Turkmen tennis players achieved remarkable success at the Davis Cup Zonal tournament, earning the right to compete in Group IV of the Asia-Oceania zone in 2026. This remarkable event took place on the courts of the Polytechnic university in Isa Town, where 14 teams from Group V of the Asia-Oceania zone competed for two spots in the higher-ranking tournament over the course of a week.

In the first stage of the competition, our compatriots confidently dominated Group «C», not losing a single match in either singles or doubles. In the first round, they defeated Brunei 3-0, and then beat Bangladesh and Bahrain by the same score. Going into the decisive group game to qualify for the playoffs, the hosts, supported by a strong home crowd, were considered the clear favourites. However, the tennis players from Turkmenistan disagreed, giving their formidable opponents no chance.

In the playoff match, the winner of which would receive the right to promotion, our team had to play against the Guam team, which had previously won with the same score of 2:1 against representatives of Myanmar and Mongolia and was the first in Group «B».

Before the decisive playoff game, experts were cautious in their predictions. On one side of the scale was the confident play of the Turkmen tennis players in the current tournament, and on the other, the head-to-head record, which was not in a favour of our team. Guam had two victories – 3-0 in 2018 in Oman and 2-1 in 2023 in Türkiye – while Turkmenistan had only one, a 3-0 victory in 2019 in Jordan.

Contrary to the mixed forecasts, the playoff match turned out quite easily for our team, although there were some serious concerns at first after a big loss in the first set. In the next two sets, Selim Chagylov pulled himself together and secured a comeback victory over Junhyuk Seo – 1:6, 6:3, 6:1 in the first singles match, which lasted 1 hour and 31 minutes. In the second singles match, Allanur Dayanjov defeated Bryce Manalo 6:1, 6:0 in 51 minutes, securing an early victory for Turkmenistan. The final score, 3:0, was secured in a favour of our team by Meylis Orazmuhammedov and Yuriy Rogusskiy, who defeated Daniel Llarenas and Emil Cristian Penafiel in a super tiebreak in 1 hour and 5 minutes – 2:6, 6:2, 10:5.

The Turkmenistan team at the Davis Cup was represented by Yuriy Rogusskiy, Meylis Orazmuhammedov, Selim Chagylov, Allanur Dayanjov, and Ali Geldiyev. Team captain was Mirali Gasanov. Coach Gurbanberdi Gurbanberdiyev. The head of the delegation was Eziz Dovletov, chairman of the tennis Federation of Turkmenistan.

The second ticket to Group IV of the Asia-Oceania zone was won by representatives of the Northern Mariana Islands, who defeated the Maldives team in another playoff match.

The year 2025, declared by Turkmenistan and supported by a UN General Assembly resolution as the International year of peace and trust, has proven to be a remarkable success for Turkmen tennis. At the Central Asian U12 Championship in Fergana, the team of the girls defeated the previously formidable Uzbekistan team to earn their first-ever bid to compete in the Asian U12 Team Championship in Singapore.

Furthermore, team of the women of Turkmenistan took second place at the Billie Jean King Cup (Group III Asia/Oceania) regional tournament in Colombo, Sri Lanka. And team of the men of Turkmenistan, participating in the prestigious ITF Master's World Team Championship for the first time in Manavgat, Türkiye, reached the top eight in the world, cementing this achievement in the history of Turkmen tennis.

And now team of the men has achieved a brilliant success at the Davis Cup zonal tournament on the eve of another remarkable event – the 30^th anniversary of neutrality of Turkmenistan.