Oman U16 girls reach Billie Jean King Cup quarterfinals in Sri Lanka

Muscat: Oman’s national U16 girls’ tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Billie Jean King Cup tournament being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with the participation of 12 countries.

Oman secured qualification through the efforts of Talia al Busaidy and Areen al Azkawi, after defeating Brunei 2-1 in the team’s final group match in a strong and exciting contest. Salma al Busaidy is also representing Oman in the tournament.

In the opening singles match, Oman’s Talia al Busaidy faced Jo Wi Rwa of Brunei and claimed victory without much difficulty, winning 6-2, 6-3.

In the second singles match, Oman’s Areen al Azkawi took on Lim Daniele but lost in a hard-fought encounter despite producing a strong performance and coming close to winning the match. The score was 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in favour of the Brunei player.

In the deciding doubles match, Oman’s pair sealed victory with a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 10-6 win, with the Omani players showing good form to clinch the final set.

Oman’s Talia al Busaidy faced Jo Wi Rwa of Brunei and claimed victory without much difficulty, winning 6-2, 6-3.

Oman had earlier lost their opening match of the tournament against the Maldives, the second seeds, by 3-0, but the team bounced back well in their second match and will now face Myanmar in the quarterfinals.

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE

Sarah al Balushi, head of delegation, said the team is taking part in the tournament to gain technical experience and that Oman has a good chance to compete following the encouraging level shown by the players in the second match against Brunei.

She added that the tournament features good competition and an advanced technical standard, particularly from some of the seeded teams. Despite losing the opening match against second-seeded Maldives, the team managed to recover, and she expressed hope that the players would continue to improve in the upcoming matches and make the most of the experience.

She also thanked the Oman Tennis Association and its board for giving the team the opportunity to participate in such events, which help improve their technical level and earn more ranking points.