Liew (front row, third left) with organising committee and competing teams in a photocall.
KUCHING: Belinda Chai, Linda Leong and Aisyah Abdul Rahman are representing Malaysia’s challenge in the World Junior Tennis Team Championship Asia / Oceania Pre-qualifying which started at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) court yesterday.
According to SLTA president Datuk Patrick Liew, the response for the pre qualifying event is encouraging with 18 teams from 13 countries here to compete in Kuching.
“Our teams normally were at the borderline, and last year finished at the 10th position. We hope that they can give their best to follow the boys team which had already qualified for the finals,” he added while assessing Malaysia’s chances.
The girls team trained at the National Tennis Academy under the supervision of the National Sports Council and the Lawn Tennis Association Malaysia.
Among the countries competing at the pre qualifying event are Singapore, Uzbekistan, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
The tournament will end on March 3 to be followed by the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup which will end on March 9.