Shabanpour withdraws from final against Israeli player at ITF event
Iran’s Hana Shabanpour pulled out of the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors tournament in Istanbul after getting an Israeli opponent in the girls’ doubles final.
The Iranian teamed up with Turkish player Samiye Idil Ozkeresteci to beat the second-seeded pair of Stefania Kadzova and Sofia Vasiltsova in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) to progress to the final of the Ted Nazmi Bari Cup – an ITF J60 tournament.
However, once the final opponents were confirmed to be Russia’s Eva Sultanova and Israel’s Margarita Aktuganova, Shabanpour withdrew from the championship match.
The decision came in solidarity with the 168 victims – including 120 schoolchildren – who were killed by a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, southern Iran, on February 28, as well as other victims of the recent hostilities on Iranian soil.
Shabanpour had made it to the singles quarterfinals earlier in the tournament but was undone by Turkish top seed Melis Yildirim in straight sets (7-6(3), 7-6(6)).