WELL DONE: Liew (second right) presents the girls singles champion trophy to Barbara Stefkova while tournament director Douglas Telajan (right), tournament secretary Bernard Chin (second left) and organising committee members look on.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) ended the year on a high note with the successful organising of the 20th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 3) at its centre along Jalan Crookshank here yesterday.
SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew said yesterday that there had been almost zero complaint throughout the whole championship which meant the event was very successfully organised.
“I would like to commend on the organising committee, the referee Alexis Wan, judges, linesmen and the volunteers for their dedication, commitment and hard work to ensure that the competition ran smoothly,” he said after presenting the prizes to the finalists of the boys and girls singles.
“My thanks also go to the sponsors, Sarawak government, MSNS, Sarawak Medical Department and all those who have contributed in one way or another to make the event a great success.”
On the performance of the Malaysian players, Liew said overall the Malaysians especially the elite players had shown a significant improvement by getting through the second or third rounds of the ITF Grade 3 competition.
“We hope that Malaysia’s standard can be near or at par with that of Asian countries,” he said.
This year, SLTA had organised seven international tournaments and Liew said SLTA would continue to maintain or organise more international events in time to come.
Liew added that SLTA is planning to organise three back-to-back ITF Men’s Futures US$10,000 events next year which would serve to prepare the country’s elite players for semi-professional or professional tennis.
“We are in the process of getting sponsors for the Men’s Futures,” he said.
Liew added that five international events had already been confirmed in its 2013 calendar. They are the 21st Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (1) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 1) in March, World Junior Team for Boys (Asia-Oceania Qualifiers) and World Junior Team for Girls (Asia-Oceania Qualifiers) in April, 9th Asian 14 and Under Series in mid-September, and 21st Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 3) in October.
Meanwhile, tournament third seed Callum Poland-Smith trumped sixth seed Samm Butler 6-3, 6-4 to claim the boys singles crown.
It was a tough fight for Poland-Smith as he was suffering from fatigue and heat stroke on Friday for playing on the court for more than seven hours.
“It was a very tough match with Butler who is also my training partner. We practised a lot
together and I knew his strengths and weaknesses, so I was able to beat him,” he said after the match.
It was also Poland-Smith’s first title of the year and his first visit to Kuching.
The 17-years-old hopes to come back for the 21st Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (1) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 1) in March next year.
Poland-Smith and Butler are trainees of the Bathteam Tennis Academy at the University of Bath in England.
They both train under coach Jim Edgar. Czech Republic’s Barbara Stefkova capped a fruitful week in Kuching where the tournament top seed also won her first title of the year after beating a tired Chang Ya-Ting of Taiwan 6-2, 6-2.
“The win was really great for me and this is my first title this year. I have played in a Grade 1 event in Japan but lost in the first round,” she said.
The 17-years-old, who hails from a small city of Olomo, has also played in Tunisia, Turkey and Norway in Grade 3 to 5 events and did not win anything there.
Asked whether her target was to win before coming here,” Stefkova replied: “Sure, I was feeling confident. I took it match by match and I felt I was playing better and better,” she added.
Being the first time here, Stefkova said she loved it in Kuching and has been to the Sarawak Cultural Village two days ago.
She will take a three-week break after this and hopes to return to Kuching next year.