By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Rafa Nadal Academy Kuwait (RNAK) Masters Tennis Tournament was held under the patronage and presence of President of Arab and Kuwait Tennis Federations Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The event marked the conclusion of a series of tournaments organized by RNAK in cooperation with Kuwait Tennis Federation and was held at Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah International Tennis Complex.

Kuwait's National team member (from Yarmouk Club) Essa Salman Qabazard won the men's singles title, while Yasmeen Al-Shamali won the ladies singles. Qabazard won the title after defeating Abdelrahman Al-Awadhi in the final match with the score of 6/2 - 6/4, as Al-Awadhi took second place.

Yasmeen Al-Shamali defeated Sarah Behbehani 2-1 to claim the ladies title. The final match was also attended by Deputy Chairman of KTF Abdelsamad Al-Aryan, and CEO of Tamdeen Sports Company Mohammad Mustafa Al-Marzouq, RNAK General Manager Martijin Belgraver and Head Tennis Coach Nuno Marques.

Results of the three previous tournaments were as follows: The first tournament winner in the men's singles is Abdelhameed Jumaa, and the Ladies was won by Iman Mitwalli; the second tournament was won by Abdelrahman Al-Awadhi (for men) and Dana Al-Fulaij won the Ladies. The third was won by Essa Qabazard (for men) while Sarah Behbehani won the ladies title. The masters tournament saw the best 8 players in men and 8 in women based on their previous results in the series.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Sabah thanked Tamdeen group for their efforts. He also thanked RNAK for its efforts in organizing the four tournaments. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber said that players of both genders showed good technical levels and wished them best of luck.