PRO: Mohd Assri Merzuki (right) to go professional.
Sarawak CM’s Cup becoming topnotch junior tennis meet
KUCHING: Since its inception in 2001, the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup ITF Junior Tennis Championship has become one of the world’s most popular tennis events for junior players.
According to Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew, this was because the Grade 3 championship is more competitive than in most of other countries.
“We started out with one event (Grade 1) and subsequently increased to two events (Grade 1 and Grade Three) which we call the summer event and the winter event,” Liew told reporters during the press conference on the 18th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Tennis Championship (Grade 3) yesterday.
This championship, which has attracted 150 players including 75 girls from 40 countries, will start with the qualifying round on Oct 15 and the main draw competition will begin on Oct 18 until Oct 23.
Liew said the Grade 3 could attract a lot of top ranked ITF junior players especially from Europe because there are no competitions in winter and all the foreign players would move to Asia in the quest to better their rankings.
“This event is well known to the world and after we set up the SLTA website in 2006, we have received more than 100,000 hits. We also post other vital information such as tourist attractions, hotel accommodation, Malaysian food and tourist related events,” he added.
He said the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup was only able to generate spin-offs in term of tourism revenue but also popularise tennis in the state.
“We are seeing the increase in the number of youngsters taking up the sport and more players gearing towards professional tennis. Our divisional affiliates are also getting more serious in developing the sport by renovating or building more courts as well as hiring foreign coaches.
Dato Patrick Liew
In smaller towns like Bau and Kapit, there is also a marked increase in tennis activities. This is a good sign for tennis development as a whole,” he said.
“We have taken a good step in encouraging Mohd Assri Merzuki to go pro and he is doing well in his training stints in Spain and the US where he also competes in some of the men’s events,” Liew noted.
The 16-year-old Assri is the only junior player in the country to have Association of Tennis Players doubles ranking of 820 and is ITF junior boys number 483, which is the best among ten Malaysian boys.
“There are five Malaysian girls who have ITF junior rankings and the top three are from Sarawak namely Choo Lyn Yee (821), her sister Lyn Yee (1473) and Aslina Chua (1770),” said Liew.
With the completion of Phase II of the SLTA Master Plan, Liew said SLTA will boast of the best tennis facilities in Malaysia.
“We are still grooming some national ranked players and we will continue to host not only at least five to seven international competitions annually but also local championships such as the Kuching Open, Sibu Open, Miri Open, KDLTA monthly medals, Sarawak Inter-Division and Borneo Games,” he said.