Deen (second left) with Stevie (left), Alforque (right), Largo (second right) and the Sukma shadow team players during a training session last Friday.
KUCHING: The two-gold medal target set by the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) for 18th Sukma is realistic and achievable.
Sukma XVIII and state junior development programme coordinator Deen Hesham Tan Abdullah said despite the absence of Mohd Assri Merzuki and Ariez Elyaas Hesham, Sarawak is still able to pose a good challenge at the biennial games.
“We have a relatively young team for the coming Sukma, with Aslina Chua who is 19 years old while the rest are aged 17 and below,” he said.
According to the former national head coach, Sarawak will be going for gold in the women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Deen said national players Aslina, Belinda Chai and Linda Liong should pose a formidable challenge in the women’s competition.
“Aslina, the defending women’s singles champion, is now studying and training in the US, Linda is in decentralised training in Bintulu while Belinda is training in Kuala Lumpur.
“We shall be having the centralised training in March and Aslina will return to Kuching 10 days before Sukma XVIII,” said Deen.
The men’s competition would be tougher as it is not only very competitive but also Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Perlis are very strong teams.
Deen said to boost their gold medal chances, SLTA has decided to send Alvin Teng Wee Jie and Rohaizat Achop Borhan Janang for a six-month overseas training stint in Romania.
He believes that the state is capable of netting the silver in the men’s team competition.
“The younger players are coming up and I hope that with more training and assistance from the National Sports Institute Sarawak Satellite Centre, they can improve in terms of mental toughness and playing skills,” he said.
Sarawak’s coaching team comprises Deen who is in charge, new Filipino addition Ric Jayson Alforque and the existing line-up of Filipino coach John Gil Franxis Largo, and locals Stevie Din, Gilbert Yeo and Liew Meang.