Samira, Oktay claim upset wins

TDT | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Samira Rashidova and Ramazan Kaan Oktay claimed upset victories yesterday to advance to their respective singles semi-finals in the Bahrain International Tennis Federation (ITF) Juniors Championship 2024, currently being held at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) courts in Isa Town.

Samira took down girls’ second seed Yelena Lebeau of France 6-3, 6-3 to make it through to their final-four round. Oktay, meanwhile, stunned top seed Denis Vishenchuk Vishenko 6-3, 6-2 to march through to the boys' last four.

Tournament action continues today at the BTF, with the semis matches in both singles categories taking place, along with the finals in the doubles. Amongst the girls, Samira will next face off with fourth seed Milana Konovalova, who overcame a tough challenge from fifth seed Leah Baroudi of Syria 7-6 (4), 7-5. 

The other semi-final will be contested between Ioana Stefania Boian of Romania and seventh seed Irina Khayndrava. Ioana defeated Oliwia Kuszel of Poland 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; while Irina upset third seed Alina Sogomonyan of Armenia 7-5, 6-0.

On the distaff, sixth - seeded Oktay will now take on third Rafael Asadullin, who beat fifth seed Dev Kanbargimath of Romania 6-0, 6-3. In the other boys' last four contest, eighth seed Zaid Shelbaya of Jordan will play Khaled Ibrahim of Egypt.

Shelbaya ousted second seed Ilya Mosolkin 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to barge through, while Ibrahim beat seventh seed Utku Kerem Biberli of Turkey 6-2, 6-3.

Battle

In the doubles contests, the girls’ final will be a battle between the duos of Ioana and fellow-Romanian Simona Cucu and American Ava Khalil and Briton Casey Mauro.

Ava and Casey beat third seeds Irina and Alina 6-3, 6-3; while Ioana and Simona defeated fourth seeds Leah and Alisa Grinkevich 6-3, 6-3. In the boys’ doubles, the title will be contested between third seeds Biberli and Oktay and the pairing of Shelbaya and Austrian Hartmut Fiedler.

Bilberli and Oktay took down number one seeds Vishenko and Kanbargimath 6-4, 6-2; while Shelbaya and Fiedler beat second seeds Asadullin and Mosolkin 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in a super tie-break.

Today is the penultimate day of the tournament, which is a part of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors Calendar 2024. All are welcome to watch the matches at the BTF. The competition is a J30 event. It will be followed by another J30 event between February 26 and March 2, forming an impressive back-to-back of ITF juniors tournaments in the Kingdom.