On November 16, the Turkmen capital hosted the closing ceremony of the International tournament "Ashgabat Open 2024" in tennis among athletes under 14 years old, which was attended by representatives of 12 European and Asian countries.

For six days in the Tennis Complex of the Olympic Town, boys and girls from Great Britain, India, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan waged an exciting fight in singles and doubles not only for medals of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), under the auspices of which there were competitions, but also for the opportunity to increase your rating.

The doubles competitions, in which 16 pairs took part for boys and 14 for girls, ended with a convincing victory for the Turkmen tennis players.

Representatives of the national tennis school in both types of the program reached the finals and played the first two places.

Nazar Amangeldiyev and Kerimgeldi Velibegov became the real opening of the tournament for the guys. In the first round of the super tiebreak, they scored a sensational victory over the first-seeded Suleiman Khudaiberdyev and Emirkhan Rustamov – 2:6, 6:1, 10:5. And in the final, which lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes, the second-seeded compatriots Yunus Annamyradov and Ali Geldiyev won in both sets on a tiebreak – 7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:4) and they rose to the highest step of the pedestal. The silver medalists were Yu.Annamyradov and A.Geldiev, who convincingly beat Malaysian tennis players Gareth Lim Hao Jae and Jacob Wong in the semifinals – 6:1, 6:3.

In the women's doubles, as expected, the first-seeded Turkmen tennis players Ilima Huseynova and Aylara Kakabayeva prevailed, beating the second-seeded compatriots Ainur Annamyradova and Nazli Khudaikulieva with a score of 6:4, 6:1, who were awarded silver medals.

Our tennis players also took the entire podium in singles. It is noteworthy that the main prize in the final was played between the winners of the doubles competitions – Ilima Huseynova and Aylara Kakabayeva. The more experienced Ilima prevailed in two sets – 6:3, 6:1 and rose to the highest step of the podium for the second time. Aylara was awarded a silver medal this time. And the bronze went to 11-year-old Sulgun Ishankuliyeva, who won the match for third place against her peer Nazli Khudaikuliyeva – 4:2, 3:5, 5:4.

In the boys' singles, the second racket of the tournament Suleiman Khudaiberdyev was awarded a silver medal, losing in the final to the winner Muhammad Hassan Usmani (Pakistan) – 1:6, 0:6. Malaysian Gareth Lim Hao Jae rounded out the top three by winning the 3rd place match against his compatriot Jacob Wong.

At the end of the matches, an award ceremony was held, during which medals and certificates of the Asian Tennis Federation were presented to the winners and prize-winners of the tournament, and valuable gifts were presented on behalf of the President of Turkmenistan and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Hero–Arkadag. In honor of the three victories of our tennis players, the National Anthem of Turkmenistan was played, to the majestic sounds of which the sacred Banner of the Motherland rose above the stands of the sports complex.

So, according to the results of the four types of the program of the tournament "Ashgabat Open 2024", our compatriots took 8 prizes. The current achievements of Turkmen tennis players are the result of the great attention paid in our country to the development of sports. By initiating a number of large-scale sports projects of both national and international importance, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Hero-Arkadag have made sports a national idea, thanks to which our Homeland is increasingly becoming a venue for major competitions.

Hosting events of this level and scale is a big responsibility. Last year, for the second time, the Turkmen capital successfully coped with the organization of the Central Asian team tennis championship among boys and girls under 12, in which the title of the strongest was contested by young athletes from six countries – Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. And now, having once again become the host country of international sports competitions, our Motherland has successfully coped with this task!

According to the general opinion of the heads of delegations, Ashgabat is worthy of hosting not only junior tennis competitions, but also major professional ATF tournaments. There are all conditions for this, including the state-of-the-art sports infrastructure of the Olympic Town, the construction of which was personally patronized by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

In this regard, it is quite natural that the Tennis Complex of the Ashgabat Olympic Town is recognized by the Asian Tennis Federation as the "Training Center of the Asian region", and Ashgabat was declared the "City of new sports opportunities of the Commonwealth" at the regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS held in the Turkmen capital on May 24.

The international tennis tournament was an outstanding success. And this was stated at the closing ceremony by the representative of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for the development of tennis in the Asian region Seyedamir Borgei, expressing deep gratitude to the President of Turkmenistan and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Hero Arkadag for creating the most favorable conditions for competitions, as well as for exemplary work on the development of physical education and sports.

The organizers of the "Ashgabat Open 2024" also took care of the cultural program, which helped the participants to learn more about the Turkmen history and the rich heritage of the people, their ancient original traditions, taste national dishes, admire the sights of white marble Ashgabat, where there are ample opportunities for sports. The tournament also increased the pride of all Turkmen people for their country, which once again confirmed that under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Hero-Arkadag, it is able to host and successfully conduct representative international competitions.

The participants of the award ceremony for the winners of the International Tennis Tournament "Ashgabat Open 2024" accepted an Appeal to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, in which they expressed their sincere gratitude for the opportunities created and support for holding this sporting event at a high organizational level.

Source: State News Agency