Footballer Chakvetadze, tennis player Basilashvili in top rankings of 2018

Two Georgian athletes capped their successful seasons by topping end-of-year international rankings, with teenage football talent Giorgi Chakvetadze and the country’s tennis star Nikoloz Basilashvili closing the year on a high.

Chakvetadze, 19, followed up his 2017 Georgian Young Player of the Year Award with a wider recognition, as the midfielder was named among 50 emerging talents to watch in 2019 by UEFA.

The European football body selected the Belgian club Gent player for its ‘50 for the future’ pick, in which UEFA reporters named “some of Europe's rising stars”.

The continental organisation called Chakvetadze an “attacking midfielder with pace and great feet [...] dubbed the ‘Georgian Kaká’ in some quarters”, in reference to the well-known Brazilian midfielder.

Chakvetadze was reported to have been tracked by Spanish giants FC Barcelona as well as Tottenham Hotspur and other clubs.

Over in the world of tennis, Nikoloz Basilashvili, who became the first Georgian to win ATP World Tour title, finished the year within the top 20 of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Singles Ranking.

Recognised as the principal ranking for tennis athletes, the list tracks performances of top performing professional competitors throughout the year.

Basilashvili joined the company of stars like Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic in the Top 20 ranking, the highest for a Georgian player.

The 26-year old’s World Tour championship highlight came in Hamburg in July, when he defeated Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the final.

Basilashvili will face Djokovic, the World No. 1 in the ranking, in a quarterfinal of the Qatar Open today.