A strong start to Al Habtoor’s women’s tennis challenge… and Sinigur’s loss is the first of the surprises

The 28th Al Habtoor International Women’s Tennis Challenge tournament began today, Monday, and began with singles matches that witnessed hot and exciting competition.

The results resulted in the Japanese qualifier, Mei Hontama, defeating Britain’s Emily Appleton in two sets (6-3, 6-3), after a match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes.

The loss of former Ukrainian champion Daria Snegur at the hands of Thai Mennchaya was the first surprise of the tournament in two sets to one (1-6 and 4-6), and the confrontation lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes.

Russian Vera Zvonareva (41 years old), formerly ranked second in the world, defeated Croatian Tara in two sets to none (6-3, 6-4), and the match lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

The doubles competitions are scheduled to begin tomorrow, with the first-seeded pair consisting of the Slovakian Dalila and the Frenchman Christina playing against the pair consisting of the British Harriet Dart and the Australian Ariana Rudinova, while the second-seeded pair consisting of the British Emily Appleton and her Indian colleague Prarthana will play against the Russian pair consisting of Alytina and her colleague Zaitseva.

For his part, Director of Operations and Referees’ Officer, Laith Al-Ani, said in press statements: “There is a team of high-level referees, all of whom are international referees, led by Indian general referee Sheetal Layar, the International Federation’s delegate, and including six chair referees from America, Lebanon, Croatia, Tunisia, Italy, and Romania, in addition to 15 line observers and 12 ball catchers.”

Al-Ani pointed out that “there is a working team to prepare the courts with the names of the players and the requirements of the matches, and it includes 10 volunteers in addition to the racket-pulling official.”

Al-Ani concluded, “The Chairman and Founder of the Al Habtoor Group, Khalaf Al Habtoor, directed that all players and officials be provided with complete free hospitality, including accommodation, food, and transportation.”