Malaysia take three Sarawak ATF titles

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Singles finalists (from left) Priska, Elsa, Danial and Koey posing with Liew (third left) and tournament organising committee member Kho Siak Hoi after the prize presentation.

Singles finalists (from left) Priska, Elsa, Danial and Koey posing with Liew (third left) and tournament organising committee member Kho Siak Hoi after the prize presentation.

KUCHING: Malaysia ended its campaign in the 11th Sarawak ATF 14 and Under Series tennis championship on a successful note yesterday when its players captured three out of the four titles at stake at SLTA Tennis Centre.

In the all-Malaysian boys singles final, top seed Takeshi Koey Jian Keong got the better of second seed Danial Ahmad Farid 6-2, 6-0.

The girls singles final saw a fitter and faster Indonesian sixth seed Priska Madelyn Nugroho breaking down the resistance of unseeded Elsa Wan to win 6-4, 6-3.

Malaysia swept the boys and girls doubles titles on Saturday with top seeds Danial Ahmad Farid and Noor Suhail Sallahudin beating Indonesian pair of Sumiarsa Sukma Ramadhan and Jerall Yasin 6-3, 6-4 in the boys doubles final while Elysia Wan and Elsa Wan defeated Hong Kong’s Angela Sou Wingshan and Skylar Wan 2-6, 7-6(5) 10-5 in the girls doubles final.

Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association president Dato Patrick Liew was happy with the performance of the Malaysian winners but commented that they still have room for improvement.

He also noted there were a few potential local players like Elysia Wan and her younger sister Elsa Wan who were the girls doubles champion. 12-year-old Elsa was also the girls singles finalist while Mohamad Aiman Hamdan finished fifth in the boys singles.

“The absence of top players from the Asia region has given the chance for our players to win in this championship and this is a very good platform for them to upgrade themselves to another level,” he said.

“There is still a lot of work for them to do and the wins have given them the much needed confidence to play outside the country. They will need to train even harder to improve their skills and standard.”

Liew said the competition’s main objective was to provide a platform for junior players aged 11 to 14 to prepare themselves for the ITF junior competitions.

“This event also give our juniors the chance to accumulate ATF ranking points so that when they compete in international meets outside Sarawak, they have higher ranking points to be in the main draw and avoid playing in the qualifiers.”

In view of the growing number of ATF 14 and Under Series events being held in other Asian countries, the players in those countries have opted to play there and not come to Malaysia and incur higher costs.

Liew said after the ATF 14 and Under Series, SLTA will be hosting the final event on its 2015 calendar, the 26th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior World Championship (Grade 3) from Oct 6-11.