Top seed Tan reaches ATF U-14 last eight

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Tan Lin En (left photo) hits a shot during the boys singles second round against Indonesia’s Widyarohmadhansyah. Hong Kong’s Shek Cheuk Ying (right photo) was one of the girls singles second round casualties yesterday. — Photos by Teo Chi Wei

KUCHING: Local challenger Tan Lin En got his campaign in the Sarawak 13th ATF Asian 14 & Under Series off to a winning start at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association tennis centre yesterday.

Given a first round bye, the tournament boys singles top seed had no problem in seeing off F. Widyarohmadhansyah of Indonesia 6-0, 6-4 to seal his spot in the quarterfinals.

Tan next plays B Cortes in the last eight after the Filipino upset seventh seed from Singapore Maximus Wong 6-0, 6-2.

Also safely through were second seed Rupert Ohrelle Tortal who beat Hong Kong’s Ho Him Ling 6-1, 6-2, third seed M Kamarul Zaman of Malaysia who defeated Ho Wan Li also of Hong Kong 7-6 (2), 6-0.

Fourth seeded N Mukherjee of India was sent packing 6-1, 6-3 by Hong Kong’s Lai Ching Chung while John David Velez of the Philippines and Ryan Lim Lai Eng also made it to the last eight.

There were more upsets in the second round of the girls’ singles as the top seed from Hong Kong Shek Cheuk Ying, fifth seed Tan Xin Hung of Sarawak, Malaysia were dumped by their respective opponents.

Alexa Joy Milliam of the Philippines upstaged Shek 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 while Xin Hung lost 5-7, 4-6 to compatriot Wong Kai Xuan.

Those booking their berths in the quarterfinals included second seed Lim Zan Ning of Malaysia, third seed Lim Sze Xuan of Malaysia, fourth seed Pimmada Lim of Thailand, sixth seed Soo Hui Yii of Malaysia, seventh seed Lydia Liong Ting En of Malaysia and eighth seed Lai Ching Laam of Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the top seed pair in the boys doubles competition M Kamarul Zaman and Nikhil Mukherjee were dumped by Brent Sigmond Cortes-Rupert Ohrelle Tortal 6-0, 7-5 in the last eight.

Brent-Rupert will next play third seeds Luke Koh and Maximus Wong in the semi-finals after the latter beat Akaash De Silva and Mohammad Saadeddin 7-5, 6-4 in another match.

The other semi-final will be played between Rainer Angelo Selmar-John David Valez and Lai Ching Chung-Ho Wan Li.

Girls doubles second seeds Soo Hui Yii and Tan Xin Hung also made their exit after they were beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Tamryn Brown and Alexa Joy Milliam but the top seeds Pimmada Lim and Lim Xuan Sze will meet third seeds Lim Zan Ning and B Michael Tiang in today’s semi-finals.

Joining them in the last four are Lai Ching Laam and Lydia Liong Ting En who blanked N Lee and Annabella Wong 6-0, 6-0.