TENNIS – Bahrain were drawn in a tough Pool C yesterday for the preliminary round of the Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III tennis tournament, which gets underway today at the Bahrain Tennis Federation (BTF) courts in Isa Town.
The Billie Jean King Cup is a leading global competition between national teams in women’s tennis. The kingdom is hosting a zonal group for the second straight year, and teams are playing for promotion to the higher tier for 2025.
Seventeen nations are competing in Bahrain this year. They were divided into four groups in yesterday’s draw, which was attended by BTF secretary general Fuad Al Rowaie.
The Bahrainis are set to take on Laos, Turkmenistan, and Saudi Arabia in this opening phase.
The kingdom’s flag will be flown in the event by women’s national team players Hajar Zidane, Haneen Al Najjar, Jennifer Heaton, and Amina Abdulqader. They are coached by Karim Abdulredha.
“I’m very proud to be given the honour to play for my country alongside my teammates,” Zidane told the GDN.
“This is a great opportunity for us to face off with other countries so I’m quite excited about it.
“We’ve been preparing for this tournament for quite a while – whether it was working to improve our physical fitness or our mental capabilities and control.
“We’ve had unwavering support from our coaches and our families, and that has really allowed us to have the confidence to fully embrace this wonderful experience.”
Pool A features Vietnam, Brunei, Macau, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Pool B is composed of Guam, Qatar, Nepal, and the Philippines; while Pool D includes five teams, namely the Maldives, Tajikistan, Bhutan, Iraq, and Myanmar.
The Billie Jean King Cup Asia/Oceania Group III event is the latest major international tennis competition being held in the kingdom over the past several weeks.
The others have included two International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour Junior J30 events – with a J60 event coming up early next month – and the just-concluded Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group V, in which the Philippines and Nepal were able to gain promotion to next year’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV.
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