TENNIS – Bahrain’s Hashim Altoobli headlined an impressive campaign for the kingdom’s youth tennis national team in the Georgia Bowl by Ten-Pro tennis tournament held in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The competition was part of the Ten-Pro Global Junior Tour, and it featured youth players, both boys and girls, from around the world aged 16 years old and younger.
Each age category in the event was played in a different format, depending on the number of participants.
Altoobli clinched first place in the boys born 2010 age category at Mziuri Tennis Club in the Georgian capital.
He secured the title after winning all five of his matches in a single round-robin.
They included a 6-2, 3-0 (retired) victory over Kakhi Chigogidze of Georgia; a tough 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 triumph against Ashmik Mehngi of India; a 6-1, 6-0 decision against Data Chachua of Georgia; a walkover win against Atila Savas of Türkiye; and a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Semen Redko from Russia.
Also in Tbilisi, three other Bahrainis climbed the podium in their respective classes.
Abdulla Al Doseri finished as runner-up in the boys born 2011 class, Yousif Kamal took second in the boys born 2012 group, and Noor Husain was third in both the girls born 2015 and girls born 2016 divisions.
Al Doseri narrowly missed out on his title after losing to India’s Mehngi 1-6, 0-6 in their final.
Earlier, Al Doseri topped Group B in the preliminary round after winning two of his three matches.
He first came away with a 6-3, 2-1 (retired) result against Georgia’s Chigogidze, but then lost his next outing 3-6, 6-2, 6-10 in a tough clash against Luka Basiladze, also from Georgia.
Al Doseri then bounced back to beat Türkiye’s Savas 6-1, 6-3 to earn his place in the title-decider against Mehngi, who won all three of his Group A contests.
Kamal, meanwhile, lost in his final against Australian Jayden Rebello 7-6, 6-2.
He had booked his place in the championship match following a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Matvii Ukrainets from Ukraine in the semi-finals.
In the round of eight, Kamal battled back from a set down to defeat Ufuk Ozdemir of Türkiye 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 to march through.
Earlier in his division, Kamal opened his bid with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph against Gabriel Gabunia of Georgia, which he followed up with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Tanil Isguzar of Cyprus, earning him his spot in the quarters.
A number of other Bahraini youngsters also competed in the boys born 2012 age class alongside Kamal.
Amar Mazen, Abdulla Shaheen, and Isa Zuhair all made it to the last eight, while Al Doseri’s march was halted in round two.
On the distaff, Noor joined the top three in the girls born 2015 category after winning her third-place classification clash 6-3, 6-4 against Viktoriia Mesropova of Russia.
Earlier in the main draw, Noor lost 1-6, 1-6 to Uchechukwu Megan Uzokwe from Nigeria in the semi-finals, which followed her 6-1, 6-0 win against Elene Latatia of Georgia in the quarters.
In her opening round match, Noor dug deep to edge past Georgia’s Nutsa Lomtatidze 3-6, 6-4, 11-9, and then she outplayed Nina Gogiashvili, also of Georgia, 6-3, 6-3 in round two.
In the girls born 2016 age class, Noor won her third-place classification contest 6-4, 6-4 against Georgia’s Stefaniia Gogishvili.
She had bowed in the semis to Mariam Jorjikia, also from Georgia, 1-6, 2-6.
Noor earlier opened her campaign in the group with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph against Georgia’s Eva Jmukhadze and then beat Eva’s compatriot Sesili Tvauri 6-1, 6-0 in the quarter-finals.
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