TENNIS – WANG Jiayi from China and Akhmadi Makhanov from Kazakhstan were crowned singles champions in the latest J30 Manama ITF Bahrain Juniors tournament, which came to a close at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) courts in Isa Town.
Third-seeded Wang secured the girls’ singles title after defeating seventh seed Stefania Kadzova from Russia 6-4, 6-2 in their final, while second-seeded Akhmadi captured the boys’ singles crown after top seed Javier Montes Jimenez from Spain retired in the second set while Akhmadi was leading 6-2, 2-0.
Meanwhile, the Russian pairings of Stefania and Sofia Lomakina and Iakov Mazin and Philip Smirnov were both crowned doubles champions in the competition.
Stefania and Sofia lived up to their billing as girls’ doubles number one seeds after beating compatriot Maria Nikolaeva and Lama Naaman from Lebanon 6-3, 6-7 (4), 13-11 in a hotly contested final, while Iakov and Philip claimed the boys’ doubled crown after winning via walkover against Akhmadi and fellow-Kazakh Nurdaulet Balkan.
Following the four title-deciders, the winners and runners-up were presented their respective trophies and medals by BTF secretary general Fuad Al Rowaie in the presence of other BTF and tournament officials.
The just-concluded J30 Manama ITF Bahrain Juniors tournament is part of this year’s International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour Juniors Calendar. It was the third of three ITF junior events hosted by the BTF this month, and the second J30 competition.
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