The entire podium was occupied by Turkmen tennis players at the 3^rd Asian Junior tournament among players under the age of 14, which ended in Doha (Qatar).

The competition was held under the auspices of the Asian Tennis Federation (ITF) and brought together athletes from more than 20 countries, including several countries in Europe, South America and the USA.

The boys had the highest competition in singles, where two of our athletes had to overcome the qualification sieve. And the more significant was the success of 12-year-old Turkmen tennis player Ali Geldiyev, who, having won in qualifying against Majed Alblushi (United Arab Emirates) – 6:0, 6:0 and Roland Guo (USA) – 6:0, 6:1, got into the main draw, where won five more victories and became the winner of an international tournament for the first time.

In the first round, Ali defeated Andrei Rakic (Serbia) – 6:1, 6:1, In the second, he beat number 3 seed Mithun Sendikumar (India) in three sets) – 6:2, 6:7, 6:4. In the quarterfinals, he easily defeated Salman Alami (Saudi Arabia) – 6:2, 6:2, and in the semifinals he turned out to be stronger than the number 1 seed Emirhan Rustamov (Turkmenistan) – 6:3, 6:4. In the final, which by the will of fate turned out to be Turkmen, A.Geldiyev was opposed by another of our athletes – the 4th-seeded Suleyman Hudayberdiyev, with whom they took second place as part of the junior team of Turkmenistan at the Central Asian Championship (no older than 12 years) in Ashgabat. 13-year-old Suleyman studies in the 8^th grade of the specialized secondary school №86 in Ashgabat, he is engaged in tennis with coach Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev.

The decisive match for the main prize of the tournament between our teammates turned out to be very stubborn. In the first set, Suleyman Hudayberdiyev prevailed in the tiebreak – 7:6 (12:10). In the second, Ali outplayed his opponent 6:0 and equalized the score in the match. In the decisive set, A. Geldiyev turned out to be stronger – 7:5 and was awarded the winner's trophy. Emirhan Rustamov, a 14-year-old student of the 9^th grade of Ashgabat secondary school №12, who trains at the «Ashgabat» Tennis Academy under the guidance of the head coach of the national team of Turkmenistan Mirali Hasanov, rounded out the top three winners.

The winner of the junior tournament in Qatar, Ali Geldiyev, began playing tennis at the age of 7 in the administrative center of the Lebap Velayat with the coach of the 9^th Turkmenabat sports school Babamyrat Mammetrasulov, who previously trained Gozel Halmyradova, the first coach of the former first racket of Turkmenistan, participant of the 2009 junior Wimbledon tournament Anastasia Prenko. Persistent training under the guidance of an experienced mentor gradually began to bring results at the national level. And in 2023, the first silver success came as part of the junior team of Turkmenistan at the Central Asian Championship (no older than 12 years).

This year, Ali Geldiyev successfully played at the junior Davis Cup in Colombo (Sri Lanka), winning five victories as part of the Turkmenistan team, after which he was accepted into the Training School for Young Olympians. Currently, the promising athlete is improving his sports skills in Ashgabat under the guidance of Mirali Hasanov.

It is noteworthy that at the tournament in Qatar, Ali Geldiyev added the title of the winner in doubles together with Yunus Annamyradov to the main prize in singles. On the way to this success, they won four victories. In the first round, A.Geldiyev and Y.Annamyradov defeated the pair Abdullah Abdullah/Faisal Alfakhra from Qatar – 6:0, 6:0, in the quarterfinals they beat the second-seeded international duo Dovud Baykuziev (Uzbekistan)/David Mario Stefan Raducan (Romania) – 6:3, 6:4, in the semifinals, they defeated the third-seeded Timur Ahmetov (Kazakhstan) and Mithun Sendikumar (India) – 6:2, 6:4, and in the final they convincingly got the better of Daniel Carvalho Becker (Brazil) and Andrei Rakic (Serbia) – 6:3, 6:1.

An 11-year-old student of the 6^th grade of Mary secondary school №18 Yunus Annamyradov becomes the winner in doubles for the first time at a tournament abroad. He is engaged in tennis under the guidance of coach Andrey Dovmatov.

In the singles of girls, the entire podium was also occupied by representatives of the Turkmen tennis school. The first place was taken by Ilima Guseynova, a 14-year-old student of the 9^th grade of Ashgabat specialized secondary school № 42, the second – a student of the 9^th grade of the 18^th Mary secondary school Aynur Annamyradova, a pupil of coach Andrey Dovmatov, and the third - a student of the 8^th grade of the capital's Atamyrat Niyazov school of gifted children Aylar Kakabayeva, who trains with Jennet Halliyeva.

On the way to the podium, the number one seed Ilima Guseynova won against Sofia Churkina (Kazakhstan) – 6:1, 6:0, She also easily defeated Ona Kildisaite (Lithuania) in the quarterfinals) – 6:1, 6:0, in the semifinals, she beat fourth–seeded compatriot Nazli Hudaygulyyeva 6-2, 6:1, and in the final she did not give a single game to the third–seeded Aynur Annamyradova – 6:0, 6:0. The second-seeded Aylar Kakabayeva, who closed the top three, won the match for third place against Nazli Hudaygulyyeva - 4:3, 4:1.

In the doubles of girls, the first-seeded Ilima Guseynova and Aylar Kakabayeva prevailed. In the semifinals they won against Dana Khalifa (Qatar) and Ona Kildisaite (Lithuania) – 6:2, 6:1, and in the final, they prevailed over the second–seeded compatriots Aynur Annamyradova and Sulgun Ishangulyyeva - 6:2, 6:2.

Commenting on the current success of the Turkmen tennis school at the tournament in Qatar, experts note the great will to win of our athletes.

«Our children are fanatically devoted to tennis, Babamyrat Mammetrasulov, with 17 years of coaching experience, believes. – They didn't just go to participate in the tournament, but fought to the end. Well done, everyone! »

According to him, the leadership of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan deserves special kind words, thanks to which Turkmen tennis players began to participate more and more in international competitions and achieve success at them.