On the photo: Moldovan tennis players took the second place among 12 national teams // Photo: facebook.com
30-year-old Daniela Ciobanu, 25-year-old Catherine Vishnevskaia, 23-year-old Abigail Rencheli (a Moldovan tennis player living in the USA), 22-year-old Arina Gamretscaia and 16-year-old Lia Belibova played for the Moldovan national team in the group tournament. The captain of the national team is traditionally 52-year-old Olga Cosyh, an experienced coach and former professional athlete.
In the first round of the home tournament, the Moldovan tennis players got into Group B, where the national teams of Ireland, Azerbaijan and Albania were also represented. In the confrontations with Azerbaijan and Albania, the Moldovan team did not meet serious resistance. The first match, in which Arina Gamretskaya met with Albanian Enki Hyseni, ended with the victory of our athlete (6:1, 6:2). Abigail Rencheli defeated Crystal Dule with the score 6:1, 6:1, and in pair with Gamretskaya she achieved the final advantage for the national team in the match against Hyseni and Dule (6:0, 6:2).
Liya Belibova (also paired with Ekaterina Vishnevskaya) and Daniela Ciobanu won the match against Azerbaijan.
Gamretskaya suffered the only defeat in the first round in her match against Ireland. The tennis player lost to Sinid Lohan (2:6, 6:3, 4:6). Rencheli restored parity in her match against Celine Simunya, while Rencheli and Gamretskaya achieved a decisive victory against the Irish women. They defeated Simunia and Anna Bowtell 6:2, 6:4 in doubles.
The leaders of the groups – the national teams of Moldova, Finland and Armenia – entered the play-off for the first three places. Gamretskaya and Rencheli defeated their Armenian rivals (the doubles match was not held as it had no tournament significance). In the decisive confrontation, the same tennis players lost to the Finnish guests. Gamretskaya lost to Laura Hietaranta 5:7, 3:6, while Rencheli lost to Anastasia Kulikova (1:6, 4:6).
According to the results of the tournament Finland qualified to the second world group (zone “Europe”), and the national team of Moldova remained in the third. The group tournament “Billie Jean King Cup” was held in Chisinau for the second year in a row.
There is no prize money in the third world group. The total prize fund of the “Billie Jean King Cup” this year has not been announced yet, last year it amounted to $9.6 million. The winning team received $2.4 million, the runners-up – $1.4 million, semi-finalists – $960 thousand, participants of the 1/4 finals – $520 thousand.
The final tournament of the first world group with the participation of the top eight teams will be held in China in September.
“Billie Jean King Cup” – the world’s leading tournament among women’s tennis teams. It has been held annually since 1963, until 2020 it was called “Federation Cup”. The current leader of the world ranking is the Italian women’s team. Moldovan tennis players are on the 80th place among 145 national teams represented in the ranking.
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Tournament position at the end of the first round of the “Billie Jean King Cup” in Chisinau (Group B) |
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|
W |
L | М* |
S** |
||
| 1 | Moldova |
3 |
0 | 8-1 |
17-3 |
| 2 | Ireland |
2 |
1 | 14-5 |
7-2 |
| 3 | Azerbaijan |
1 |
2 | 5-3 |
2-6 |
| 4 | Albania |
0 |
3 | 1-16 |
0-8 |
| * Ratio of won and lost matches
** Ratio of won and lost sets (games) |
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|
Final standings in the playoffs for the first three places |
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|
W |
L | М |
S |
||
| 1 | Finland |
2 |
0 | 10-0 |
5-0 |
| 2 | Moldova |
1 |
1 | 4-4 |
2-2 |
| 3 | Armenia |
0 |
2 | 0-10 | 0-5 |
