The teams of Turkmen boys and girls started with victories over their rivals from Tajikistan in the Central Asian qualifying competitions among children under 12 years old, which are being held from the 1^st to 5^th of June in the Uzbek city of Ferghana with the participation of representatives of five countries.

Teams of boys and girls from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are vying for two spots in the final stage of the Asian Championship, which will be held from the 15^th to 20^th of September in Singapore.

The team of the women of Turkmenistan is represented at the tournament by 6^th-grade students of Ashgabat specialised secondary school №27 Imiliya Kambarova and Safiya Tribunskaya, as well as 5^th-grade student of Ashgabat secondary school №15 Maryam Shamurzayeva. The male participant was Yegenmammet Nuryagdyyev, a 5^th-grade student of the Joint Turkmen-Russian secondary comprehensive school named after A.S. Pushkin; Sanjar Rejepov, a 6^th-grade student of Ashgabat specialised secondary school №27; and Davut Hudayberdiyev, a 4^th-grade student of the Joint Turkmen-Russian secondary comprehensive school named after A.S. Pushkin. The functions of captains in our teams are performed by the head coaches of the national teams Yuriy Rogusskiy (for girls) and Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev (for boys).

In the opening match of the women's tournament, Team Turkmenistan crushed Team Tajikistan 3-0, allowing their opponents to take just two games in two singles and one doubles match. In the first singles, Safiya Tribunskaya easily defeated Victoriya Protasova – 6:0, 6:1, in the second, Imiliya Kambarova won in one wicket against Nafisa Huseynova – 6:0, 6:0. In doubles, Maryam Shamurzayeva and Imiliya Kambarova beat Yekaterina Tashlintseva and Victoria Protasova – 6:1, 6:0.

In the tournament of boys, the team of Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev confidently defeated their peers from Tajikistan with the same score of 3:0. In the first match, Sanjar Rejepov won completely against Ilya Tyryshkin – 6:0, 6:0, in the second, Yegenmammet Nuryagdyyev won a comeback victory in three sets against Abdullo Kadamov – 4:6, 6:3, 6:0, and in the doubles match, Davut Hudayberdiyev and Sanjar Rejepov easily defeated Ilya Tyryshkin and Abdullo Kadamov – 6:1, 6:1.

In the second round, both our teams will face a tough test against the tournament hosts, the Uzbeks, who also had a successful start to the tournament. On the first day of the matches, both teams of the women and men of Uzbekistan won against the teams of Kyrgyzstan with the same score of 3:0.

The Central Asian regional qualifying round of the ITF Asia 12&U team competition will conclude the on the 5^th of the June.

Let us remind that three years ago, a similar tournament among boys and girls under 12 years old was successfully held in Ashgabat. And then the regional championship, which involved teams from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, was called a benchmark and example of competition organisation by the leaders of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF). The venue was the Tennis complex of the Ashgabat Olympic village, which, by decision of the ATF, was recognised as the «Training centre of the Asian region».

Incidentally, at that Central Asian Championship in Ashgabat, the team of Turkmen boys, led by Yuriy Rogusskiy and featuring Ashgabat residents Suleyman Hudayberdiyev, Nazargeldi Amangeldiyev, and Turkmenabat Tennis School alumnus Ali Geldiyev, achieved their first sensational victory over the Uzbek team – 3:0 – and advanced to the final round of the ATF 12U Team Competition. Last year, at the regional qualifying tournament in Fergana, team of our girls, led by Yuriy Rogusskiy, achieved similarly brilliant success. And last year, at the regional qualifying tournament in Ferghana, the same brilliant success was under the leadership of Y.Roguskiy was also achieved by the team of our girls, which, consisting of Nazli Hudaygulyyeva, Sahra Garahanova and Sulgun Ishangulyyeva, won silver for the first time and with it a ticket to the final stage of the Asian championship, leaving behind the Uzbek national team, which was considered the favourite of the qualification.