i know the Games are finishing soon but i thought i would up date to what is happening in Doha!
Women
In the Singles, the established players in the top 100, Sania Mirza (4), Li Na(1) and Jie Zheng (2), Y.J.Chan, Akiko Nakamura (3), Tamarine Tanasugarn and Akiko Morigami were among the seeded players to compete in the tournament and the top 4 seeds were given a bye to the 2nd rd. There no shocks until the QFs.
In the QF's; Iroda Tulyaganova v Li Na; Suchanan Viratprasert v Sania Mirza; Tamarine Tanasugarn v Akiko Nakamura; Y.J.Chan v Jie Zheng.
Li Na who is apparantly injured(), battled past Tulyaganova in 3 sets (36 75 62), Sania Mirza had a comfortable win against Viratprasert (63 62), Nakamura won through retirement (there have been many before the QF!) and Zheng Jie was like Na, battled through by beating Chan in 3 sets, btw Chan is regarded as an upcoming player the first to do so out of Chinese Taipei!(i think!) and already in the top 100 at the age of 17).
Mirza, who is being trained by Heath Matthews (anyone heard of him?), is starting to make good progress in all areas of the game that needed to be improved, especially fitness-wise. According to WTAworld and some reports, she make less errors and playing smart tennis and some people on WTAworld believe she's heading in the right direction.
Right, onto the semi finals; Mirza was up against Li Na and Zheng Jie playing against Akiko Nakamura. Considering the season Mirza had, i thought she didnt have a chance against Li Na, BUT Mirza stunned Na emphatically winning 62 62 thanks to good tactics and Li Na errors! Jie Zheng won comfortably against Nakamura 63 62
So, tomorrow the gold medal match will be between Mirza and Zheng. Given the form Mirza has shown in the last few weeks, i think Mirza will win but it will tough as Zheng makes you work for and will get alot of balls back than Na.
Also, Greenleaf are you watching the tournament on TV and is Mirza mania buzzing again in India?
In the Womens Team event, China(1), India(4), Chinese Taipei(3) and Japan(2) had byes to the QFs. China the top seeds were knocked out by Uzbekistan that included Iroda Tulyaganova. The other 3 seeded teams won through with ease to the semi finals. India played Uzbekistan; Shika Uberoi, who partnered Mirza for India, won the 1st rubber after almost 3 hours before Mirza won with ease against Iroda Tulyaganova which lead India ran out as winners and into the final. Chinese Taipei shocked Japan and won to secure thier place in the final to decide the Gold medal. The final was delayed by a day due to rain (we all know hw that feels!). The tie was further disrupted by rain the next day, and match did not start till the evening!
In the final, after Shika Uberoi exploits in the previous round, she lost the first rubber, before Mirza hit back in straight sets (again) and lead to a decider in the doubles which was played till the early hours and bravely lost against Chinese Taipei, given they used an unknown in the doubles! So a silver medal to India.
I will discuss the mens later on....oh and the mixed!
Yeah, I am watching quite a bit of the tennis on TV. Mirza mania is always buzzing out here.
It'll be great for the country's sport if she cracks the top 20 someday. She really needs to work on her serve and fitness though. She can play great tennis when she's on form, like she did when she defeated Hingis and gave Dementieva close matches on three occasions this year. But she suffers from poor runs every now and then, when it becomes really frustrating to follow her.
In the Mens Single, the field was not as strong compared to the women, the top 8 seeds were ranked in the top 300. the top 4 seeds were; (1)Hyung T.Lee (2)H.Y.Lu (3)Daniel Udomchoke (4)Yeu.W.Wang.
All the top seeds progressed safely to the QFs except Rohan Bopanna(8). Top seed Hyung.T.Lee made the semi finals with ease, while Wang lost his QF in 3 sets to C.Mamit ranked 188 and seeded 6. Udomchoke also want to the distance by unheralded W.S.Jun of China but prevailed 7-6 36 63.However, H.Y Lu lost his QF against 5th seeded Soeda of Japan.
In the semis, Lee comfortably made the final of the mens single by beating 75 60 while Udomchoke was made to work hard to jusify his status as the 3rd seed by beating Soeda 6-0 2-6 6-2.
The final for the gold match will be between Lee and Udomchoke to played tomorrow afternoon Qatar time (we're 3 hrs behind).
Mixed Doubles, the top seeds are Sania Mirza and Leander Paes (India)[1][won bronze in last Games],Shika Uberoi(IND) and Mahesh Bhupati[2], H.Y.Lu and Hsieh S.W. (Chin.TPE)[3] and Yu. X. and T.Sun[4]. Again the top 4 seeds were given byes into the last 16 of the tournament.
Once the round of 16 were under way, all the top 8 seeds made the QFs except the second seeds, Shika Uberoi and Mahesh Bhupati who were knocked out by Ratiwatana and Viratsapert of Thailand. Uberoi looked like the weakest considering the number of matches and that marathon one she played prior to this match.
The Thailand underdogs were no match for Japanese double players seeded 7th in the QF and lost 64 63, while the top seeds also come through unscathed to progress to the semi finals. In the semis, Japan (Akiko Morigami and Satoshi Iwabuchi) shocked third seeds Chinese Taipei by winning in straight sets and reach the final of the mixed doubles. Meanwhile the top seeds had a battle on thier hands against the Chinese pair seeded 4th, the first 2 sets were tied but India upped thier level and prevailed 63 26 61.
The gold medal match will be between India and Japan with Sania having a chance to add to India medal haul by collecting 2 gold medals
India have won their 2nd match in a row and on course for the final. Mirza won, with Bopanna losing bravely in 2 tiebreaks. Both combined to win a Champions tiebreak 10-8!
With Spain second after one win and losing to Czech Republic, they have to beat India 3-0to win Group B. Obviously, if India win the tie outright then they go through. BUt if they lose and win a rubber, i think it still enough.
However, Czech Republic got a slim chance, if they beat Croatia 3-0 and Spain win 2-1, then they could go through.
In Group A, France have 2 wins, with Russia second (1W 1L) tied with Australia. USA are out. Russia can win the group if they beat France 3-0, otherwise France will win the group by winnig one rubber.
MODS: is it possible to delete all the posts not related to the Hopman Cup. thanks
), battled past Tulyaganova in 3 sets (36 75 62), Sania Mirza had a comfortable win against Viratprasert (63 62), Nakamura won through retirement (there have been many before the QF!) and Zheng Jie was like Na, battled through by beating Chan in 3 sets, btw Chan is regarded as an upcoming player the first to do so out of Chinese Taipei!(i think!) and already in the top 100 at the age of 17).
), is starting to make good progress in all areas of the game that needed to be improved, especially fitness-wise. According to WTAworld and some reports, she make less errors and playing smart tennis and some people on WTAworld believe she's heading in the right direction.
, BUT Mirza stunned Na emphatically winning 62 62 thanks to good tactics and Li Na errors! Jie Zheng won comfortably against Nakamura 63 62
So a silver medal to India.
