Liew and others look on as the Singapore team comprising (from right) coach Thigaraja, Teresa, Natasha and Nadine, hold aloft their trophy. Also in the photo are ITF silver badge referee Aoi Kobayashi (third left) and ITF development officer Darren Wrighton (first left)
Sara delivers her serve
Uzbek player Sergey Fomin returns a shot
KUCHING: Singapore got the better of neighbours Malaysia after edging the hosts 2-1 to finish champions of the World Junior Tennis Asia (WJT) Asia Oceania Pre-Qualifying’s girls category yesterday evening.
The island republic’s twin sisters Nadine and Natasha Loh partnered in the decisive doubles match to defeat the pairing of Sarawakian girl Sharifah Elysia Wan Abdul Rahman and the country’s under 14 top seeded player Sara Alisha Nayar by the score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in a tightly contested match.
The match was more of matter of pride for both teams, as both countries had already claimed the rights to enter the WJT Asia Oceania to be played in Thailand in April by virtue of finishing top two in this tournament for players aged 14 and under.
Earlier, Malaysia lost the first singles after Sharifah Elysia was defeated by Nadine 5-7, 1-6. Sara then leveled the match after she trumped Teresa Wong 6-0, 6-0.
Malaysia had topped group A and beat Sri Lanka in the semis, while Singapore topped Group B and beat Nepal in the other tie.
Sri Lanka finished third, Nepal fourth, while the fourth and fifth placing between Lebanon and Iran were still being played at press time last night.
Heavy rain yesterday morning forced all the matches at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Jalan Crookshank here to be postponed to the afternoon.
Prizes and certificates for the winners were presented by SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew who is also organising chairman of the tournament.
The final between Uzbekistan and Philippines and other playoff matches for the boys category will be played today.
As the top two, the Uzbeks and Filipinos have earned their berth to the WJT Asia Oceania also in Thailand in April.