The junior national tennis team of Turkmenistan finished fourth out of 15 teams at the recently concluded of the Davis Cup Juniors Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying event for players under 16, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Seeded sixth, the Turkmen team was represented by Suleyman Hudayberdiyev, a ninth-grade student at the Specialized Secondary School No. 86 in Ashgabat, Ali Geldiyev, a ninth-grade student at the School for Training Young Olympians, and Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev, a ninth-grade student at the Joint Turkmen-Russian Secondary School named after A.S. Pushkin.
In the group stage, the Turkmen team secured first place in Group B, defeating Oman 3–0 and earning hard-fought 2–1 victories over Myanmar and second-seeded Singapore. In the quarterfinals, the Turkmen juniors overcame the fifth-seeded team from the Philippines with a confident 2–0 win.
Having expended significant energy in earlier matches, the Turkmen players put up a strong fight in the semifinals against the third-seeded team from Vietnam. However, after two singles matches lasting nearly two hours, Vietnam secured a hard-earned 2–0 victory.
In the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Malaysia defeated host and top-seeded Sri Lanka 2–0. In the match for third place, Sri Lanka narrowly defeated Turkmenistan 2–1, clinching victory only in the doubles match after an intense contest.
As a result, the Turkmen team finished in fourth place in the DCJ Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying event, achieving their best result in the history of participation in these competitions. A significant contribution to the team’s success came from Ali Geldiyev, a gold medalist at U14 junior tournaments in Doha (Qatar) and Nonthaburi (Thailand), who won five out of six singles matches.
Strong performances were also delivered by Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev, winner of doubles titles at international tournaments such as “Ashgabat Open 2024” and “GSB Asian 14&Under C2” in Thailand, as well as Suleyman Hudayberdiyev, a multiple medalist of U14 international competitions in Qatar, Ashgabat, and Saudi Arabia.
The Turkmen players prepared for the the DCJ Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying event under the guidance of their personal coaches and national team captain Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev. Ali Geldiyev began his tennis training at Sports School No. 9 in Turkmenabat under Babamyrat Mamatrasulov and now continues to develop his skills in Ashgabat under Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev and Meylis Orazmukhammedov. Suleyman Hudayberdiyev trains with Yuri Rogussky, while Kerimgeldi Guldurdyyev is coached by Hajymyrat Charyev.
In the final, Malaysia faced Vietnam and secured a 2–0 victory, earning the right to compete in the final stage of qualification.
It is worth noting that the Davis Cup Juniors was launched by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 1985 as the World Cup for boys under 16 and was renamed to its current title in 2002. Each year, countries compete in regional qualifying events, with the winners advancing to the finals to contest the championship title.
