Successful First Girls Tennis Event
Written by Ahmed I. Aleid Friday, 08 May 2009 00:00
The Gulf Youth Tennis Cup for Boys & Girls (14 & Under and 18 & Under) hosted by the Bahrain Tennis Federation, for the period from 01-08 May 2009, has witnessed the first Girls event organized by the Organizing Committee for Tennis in GCC.
Kuwait’s Nasser Al Obaidly last night clinched the under-14 boys singles title in the Gulf Youth Tennis Cup beating compatriot Abdulhameed Al Shati 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-0 at the Bahrain Tennis Federation courts in Isa Town.
Nasser, the tournament’s top seed, overcame a shaky start to get the better of his gritty opponent. He lost the close first set and won the second in fiercly contested tie-breaker. But Abdulhameed retired in the third set after just one game which he lost due to exhaustion. The two Kuwaitis reached the final after deservedly winning all their matches throughout this week-long tournament which was organised on the island for the first time.
Three other finals were also played yesterday and they were in the under-18 boys singles, under-14 girls singles and the under-18 girls singles. In the under-18 boys singles, seventh seed Kuwaiti Abdulrahman Al Awadhi was crowned champion after a 7-5, 6-4 win over sixth seed Mohammed Al Shati, also of Kuwait, in another highly-competitive encounter.
Fatima Al Janahi of the UAE took the under-14 singles title and Oman’s Fatima Al Nabhani followed suit by winning the under-18 trophy. Al Janahi proved too strong for her Qatari opponent Ola Basel whom she beat 6-1, 6-2 in the last and deciding match of this six-player round robin tournament to finish on top with 10 points from five successive victories.
Ceremony
Only four players were in the fray in the under-18 girls singles event which saw Al Nabhani defeat Bahraini Hadeel Ali 6-3, 6-0 to finish first with six points. The finals were followed by a prize giving ceremony which was held under the patronage of General Organisation for Youth and Sports (Goys) president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa. Shaikh Fawaz delegated Bahrain Olympic Committee general secretary Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa who presented trophies and other awards to the winners in presence of BTF officials and invited guests.
The awarding ceremony was also attended by BTF president H.H. Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, BOC General Secretary Shaikh Talal bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Organizing Committee for Tennis in GCC Secretary Abdulredha Algareeb, Goys’ clubs affairs director Abdulrahman Askar, Goys sports affairs director Abdulaziz Al Ashraf and tournament director Kamal Khonji.