KUCHING: Elysia Wan of Malaysia clinched the girls singles title in the 10th ATF Asian 14 and Under Series tennis tournament when she beat compatriot Haarini Balakrishnan 6-1, 6-0 in the final at SLTA tennis centre yesterday.
En route to the final, the ATF No. 134 Elysia had beaten Nurul Amirah Ahmad Zamzury 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Angeline Ong 6-0, 6-1 in the last four.
There are only two Malaysians left in the boys singles competition with fourth seed and ATF No. 22 Koay Hao Ci and second seed Christian Didier Chin, ATF No. 6 player both advancing to the semi-finals.
Koay beat compatriot Darrshan Suresh 6-1, 6-1 while Christian emerged a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Yemen’s Hamad Naif.
Koay’s semi-final opponent is Yokota Horimu as the Japanese challenger kept his winning momentum going by seeing off Malaysia’s Satveer Singh Seth 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4.
Philippines’ Michael Francis Eala also booked his semi-final berth after he defeated Japan’s Keisuke Saito in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the other quarterfinal match yesterday.
All is not lost for Keisuke as he has the chance to win the boys doubles title with his partner Yokota Horimu as they charged into the final after beating Malaysian pair Danial Ahmad Farid-N Kamaruzzaman 6-0, 6-4 in yesterday’s semi-finals.
In today’s final, their opponents are tournament top seeds from Philippines Christian Francis Eala and Arthur Craig Pantino who were 6-3, 7-5 winners over Malaysian pair Christian Didier Chin-Darrshan Suresh.
Thirty-eight players from Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Yemen and host Malaysia are competing in the event that ends tomorrow.