Young men of Turkmenistan won silver medals of the Central Asian Tennis Championship, girls — bronze
The youth national team of Turkmenistan won silver medals for the first time in history at the Central Asian Tennis Championship (U-12), which ended in Ashgabat.
Having beaten the team of Uzbekistan with a total score of 3-0 in the previous round, the young men of Turkmenistan placed in second place in the standings. In order to win silver medals, it was enough for Turkmen tennis players to defeat their peers from Tajikistan on the final day of the tournament.
The wards of Yuri Rogussky coped with the task successfully. In the first single match, Ali Geldiyev beat Ahmad Vositov with a score of 6:2 6:1.
The next duel with the participation of Suleyman Hudayberdyyev and Alijon Mirzoev turned into a real show. The match ended with a confident victory of the Turkmen athlete in the first set, but the second segment was overemotional.
Khudaiberdyev played excellently on the back line, and served very well. Nevertheless, in the second set he had a much harder time — the opponent also played at the top level. Some of the practical jokes in which tennis players chased each other around the court turned out to be a sight to behold.
The audience thanked him profusely, applauding and chanting the name of the Turkmen athlete with each score won.
However, in the middle of the second set, the Tajik athlete suddenly lost concentration, thereby giving away several points. The final score is 6:0 6:2.
Effective communication and harmonious interaction of the tandem consisting of Nazargeldy Amangeldiyev and Ali Geldiyev allowed them to win in the doubles over the duo of Alijon Mirzoev and Ahmad Vositov, proving their superiority in the ability to play the game.
Immediately after the end of the matches, the head coach of the youth team, Yuri Rogussky, shared his comments with the ORIENT correspondent regarding the results of the tournament:
"Today is a big holiday for the national tennis school. We are certainly pleased with the historical medals. The results that the Turkmen tennis players are currently demonstrating make us rejoice. After all, just six months ago we were inferior to the national team of Uzbekistan, and the current tournament allowed us to beat them, besides, we took silver medals and qualified for the Asian Championship. It cannot but be admired."
The head coach of the Tajik national team, Abdurasul Mikhidinov, explained the defeat of his players at the tournament by lack of experience.
"We lacked experience, perhaps skill. This trip was the debut for the representatives of our country. It will serve as a good start to show decent results in the future."
In the women's category, Turkmen athletes also beat rivals from Tajikistan with a total score of 3:0, but yesterday's defeat by Uzbekistan did not allow the tennis players to take a place higher than third.
According to the results of all matches, the winner of the championship, both in the men's and women's categories, were representatives of Kazakhstan, who did not suffer a single defeat during the championship.
The second place among young men was taken by the team of Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan closed the top three.
Tennis players from Uzbekistan were awarded silver medals in the women's category. The bronze medals went to the Turkmen athletes consisting of Anna Ponyatova, Aylara Kakabayeva and Nazli Hudaygulyeva.
The tournament, which started on June 5 in Ashgabat, brought together over thirty athletes from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Artur PETROSYANTS
