KUCHING: Three Malaysians are in the eight-member ITF Group Two team for the ITF Group One Tennis Championships in Shenzhen, China, in March.
LYN YUEN: One of the four girls in the ITF Group Two team for the ITF Group One Championship in Shenzhen, China. • Photo by Davidson Kho
They are Choo Lyn Yuen from Sarawak, and Alyssa Boey and Colin Wong from Semenanjung Malaysia.
The other players are (girls) Joy Chia and Rheeya Doshi of Singapore and (boys) Sharma Dissanayake (Sri Lanka), Hasan Hussein (Yemen) and Adas Seif (Jordan).
The eight players qualified on merit of finishing in the top four positions based on points accumulated in the nine-day two-leg ITF Asian 14 and Under Championships that ended here on Tuesday. However, recommendations from coaches and ITF Development Officer in Asia, Suresh Menon, are also considered should it become necessary to choose players who show good potential but are not in the top four rankings.
Sharmal tops the boys’ rankings with 530 points, followed by Wong with 400 points, Adas (390) and Hasan (250) while Lyn Yuen leads the girls’ rankings with 630 points after winning two singles titles and finishing as runner-up in the doubles.
Joy Chia has 420 points, followed by Alyssa with 320 points, Arcnaah Rajan (300), Ti Jia Wei (220) while Rheeya has 180 points.
ITF Asian 14 and Under Championships organising chairman Patrick Liew said being the host, Malaysia enjoyed the advantage of fielding and having more players selected for the Group One Championship.
“Had the ITF Group Two Championship been hosted in India, we may have only one representative,” he said.
Alhough proud that three Malaysians are part of the ITF Group Two team, Liew, also Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association president, pointed out that the eight players may not be the region’s best because there were many good players from other Group Two countries who were unable to play in the Championship here due to financial constraints or lack of sponsors.
“When you compare them with players from Group One countries such as China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India, there is still a big gap between their standards,” he said.
As such, Liew added, a lot more had to be done to develop the players in Group Two countries like Malaysia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.