The team of Turkmenistan started today with an impressive 3-0 victory over the national team of Oman in the preliminary round of the Under 16 Junior Davis Cup qualification in the Asia and Oceania zone. The competition takes place in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
The DCJ Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying tournament, held under the auspices of the International tennis federation (ITF) in cooperation with the Asian tennis federation (ATF), involves 15 teams.
The sixth-seeded team of Turkmenistan plays in-group «B» together with the national teams of Singapore (the 2nd seed), Myanmar and Oman.
The other groups are: «A» – Sri Lanka (1st seed), Macau, Saudi Arabia (8th seed); «C» - Malaysia (4th seed), Guam, Laos, Philippines (5th seed); «D» – Vietnam (3rd seeded), Nepal, Mongolia and the Pacific team (7th seeded).
The top two teams in each group will advance to the playoffs.
The Turkmenistan team at the U16 Davis Cup is represented by three 14-year old promising tennis players - Ali Geldiyev, Suleyman Hudayberdiyev and Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev, who have already achieved a lot of success in the international arena at their young age.
Suleyman Hudayberdiyev, a student of the specialised Ashgabat secondary school № 86, won three silver medals in singles at international competitions in Qatar, Ashgabat and Saudi Arabia under 14 in 2024, and last year won gold in doubles and silver in singles at a similar tournament under 14 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). He was awarded by world tennis legend Rafael Nadal, Olympic champion in singles in 2008 and doubles in 2016, winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments, 36 «Masters» tournaments, and five–time Davis Cup winner with the Spanish national team.
Ali Geldiyev, a 9th grade student at the young Olympians training School, competed at the 3rd Asian junior tournament among players under the age of 14 in Doha (Qatar) in 2024, and in 2025 won two gold medals in singles and doubles at the U14 international tournament in Nonthaburi (Thailand). By the way, at the same tournament, Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev, a 9th grade student of the Joint Turkmen-Russian Secondary School named after A.S. Pushkin, competed in doubles with Ali Geldiyev, and earlier became the winner in this type of program at the international tournament «Ashgabat Open 2024» among sportsmen under 14 years of age.
The duties of the captain of our team at the junior Davis Cup are performed by the coach of the 11th sports school of the Main department of physical education and sports of Ashgabat, the bronze medallist of the Turkmenistan Cup-2024 Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev. Last year, at the prestigious ITF Master's World Team Championship in Manavgat (Türkiye), he reached the quarterfinals as part of the 30+ team, and after that, as one of the coaches, he made a significant contribution to the success of our main team, which won one of two tickets to the higher-ranked Group IV of the Asia-Oceania zone at the Davis Cup zonal tournament in Bahrain.
The fate of the opening match of the Turkmenistan team at the U16 Junior Davis Cup was decided in singles, in which Ali Geldiyev defeated Mutaz Al Mazroui in 1 hour and 2 minutes – 6:1, 6:2, and Suleyman Hudayberdiyev defeated Abdulrahman Al Rahbi in 1 hour and 6 minutes – 6:2, 6:0. In the doubles match, which no longer mattered for the team victory, Ali Geldiyev and Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev needed only 54 minutes to defeat Mutaz Al Mazroui and Abdulrahman Al Rahbi - 6:3, 6:1.
In the next match, our tennis players will play against rivals from Myanmar, who lost 1-2 to the Singapore team in the first round.
Results of the first matches in other groups: «A» – Sri Lanka – Macau – 3:0; «C» – Malaysia – Guam – 3:0, Laos – Philippines – 1:2; «D» – Vietnam – Nepal – 3:0, Mongolia – Pacific – 1:2.
The Junior Davis Cup was launched by the ITF in 1985 as the Under-16 World Cup, and was renamed to its current name in 2002. Every year, countries participate in regional qualifying competitions, the winners of which advance to the finals, where they compete for the title of champion.
