RAHUL Jaideep of India claimed the under-18 title yesterday in the RJ Investment Holding Juniors Open Tennis Tournament at Bahrain Tennis Club in Juffair. 

Rahul beat 16-year-old Bahraini Hamad A  A’al 6-2, 7-5 to lift the trophy. 

“I feel very happy about winning. I played well but half way through the second set I lost a bit of concentration but I managed to get back into the game,” said Rahul, a class nine student at St Christopher’s School, who sees

 Swiss Champion Roger Federer as his  tennis idol. 

The match saw a very intense second set where Hamad’s comeback was put off in the final minutes by Rahul.

Rahul voiced his intention of gaining a tennis scholarship in the US while also hoping to raise his ranks in the ITF junior category. 

Rahul also took the chance to thank Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) for promoting tennis in the Kingdom of Bahrain by organising such tough tournaments. 

Hamad, who started playing tennis 10 years ago, blamed his loss to the fact that he had not played ‘proper’ matches during the tournament. 

“My first match was a walk-over. I played the second and the third one was also a walk-over and I was suddenly in the final. Rahul had been playing the full tournament so his form was better,” he said. 

Hamad also spoke of the intense second set.

“I was loosing 5-1 in the second set, and I managed to get back to 5-5, but I couldn’t keep it up and ended up losing. It was very intense and tough,” he concluded. 

Fourteen-year-old Rahul reached the final defeating Youssef Ashraf in the semi-final while Hamad qualified to the final after his opponent Yousif Dhaif pulled out for personal reasons. 

The awards ceremony was attended by BTC president Khamis Al Muqla, chairman of RJ Investment Holding Rashad Janahi, ministry of youth and sports manager Mohammed Bu Ali and Maria Paz Cortez from the Philippine Embassy.