SLTA vice-president Douglas Telajan (front, left) and secretary Bernard Chin (front, right) with the girls doubles finalists and tournament officials in a group photo, taken after the prize presentation. — Photo by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING (Nov 17): Malaysia’s sole challenger Amarr Shanmugarthy is still flying the Jalur Gemilang at the 15th Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) 14 and Under Series Tournament, having successfully entered the boys singles semi-finals at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Tennis Centre yesterday.
The Malaysian beat Singapore’s Asher Yule Ong 6-4, 6-2 to march into the final four, where he will face another Singaporean, Luke Ho.
Andreas strikes a return hit to Luke Ho during their quarterfinal match. — Photo by Teo Chi Wei
Earlier in the boys singles quarterfinals, there were major upsets as the tournament’s top seed Andreas Foong of Hong Kong, fell to a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 defeat at the hands of Luke Ho; while fourth seed Makson Chan also bowed out of the competition after having lost 6-1, 4-6, 1-6 to another Singaporean, Phay Kai Chuen.
In the boys doubles semifinals, Hong Kong’s Brandon Wong and Donovan Yim staged an upset victory over top seeds Andreas and Amarr after they bounced back from one set down 3-6 to win 6-4, 10-6.
The Brandon-Donovan pair will be up against second seeds Dylan Lim and Zachary Sng of Singapore after the latter tamed compatriots Ethan Chan and Phay Kai Chuen 6-2, 6-7, 13-11 in the other semifinal match.
Meanwhile, Jane Sze and Chloe Wong Ying Chi of Hong Kong lifted the girls doubles title yesterday – a feat that took them two hours and 16 minutes to achieve.
The Hong Kong pair beat the combination of Ngo Chung Thien Lam of Vietnam and Nutthida Tanwattanakul of Thailand in straight sets of 6-2, 6-2.
Chloe and Jane were trailing 2-0 in the first set, but found their rhythm to re-merge victoriously in the second set, and continued to be merciless in the third.
The girls singles final shall see Jane taking on Chung Thien Lam after beating Chloe 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
The other singles player in the semifinal was Honey Jumani Gaurav of India, who had to bow out due to an injury.