Two 10-year-old Bahraini girls have created history by becoming the first children from the GCC to be selected for the prestigious Smrikva Bowl Tournament which is held annually in Pula, Croatia.
“This is historic because it is the first time that young tennis players, of either gender, from the Middle East will be taking part in the tournament which is organised specifically for 10-year-olds,” Hussain Bader, father of little tennis prodigy, Sophia, told the GDN. “It is a huge deal for Sophia and Fatima Al Baajari, our other little champion, to have been selected to represent the kingdom in this one-of-a-kind tournament.”
Bader watched as his daughter and Al Baajari were put through their paces by their coach, Briton Joseph Henriques, at the tennis court in an upscale hotel in Zallaq.
Henriques, 62, played tennis professionally in the United Kingdom before switching to coaching about four decades ago. He moved to Bahrain in 2010 after being offered a coaching role at a local hotel and, soon afterwards, set up his own tennis academy which is where Bader and Al Baajari are enrolled.
“Breathe,” he instructed Al Baajari as she practised her back-hand off looping balls being fed to her across the net by Henrique’s assistant, Spaniard Nacho Melgarejo. “I want to hear you exclaim when you hit the ball.”
Al Baajari’s mother, Aysha Al Sinan, smiled, proudly, as she sat and watched her daughter try to execute what her coach was telling her to do.
Soon, it was Bader’s turn.
“Put your weight into the shot,” Henriques said, loudly. Bader leaned into her next forehand perfectly, eliciting a quick ‘Well done!’ from the coach.
First held in 1996, the week-long Smrikva Bowl Tournament, which will feature 64 players – 32 boys and 32 girls – aged 10 or under from across the globe, is scheduled to start on June 18. Both Bader and Al Baajari, Henriques said, were expected to perform well given that they have participated in tournaments in Bahrain which have pitted them against much older players – and exceeded expectations.
In late March, for example, Bader won the ‘Beginner’s Class’ of the Ladies Open Tennis Championship by defeating a much older opponent, Henriques added.
“Fatima, also, reached the semi-finals in her very first tournament,” he continued. “And she’s consistently made it to the last four of every tournament she’s participated in. So, yes, I expect both her and Sophia to really set the stage alight in both the singles matches they’ll play in Croatia, as well as the doubles they’ll partner in together.”
Soon, it was time for the two girls to take a breather.
“I took up tennis when I was five,” Bader said, confidently. “My father wanted me to take up a sport and I chose tennis.”
Al Baajari said she started playing tennis when she turned six.
“I really wanted to try a new sport,” she said. “I used to swim but I didn’t really like it. I thought of taking up running, but then my mum told me about tennis and told me to sign up for classes.”
Al Sinan, Al Baajari’s mother, laughed.
“I grew up in the ’90s, watching Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and the like,” she explained. “But we didn’t have any playing opportunities here then. So I watched a lot of tennis, but could never play. So, when I had my daughter, I wanted ‘her’ to play. And, now she does!”
Both little girls appeared to be good friends, giggling together as one cracked a joke.
“You’d be amazed to hear how they ended up being coached together,” Hussain Bader said. “It’s the most amazing story. Some time ago, I mentioned to a friend at the gym that my daughter was doing really well at tennis. He said he knew someone whose daughter was also pretty good at the game.
“Soon, Aysha got in touch through that friend and said it was her daughter. Then, it turned out that both our daughters were not just in the same school, but in the same class – and neither had any clue that they were both doing really well at tennis!”
The break was over and Henriques signalled to his two students that it was time to get back to practice.
“They’re very talented,” he mused as he watched first one girl, then the other, come on court to hit a few shots each. “But, if they want to become top-class athletes, it’s about more than just talent. They have to eat the right food, sleep enough and well, they have to focus on their studies, of course, and they have to work on their fitness.”
Henriques paused, just then, and smiled.
“And, of course, there’s me grinding them out on the tennis court,” he said, jokingly. “If they whimper, if they whine, I just ignore it and get them to realise their ambitions and nurture their talent.”
He trotted over to his wards and, soon, both the little girls were laughing along with their coach as he told them a funny anecdote.
“That is how a relationship should be between a coach and their players,” Hussain Bader said, as he watched Henriques demonstrate how to play a forehand to the two girls.
“They respect him and he makes it easy for them to understand what he wants them to do. I have no doubt in my mind that these two children will excel at Smrikva after the training they’re receiving.”
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