Bahrain is set to host a series of international tennis tournaments over the next several weeks, featuring top talents of various ages from around the world.
The competitions include three events on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour Juniors calendar, along with the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V, the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III, and Arab championships.
This was confirmed yesterday by the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF).
The ITF junior competitions include two J30 events and one J60 meeting. They will be showcasing some of the world’s leading players aged 13 to 18, with matches set to take place in boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles.
Each tournament’s name – J30 and J60 – reflects the number of ranking points awarded to the singles winner of that particular event.
The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors is the main artery to the ATP and WTA Tour, with hundreds of tournaments held across the globe for aspiring young players.
Bahrain’s first J30 competition gets underway today and continues until Saturday this weekend. The next tournament will also be a J30 event, taking place November 11 to 16. The third is a J60 event, scheduled for December 2 to 8.
Meanwhile, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V action will be held from November 20 to 23. Fifteen nations will be competing, and they will be hoping to finish as the top two and gain promotion to Asia/Oceania Group IV next year.
The participating countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Guam, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Northern Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen, and hosts Bahrain.
The Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III competition will be held from November 25 to 30. More details of the event will be announced soon, along with the Arab championship.
BTF president Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa expressed his pride in hosting the international competitions. Shaikh Abdulaziz said that Bahrain being given the rights to organise the events reflects the confidence of the ITF in the capabilities of the BTF and the federation’s commitment to providing the highest standards for the game.
In the first ITF event starting today, the highest-ranked entrant amongst the boys is Emirhan Bulut of Turkey, who is currently 393rd in the world. Shixun Zhu of China follows with an 884th world ranking, while Daksh Kukreti of India is third with a 1,435th world ranking.
A pair of Turkish youngsters are the top two entries amongst the girls. They include 817th-ranked Bahar Kilic and 916th-ranked Dicle Izgi. Fangyu Shuang of China, ranked 936th in the world, is third.
There are a number of Bahraini youngsters who are vying to secure places in the boys’ singles main draw as qualifiers. They include Talal Alsayed, Ali Basil Alkhayyat, and Abdulrahman Aldoseri.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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