Leong in action at the ITF World Men’s Tour M15 Sarawak qualifying match yesterday. — Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Aug 2): Malaysia’s challenge in the ITF World Men’s Tour M15 Sarawak qualifiers ended yesterday as both Mitsuki Leong Wei Kang and Darrshan Suresh lost in their bid for the main draw.
Playing at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Tennis Centre here, Leong was defeated by third seed Yamato Sueoka of Japan 6-1, 6-3.
The Malaysian had impressed when he beat eighth seed Tu Le Khanh Dy of Vietnam 6-0,6-2 in the qualifying match a day earlier.
Darrshan also failed in his bid to play in the main draw after losing 6-3, 6-3 to Phuong Van Nguyen of Vietnam.
There were six spots for qualifiers to play in the main draw.
In another qualifying match yesterday, second seed Bharath Nishok Kumaran of India was upset by Tomohiro Masayabashi of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
Top seed Son Ji Hoon of South Korea, however, met expectations by defeating India’s Azuma Visaya after the leading 6-2, 1-0 before the match was retired.
Sixth seed Linh Giang Trinh of Vietnam also did well to defeat 10th seed Krittin Koaykul of Thailand 2-6, 7-5 (10-4) to qualify for the main draw.
Following the elimination of Mitsuki and Surresh, only three Malaysians will compete in the main draw of the tournament.
The trio are Imran Daniel Abd Hazli, Naufal Siddiq Kamaruzzaman, and Muhammad Aiman Hamdan.