Action hots up in ITF
Manama : Four players qualified yesterday for the Women’s Singles Main Draw in the Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament 2018, being played at Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) in Juffair.
Lana Macukat of Serbia, Gerda Zykute of Lithuania, Claudia Williams of New Zealand and Ashmitha Easwaramurthi of India all won their respective qualifying matches yesterday to secure their berths in the tournament proper, which begins tomorrow.
They will be joined by another four women’s qualifiers, who will be known by today night following the second and last day of this ongoing stage. Matches begin at 3pm and all are welcome to BTC to watch the high level of tennis.
Also taking place were matches in the Men’s Qualifying Draw. It was the first day of action at the hard courts of BTC, and fans were treated to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s most prestigious tennis championship.
The Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament is being held under the patronage of His Majesty the King’s Charity Works and Youth Affairs Representative, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. It is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and is sponsored by E K Kanoo and Bahrain Duty Free.
Eight spots in each of the women’s and men’s main draws are up for the taking in qualifying. Macukat punched her ticket after defeating Nazli Nader Redha of Bahrain 6-0, 6-0. Zykute followed suit with her own 6-0, 6-0 win against Chloe McHenry, also of Bahrain. Easwaramurthi also enjoyed a straight-sets win in advancing to the Main Draw. She beat fellow-Indian Kalpaka Pradip 6-0, 6-0.
Williams, on the other hand, was made to sweat in her match against Sofia Sabljarevic of Serbia. The hotly contested affair lasted over two hours, and Williams narrowly came out on the winning end with a final score of 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Meanwhile, winners of yesterday’s matches amongst the men moved on to the second round of qualifying and they kept their hopes alive for a berth in the main draw.
From the four Bahrainis who started the day in the men’s qualifying draw, only Hasan Alqattan remained with a chance to book a berth in the main tournament.
Alqattan beat countryman Ammar Al Shaikh 6-0, 6-0 in their match today. The homegrown talent will now face third seed Jeson Patrombon of the Philippines in a do-or-die affair.
Bahrain’s Hamad Abdula’al was beaten by Anton Herasimchuk of Belarus. Herasimchuk won 6-2, 6-3 and will now face qualifying’s second seed Palaphoom Kovapitukted of Thailand.
Jan Godfrey Seno, another player from the Philippines, beat Hasan Abdulnabi of Bahrain 6-2, 6-4. Seno now faces sixth seed Pak Long Yeoung of Taipei.
Janji Soquino, also from the Philippines, defeated Valentin De Carvalho of Portugal 6-3, 6-3; while Alexander Gornet of the US beat Eric Lavaud of France 6-0, 6-0. Soquino and Gornet now face off against one another in round two.
Emir Isik of Turkey beat Avneet Singh of India 6-1, 6-2. Isik now takes on Mohamed Adnaor of Morocco, who had a bye from the opening round.
Dusan Lojda of the Czech Republic outplayed Saleh Almatar of Saudi Arabia 6-0, 6-0. Lojda now takes on fifth seed Patrick Mayer of Germany. Rahul Jaideep of India beat Pierre Gimla of France 6-1, 6-0. Jaideep will now face fourth seed Robert Galloway of the US.
Omar Alawadhi of the UAE beat Mikhail Galyamov of Russia 6-4, 6-2. Omar now moves on to face qualifying’s top seed Niklas Johansson of Sweden in the second round for a berth in the Men’s Singles Main Draw.
This year’s Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament features a total prize fund of a staggering $30,000 for both competitions.
Players from more than 50 nations have registered to compete.
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