Golden opportunity for M’sian juniors

0

COVETED SILVERWARE: Taib (third right) admires the challenge trophy before handing it over to Liew while SLTA vice president and also tournament director Douglas Telajan (second right), committee members and Liew’s personal assistant Angelina Liew look on. — Photo by Jeffery Mostapa

Four Sarawakians among 13 local players enter CM’s Cup main draw after unexpected withdrawals

KUCHING: All 13 Malaysian players gained a straight passage into the main draw of the 20th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 3) following the withdrawals of 26 players.

Among the Malaysian team are four Sarawakians namely Aslina Chua (ITF No. 661) and Choo Lyn Yuen in the girls contest and Augustine Chang Tun Sien and Low Zhe Han in the boys competition.

Joining them are Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak (ITF No. 609) and Colin Wong Wei Ming (ITF No. 642), Ti Jia Wei, Nurin Nabilah Roslan, Alyssa Boey, Tan Zu Zinyang, Benjamin Lim, Low Kar Win and Joshua Jordan.

Organising chairman Dato Patrick Liew said this is a good opportunity for the locals to
prove their worth against the top ranked International Tennis Federation (ITF) juniors in the competition that will be held at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) tennis centre here from Oct 29 to Nov 4.

“While some of them have withdrawn from this championship to play elsewhere like in Thailand ITF championship, others experienced flight connectivity problems and some of them have withdrawn due to injuries,” he said.

As a result, only 44 boys and 37 girls from 20 countries will be taking part in the championship instead of the 107 players who had confirmed their participation earlier this month.

Liew, who is Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia vice president and SLTA president, told The Borneo Post this after receiving the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup from Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at his office at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Petra Jaya yesterday.

Turkey’s Cem Ilkel is the top ranked boy at ITF No. 94 while his counterpart Ipek Soylu, ITF No. 69, is the highest ranked player in the girls singles contest.

“The rankings that the players have do not mean that the highest ranked players would win the championship.

“There is always an air of unpredictability and some dark horse might win, which makes this event more exciting and interesting,” said Liew.

He was happy to note that participation in the two legs of the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup ITF Junior Tennis Championship by juniors from all over the world was very consistent as Sarawak is already well known globally as a preferred destination for international junior tennis events.

“We will be organising the first leg of next year’s championship on a bigger scale to celebrate our 50th anniversary,” he disclosed.

On the championship that will start next Monday, Liew hoped that there would be good weather to ensure that all matches would be played on schedule and that more volunteers would come forward to help make the event a great success.