Gunmen shot dead the coach of the Iraqi national tennis team and two players in southwestern Baghdad on Wednesday, an Iraqi tennis federation official told Xinhua on Friday.

"The coach, Hussein Ahmed Rashid, and the two players, Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda, were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Saydiyah district Wednesday morning," said Manhal Kuba, spokesman of the Iraqi Tennis Central Federation.

The tragedy occurred after the victims in track suits finished their daily training, he said.

Last week, 15 members of the Iraqi Taekwondo team were kidnapped in an area between Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, as they returned from a tournament in neighboring Jordan.

Source: Xinhua