BAHRAIN Tennis Academy (BTA) held its 14th Annual Junior Awards Ceremony at Dilmun Club in Saar.
Shortlisted players gathered to honour the most outstanding players of the season with 15 awards presented. The awards were split into two sections - ‘Best of 2016-17’ (11 categories) and ‘Player of the Year’ (four age groups).
Some of the categories included Best Forehand, Best Backhand, Most Improved Player and Best Sportsmanship.
Five players were short-listed for each award and then the winner was chosen based on the criteria for each category and also taking into account each player’s level and experience in the game.
Winners of the Player of the Year awards were Shakti Suryanarayan (six-and-under), Abdulaziz Al Betairi (eight-and under), Aadya Raju (10-and-under), Owen Verbeek (11-and-over).
Other category winners were Boudica Verbeek, Aiden Kadissi, Mohnish Bhadra, Salma Fares and Hani Halawani.
Long-time student, Abdulaziz Al Betairi, was the star of the ceremony. Apart from being crowned eight-and-under Player of the Year, he was nominated for nine of the other 11 categories and collected awards in three of them.
“This season saw our longest serving student, Owen Verbeek, move to France to train full-time at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. We hope his and others’ outstanding efforts will encourage more Bahrain-based players to strive to reach their full potential,” said BTA director Dan Barrie.
For more information on BTA’s junior programs, which will resume in September, contact dan@bahraintennisacademy.com.