Fatima Al Janahi and Aisha Al Awadhi of the UAE made a fantastic start in the women’s doubles competition of the padel event at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday.
Fatima and Aisha won their opening-round match against Lilia Msayki and Maria Bredi of Lebanon 6-3, 7-6.
Aisha was delighted after the pair’s comprehensive win in the first round.
“Fatima and I have a great understanding on court. She not only complements my style of play, but also constantly pushes me to perform at my best,” she said.
“We always try to support each other in difficult moments, and today Fatima stepped up on the important points. I am proud of the level we produced as a team.”
Padel, the racquet sport which draws elements from tennis and squash, is making its Asian Games debut this year in Japan.
A very popular sport now among the local and expat communities in the UAE, Fatima and Aisha are among the best players in the country.
They will now hope to build on the good start for a title at a podium finish.
But Aisha refused to get carried away after the first-round win.
“Our focus now is on the next match. We will study our opponents carefully, devise the right strategy and go into the match fully focused,” she said.
“We want to represent the UAE in the best possible way. We know the next match will be difficult, but we will go into it fully focused, give everything we have on court, fight for every point and enjoy the match, hoping that things go our way.”
Meanwhile, Aisha Al Ali bowed out in the round of 16 in the women’s individual event of the archery competition after a 4–6 defeat to Hsin-Tzu Hsu of Chinese Taipei.
Earlier, Aisha won her opening round against Jennifer Maia da Cruz of Timor-Leste.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Dalmook Al Maktoum finished 21st in the men’s individual trap event of the shooting competition.
Yahya Al Muhairi, on the other hand, finished 24th.
The UAE have won two medals so far at the Nagoya Asian Games.
Sulaiman Abdulrahman opened the UAE’s account with a silver medal in the men’s 400m with a time of 44.99 seconds on Friday.
Then, on Sunday, teen sensation Mariam Kareem made history for the UAE.
The 18-year-old was in a class of her own as she broke the Games record in the women’s 400m hurdles final with a time of 54.31 seconds to clinch a historic gold medal.
Source: Khaleej Times