Bahrain to host top tennis events

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Kingdom of Bahrain is set to host five major international tennis tournaments later this month and in November, the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) announced yesterday.

These events include Asia/ Oceania group competitions in the Billie Jean King Cup and the Davis Cup, as well as three successive International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior championships.

Each of the competitions will take place at the BTF hard courts in Isa Town.

First up is the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III, scheduled to be held from 17 to 21 October.

Fifteen women’s national teams from across the continent are expected to take part in the event.

They include Bhutan, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Vietnam and hosts Bahrain.

The Billie Jean King Cup is a leading global tournament between national teams in women’s tennis.

The competition in the Kingdom, which is being held for the second time, is a zonal competition, with teams playing for promotion to the higher-tier group.

Bahrain will then host the Asia/Oceania Group V matches in the 2023 Davis Cup.

This is slated for 23 to 30 October, with 13 countries in the fray.

They are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Tajikistan, Yemen and hosts Bahrain.

There will be four groups for the round-robin stage with the top team from each moving on to the play-off round.

Two winners will then be promoted to Group IV for next year’s Davis Cup competition.

Premier

The Davis Cup is one of the premier world competitions for men’s tennis, run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The Kingdom is hosting Asia/ Oceania group matches for the third successive year.

The Kingdom will then be staging three ITF junior competitions over three straight weeks.

Two of the championships will be J30 events, with the first being held from 30 October to 4 November, followed by a second from 6 November to 11 November.

The third, a J60 tournament, will then take place from 13 November to 18 November.

All three events are part of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors, featuring the world’s top tennis talents aged 13 to 18.

Each event in the Kingdom will feature play in boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles.

Each tournament’s name reflects the number of ranking points awarded to the singles winner of that particular event.

The ITF World Tennis Tour is the main artery to the ATP and WTA Tour. In 2022, the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors provided close to 800 tournament opportunities for aspiring young players.

BTF president Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa said that the Kingdom’s hosting of these major competitions enhances the position of Bahrain and the BTF as organisers and hosts in the world of sports, particularly in tennis.

He added that they will be a good opportunity for tennis fans on the island and in neighbouring countries to enjoy a high level of tennis.