World Tennis Day was celebrated in Turkmenistan with a tournament for young tennis masters. Established by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), this holiday has been celebrated annually since 2013 on the first Monday of March to promote a healthy lifestyle and popularize this sport.
The Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan did not stand aside from this noble action, having organized a tournament together with the Ashgabat Tennis Academy, in which 17 boys and girls under 8 years old took part.
The competition turned into a real celebration. They took place over two days on the courts of the Ashgabat Tennis Academy and gathered many fans and parents of young athletes in the stands. The high level of organization of the tournament is evidenced by the fact that the competition was served as the chief arbiter by the chairman of the panel of judges of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, holder of the international certificate ITF Level 1, Igor Zubkov.
The student of the Joint Turkmen-Russian secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin, Dayana Rakhmanova, a student of coach Evgeniy Molchanov, won the competition among girls. The second place was taken by a student of Ashgabat secondary school No. 55 Eva Machikhina, who is coached by Jennet Hallyeva, and the third place was taken by a student of Ashgabat secondary school No. 7 Michelle Sargsyan, who plays tennis under the guidance of Atlymyrad Gurbanov.
The winner among boys was a student of the Joint Turkmen-Russian secondary school named after A.S. Pushkin, Mark Azizov, a student of coach Amangula Begendzhev. A student of Ashgabat secondary school No. 27, Alikhan Nuryagdyev, rose to the second step of the podium. A student from secondary school No. 42 rounded out the top three winners
Ashgabat Ismail Babaev. Both the silver and bronze medalists are coached by Jennet Hallyeva.
The winners and runners-up were awarded medals and certificates. This is not the first time that these competitions are held by the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan. It is planned that events of this kind will be organized on an ongoing basis as weekend tournaments.
It should be noted that tennis in Turkmenistan, as a sport, began to be cultivated in the early 1950s. Back then it was practiced by a small number of people, and competitions were held on asphalt surfaces.
With Turkmenistan gaining independence, the material and technical base of sports has noticeably strengthened. Thanks to the great attention of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people Hero-Arkadag to the development of sports, a large number of modern tennis courts that meet all international standards have now been built in all corners of the country.
After joining the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Turkmen athletes received the right to compete as an independent team in various international tennis competitions and win medals in them. The year 2023 turned out to be very successful in this regard, during which tennis players of Turkmenistan won a record number of medals - 40! 13 of them are gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze.
The work of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan in organizing the Central Asian team championship among children under 12 years old in Ashgabat was highly appreciated by the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF). Held in June 2023 in the Olympic village of the Turkmen capital with the participation of teams
In Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, ATF leaders called the regional championship a standard and example of organizing tennis competitions.
By the way, at this qualifying Central Asian tournament, the boys’ team of Turkmenistan took second place and for the first time achieved the right to compete in the Asian team championship (U-12), and the girls’ team won bronze medals.
A notable event in the sporting life of the country was the appointment of the 33-year-old chairman of the Turkmenistan Tennis Federation (TTF) Eziz Dovletov as vice-president of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) and his election to the board of directors of this continental organization.
This significant event in the history of Turkmen sports took place at the ATF Congress held in December 2023 in Bangkok (Thailand), at which the elections of the president, members of the board and the appointment of the vice-president of the organization took place. In addition, Eziz Dovletov was elected to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) committee for the Masters tournaments for 2024-2025.
All these significant events in the field of sports diplomacy will undoubtedly contribute to the even greater development of tennis in Turkmenistan, as well as the exchange of sports experience with foreign countries.
An example of such fruitful international cooperation was the recognition by the Turkmenistan Tennis Federation as an authorized ITF training center. The corresponding certificate, which gives the right to conduct annual coaching seminars in agreement with the International Tennis Federation, independently certify and certify national coaches, was signed by ITF President David Haggerty and ITF Executive Director Luci Santili. Today in Turkmenistan, more than 40 certified coaches who have completed the ITF Play Tennis introductory course work with children and beginning players, and the number of mentors who hold ITF Level 1 certificates has already increased to 23 people.
In addition, last year the International Tennis Federation, together with the International Olympic Committee, allocated a quota to Turkmenistan for training at the PRO Level of the 31-year-old head coach of the country's men's national team and the Ashgabat Tennis Academy, Mirali Hasanov. After successfully passing this course in Valencia (Spain), he became the first holder of the PRO Level certificate in Turkmenistan, which allows him to work with professional players in any country in the world.
