this year, all thanks to the upcoming London Olympics. Serena Williams and Andy Roddick are teaming up to get some practice just in case they decide to combine at the Olympics, where mixed doubles will be included as an event for the first time since 1924. Incredibly, the duo are not seeded and are...
07:24 PM, Jan 19, 2012
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