Dubai: Second seed Fahad Al Janahi advanced to the semi-finals, while third seed Abdullah Ahli fell in the quarter-finals of the boys’ under-16 category at the 17th Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel Ramadan Tennis Tournament being held in Abu Dhabi.
Al Janahi got the better of Moussaed Al Azzam of Saudi Arabia 6-2, 6-1, while Ahli fell to Lebanon’s Nour Naemeh 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Ahli thumped Gaith Jned of Syria 6-0, 6-0 in the previous round.
Another UAE youngster who earned his place in the quarter-finals was Fahad’s cousin Fares Al Janahi, who came up with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-7 win over Mohammad Abdul Aal of Bahrain.
Two doubles quarter-finals were also held, with the Qatari pair of Jasem Al Ziara and Abdullah Shaheen beating Syria’s Mohammad Tahlab and Jned 6-1, 6-0 and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Soghaier and Omar Abdou edging to a hard-fought 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 win over Bahrain’s Ahmad Rassool and Aal.
All finals are scheduled to be held on July 16.
The tournament organisers decided to organise an under-16 boys tournament for the very first time so as to give the juniors a platform to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games in China [August 16-27] and the Arab Games in Tunisia [August 24-September 1].
