JAWAIRIAH Noordin, the undisputed national champion, has yet to meet her match on the local tennis scene for over five years.
And it will be tough for any local player to put a dent in Jawairiah’s hopes in retaining her women’s singles gold medal in her last Malaysia Games outing.
The 21-year-old, who is representing Negri Sembilan, started her campaign with an effortless 6-0, 6-2 victory over Perlis’ Sharifah Syafeenaz in the first round at the National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The top seed next plays Malacca’s Chan Jia Qi, who beat Kedah’s Ku Hazlina 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), in today’s quarter-finals.
The former Sea Games medalist, will team up with national men’s champion Syed Agil Syed Naguib in the mixed doubles.
Despite being the undisputed local champion, Jawairiah has not represented the country since last year’s Fed Cup Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, which does not augur well for her hopes to make a name for herself in WTA Tour competitions.
Since last year’s Fed Cup, Jawairiah together with other top local women players, have not been invited to represent the country in international competitions.
With Jawairiah on board, Negri are the firm favourites to win the women’s singles and mixed doubles titles. They are also strong contenders in other individual competitions.
“Those selected for the Davis Cup are in Indonesia for training. The tennis competition would have been more exciting if they were around,” said Azam yesterday.
“We have the best players in the competition. Selangor, however, could spoil our hopes in some events.”
Selected results — Men’s singles, 2nd rd: Khoo Er Yang (NS) bt Mu’az Azahar (Ter) 6-1, 6-1; Colin Wong (Sel) bt Lukman Hakim (Joh) 6-4, 6-1; Faeez Said (NS) bt Faiz Dine (Mal) 6-1, 6-3; Juan Antonio Los Santos (Sel) bt Chia Chen Dong (Pg) 6-0, 6-2.
Women’s singles: Jawairiah Noordin (NS) bt Sharifah Syafeenaz (Per) 6-0, 6-2; Alyssa Boey (Sel) bt Ong Xie (Mal) 6-0, 6-0; Ti Jia Wei (Pah) bt Farah Hamima (Ked) 6-1, 6-1; R. Archnaah (Sel) bt Delizavernne Kaur (Phg) 7-5, 6-2.
