Teams from Al Ain and Al Nasr clubs nearly swept all the awards at the year-end Tennis Emirates (TE) awards ceremony, held in Dubai late on Wednesday.
Al Ain teams won the boys' under-12, under-16 and under-18 titles, while Al Nasr walked away with the under-10 and under-14 crowns. The men's title was won by Al Wasl at the expense of Al Ain.
The teams from ADCO, Abu Dhabi also came up with heartening performances with two runners-up positions in the boys' under-16 and under-18.
Sheikh Hasher Maktoum, Dubai Director of Information and Chairman of Tennis Emirates, was the chief guest along with Sheikh Saeed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Sheikh Rashid bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi of Fujairah.
Earlier at the opening address, Dr. Abdullah Al Nuaimi of TE spelt out the success of the game in the UAE this season.
This, he noted, was possible only because of the concerted efforts put in by all concerned, including a cross-section of players, who have made things happen.
This year has seen a deluge of tennis tournaments in the UAE, while places like Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah have got new training centres directly under the supervision of the government.
In addition, TE has pushed forward for the introduction of the game at the school level with the help of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) and the Ministry of Education.
The promotion has been further pushed due to the success of the 'Sheikh Saeed bin Mohammed' project. "The base of tennis has suddenly improved and we are happy about it," Dr. Al Nuaimi noted.
"So many of our UAE youngsters have benefited from this move as the learning process has been hastened," Dr. Al Nuaimi stated on the decision of the authorities to open up events in the UAE to expatriates.
"This can be seen from the fact that there are at least four UAE players in the top eight of the rankings," the TE official pointed out.
Another new aspect which has been introduced this year, and which is bound to pay rich dividends for the promotion of the game in the future is the enhanced involvement of corporate bodies and sponsors in tennis.
"First we had Emirates Sports Stores and from this year, Sun and Sand Sports have offered their support for the sport by sponsoring our events," Dr. Al Nuaimi said.
"We are showing signs of growth and we want to keep up this tempo and see tennis flourish all over the UAE," Dr. Al Nuaimi smiled.
The Masters series which was held only for juniors this year will be introduced to all other sections including men's, ladies, girls and veterans along with the juniors.
"This year was an experimental phase and we wanted to see how it works. Now we have seen the benefits and we want all other age groups to have the Masters," stated Abdul Rehman Falaknaz, vice president of TE.
"However, this year the series will be bigger and better. As compared to the five tournaments we had last year for the juniors, we will organise a minimum of eight competitions for all age groups," Falaknaz added.
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