Iranian player 'withdraws from tournament' to avoid Israeli opponent
An Iranian tennis player reportedly pulled out of a tournament in order to avoid facing her Israeli opponent.
Iran's Hana Shabanpour reached the final of the junior J60 doubles tournament in Turkey over the weekend.
The International Tennis Federation describes the J60 category as a 'mid-level tournament within the ITF Tennis Tour' and 'open to a wide range of junior players, including those who are relatively new to the circuit and those who are aiming to improve their rankings'.
According to the Tehran Times, a news outlet considered to be state-controlled, Shabanpour and her doubles partner, Turkey's Samiye Idil Ozkeresteci, had the reached the final of the women's doubles event after an 'impressive run'.
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However, they decided to withdraw before the final, which was due to be contested against Russia's Eva Sultanova and Israel's Margarita Aktuganova.
It is claimed that Shabanpour 'decided to withdraw from the match' after learning the identity of her opponents.
She is said to have cited 'solidarity with the oppressed children of Minab School and the victims of US-Israeli attacks' as the reason for her decision.
The ITF's website lists Shabanpour and Ozkeresteci as having 'retired' from the match in question.
SPORTbible have contacted the ITF for comment.
A total of 156 civilians - 120 of them schoolchildren - were reported to have been killed on the first day of the war between United States/Israel and Iran when a school in southern Minab was hit by a missile strike.
US media reported in early March that it was the belief of US military investigators that American forces were 'likely responsible' for hitting the school 'unintentionally'.
The Pentagon are still reviewing the incident and told the BBC in April that it was 'currently under investigation'.
Israel have also persistently targeted Iran with strikes since the war began and were involved in an armed conflict with the Gulf nation last June dubbed the 'Twelve Day War'.
Trump on Iran
A temporary ceasefire was agreed over the current conflict last month but there remains a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a key strategic shipping passage which Iran controls.
US President Donald Trump is insisting that the Strait of Hormuz is re-opened by Iran before he agrees to bring the war to a close.
He slammed Iran's latest response during ceasefire talks on Sunday, writing a lengthy post on his Truth Social page which once again aimed digs at former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
"Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World, for 47 years," the post summised. "They will be laughing no longer!"
"I have just read the response from Iran's so-called 'Representatives'," he added in a separate post two hours later. "I don't like it - TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!"
Ryan Smart