Saudi Arabia revives hopes, Bahrain and Iraq out of Billie Jean King Cup race

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The Saudi national team revived its hopes of advancing to the decisive stage of the Billie Jean King Cup Asia Group III qualifiers by defeating our national team 3-0 in the third group match.

With this loss, our team has officially lost the chance to qualify for the next stage and compete for one of the two qualification spots for Group II next year. Meanwhile, the Saudi team will need to win its next match against Laos to remain in the qualification race with Laos and Turkmenistan.

Our player Hajar Zidan lost the first singles match to Saudi Arabia’s Dania Al-Zuhair 1-6, 2-6, while Haneen Al-Najjar also lost narrowly to Saudi Arabia’s Lara Bukhari 6-7(1), 3-6. In the doubles match, the Saudi pair Naya Al-Farouqi and Dania Al-Zuhair defeated our players Jennifer Heaton and Hajar Zidan 6-3, 6-4.

In another match in the same group, Laos extended its lead with a second consecutive win, defeating Turkmenistan 2-1.

Northern Mariana Islands Strengthen Their Group Lead

In another development, the Northern Mariana Islands team further solidified their lead in Group I. The team, making its debut in the tournament, secured their second win against Brunei with a 3-0 scoreline, bringing them one step closer to qualifying for the decisive stage for a chance at one of the two qualification spots for Group II next year.

In the first singles match, Harris from Northern Mariana Islands defeated Brunei’s D Lim 6-1, 6-2.

In the second singles match, Li extended her team’s lead by defeating Brunei’s Tan 6-0, 6-1. The Northern Mariana Islands’ duo Elliott and Raoulson won the doubles match against Brunei’s Lo and Zin 6-1, 6-2. In the same group, Vietnam secured its first win by defeating Macau 2-1, keeping their hopes alive for qualification to the semifinals.

Iraq’s Chances for Qualification End

In Group IV, Iraq officially lost its chance to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Asia Group III qualifiers semifinals after a 3-0 loss to Myanmar.

In the first singles match, Myanmar’s Win defeated Iraq’s Zaval Khalil 6-0, 6-0, while Iraq’s Shoger Tomasyan lost to Myanmar’s Mainth 1-6, 1-6. In the doubles match, Myanmar’s Wai and Zoon defeated Iraq’s Zaval Khalil and Shoger Tomasyan 6-0, 6-0.

In the same group, the Maldives continued to lead the group with a 3-0 win over Bhutan.