Abu Dhabi: The best young Emirati tennis talent between the ages of seven and 10 took to the court at Zayed Sport City, Abu Dhabi, this week to mark the end of the expanded Mubadala Tennis in Schools (MTiS).

This is a community programme which, organisers say, has been enhancing the quality of tennis in Emirati schools for six consecutive years.

Created to ensure a legacy for the sporting youth of the UAE, previous editions had seen the annual programme run across just one school term in the lead-up to the annual season-opening Mubadala World Tennis Championship in January. In its sixth year, Mubadala Tennis in Schools was expanded to run throughout the school year.

From October 2014 to this week, about 600 students from across the UAE have enjoyed development training sessions, providing them with more opportunities to play and practice the tennis skills they have learnt as part of the initiative.

The expanded event came to a finale this week at Zayed Sport City with four Emirati children competing for top places and being recognised for their efforts over the course of the season. Two boys, Hamid Faisal and Fawaz Al Shamari, and two girls, Salama Mal Allah and Muza Saaed, have been identified as talent for the future while enhancing their skills through the Mubadala Tennis in Schools programme.

Speaking on behalf of Mubadala, Nadine Saleh Hassan, Head of Social Development and Partnerships, said: “The expanded tournament has been a great success year, allowing young people to refine their skills over a much longer period of time, while also encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle. The key is to build excitement for sport and through this extended programme of tennis we hope to have done just that.”

She added: “Beyond the simple message of enjoying sport we also have the added benefit of bringing through the next generation of tennis-hungry youngsters and through initiatives such as this one, we hope to see even more children from the UAE competing at the highest levels of the sport.”

Ten-year-old Salama said: “I’ve been practising tennis for the past two years and I absolutely love it. The fact [that] we’ve been able to play more in school has been great for me. I just want to keep playing, competing and having fun on the court so I can improve my skills.”

Ten-year-old Muza, added: “When you really enjoy something, you just want to play it all the time and that’s how I feel about tennis. It’s great to be out on the court with friends, but I especially like the skills exercises we do.

“The last few months I’m hitting better backhand shots and also volleys. It’s great when you can really feel yourself getting better.”