Two Turkmen athletes, Ilima Guseynova and Sulgun Ishangulyeva, received personal invitations to the prestigious junior tournament "Grand Slam Tennis. Regional Championship 14 & Under," which will take place from September 7 to 14 in Cambodia with the participation of the 24 best tennis players from Asia under 14 years old.
The competition will feature 10 finalists from five Grade A Asian tournaments, 11 top-ranked players under 14 according to the official Asian rankings, and 3 wild card holders. One wild card was given to the host country, while the other two were distributed by the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) among talented players from across Asia. It is very gratifying that one of these wild cards went to our young athlete, Sulgun Ishangulyeva, as a promising tennis player.
Sulgun, who will turn 11 on October 1, caught the attention of specialists at the age of 9 when she won an international tournament among children under 10 in Izmir, Turkey. Last year, she achieved the same success at the "Türkiye Autumn Cup" in Istanbul. This year, she became a silver medalist in doubles with Valeria Litvin from Ukraine at the tournament for children under 12 in Baku, dedicated to the memory of Heydar Aliyev.
Ilima Guseynova, Turkmenistan's top player, received an invitation to the "Grand Slam Tennis. Regional Championship 14 & Under," taking the 2nd place in the Asian rankings for players under 14. Her record includes many international tournament awards. This year alone, Ilima won four medals of various merits at three competitions abroad. At the "Asian 14 & Under Grade A" in Hyderabad, India, she won bronze in singles and gold in doubles with Indian athlete Karthika Padmakumar. She won silver in singles at another similar tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, and this month, she took second place in doubles with Hana Shabanpour from Iran at the "Selangor Asian 14 & Under Grade A (Southeast Asia)" in Malaysia.
The "Grand Slam Tennis. Regional Championship 14 & Under" is a qualifying competition. The results will determine the lucky ticket holders for the Junior Australian Open 2025, the international team tournament in Florida 2024, and the European tour for a series of tournaments.
In addition, participants in the Cambodia tournament can significantly improve their rankings and earn a decent income with successful performances. Winners among boys and girls will receive 1,500 ranking points and 3,000 US dollars, second-place finishers will receive 1,250 ranking points and 1,500 US dollars, while bronze medalists will receive only 1,000 points towards their ranking.
During the "Grand Slam Tennis. Regional Championship 14 & Under" in Cambodia, a meeting of the Asian Tennis Federation representatives will take place, attended by Mirali Gasanov, 32-year-old head coach of the Turkmenistan national team. In December last year, at the annual TFT conference, he was elected deputy chairman of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, and in May this year, at the ATF board meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, he joined the ATF committee for the development of junior tennis in Asia.
