Turkmen tennis player Ilima Guseynova became the champion at the Central and West Asia U-14 regional qualifying tournament held in Muscat, Oman. The competition, consisting of two stages, involved participants from 13 countries.
At the end of the two tournaments, Ilima won two gold medals in singles and two silver medals in doubles, playing ina duet with Aylar Kakabayeva.
On her way to the first gold, the 13-year-old top-ranked player of Turkmenistan did not lose a single game in the quarterfinals against Talya Essam Ali Al Busaidi from Oman, winning 6-0, 6-0. In the semifinals, she defeated Asal Farahbodniai from Iran with a score of 6-2, 6-2. In the final, she prevailed over another representative of Iran, Hana Shabanpour, with a score of 6-4, 6-4.
The second gold medal was much harder for Ilima to win. After winning quite easily in the quarterfinals against Areen Al Azkawi from Oman (6-1, 6-1) and in the semifinals against Asal Farahbodniai from Iran (6-1, 6-4), our compatriot was trailing 2-5 in the third set of the final, which lasted for 3.5 hours. However, despite this, she managed to save three match points against her opponent and snatch the victory with a score of 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
In doubles, Ilima Guseynova and Aylar Kakabayeva won their first tournament by defeating Talya Essam Ali Al Busaidi and Salma Issa Al Riyami from Oman with a score of 6-0, 6-1. In the final, they lost to the duo from Iran, Golse Rahimianamiri and Hana Shabanpour, in three sets with a score of 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-10. In the second tournament, the Turkmen tennis players defeated the international duo of Talya Essam Ali Al Busaidi from Oman and Asal Farahbodniai from Iran in the semifinals with a score of 6-1, 6-0, but lost in a tough battle to the Iranian pair of Golse Rahimianamiri and Hana Shabanpour in the final with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 10-12.
12-year-old Aylar Kakabayeva is in the 7th grade at the Saparmyrat Niyazov Secondary School for Gifted Children and trains at Sports School №10 of the Main Department of Physical Culture and Sports in Ashgabat under the guidance of Jennet Hallyeva. Meanwhile, Ilima Guseynova, an 8th grader at Specialized Secondary School № 42 in Ashgabat, who will turn 14 on March 1, is honing her skills at the Ashgabat Tennis Academy under the guidance of Mirali Gasanov, the head coach of the Turkmenistan national team. Last year, this 30-year-old specialist became the first tennis coach in Turkmenistan to receive the PRO coaching category, which allows him to work with professional players in any country of the world. On December 28, he was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan (TFT) at the annual conference of TFT.
The year 2023 was a successful year for his student Ilima Guseynova. She defended her title as the women's champion of Turkmenistan in the competitions held in Ashgabat, and in December, she won the country's Cup for the second time. In the previous qualifying championship of Central and West Asia U-14 in Isa Town, Bahrain, Ilima won silver in the first tournament and bronze in the second. In addition, she earned a silver medal at the Asia U-14 Championship in Bhubaneswar, India.
The Turkmenistan national team, led by Igor Zubkov, Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, took second place in the overall standings, earning the right to compete in the Asia U-14 Championship. The team from Iran took first place, and Yemen's team completed the top three.
The current Central and West Asia regional qualifying tournaments for ITF Asia 14&U Development Championships - was the first international competition in 2024 for Turkmen tennis players. It is very encouraging that our representatives have started the new season with a brilliant success in this popular sport worldwide!
