TENNIS – Hajar Zaidan secured a match win for Bahrain yesterday as they completed their preliminary round schedule in the Billie Jean King Cup Group III Asia/Oceania Zone B, currently being played in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Zaidan defeated Tandin Tsheyang Wangmo of Bhutan 6-1, 6-3 to secure the first and only victory for the kingdom’s senior women’s tennis national team in their Group A schedule.
The Bahrainis were unable to build on Zaidan’s success, however, as they lost the other two matches in their clash against Bhutan, which ended 1-2 in their opponents’ favour.
Bahrain’s Gharam Alkhayat lost 0-6, 0-6 to Tenzin Wangsel Lhaden in the other singles affair, and then Zaidan and Eman Alzaimoor went down fighting against Tandin Dorji and Lhaden 6-4, 5-7, 11-13 in a tough doubles encounter.
Bahrain are skippered in this year’s Billie Jean King Cup Group III Asia/Oceania Zone B by Jameela Alnashaba.
Their 1-2 loss against Bhutan followed successive 0-3 defeats against the Maldives and hosts Pakistan.
The nationals will now be taking Kuwait today in the play-off for seventh place.
The Kuwaitis also lost all three of their matches in Group B.
Pakistan finished atop Group A with an undefeated record in three outings and will now battle Group B winners Iran, also unbeaten, in the promotion play-off for a place in Group II of Asia/Oceania for next year’s Billie Jean King Cup.
In the other classification contests, the Maldives play Jordan for third place and Bhutan take on Qatar for fifth.
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