Rawad Alnaser
Doha: Qatar’s Rawad Alnaser and India’s Payas Jain dominated the proceedings on the penultimate day at WTT Youth Contender Tunis 2021 when they outclassed their respective opponents.
One of the standout names from the previous day’s action, Rawad Alnaser continued where he left off with another fine display in the Under 13 Boys’ Singles event.
Facing India’s Atherva Gupta in the semi-finals, Alnaser negotiated his first test with an emphatic victory (11-5, 11-7, 13-11).
Awaiting Alnaser in the final was Tunisia’s very own Wassim Essid, who secured his ticket with a win over Alanaser’s national colleague and the event’s highest-ranked entry, Ahmed Korani (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 12-10). Going up against Essid and the local crowd, Alnaser demonstrated great maturity to come out on top with another 3-0 win in the title decider (12-10, 11-9, 11-8).
“I would like to thank everyone who supported me, my coaches, my team and my family. The day was tough as I had difficult opponents in the semi-finals and final, but I made my way through it. I tried not to think about the people supporting my Tunisian opponent, as I knew they were his home crowd, so I just focused on my game and how I play,” said Alnaser
India’s Payas Jain added another accolade to his collection after the Under 17 Boys’ Singles champion from WTT Youth Contender Otocec 2021 claimed the same title in Tunis.
Jain returned to the table in style, posting a crushing 3-0 semi-final win against fellow compatriot Preyesh Suresh Raj (16-14, 11-8, 11-8).
At the final hurdle, Jain overcame a different challenge after successfully fighting back from an early deficit to beat Belgium’s Tom Closset to the trophy (7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 15-13).
