Bahrain handed tight opening defeat

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain suffered a narrow defeat to Myanmar yesterday in their opening Pool A match-up in Asia/Oceania Group V action of the 2023 Davis Cup.

The zonal event is being hosted in the Kingdom with matches being played at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) hard courts in Isa Town.

Elyas Abdulnabi gave the Bahrainis a promising start after defeating Myanmar’s My Paing Min 6-1, 6-3 in the first of two singles contests.

But then Bahrain’s Faris Altoobli bowed to Hein Latt Kyaw 1-6, 0-6 in the follow-up affair.

Then, in the doubles match, Elyas and Hasan Abdulnabi put in a tough fight against Min and Aung Myo Thant, but were dealt a tight defeat 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 4-6.

Following the loss, Bahrain will be hoping to bounce back when they take on their other Pool A opponent Bhutan in their next assignment.

Both Myanmar and Bhutan are also scheduled to face off.

In Pool B action, Qatar beat Nepal 2-1, while in Pool C, Mongolia won against the Maldives 2-1.

In Pool D yesterday, Laos swept Macau 3-0 while Tajikistan enjoyed a 2-1 triumph against Brunei.

Thirteen men’s national teams from across the continent are participating in the competition.

Following a single round-robin in this preliminary stage stage, the top team from each of the four groups move on to the playoff round.

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

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.

This year’s event is being held directly after the BTF’s hosting of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III matches last week.

The two tournaments will be followed by three successive International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior championships.

Two of these competitions 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 competitions 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