Dubai: The UAE Under-14, under-18 and senior teams all left for Kuwait on Saturday to participate in the 20th GCC Teams Tennis Championships to be held there until Friday.
The under-14 team will start their campaign against Qatar today, while the under-18 take on Saudi Arabia in their opening match and the seniors also face Saudi Arabia in their opener.
The UAE Under-18 will start as the favourites for the title given the strength of the team lead by Faisal Bastaki, Khalid Al Hassani and Rashid Al Falasi. The men's team is led by Mahmoud Nader, though teenager Hamad Abbas Al Janahi will be the top seed due to his ranking.
"We are still in the process of building an under-14 team and the idea of sending them for this competition is to give them some match experience," stated Slah Bramly, technical director for Tennis Emirates.
"We have deliberately included Abdullah Al Ali in the men's team so that he can gain some valuable experience playing at a higher level," Bramly added.
The tournament in all three age categories will follow the Davis Cup format of two singles and one doubles in a round-robin competition.
The under-14 tournament will be played at the Qadisiya Club premises, the under-18s at the Federation courts and the seniors will be held at the Yarmouk Club premises.
