72 athletes (47 men and 25 women) from the Ahal, Dashoguz, Lebap, Mary regions and Ashgabat gathered for the Turkmenistan Tennis Cup, which concluded on the courts of the multifunctional sports complex of the Turkmen state institute of physical education and sports. The tournament, organised by the State committee for physical culture and sports and the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan, was timed to coincide with the 30^th anniversary of neutrality of our country.

The singles final of the men, which featured 30-year-old national team coach Yuriy Rogusskiy and his student Allanur Dayanjov, generated considerable intrigue. Last month, as part of the Turkmenistan team, they won the Davis Cup zonal tournament in Isa-Town (Bahrain). And now these two tennis players find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades in the decisive battle for the prestigious trophy.

On their way to the final, both sportsmen won four victories each. Allanur Dayanjov won successively against Seyran Begjayev – 6:1, 7:6, Kerimgeldi Gulgeldiyev – 6:1, 6:0, Merdan Hanov – 4:6, 7:5, 6:3 and Didar Vepamyradov – 6:4, 6:2. Yuriy Rogusskiy defeated Mihail Anohin 6:0, 6:0, Nazim Kasymov 6:4, 7:5, Resul Atayev 4:6, 6:4, 6:2, and in the semi-final, which lasted more than 3 hours, he won a comeback victory in a tie-break over two-time former champion of Turkmenistan Meylis Orazmuhammedov 4:6, 7:5, 7:6.

The final match, which lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes, was no less tense. Its fate was also decided in a tiebreak. The first set was won by Y. Rogusskiy – 6:4. The second goal went to A. Dayanjov – 6:0. In the decisive set, Allanur snatched victory in the tiebreak – 7:6 and became the winner of the Turkmenistan Cup for the first time.

In April of this year, 22-year-old Allanur Dayanjov, a native of the city of Mary, became the champion of Turkmenistan for the first time. And now he has won his second national trophy. He successfully combines tennis with his studies at the Institute of telecommunications and informatics of Turkmenistan, where he is a 5^th-year student.

Rounding out the top three was another winner of the Davis Cup zonal tournament, 26-year-old coach of the Tennis Federation of Turkmenistan Meylis Orazmuhammedov, who won the match for third place against Didar Vepamyradov – 6:3, 6:4.

In the tournament of the women, Aynur Movlamova, a 10^th-grade student at Ashgabat specialised secondary school №27, became the winner of the Turkmenistan Cup for the first time. On the way to this success, the fourth-seeded 16-year-old student of Serdar Bashimov won successively against Yeva Abramova – 6:0, 6:0, and Jennet Orazaliyeva – 6:3, 6:1. In the semi-finals, Aynur also defeated number one seed Leyli Esenova in two sets – 6:4, 6:4, and in the final, she defeated Aylar Kakabayeva, a 9^th-grade student of the Ashgabat specialised school for gifted children named after the Hero of Turkmenistan Atamyrat Nyyazov – 7:5, 6:3.

The bronze medalist in the singles of women was Jennet Charyyeva, an 11^th-grade student from Mary secondary school № 19, who won the match for 3^rd place over Leyli Esenova – 6:4, 6:4.