The Central Asian ITF Asia 12&U Tennis Qualifiers have kicked off in Fergana, Uzbekistan, with five teams from the region participating. The men’s and women’s teams from Turkmenistan are vying for two spots in the final stage of the continental championship, which will be held in Singapore in September. The Turkmen team is represented by promising schoolchildren from Ashgabat, led by head coaches Yuri Rogusskiy and Gurbanberdy Gurbanberdyev, as reported by the turkmenistan.gov.tm.
The start of the tournament was marked by an unqualified triumph for the Turkmen tennis players: both our teams thrashed their counterparts from Tajikistan 3-0. In the women’s tournament, Safiya Tribunskaya and Imiliya Kambarova confidently won their singles matches, while Maryam Shamurzaeva and Kambarova cemented their success. Among the boys, Sanjar Rejepov, who secured a comeback victory over Egenmammet Nuryagdyev, and Davut Khudaiberdyev, who performed well in doubles
, secured the winning points for the team. In the second round, which promises to be a serious test, the Turkmenistan team will face the hosts, Uzbekistan, who also started the tournament with clean sheets. Historically, matches against this opponent have been successful for our athletes. In previous qualifiers, the Turkmen junior men and women sensationally defeated the Uzbekistan team, earning spots in the finals of the Asian Championship.
The tournament will run until June 5, reviving memories of the high bar our country has set in this discipline. Three years ago, Ashgabat hosted a similar regional championship to great acclaim. The leadership of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) then called the Ashgabat tournament a benchmark for the organization, and the Olympic Village Tennis Complex itself received the official status of “Training Center of the Asian Region.”
