TENNIS – TURKISH player Ramadan Oktay was crowned the boys’ singles winner, while Romanian Ioana Pouyanne took the girls’ singles title yesterday, in the first International Tennis Federation (ITF) U-18 Championship for the J30 category, which was hosted by the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) at their courts in Isa Town.
BTF board members Mohammed Salman and Adnan Kamal, and the tournament’s chief referee Ahmed Al-Hawaj presented the champions and runners-up of the two competitions with their trophies.
In the boys’ singles final, Ramadan confirmed his superiority in the tournament by beating his Egyptian rival Khaled Ibrahim 6-1, 6-2.
Meanwhile, the girls’ singles final, which brought together Ioana and Russia’s Samira Rashidova, was a thrilling affair with the Romanian taking the first set 6-3. Samira fought back by winning the second set 6-3 setting the stage for the decider which Ioana won without sweating too much 6-0.
The qualifiers for the preliminary round of the second ITF Junior Championship, which will be hosted by the BTF until March 2, will be completed today, while the main round competitions begin tomorrow.
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