Yussyazlin wins in Perlis

Yussyazlin Nabila Yusri captured the girls’ Under-14 title in the recent 31st Tuanku Syed Putra Milo-Perlis Junior International Tennis Championships at the Kampung Pondok Tennis Complex in Kangar.
Yussyazlin came back from a second set blemish to beat Nurin Nabilah Roslan 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in almost three hours.
The 13-year-old, ranked third in the Asian 14 & Under rankings, took up tennis at six and aspires to follow the foot steps of Russia’s former World No 1 Maria Sharapova in the near future.
The Form One student of SM Tuanku Lailatul Shireen (Kangar) aims to make an impact in the upcoming Asian 14 & Under season, where she will kick start her campaign in Vietnam on Jan 5-16.
Koay Hao Sheng earned Perlis its second title in the tournament in the boys’ Under-14 singles. He defeated Talhah Rahizam 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
The tournament attracted more than 400 participants including 188 foreign entries from the United States, South Africa, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore

RESULTS
* Malaysia unless stated

Boys' singles Under-10 S-Finals — Kim Junseo (Kor) bt Naufal Siddiq Kamaruzzaman 6-2, 6-4; Danial Ahmad Farid bt Woratan Manphian (Tha) 6-2, 6-1.
Final — Kim Junseo (Kor) bt Danial Ahmad Farid (NS) 6-0, 6-1.
Under-12 doubles final — Shamirul Shahril-Alvin Teng (Swk) bt Siphos Montsi-Rayan Little (RSA) 6-1, 6-3.
Under-14 — Hubert Badenhorst-Jandre Lessing (RSA) bt M. Kharil Anas-Koay Hao Sheng (KL-Ps) 6-2, 6-2.
Under-16 — Johnson Ooi-Chia Chen Dong (Png) bt Mohd Ariff Anuar-Mohd Ali Imran (Ps) 6-1, 6-4.

Girls doubles Under-10 final — Thutsaporn Naklow-Napat Pongphanich (Tha) bt Nur Aniess Shamida-Nur Batrisya Mazuki (Pk) 6-0, 6-7(5), 10-8.
Under-12 —Camille Townsend-Katya Townsend (USA) bt Suhana Sofia-Aida Hereena (Sel-Ps) 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.
Under-16 final — Tiara Hareena-Michelle Khoo (Ps-Png) bt Putri Syafiqah-Teoh Shi Yin (Per-Sel) 6-3, 6-1.

Venus confirmed coming

CARBON Worldwide, the organiser of the WTA Tour BMW Malaysian Open, declared that Venus Williams' withdrawal from an Australian Open warm-up event in Auckland would not affect her participation in the Kuala Lumpur competition.
Venus, who has been receiving treatment for Sjogren's syndrome, stated that she was not ready to compete in Auckland, scheduled next month.
Carbon representative Melvin Chia said a fitter Venus would be competing for the first time in the Malaysian Open.
"Tennis fans here will be in for a treat as Venus will be gunning for her first title on her return to competition," said Melvin yesterday.
Meanwhile, former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been named patron of this year's event, scheduled on Feb 27-March 4, at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Club.
BMW Malaysia managing director Geoffrey Briscoe said: "We are delighted to have Tun Mahathir as the tournament's patron.
"We believe his involvement augurs well for the Malaysian Open as we've set out to augment the Malaysian sports and tourism industry."
The third edition of the event has attracted an international cast of world class players and among them are France's World No 9 Marion Bartoli, Australia's Jelena Dokic and China's Asian Games champion Peng Shuai.

Marion eyes stellar start

MARION Bartoli is looking to build on a stellar season with a successful campaign at the WTA Tour BMW Malaysian Open on Feb 27-March 4 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
The 27-year-old, who clinched two titles earlier this year on route to equalling her career high ranking of World No 9 in October, said the Malaysian tournament would play a key role in preparing her for what will be an important year.
"Overall I had a very successful year (2011) and was able to reach the quarters in Wimbledon, the final at Stanford and having another win in Osaka," said the Frenchwoman.
Marion, who played in the Malaysian Open last year, said: "I very much enjoyed the warm climate and the event (Malaysian Open) which set up a great run for me this year where I reached the semi-finals at the French Open and won at Eastbourne.
"Finishing in the Top 10 this year was a great success and for 2012, I certainly hope to improve on this position.
"The BMW Malaysian Open will be a very important date in my schedule for the coming season where my focus will be on the Grand Slams and especially the Olympics in London."
Marion, who has nine career singles titles to her name, said the very intimate settings of the Malaysian Open were among the reasons she decided to return to Kuala Lumpur.
"I had a great time in Malaysia last year and my father (her coach) and myself enjoyed the great hospitality and support from the spectators during the event," said Marion.

Venus doubtful for Malaysian Open

VENUS Williams' participation in the WTA Tour BMW Malaysian Open is in doubt after the seven-time grand slam champion withdrew from a Australian Open warm-up event in New Zealand due to "health reasons".
Venus, who has been receiving treatment for Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease, was given a wild card for Auckland Classic on Jan 2-7.
The five-time Wimbledon champion had also agreed to play in the Malaysian Open on Feb 27-March 4 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort.
"After playing a number of recent exhibition matches, Williams told her agent Carlos Fleming she was not ready to play in Auckland," a statement on the Auckland Classic website said.
The 31-year-old has been plagued with injuries and health issues since she made the semi-finals of the US Open last year.
The five-times Wimbledon champion, who changed her diet to include more vegetables after suffering fatigue from the disease, said last month that she hoped to return to the tour full-time in 2012 and to top the rankings.
A source, however, said Venus would be in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Open.
"Venus is our marquee player. It is unfortunate that she is not ready for Auckland but we are keeping our fingers crossed that she will play here," said the source.
France's World No 9 Marion Bartoli, Australia's defending champion Jelena Dokic and Asian Games gold medallist Peng Shuai are among those who are confirmed as coming. By Ajitpal Singh

Delizavernne is Asia No 1

WHO said Malaysian tennis is on the slide? Delizavernne Kaur made the country proud by securing the year-end Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) 14 and Under girls' No 1 ranking.
The 14-year-old topped the ranking list with 1,710 points ahead of several top players from South Korea, China, Japan and India.
What made her success sweeter is that Delizavernne achieved it without depending on public funds or other special assistance.
Remarkably, she topped the rankings without the help of a professional coach. Her non-playing tennis father, Bhoopindar Singh, a businessman, has been coaching her since she first picked up the racquet six years ago.
The Form Two student of SMK Sri Aman, however, almost gave up tennis a year ago.
Delizavernne, who is of Punjabi-Filipino parentage, felt there were too many obstacles, which had also halted the progress of her brothers, Pearljit Singh and Duzbionjit Singh. But her father managed to coax her from quitting and the rest was history.
"It's amazing for me to finish the year as the No. 1 player in Asia (14 and under)," Delizavernne told Timesport at Balai Berita in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
"I do not know whether Malaysians have finished a year as No 1 in tennis but to be among the very few is special.
"I'm only in the beginning of my career, and to have achieved so much already is a dream come true."
"Many may argue that the best in Asia were not playing regularly on the circuit but for a Malaysian to be ranked No 1, it is something to be proud of."
Delizavernne admitted that she wanted to quit a year ago as she was not getting the due recognition.
"There were obstacles, which I do not want to elaborate, but my dad told me not to give up and I kept on playing.
"I hope my achievement will help me get some recognition and also open new doors for me to further my tennis career," she said.
Delizavernne played a full schedule in the 14 and under circuit and attained success in Penang, Malacca and Bangladesh.
In last month's season-finale, the Qatar Asian Championships (14 and under), she and Libya's Laura Sahyoun defeated Kazakhstan's Milana Imamniyazova-As Jumamakhambeto 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 for the doubles crown.
In the singles, Delizavernne was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the final by Kazakhstan's Gozal Ainitdinova.
On her plans, Delizavernne said she would like to turn professional and represent Malaysia in the Fed Cup.
"I will make my debut in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-18 tour next year, where I hope to make the grade.
"I do not want to put pressure on myself by setting unrealistic targets. I will give myself about three years in the ITF tour before looking seriously on whether to turn professional," said Delizavernne.
Despite being Asia's No 1 junior, Delizavernne is not a member of the national elite squad but the strong-willed youngster prefers not to think about it
"I am a goal-driven person. Apart from tennis, I want to excel in studies and become a successful business person like my dad.
"I owe him a lot, as if not for him, I would not have achieved so much in the sport," she added.

Ahmad Deedat leads Selangor to title

AHMAD Deedat Abdul Razak powered Selangor to the boys' Under-16 title in the final day of the ECM Libra Foundation-LTAM Junior Championships at National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Ahmad Deedat, a member of the national Davis Cup team, with Colin Wong and Tony Chin defeated Singapore 2-0 to regain their title.
Coach S. Selvarajoo said his team played superb tennis throughout the tournament.
"We came into this tournament as favourites and we achieved our target in style by not dropping a single set en route to victory in the boys' under-16 event," he said yesterday.
Selangor, however, failed to retain their girls' Under-16 title, losing 2-0 to Thailand in the final.
The team comprising Alyssa Boey, R. Archnaah and Sagung Putri were no match for the talented Thais.
Perlis cruised past Singapore 2-0 in the boys' Under-13 final and also won the girls' title by edging Thailand 2-1.

Venus confirmed coming

By Fadhli Ishak -NST
*NST Sport broke the story on Venus Williams a day earlier.

CARBON Worldwide, the organiser of the WTA Tour BMW Malaysian Open, has confirmed the participation of former World No 1 Venus Williams for the US$220,000 tournament on Feb 27-March 4 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
Keld Kristiansen, chairman of Carbon Worldwide,   said getting a player of Venus'  calibre was a great boost to the tournament and he was expecting more top  players to sign up for the event.
Also confirmed are Marion Bartoli of France, currently ranked World No 9, and also Asian Games gold medallist Peng Shuai from China.
"We are quite fortunate to be able to get Venus as she is currently in a very important stage of her career having just returned from injury and illness," said Kristiansen.
"It is quite unique to get a player committed to a tournament three months ahead of the event and the tournament is one of a number of key events she will be competing in to get herself back on track next year.
"We are still some way from the event itself so there will be more players registering in the coming months and we are confident there will be more quality players as the event has a good reputation among players on the tour.
"We are expecting (defending champion) Jelena Dokic to be back as well as Lucie Safarova who was here last year, but will have to wait for their confirmation."
Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, has been plagued with injuries and health issues since she made the semi-finals of the US Open last year.
Her ranking has since plunged to 104. She recently revealed that she had been suffering from Sjogren's syndrome, an illness which can cause fatigue and pain in the joints.
Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who officiated the launch of the tournament yesterday, urged the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) to organise more programmes to boost the development of the sport in the country.
"We need to create a tennis playing community to help build the sport.
"Any sport needs a large base of players to create champions and this is clearly lacking in tennis," said Ahmad Shabery.
"LTAM could be better at organising programmes to develop the sport.
"It is not necessary to do tournaments that offer large amounts of prize money but organise simple tournaments or tennis leagues to give our players a platform to develop.
"As long as there are good programmes run by the association, the government is ready to offer its support."
Ahmad Shabery  expressed disappointment at the lack of tennis fans at  the two world class tennis tournaments hosted in Malaysia in recent years --  the BMW Malaysian Open and ATP Malaysian Open.
"It is quite disappointing that we have two world class tennis events in Malaysia yet there are not many people, especially real tennis fans, who come and watch the matches," added Ahmad Shabery.

Venus to play in KL

VENUS Williams has announced her return to competition next year and local tennis fans are set for a treat as the former World No 1 is expected to play in Kuala Lumpur in the WTA Tour BMW Malaysian Open.
Carbon Worldwide, the organiser of the Malaysian Open, has approached Venus and the five-time Wimbledon champion has agreed to play in the tournament on Feb 27-March 4  at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort.
"We are waiting for Venus to pen her signature as the tournament's marquee player," said a reliable source yesterday.
Carbon Worldwide will make an official announcement if Venus is coming or not at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.
France's World No 9 Marion Bartoli, Australia's defending champion Jelena Dokic and Asian Games gold medallist Peng Shuai are among those who are confirmed as coming.
Venus, a 21-time grand slam winner (singles, doubles and mixed doubles), has had problems with injuries and illness since late 2010.
The 31-year-old recently revealed that she had Sjogren's syndrome which can cause fatigue and pain in the joints, after pulling out of her second round match at the US Open, which was her final tournament of the year.
Since reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 US Open, Venus has played only 11 matches which saw her ranking slip to 104.
She, however, has since changed her diet and appeared in exhibition matches with younger sister Serena.
"Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing. I feel like I can get better and move on," Venus said in a recent interview in New York.
Venus will re-launch her career in Auckland before competing in the Australian Open, both in January.