Zhang, Alex through
Manama : Top seed Manni Zhang defeated Sai Rama Balakrishnan 7-5, 7-2 and second seed Aleina Alex was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Nazley Nader in the Girls 18 years and under semi-finals on the fifth day yesterday of the 22nd Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) Juniors Open Tennis Championship 2017 at the Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) premises in Juffair.
The result sees the two winners battling it out for the title on Saturday. It was a mighty relief for both the players and organisers that play resumed, despite heavy cloud cover and the ever threat of rain, following the washout of play the previous day.
The Girls 18 years and under final set for next Tuesday has been decided, with top seed Sophie De Boer comfortably defeating Advika Bharadway 6-0, 6-1 in the semi-final, while Maya Besius received a second tournament walkover win from Renali Senaratne this time.
Earlier in the quarter finals, the top seed received a walkover win from Aditi Jacob, Advika Bharadway came from a set down to beat Mirna Ashour 3-4, 5-4(3), 10-8 and walkover wins for Maya Besius and Renali Senaratna against Selma Metwally and second seed Nada Hammad.
In the Boys 18 years and under quarter finals, top seed Yousef Ashraf brushed aside Avneet Singh 6-1, 6-2, second seed Hamad Abdul A’al received a walkover win from Fredie Salmon and Hassan Al Qattan with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Faisal Yousef.
The Boys 12 years and under semi-finals were won by top seed Sparsh Parmar, who had a tough battle to overcome Abdulla Nass 6-2, 6-7(8), 10-3 and second seed Sai Raghav Balakrishnan won by 7-5, 6-2 against Mohammed Al Shehabi, as the latter had earlier beaten Mohammed Kamran in the quarter finals.
In one match played in the Boys 14 years and under semi-finals, Anshuman Sonawane came from a set down to beat top seed Isa Al Essa 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
The championship is being held under the patronage of BBK Chief Executive Officer, Reyadh Yousif Sater with around 60 players in the five main singles events - Boys U12 years, U14 and U18 years and under and Girls 14 years and under and U18 which continues until February 21.
Meanwhile, a Unisex Tennis Festival weekend is underway today with qualifying for younger players in the 8 and 10 years and under categories with almost 90 in the fray, with matches today starting from 3.30pm, with the bulk of the matches scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday.
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