Bahrain went down fighting in their opening tie yesterday in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III 2024 tennis tournament.
Competing in Pool C, the Bahrainis fell 1-2 to Laos as the prestigious, 17-nation event got underway at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) courts in Isa Town.
In the first match of their clash, Bahrain’s Hajar Zaidan cruised past Laos’ Phonesamai Champamanivong 6-2, 6-0, but the visitors bounced back right after with Malaylack Delilah Pathummakuronen outplaying Haneen Alnajjar 6-0, 6-1. That set the stage for the decisive doubles encounter, which Laos were able to take with their pair of Champamanivong and Pathummakuronen, who defeated Bahrain’s Zaidan and Jennifer Heaton 6-1, 6-2.
In another divisional match-up yesterday, Turkmenistan edged Saudi Arabia 2-1.
Turkmenistan won their two singles matches, with Aisha Bikbulatova clawing past Daniya Alzuhair 6-4, 6-4 and then Ilima Guseynova beating Naya El Farouki 6-0, 6-4.
The Saudis got one match back in their doubles clash, where Alzuhair and Lara Bukary claimed a hard-earned 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 triumph against Rozhan Karajayeva and Sabrin Rahmanova.
Elsewhere yesterday, the Alex Eala-led Philippines swept past Guam 3-0 in Pool B. Eala powered to a 6-0, 6-0 result against Fremont Gibson in their singles battle. Nepal joined them as winners in their group, overcoming a tough challenge from Qatar 2-1.
In Pool D, Tajikistan beat Iraq 2-1, while Myanmar won 2-1 against the Maldives.
Tournament action continues today at the BTF. In Pool A, Brunei face Macau and Vietnam take on Northern Mariana Islands. In Pool B, the Philippines play Qatar and Nepal take on Guam. In Pool D, Tajikistan and Bhutan face off, while the Maldives lock horns with Iraq.
All are welcome to attend and watch the exciting action.
The Billie Jean King Cup is a leading global competition between national teams in women’s tennis. The kingdom is hosting a zonal group for the second straight year, and teams are playing for promotion to the higher tier for 2025.
The Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III event is the latest major international tennis competition being held in the kingdom over a period of several weeks. The others have included two International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour Junior J30 events – with a J60 event coming up early next month – and the just-concluded Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V, in which the Philippines and Nepal were able to gain promotion to next year’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
Top stories for today:
Visionary entrepreneur Farouk Almoayyed leaves lasting legacy
Two-shift system proposed for government servants
Marine unit inspected
&uuid=(email))