GOOD OUTING: (From second left) Linda Liong, Alvin Teng, Aslina Chua, Ariez Elyass Deen Hesham and Achop Borhan Janang posing with ITF tournament referee Razmee Rawi after the prize presentation.
KUCHING: Ariez Elyaas Deen Hesham asserted his status as the national junior number one player when he won the Men’s Open at the BMW Malaysian National Circuit 2012 Masters in Kuala Lumpur last weekend.
The 19-year-old Sarawakian, who is a member of the national senior squad, won all his matches in the round-robin preliminary and final rounds to emerge as champion.
Tournament top seed Ariez defeated Si Yew Ming of Perak 6-3, 6-4, Sean Yip of Kuala Lumpur 6-1, 6-0 and white-washed Corneil Spaapen of Selangor 6-0, 6-0 in the finals.
Prior to booking his place in the finals, Ariez overcame Low Kar Win of Selangor 6-0, 6-1, Corneil Spaapen 6-0, 6-0 and Colin Wong from Selangor 6-2, 6-2.
In February this year, Ariez overtook Si Yew Ming as the national Number One junior after he beat the latter 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the final of the RM30,000 National Circuit at Jalan Duta Tennis Complex, Kuala Lumpur.
Apart from Ariez, two other Sarawakians Aslina Chua and Alvin Teng Wee Jie also won in their respective categories.
National player Aslina Chua was also unbeaten in the Women’s Open round robin finals, beating national teammates Ti Jia Wei of Pahang 6-3, 6-2 and Alyssa Boey of Selangor 6-0, 6-3; and Archnaah Rajan of Selangor 6-1, 6-0.
For winning the title, Aslina was given a wildcard entry to the BMW Malaysian Open next year.
Thirty-two players from the WTA Tour including current world Number-10 player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and defending champion Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan will be playing in this event from Feb 25 to Mar 3.
Number one seed and MSSM boys singles champion Alvin Teng won all his matches in the finals, defeating Azrul Ekhsan of Azman of Perlis 6-1, 6-3, Ryan Lee of Kuala Lumpur 6-1, 6-2, and Naufal Siddiq Kamruzzaman of Selangor 6-1, 6-4 to lift the Boys Open title.
Meanwhile, Linda Liong Ting Ting finished in fifth place in the Girls Under-14 while Achop Borhan Janang was seventh in the Boys Under-16 contest.
Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Patrick Liew said he was proud of the state players’ achievements.
“They deserved to win after putting in so much hard work and commitment in training and SLTA is proud to be one of the contributory factors for their success at national level.
We are also happy and satisfied that they have reached the elite level where we have expected them to be. But the most important thing is the player’s desire to succeed at a higher level and the parental support is also vital,” he said.
According to Liew, SLTA’s consistency in organising international competitions over the years had made an impact in changing the mindset of the parents and their children and they are now making good inroads in national and international competitions.
“Out of the elite group of four boys and four girls in the national squad, four are from Sarawak – Mohd Assri Merzuki, Ariez, Aslina and Choo Lyn Yuen,” said Liew.
He was also impressed with Alvin’s performance in the BMW Malaysian National Circuit as the 13-year-old lad had won in the qualifying en route to the finals.
“We will be fielding Alvin in the World Junior Team Boys competition next year while Aslina will play in the Junior Fed Cup,” he added.