TENNIS – BAHRAIN were drawn in a tough group yesterday for the preliminary round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V 2025 tournament, which gets underway today at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) hard courts in Isa Town.
The event features 14 senior men’s national teams from across the continent, who will be vying for two available places in Asia/Oceania Group IV next year.
They have been divided into four groups for the opening stage of play, with Bahrain being slotted into Pool C alongside Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and Brunei.
Pool A features Laos, Yemen, and the Northern Mariana Islands; Pool B comprises Guam, Myanmar, and Mongolia; and Pool D is composed of the UAE, Macau, the Maldives and Tajikistan.
The draw took place at the BTF headquarters yesterday in the presence of BTF president Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, BTF secretary general and tournament director Fuad Al Rowaie, head referee Raouf Al Abdulsalam, and his assistant Sina Ebrahimi.
The participating national teams will play a single round-robin, after which the top sides from each pool move on to the play-offs for promotion.
During yesterday’s draw ceremony, Shaikh Abdulaziz welcomed the visiting national teams and assured them that the BTF is committed to providing all necessary resources to ensure their comfortable stay in the kingdom.
Shaikh Abdulaziz expressed his delight in the BTF’s success in securing the hosting of the tournament for the fourth successive year. The tennis chief wished all the competing players and their delegations success in their upcoming matches.
Bahrain’s squad features five players, spearheaded by veterans Yusuf Qaed and Elyas Abduljalil, who are taking to the court alongside up-and-coming young talents Faris Al Toobli, Ahmed Alsayed, and Sergiy Rafiee are also in the fray.
Qaed, Abduljalil, and Al Toobli were also part of the kingdom’s squad in 2024, when the Bahrainis narrowly missed out on booking their places in the higher tier.
Play is scheduled to begin today at 9.30am at the BTF.
This year’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV is part of a series of major international tennis events being hosted by the kingdom this month and next. Bahrain recently held competitions on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Following this week’s action, the kingdom will also stage an ATP Challenger Tour event from Sunday to November 29 at the Public Security Officers Club in Gudaibiya. It will be a category 50 competition featuring top professionals from around the world who will be vying for a share of the $60,000 in total prize money.
The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors will then be returning with three more events – two J30 tournaments from November 24 to 30 and from December 1 to 8, and then a J60 competition from December 8 to 14.
The Arab Elite Tennis Tournament will then take place from December 17 to 23 at the Public Security Officers Club, and the Arab U16 Tennis Championship will be held from December 18 to 24 at the BTF.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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