A combination of talent and confidence is quintessential to thrive in the demanding professional circuit and Yuki Bhambri is full of both as he avowed that he is capable of winning an ATP World Tour title.
Yuki broke into top-100 in 2015 but injury halted his progress further.
He did not play many big events in the 2017 season but the 25-year-old Delhi lad ended the year strongly by winning the Pune Challenger and finishing a semi-finalist at the Bengaluru Open.
The 2017 season also brought the biggest win of Bhambri's career when he scalped world number 22 Frenchman Gael Monfils at the Citi Open, where he reached the quarter-finals after qualifying for the ATP 500 event.
Winning five matches in a row is what he needs to grab a title on the ATP World tour.
"The key is to play as much possible and play bigger tournaments. I had a few quarter-finals (on ATP World Tour).
You have to focus on every match (to win title) whether it's an ATP or a Challenger or an ITF Futures. If you ask me whether I am capable of winning an ATP event, I would say yes I am," Yuki said, brimming with confidence.
Yuki has long been India's big hope after winning the junior Australian Open in 2009 and prestigious Orange Bowl in the same year but consistent success at the highest level is yet to arrive.
As the new season begins Monday with the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, Yuki said he is ready for the big leap.
To prepare for the fresh season and challenges ahead, Yuki had spent some quality time in Bangkok where he trained under renowned coach Stephen Koon in the company of top Asian players.
"I spent my off-season in Bangkok. All the top Asian players from Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Georgia were there. It was a good group, good weather, similar to Australia. We had trained together last year as well and decided to come back again," he said.
Asked to elaborate on the training, Yuki said, it was more about "maintaining myself."
"I tried to find ways to push in every set but at the same time not to overload and make sure we are improving but not doing too much.
"There were little, little improvements in every sphere, the backhand, the forehand. Forehand is a bit harder now.
"There is better concentration and better intensity," Yuki explained.
Players usually are nervy for the first match of the season but Yuki is taking the pressure in a positive way to justify the wild card entry given to him along with Ramkumar Ramanathan.
"I have not seen it like this it is the first match.
Every match we play, is important. Preparation is same. It takes time when you comeback from a break. Hopefully, the sharpness will be there," he said.
"It will be good for my confidence to start well but it's a long season. It's not a do or die situation. I have 25 tournaments to play. Hopefully I will start well but not overthink about it."
And he is going to a place where he is unbeaten since October 2015. Yuki won the KPIT Challenger at Balewadi in 2015, which helped him re-enter the top-100 and also last month he won the title, which helped him finish the season close to top-100.
However, Yuki, now ranked 116, said past records won't matter much since the stage is bigger.
"I have done well but it will be different. The courts will be re-surfaced, they will be slower and conditions will be different," he said.
He also expressed satisfaction that the tournament- deprived country has not lost out on this ATP 250 event after Chennai Open organisers backed off due to financial issues.
"Good to have Pune taking it up and we have not lost it (the tournament)," he said.
After winning the Pune Challenger, Yuki had lost to young sensation Sumit Nagal in the semi-finals of the Bengaluru Open.
Asked to reflect on that defeat against a young compatriot, Yuki said: "I have already forgotten. We try and learn from mistakes and come back stronger."
Asked specifically if he played bad or Nagal played extremely well, Yuki said, "A combination of both."
"It was tough and the court was also different and Sumit deserved to win that day," he signed off.
The pair of Yuki Bhambri and New Zealand's Michael Venus lost 7-6 (2) 6-7 (5) 4-6 to sixth seeds Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury of UK. (Photo: Getty Images)
INDIA's Yuki Bhambri ended his campaign at the US Open men’s doubles with a semifinal finish, partnering Michael Venus. It was Bhambri’s best performance at a Grand Slam tournament.
The pair lost 7-6 (2) 6-7 (5) 4-6 to sixth seeds Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain.
Bhambri, 33, became the fourth Indian man in the Open era to reach a Grand Slam doubles semifinal, following Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.
The Indian-New Zealand team had a strong run at Flushing Meadows, defeating several higher-seeded pairs on their way to the last four. Their wins included fourth seeds Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz of Germany, and 11th seeds Rajeev Ram and Nikola Mektic.
"This has been a special week for me. To be playing at this level and in the semifinal of a Slam is a big moment," Bhambri said after the match. His run comes during a good phase for Indian tennis, with Rohan Bopanna also producing consistent results on the doubles circuit.
For Bhambri, who has faced multiple injuries in his career, the result marks an important step in his progress in doubles.
The semifinal finish will give Bhambri a boost in rankings and confidence for the rest of the season.
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Migrants swim to board a smugglers' boat in order to attempt crossing the English channel off the beach of Audresselles, northern France. (Photo: Getty Images)
Refugee family reunion scheme suspended as part of migration reforms
Nearly 21,000 visas issued in the past year, mainly to women and children
New rules to include contribution requirements and longer waiting periods
Government expects first migrant returns to France later this month
THE GOVERNMENT has announced it is suspending a scheme that allowed families of refugees in the UK to apply to join their relatives, as part of efforts to cut irregular migration.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament on Monday that new applications under the refugee family reunion route would be “temporarily” paused while the system is reformed.
“We do need to address the immediate pressures on local authorities and the risks from criminal gangs using family reunion as a pull factor to encourage more people onto dangerous boats,” she said.
Nearly 21,000 visas issued in a year
Home Office figures released earlier this month showed almost 21,000 refugee family reunion visas were granted in the year to June 2025. The majority were issued to women and children.
Cooper said the suspension is ahead of wider reforms due later this year. These will examine “contribution requirements” for family members and “longer periods before newly granted refugees can apply”.
“Until the new framework is introduced, refugees will be covered by the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else,” she said.
Immigration concerns rising
An Ipsos survey published last month found immigration is currently the top concern for Britons, ahead of the economy and the National Health Service.
Over 111,000 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number since records began in 2001, according to Home Office data.
Since Keir Starmer became prime minister in July 2024, more than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel from northern France. Similar crossings also took place under the previous Conservative government.
The arrivals have fuelled discontent that has been tapped into by Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, which has overtaken Labour in national opinion polls.
Deal with France
Cooper said the government expects to return the first migrants to France “later this month” under a new agreement.
Under the “one-in, one-out” deal, the UK can send back to France some migrants who crossed the Channel, while accepting the same number of migrants from France who can apply for a visa through an online system. Priority will be given to vulnerable nationalities and those with ties in Britain.
“We expect the first returns to begin later this month,” Cooper said.
“Applications have also been opened for the reciprocal legal route, with the first cases under consideration subject to strict security checks,” she added.
Reform’s challenge to Labour
Reform UK has led Labour in opinion polls for several months, though the next general election is not due until 2029.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Angela Rayner arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on September 2, 2025. (Photo credit: Reuters)
DEPUTY prime minister Angela Rayner is awaiting the outcome of an investigation into her underpayment of stamp duty on a property in East Sussex, with the findings expected soon.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said he anticipated the report, led by ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, would be delivered “pretty quickly.” He added: “Then, of course, I will act on whatever the report is that's put in front of me.”
Rayner admitted she did not pay the correct tax on an £800,000 flat in Hove. She paid £30,000 in stamp duty after listing it as her main residence. However, as she co-owned another property, she should have paid the higher “second home” rate of £70,000, according to BBC.
The Times reported that Rayner’s lawyers said they had not given her any tax advice and were being made “scapegoats,” contradicting her earlier claim that she had acted on advice.
BBC reported that her allies said she had consulted a conveyancer and two trust law experts.
Starmer’s spokesperson condemned vandalism at Rayner’s Hove property, where “tax evader” had been spray-painted.
“Whatever scrutiny our parliamentarians may face, it is appalling that their private homes should be targeted in this way,” the spokesperson said.
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DIVISIVE AGENDA:Police clash withprotesters outside Epping councilafter a march from the Bell Hotelhousing asylum seekers last Sunday(31)
August is dubbed 'the silly season’ as the media must fill the airwaves with little going on. But there was a more sinister undertone to how that vacation news vacuum got filled this year. The recurring story of the political summer was the populist right’s confidence in setting the agenda and the anxiety of opponents about how to respond.
Tensions were simmering over asylum. Yet frequent predictions of mass unrest failed to materialise. The patchwork of local protests and counter-protests had a strikingly different geography to last summer. The sporadic efforts of disorder came in the affluent southern suburbs of Epping and Hillingdon, Canary Wharf and Cheshunt with no disorder and few large protests in the thirty towns that saw riots last August. Prosecutions, removing local ringleaders, deter. Local cohesion has been a higher priority where violence broke out than everywhere else. Hotel use for asylum has halved - and is more common in the south. The Home Office went to court to keep asylum seekers in Epping’s Bell Hotel, for now, yet stresses its goal to stop using hotels by 2029. The Refugee Council’s pragmatic suggestion of giving time-limited leave to remain to asylum seekers from the five most dangerous countries could halve the need for hotels within months.
The drumbeat from hyping up the asylum protests helped those trying to shift the political argument to the right. Reform leader Nigel Farage set out his plans on asylum: to abolish it entirely. Any asylum seekers who did arrive would be sent somewhere, anywhere else - perhaps to a faraway island, or back to the regimes they had fled. Farage’s opponents offered the most muted criticism. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch declared he had copied the Conservatives’ homework. The government’s main point was that Farage had not shown how it would all work in practice. The Taliban said they would be delighted for Farage to deliver those who had fled their persecution back into their clutches - and would hardly need a cash bribe, too. Opinion polls showing broad public revulsion at this idea might yet encourage opponents to challenge the principles, not just the practicalities, of Reform’s plans.
A year ago, Farage said he would not pitch ‘mass deportation’ plans that were impossible to deliver. Doing exactly that, his former MP Rupert Lowe declared this a victory for the online right - but said he would keep pushing for a ‘proper deportations’ plan to remove many millions of legal migrants too. An increasingly radicalised Elon Musk critiqued Farage’s plans as “weak sauce”, promoting Tommy Robinson’s far right street protests and even the furthest right factions who decry Robinson for not advocating the forced deportation of British-born minorities too. Even as Musk shows no limits to which racists he will personally promote, the government stays mute on an epidemic of online racism. It is a strange world where the expectations we place on every primary and secondary school on British values, tolerance, respect and the rule of law go out of the window when the world’s richest man promotes neo-Nazis. If the government cannot find a voice to challenge racism, it can expect no credibility when it talks about community cohesion from ethnic minority Britons - nor, I would hope, from many of our fellow citizens too.
It was a summer when flags could be symbols of both pride and prejudice. We wore red and white face-paint in the Katwala household to cheer England’s Lionesses to winning the women’s Euros. The St George’s bunting in our High Street in Dartford has a welcoming intent, but the red paint crosses daubed messily on our street sign send a more intimidating message. An important British ethnic minority response - from the Windrush onwards - to those questioning our status as British has been that the racists should try to learn a little bit more of the history of our country. We should be loath to let our national flags be claimed as symbols of exclusion, by those of all ethnicities and faiths doing more to say and show what they can mean when we fly them together.
That depends on preventing the populist right setting the agenda by default. The irony of Farage being dubbed a populist is that he is often on the unpopular side of most major issues - slashing public spending, scrapping human rights, ditching closer UK-EU post-Brexit links, or not bothering about climate change. Yet Farage often speaks much more confidently for what a quarter of the public think than those who could try to mobilise the anti-populist majority. So the stakes are high for prime minister Sir Keir Starmer this autumn. If Starmer does not find a stronger response, populism may turn out to be more than a passing storm, exposing a lack of strategy, leadership, and ethics that could prove fatal for this government.
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Geeta Basra returns with Meher after a decade away from films
British-born actress Geeta Basra makes a powerful return to the screen with the Punjabi film Meher after a decade away.
She reveals the industry once dropped her for getting married but now celebrates women balancing career and family.
Basra plays a relatable matriarch and describes the project as a “dream role” that mirrors her own life.
Meher is a large-scale cinematic experience shot in unique locations like Manikaran, designed for the big screen.
After a decade away building a family and a life outside cinema, British-born actress Geeta Basra is back with the Punjabi drama Meher, and this time, she’s rewriting the rules for married women on screen. For the mother-of-two, this isn’t just about returning to acting, it’s about challenging how the industry views married women and mothers while spotlighting the women who have inspired her own journey.
In an exclusive interview with Eastern Eye, Geeta opens up about her comeback, her inspirations, the shift in opportunities for women, and why this family drama feels so personal.
Geeta Basra returns with Meher after a decade away from films Instagram/geetabasra
A dream role that feels personal
Basra chose Meher with care, calling it her “dream role.” The film is a richly woven family drama rooted in rural Punjab. She plays Simmi, the "epicentre" of her family, a relatable figure who binds everyone together through love, betrayal, and emotional upheaval. The film explores hardships not only between husband and wife but also through multiple family dynamics, including a surprising “bromance” between male characters.
“As mothers, our instincts are so similar,” Basra explains. Just as important, it was a film she could proudly share with her children. “I picked this role very carefully, for something my family can watch,” she admits. For her, stepping into Meher feels like one of the defining moments of her career.
If Basra’s character draws from her instincts as a mother, her real-life inspiration comes from the women around her. “My mother is my first and foremost inspiration in life,” she says warmly. “Seeing how she balanced her businesses while raising three children makes me want to do better every day. Different people inspire me at different points, but my mother has always been my guiding light.”
She also points to the resilience of ordinary women as her motivation. “Seeing women multitask, balancing life, work, children, and family is incredibly motivational. Before, women were often written off after marriage and motherhood, but today, we have the opportunity to pursue our dreams. Seeing my daughter proud of me for following my passion inspires me to do even better.”
Meher marks Geeta Basra’s powerful comeback to Punjabi cinemaInstagram/geetabasra
Proudly Punjabi
For a British-born actress, questions of authenticity in playing a rural Punjabi woman were inevitable. But Basra is quick to dismiss them. “We are so rooted to our roots,” she says. “I’m now Punjab ki bahu. It’s my second home. I am Punjabi, and I’m a very proud Punjabi.” She didn’t need to study the role, she’s lived it.
Basra insists that the presence of women in production roles is just as crucial as those in front of the camera. Meher is produced by Kamal Kaur, one of the few women at the helm of large-scale Punjabi projects. “When women greenlight projects, they greenlight stories that reflect reality, stories where women aren’t sidelined after marriage but are centred,” Basra says. For her, that representation is both rare and revolutionary.
Geeta Basra says motherhood is her strength, not a setback in filmsInstagram/geetabasra
Redefining the rules for married actresses
The industry she left was far less forgiving. Basra recalls being dropped from four major films simply because she was linked to her now-husband, cricketer Harbhajan Singh. “It was either this or that. Never this and that,” she remembers. For women, the choice used to be family or fame. Today, she is headlining a major project while raising two children, something that once seemed impossible. “It’s commendable and remarkable,” she says of the change, though she emphasises much more work remains.
British-born Geeta Basra opens up on comeback film MeherInstagram/geetabasra
What’s next for Geeta Basra
With the “seal broken” on her comeback, Basra is determined to push further. She wants content-driven films that showcase her versatility, recalling how her career has already spanned everything from a bold debut to playing a villain. “I don’t want to bind myself to one kind of role,” she insists. Her only filter now is simple: would her family be proud to watch it? With several projects already lined up, she intends to make sure the answer is yes.
For Basra, Meher is also a reflection of where Punjabi cinema is heading: bigger in scale, richer in music, and designed for the cinematic experience. But she wants that ambition matched with better stories for women, especially mothers. “Women can also have a career. Women can also work after marriage,” she stresses.
Geeta Basra’s message is clear: experience is not a liability. It’s her strength. With Meher, she’s redefining what it means for women to lead on screen. And for Geeta Basra, this is only the beginning.