ITF West & Central Asia Development Championships

The names to look out for in this year’s ITF West & Central Asia 13 & Under Development Championships were Abdellah Shelbayeh and Jana Al Khateeb from Jordan, who did their country proud with solid performances throughout the boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles matches. The Championships were held from 29 Oct. to 8 Nov. in Amman, Jordan.

Thirty seven players from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria and UAE (an extra two nations compared to last year) participated in the two four-day tournaments that followed a one-day training camp conducted by the ITF Development Officer, Amir Borghei.

Hosted by the Jordan Tennis Federation, the camp was a chance for the players to test the opposition before the competition and to try and qualify as seeds for the first tournament.

Maria Breidy, no. 2 seed from Lebanon, defeated no. 4 seed, Jana Al Khateeb from Jordan in the girls’ singles in the first week, and continued her victory into the girls’ doubles with compatriot Anna Maria Hayek, beating Jordanian Randa Al-Qudsi and Syrian Anna Maria Kanzoue 61 62. It was however in the second week that Jana Al Khateeb and Randa Al-Qudsi exacted their revenge in the girls’ doubles against Breidy and Hayek with a final score of 63 36 10/3. Al Khateeb, starting the second week as no. 2 seed, outplayed fellow Jordanian Randa Al-Qudsi in the girls’ singles, leading to a victorious 64 76 (4) win.

In the boys’ event, no. 1 seed Abdellah Shelbayeh of Jordan played against no. 5 seed, Pierre Djaroueh from Syria in the first week. Shelbayeh proved to be the stronger player and continued this fantastic winning streak into the second week, beating Taym Alazmeh (Syria) 64 62. These two played superbly together in week one of the boys’ doubles, beating Jordanians Omar Fakhouri and Mohammed Alkotop in the finals. Shelbayeh went on to a flawless finish with Jordan compatriot Mohammed Alkotop in week two of the boys’ doubles, this time triumphing over Alazmeh and Djaroueh.

At the end of the two events, Jordan took first place in the nations’ rankings with Syria and Lebanon finishing in second and third places respectively.

Based on the final rankings from the two events, players will be selected to be on the ITF team that participates in Division 2 of the ITF Asia 14 & under Development Championships in 2017.

Amir commented: “In 2015, we selected some talented players such as Abdellah Shelbayeh, Jalal Sadek and Jana Al Khateeb and it is great to see that these identified talents are making great acheivements in different events. ITF and ATF are keen to support the talented players as much as possible. Aside from the results and the tournament winners, we had some very talented players in this year’s championships who are eligible to play in the following years too. They are guarantees to the continuation of our performance at high level and can be part of the ITF talent identification/development programs in the future.”