CHANDIGARH:?Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni handed India a convincing 2-0 lead on the opening day of their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania second round tie in Chandigarh on Friday. While Ramkumar had a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 win over Seong-Chan Hong in the opening rubber, Saketh outlasted Yong-Kyu Lim, quite literally, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 5-2.Indias decision to host the tie on grass proved to be a prudent one with the Koreans wilting under hostile weather conditions and an unfamiliar surface. Both the Korean players, Hong and Lim, stiff from spasms and visibly undone, conceded their respective matches against Ramkumar and Saketh respectively.While Saketh too battled spasms in the latter part of his rubber, what worked in his favour was that his opponent too was contending with a similar predicament. For one, it seemed bizzare that three out of the four players in action suffered from spasms. Thankfully India managed to limp to a lead. Unless something goes horribly wrong, the seasoned duo of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna should be able to comfortably wrap up the tie for India on Saturday and romp into the World Group playoff.Making his Davis Cup debut, 21 year-old Ramkumar, who has been training in Barcelona since the last five years, showed just why the faith reposed in him as Indias next best singles hope isnt misplaced. I think I handled the pressure well. I didnt allow it to get to me. Even if he had not conceded, I was confident of pulling it off, Ramkumar reflected after the match.Breaking his opponent, ranked No 427, in the seventh game of the first set, with a blistering forehand, Ramkumar nosed ahead to a 4-3 lead. Though there were occasions when his serve didnt seem menacing enough, like in the eighth game, where he was guilty of three double faults, the Chennai boy showed the heart and legs to take the first set 6-3.Defying forecasts, the rain gods chose not to mar play, with the sultry conditions seemingly sapping both players of power. Coming into the spotlight after upsetting Indias then No 1 singles Somdev Devvarman in the opening round of the Chennai Open in 2015, Ramkumar stepped it up from the third set, his serves landing deep and hard and the deft volleys leaving a tiring Hong scrambling all over the court.With Ramkumar serving for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, Hong shanked a double handed backhand into the mesh before bending over double, holding his right leg, in what appeared to be a spasm, in visible pain. Conceding the rubber within minutes, a grimacing Hong was carried away from the court by his teammate. Saketh, despite being in visible discomfort from the fag end of the third set, managed to pull himself through. Breaking Lim in the opening game of the fifth set proved to be crucial.Swallowing the pain, he held serve and broke Lim in the fifth game before racing to a 5-1 lead. At 5-2 with Saketh serving for the match, sapped of any power to cobble up a resistance, Lim fell on his back and lay motionless as the Indian camp erupted with joy. Patrick Laird Jersey . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Christian Wilkins Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. http://www.wholesaledolphinsjerseys.com/?tag=youth-chris-reed-jersey . 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Today, during Philadelphias practice, Simmons appeared on the floor, free of the moon boot and shot free throws.?That is significant, Brett Brown stated with matter-of-fact emphasis.Sixers fans worldwide refuse to get ahead of themselves with excitement, but Brown believes things are finally heading in the right direction for Simmons.?He walked out on the court in sneakers and he shot free throws, Brown said. So, that is significant to me. Youre like, I got yah. Here we go.Since beginning rehab a little over two months ago, Simmons and Brown have been conducting one-on-one tutoring sessions to develop his on-court game.We took him through, Here, you got the ball, youre the point guard, said Brown. What do you see? What do you do? What do I call this? What are the reads? What can he do?On Tuesday, Brown put Simmons through his first exam.We went through that for a half an hour [Tuesday] morning.From a non-medical standpoint and just his coach, the evoluttion that he and I have been able to have in a classroom and on a court, in talking things through over the past few months, is fantastic.ddddddddddddThe 76ers have been in this situation before, with a previous high draft pick limited to the moon boot and enduring endless rehab. Joel Embiid knows the heartaches and struggles that you go through during rehab, and he understands that shooting free throws without the boot means a lot to the individual.Definitely, he said Tuesday. I asked [Simmons] the first thing when I saw it, I was like, How do you feel? You could see that smile on his face.Embiid missed two seasons before finally making it onto the NBA floor, and he is now soaking up the limelight. After seeing Simmons on the practice floor, Embiid was optimistic about a potential return.Now, you can get back on the court, you can start doing more stuff, you can start shooting. It just frees you up, and Im sure hes happy about it.I got better. Im sure hes going to get better, too.Brown is not getting ahead of himself.Were all going to be just extremely careful; everybody needs to hear that, and we know that. Were going to be extremely careful with how his progression into the team goes.No matter how you look at it, Simmons is edging closer to his first professional game of basketball and all signs are pointing up. ' ' '