ANTICIPATION AFTER THE RAIN: Players waiting for their matches to start just after the rain yesterday.
KUCHING: Heavy afternoon downpour brought the first day of the 2013 Inter-Division Sarawak State School Council (MSSS) Tennis Tournament to a halt yesterday.
MSSS Tennis technical chairman Oliver Rengga was expecting matches to be dragged into the night to keep up with the tournament schedule.
“We are grateful that the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) have granted our request to use the courts at the SLTA tennis grounds until night time,” he said.
Oliver is confident that the tournament will finish as schedule by this Wednesday.
“Looking at the current situation, we hope to finish the first round of the singles today. We more or less expected the weather conditions to be rainy so we are prepared for this situation,” he added.
Players compete in three age groups: U-12, U-15 and U-18.
Defending champion Kuching are considered the favourites to win the tournament.
“Kuching is likely to win the tournament again this year but Miri have a strong team for this tournament,” observed Oliver.
The tournament was held in Bintulu last year. In one of the earlier matches played before the rain yesterday, Kuching’s Goh Suan beat Andrea Bai of Miri 8-3 in the Girls’ U-18 category.