Yesterday, Thursday, six matches were held on the second day of the Asian Zone Group III Qualifiers for the Billie Jean King Cup, hosted by the Bahrain Tennis Federation at the University of Bahrain in Isa Town.
The second day witnessed a series of strong matches between the participating teams, shedding light on the competing teams’ prospects for topping the four groups and qualifying for the final round to secure the two promotion spots to the Asian Zone Group II next year.
Our national team missed the opportunity to compete for one of the qualifying spots after suffering their second consecutive loss against the Laos team with a score of 3-0 in Group 4.
Bahrain’s player, Hajar Zaidan, put up a strong match against Laos’ player, Phonethip Vongphosy, in the first singles match, but narrowly lost 6-3, 6-4. In the second singles match, Laos’ player defeated Bahrain’s player, Salma Faraj Allah, with a score of 6-0, 6-0, securing a victory for her team. In the doubles match, Laos’ pair, Fongsamouth and Thirada, managed to defeat Bahrain’s pair narrowly, Haneen Al-Najjar and Salma Faraj Allah, with a score of 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
On the other hand, the Qatari team achieved their second consecutive victory in Group 3, surpassing the Tajikistan team with a score of 3-0 to top the group.
Qatari player Khadija Guesmi secured the lead for her team with a victory over Tajikistan’s player Amina Khashimova with a score of 6-0, 6-0 in the first singles match. Additionally, Qatari player Mubarak Al-Naimi contributed to Qatar’s win by defeating Tajikistan’s player Malika Rahimova with a score of 6-0, 6-0 in the second singles match. In the doubles match, Qatar’s pair, Safiya Al Thani and Shaikha Khalifa, won against Tajikistan’s pair, Khashimova and Rahimova a score of 6-0, 6-0.
In the same group, Nepal secured the top position alongside Qatar with a 3-0 victory over Brunei. This was the second consecutive win for the Nepali team.
Nepal’s player, Sonera Thapa, had no difficulty defeating her Bruneian opponent in the first singles match, winning with a score of 6-0, 6-1. Her teammate, Abhilasha Bista, also won easily against the Bruneian player in the second singles match with the same score of 6-0, 6-0. The Nepali pair, Bista, and Rana, confirmed their team’s superiority by winning the doubles match against the Bruneian pair with a score of 6-0, 6-0.
In the matches of Group 1, the Iranian team achieved their first win against the Iraqi team with a score of 2-1, joining the Saudi Arabian team at the top of the group. Their match today will be a decider for advancing to the final round.
Iranian player Kimia Taheran defeated Iraq’s player Alla Abdulrazzaq with a score of 6-0, 6-0 in the first singles match. Niloofar Ataftoosi secured the victory for Iran by defeating Iraq’s player Nora Adel with the same score of 6-0, 6-0 in the second singles match. The Iraqi players, Lara Hassan and Zalal Khalil, won against the Iranian pair, Hanan Soltani and Yasaman Yazdani, with a score of 6-1, 6-1.
