KUCHING: The 24th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Tennis Championship is considered as the best platform to give young state players some exposure to face Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) 2016.
Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew said two very young Sarawak tennis players, namely Rohizat Achop Borhan and Mohd Aiman Hamdan, would be participating in the tournament through wild card tickets.
“So, by participating in the tournament, we hope they will gain useful exposure when they play against top ranking players from other countries as our preparation for the next Sukma,” he said.
Liew told reporters this after receiving the challenge trophy from the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem at the latter’s office at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex, Petra Jaya yesterday.
He added that the coming tournament was also timely as SLTA was gearing up to prepare the players for Sukma 2016 to make sure that the state will defend the titles it won in Perlis this year and Melaka in 2010.
“At the last Sukma in Perlis, we won four gold, three silver and three bronze medals while in Melaka we collected three gold medals, four silvers and three bronzes,” he said.
Saying that both Rohizat and Aiman have great potentials and bright future in the sport, Liew said SLTA will request for allocation from the State government to sponsor both players for intensive training in the United States.
“Rohaizat was the silver medallist in Perlis Sukma while Aiman is just 13 years old so with proper and intensive training we are confident they can be our good gold medal prospects in future Sukma,” he disclosed.
Liew admitted that to defend the tennis title in Sukma was never easy but they would be trying their best to be “at least around there”.
Meanwhile, the coming 24th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup ITF Junior Tennis Championship from October 14-19 will see the participation of 47 boys and 42 girls from 25 countries.
Among the countries that have confirmed their participation for the coming tournament are Australia, China, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, United States, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Vietnam.
This tournament is held twice a year since 2002. The one in the first half of the year is for Group 1 of the ITF junior ranking while the other half of the year is for Group 3.