INDONESIA celebrated with party poppers as they clinched the Boys Doubles crown to deny Malaysia a sweep in the 1st Penang Asian Tennis Federal (ATF) Under-14 series as the four-day challenge ended at the Universiti Sains Malaysia courts last month
The Malaysians looked set to grab all four titles at stake in the Boys and Girls challenge but the Indonesian combination of Pangestu Akbar Thio and Suhendi Joel William Ivand threw a spanner in the works.
With their challenges in the Boys singles, the Girls singles and doubles, being prematurely ended by the high riding Malaysians, Pangestu and Suhendi held their own to be crowned as the Boys doubles champs.
The win came in the wake of top seed’s Low Zhe Han and Mohd Asyraff Mohd Safian shocking exit by fellow Malaysians Chin Yen Tong and Clarence Koo Mui Han in their semi-final meeting.
Yen Tong, who already had the singles crown in the bag, looked set to add the doubles crown to his collection as well, only to find the Indonesians in an uncompromising mood.
Leaving nothing to chance, they went on the offensive to troop out as the convincing victors by taming the ‘upset makers pair of Yen Tong and Clarence in straight games at 6-4, 7-5.
For Yen Tong, who hails from Selangor, the defeat came as a bitter pill as it denied him what could have been a grand double finish in this inaugural challenge.
He had successfully stopped the giant killing act of Talhah Mohd Rahzam to be crowned as the singles champ.
Talhah, who ended top seed Low Zhe Han’s march with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win in the semi-finals, failed to reproduce his act in the final as Yen Tong powered his way to honours in straight games at 6-2, 6-3.
The girls, however, helped to make up for the disappointment when they did what the boys failed to do.
They gave Malaysia a double finish after firmly making both the singles and doubles final an all-Malaysian affair.
Unseeded Yus Syazlin Nabila Yusri, in particular, played a big role in the Malaysian dominance of the Girls challenge, where she went against all odds to be crowned as the singles champ.
Her giant killing feat began in the quarter-final itself when she stunned the second seed, Vardan Ria of India, with a runaway 6-3, 6-0 win.
There was then no looking back for Yus Syazlin.
Strongly inspired by that win, she not only blew away Michelle Koo at 6-4 and 6-1 in the semi-finals, but also made top seed Delizavernne Kaur her victim as well.
As if displaying that her shocking win over Vardan was not a fluke, she sent Delizavernne crashing to a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 defeat in the final.
Delizavernne, however, was not to end her challenge empty handed.
Teaming up with Michelle in the doubles, they lived up to their billing of number two seed.
The duo powered their way to the doubles crown by beating another Malaysian pair of Nurhanis Abdullah Sani and Aida Hereena Hairy Anuar 6-4, 6-2 to make up for their disappointment in the singles.
The success of Yus Syazlin, Delizavernne and Michelle can be viewed as a welcoming warm-up to their bid in the Asia-Oceania World Juniors Tennis championship.
The trio, described as the top Under-14 girls in the country today, have been selected to feature in the championship which Sarawak is to play host in May.
With Qatar hosting two legs of the series, the Malaysians can also count on more home soil action as Malacca is also to play host to the series for the first time on May 4.
Sabah and Sarawak have also been picked to host the series in June and July respectively. - source..the star
