KUCHING: Sarawak Sukma XVII lawn tennis shadow team players gained valuable exposure at a tournament in Pontianak, Kalimantan, Indonesia recently despite not winning any title.
This tournament from Jan 16-19 is one of the competitions chosen for the state players to gain exposure in preparation for their challenge in Perlis from May 27 to June 4 .
The Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) sent a 12-member team including five female players and the best performer was Linda Liong who reached the girls singles final only to be beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Vita Taher.
Linda entered the final after beating compatriot Belinda Chai 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the last four while another state player Cecelia Lai was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Vita in the other semi-final. However, Kirstin Liong and Alia Azman were knocked out in the first round of the competition that saw 10 players contesting for the title.
In the boys singles, only Alvin Teng made it to the semi-finals where he fell 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to M Faizol Riska.
The event was won by another Indonesian Arief Rahman who beat Faizol 6-2, 6-0 in the final.
Kenneth Tan, Rohaizat Achop Borhan Janang bowed out of the quarterfinals while Mohd Pauzi Zaki, Mohd Norhairi Khaidir, Rahmat Juimbai Borhan Janang and Gregory Tan were first round casualties.
In the boys team event, Indonesia edged Sarawak 3-2 with Rohizat and Kenneth Tan-Rahmat Juimbai Borhan Janang claiming the points for the visitors.
In the girls team competition the Indonesia team beat Sarawak 3-1.
Cecelia Lai delivered Sarawak’s solitary point when she beat Finandya Suci 6-3, 6-4 in the second singles.
SLTA president Patrick Liew said the team that played in Pontianak was not the full team as the key players Mohd Assri Merzuki, Aries Elyaas Deen Hesham and Aslina Chua were training/studying in the US.
“It’s more about preparing these back-up players for Sukma 2016 and we want them to get involved in tournaments outside Kuching and Sarawak,” he said.
“It’s a good mental preparation for the young players and we want them to see what is the standard of our Indonesian counterparts from Jakarta, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.”
Liew added that the next exposure stint for the state players will be sometime in March in Bangkok, Thailand.
“We will be watching the political situation in Bangkok very closely before sending our players there for the training/tournament exposure,” said Liew.
He said if the team cannot go to Thailand, the alternative venue would be in Manila, Philippines.
SLTA has set a target of capturing four gold medals from tennis in Perlis, with hopes pinned on Assri (men’s singles), Ariez-Alvin Teng (men’s doubles), Aslina (women’s singles) and the team event.