Chief Minister’s Cup teen star Tyulpa to apply for national citizenship
NO JOKE: Tyulpa intends to play for Malaysia. • Photo by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING: A foreign junior tennis player has indicated her intention of playing for Malaysia.
Anna Tyulpa, 15, from Russia wants to become a Malaysian citizen and play for the country at international tennis competitions.
Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew said he was pleasantly surprised by the move made by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) world junior girl ranked number 111 player.
“It is a very good sign for tennis in Sarawak and Malaysia. It shows that we have gained very good reputation for successfully organising ITF junior and other international championships and we have received very good feedback from the participants, accompanying coaches, officials and parents on our organisational skills, tennis facilities, hospitality and the friendliness of our people,” he said.
“This is the first time a foreigner has such intention and I believe if we can ‘import’ such a player, it will definitely spur tennis development in Sarawak. At the same time, we will also have a good sparring partner for our state players,” he added.
It will also help in the economy of the country as the import players will bring back their earnings to Malaysia.
Liew said importing sportsmen and sportswomen from other countries was nothing new in the region as Singapore has a lot of imported shuttlers and paddlers from China.
Malaysia also has its own imported shooter Irina Maharani from Ukraine and walker Yuan Yu Fang from Beijing, China.
“At first, I thought Tyulpa was joking when she voiced her intention to me through email last week but she was serious and followed up on the matter with me,” said Liew.
He will soon be visiting the Immigration Department to understand the procedures for the application to become a permanent resident (PR) of Malaysia.
“Tyulpa and her parents have been living in Thailand for the past one and a half years in Bangkok, Thailand but they found out that the condition and political environment there not conducive to her tennis career,” said Liew.
He said Tyulpa and her coach father came to Kuching for the first time last month to participate in the 16th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF World Junior Championships (Group 3) and were very impressed with the good tennis facilities here and the environment.
Tyulpa was also a singles and doubles champion at the event. She won the ITF Junior Tournament in Hyderabad, India last year and has won five other junior tournaments in Nonthaburi, Bandung and Jakarta this year.
The Russian lass also likes the weather here and the way SLTA runs the international championships.
“SLTA has no problem to provide her with training because we have excellent facilities at SLTA centre. As for accommodation we can even use the players’ quarters after the existing apartment near the centre is renovated,” said Liew.
As for the PR issue, it would be up to the Immigration Department to grant her the PR status but SLTA are ready to give its recommendation to support Tyulpa’s application.