Bahrain dropped out of contention yesterday for the two promotional spots available in the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III 2024 tennis tournament, currently being hosted by the kingdom at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) courts in Isa Town.
The women’s tennis national team bowed to their counterparts from Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia 0-3 in their second Pool C match-up.
The loss was their second in as many outings after also going down to Laos in their opening assignment.
The Bahrainis needed to finish atop their group to earn a spot in the promotional play-offs for a chance to vie for a berth in next year’s Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group II.
They have just one more tie remaining in the competition, which will be today against Turkmenistan.
Against the Saudis yesterday, Bahrain tried valiantly to make the most of their home-court advantage but could not defeat their rivals. Hajar Zaidan lost the opening singles match 1-6, 2-6 to Saudi’s Daniya Alzuhair, and then Haneen Alnajjar went down fighting to Saudi’s Lara Bukary 6-7 (1), 3-6.
The hosts’ sweep was then completed when Zaidan and Jennifer Heaton lost to Alzuhair and Naya El Farouki 3-6, 4-6 in the lone doubles encounter.
Bahrain will be aiming to bounce back when they take on Turkmenistan today in their concluding assignment.
Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other Pool C fixture, Laos were 2-1 winners over the Turkmen to claim their second successive victory and rise to solo first place on the group table. Turkmenistan suffered their first loss after previously beating Saudi in their opening contest.
Also yesterday, Vietnam beat Macau 2-1 and the Northern Mariana Islands outplayed Brunei 3-0 in Pool A; and the Maldives defeated Bhutan 3-0 while Myanmar convincingly defeated Iraq 3-0.
Today, Pool C will also see Laos face Saudi; Guam lock horns with Qatar and the Philippines play Nepal in Pool B; and the Maldives take on Tajikistan while Bhutan take on Myanmar in Pool D.
The preliminary round concludes tomorrow, after which the four pool winners will face off in two promotional play-off matches on Saturday, the concluding day of the competition.
The Billie Jean King Cup is a leading international competition between national teams in women’s tennis. The kingdom is hosting a zonal group for the second straight year, and 17 participating nations are playing for promotion to the higher tier for 2025.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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