Bahrain went down 0-3 to Saudi Arabia despite stiff resistance by Ali Al Sharif in the under-18 section of the GCC Under-14 and Under-18 Tennis Championships on a rain-curtailed day at the Bahrain Tennis Federation courts in Isa Town yesterday.
Bahrain’s Ali got off to a fine start in the singles against Abdulla Tawfiq, almost snatching the first set from his Saudi opponent. Abdulla, however, bounced back to claim the match 7-5, 6-1.
In the other singles, Saud Al Haqbani blanked Mohammed Al Khan 6-0, 6-0.
Saudi Arabia won the doubles clash as well, with Saud and Sulaiman Al Musfer easing past Bahrain’s Mohammed and Adam Abdul Karim 6-1, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Kuwait registered a 3-0 win over Oman in the under-18 section.
Kuwait’s Isa beat Muneer Al Rowaihi 6-0, 6-2 and Bader Anter outplayed Azan Al Hajari 6-0, 6-0 in the singles while Fahd Al Dossary and Talal Anter defeated Muneer and Azan 6-1, 6-0 in the doubles.
Matches in the under-14 section were affected by intermittent rain with Qatar and Oman completing only a singles clash and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia abandoning their doubles encounter midway.
Qatar’s Ali Al Yaffi eased past Isa Al Sulaiman 6-2, 6-2 in the singles clash but Oman bounced back with Marwan Al Khanjary threatening to turn the tables on Nasser Al Yaffi in the other singles. Marwan snatched the first set 7-6(3) before going down narrowly in the second 6-7(5).
The third set was evenly poised at 3-3 when rain suspended the match.
Bahrain’s doubles match against Saudi Arabia in the under-14 section was also suspended with Mujtaba Ramadhan and Abdul Malik Al Zamrani leading 6-1, 1-0 against Shadi Munir and Isa Al Gattan.
In the singles, Mujtaba eased past Shadi 6-0, 6-0 while Abdul Malik held off Faris Al Toobli 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.