Turkmen tennis players have earned their second victory at the ongoing Davis Cup zonal tournament in the city of Isa Town (Bahrain).
In Group V of the Asia–Oceania Zone, where our compatriots are competing, 14 teams divided into two groups are fighting for promotion.
In the first round of Group C, the Turkmenistan team defeated Brunei 3:0, and today they achieved another win with the same score against the Bangladesh national team.
It is noteworthy that prior to this match, the teams of Turkmenistan and Bangladesh had met seven times at the Davis Cup. From 2005 to 2011, the Bangladeshi players held a dominant advantage. During that period, they won five times: in 2005, 2007, and 2008 by 2:1, and in 2009 and 2011 with identical scores of 3:0. After that, the dynamics of their on-court rivalry changed dramatically. In 2013 in Dubai, the Turkmen players left the Bangladeshi team without a single chance, crushing them 3:0, and in 2018 in Oman they won the three-match encounter 2:1.
The Turkmen players continued their winning streak this time as well. Despite the convincing 3:0 result, the victory was not an easy one. The opponents spent more than six hours on the court before the match was over. The three-set singles matches were especially intense and exhausting due to their duration. The first lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes, and the second even set a time record among all matches of the day — 2 hours and 57 minutes. Credit must be given to our players, who fought to the end and demonstrated remarkable willpower.
The first point for our team was brought by Selim Chagylov, who faced Zarif Abrar. Having lost the first set 4:6, our athlete found the strength to turn the match around and won the next two sets 6:3, 6:1.
Meanwhile, Allanur Dayanjov, who played against Zubin Omar, won the first set 6:4 but lost the second 4:6. In the decisive set, neither opponent allowed the other to pull far ahead in the score. As a result, the winner had to be determined in a tiebreak. Allanur won the first three points, but then his opponent recovered the deficit. The climax came at 6:6, after which A. Dayanjov managed to win two points and take the tiebreak 8:6.
In the doubles match, which no longer carried much significance, Meylis Orazmukhammedov and Yuri Rogussky defeated Zarif Abrar and Tanvir Pasha 6:1, 6:2 in 1 hour and 4 minutes.
In the final round, in the battle for first place in Group C, the Turkmen tennis players will face the team from Bahrain, which today defeated Brunei 2:1.
Results of the remaining matches of the second round: Group A – Laos vs. Yemen – 1:2; Group B – Guam vs. Myanmar – 2:1; Group D – Macau vs. Maldives – 1:2, United Arab Emirates vs. Tajikistan – 3:0.
The winners of the groups will advance to the playoffs, where two winners will earn the right to compete next year in Group IV of the Asia–Oceania Zone.
The Davis Cup is conducted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) among men’s national teams from more than 150 countries, making it the world’s largest annual team sporting event. The organizers call it the “World Cup of Tennis,” and the winners — world champions. This year, the Davis Cup is being held for the 113th time, with 157 teams participating.
Turkmenistan’s tennis players have been competing in the Davis Cup since 2004. Their best result came in 2015, when they reached the playoffs of Group III of the Asia–Oceania Zone in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
