ShareBy Abdellatif Sharaa
KUWAIT: The second day of the 2nd Arab Masters Tennis Masters Tournament held at Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah International Tennis Complex was full of surprises, as top seed, Tunisian Iskander Mansouri, was stunned by Egypt's Akram Mohammed Al-Salali in three sets 1/6-6/3-6/7. Moroccan Yassine Dlimi had an easy win over Bahrain's Fares Abdelkareem 6/0-6/0 in the first group.
In the second group, Kuwait's Bader Al-Abdullah lost to Jordan's Mousa Alkotop in a hard fought match 3/6-6/7, while Lebanon's Benjamin Hassan defeated Saudi Arabia's Amar Alhogabani 6/2-6/1 and Egypt's Mohammed Safwat defeated Algeria's Toufik Sahtali 6/3-6/4. Essa Qabazard of Kuwait lost to Lebanon's Hassan Ibrahim 3/6-4/6 in third group, as Kuwait's Yaqoub Mohammad lost to seventh seed Tunisian Mohamed Oukaa 3/6-1/6. Jordan's Abedallah Shelbayeh beat Saudi Arabia's Saud Alhogabani 6/0-6/0.
The fourth group saw Kuwait's Ali Al-Shatti lose to second seed Tunisian Aziz Dougaz 1/6-1/6, while Egypt's Kareem Maamoun defeated Algeria's Rayan Dylan 6/0-6/3 and Moroccan Walid Ahouda defeated Syrian Yacoub Makzoume 6/3-6/4. Kuwait Tennis Federation Board Member and Treasurer Ali Al-Daihani lauded the high technical levels Arab players are showing so far, adding "current tournament revealed a notable improvement at the technical level for many players, and this indicates Arab federations care for the game".
Daihani said the second Arab masters tournament has a good number of young tennis players participating, which also indicates the increased popularity of the game in many Arab countries. Tunisian player Mansouri spoke about the tough competition, adding the players' levels are close to each other, adding this is the first time he played in Kuwait and was impressed with the Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah International Tennis Complex.
