PETALING JAYA: Former national coach Rahizam Abdul Rahim received the perfect Father's Day gift from his son, Talhah, last month.
Talhah presented his father with the Selangor Tennis Association (STA)-Milo Inter-Team League title.
Talhah and Yussyazlin Nabila Yusri, playing in the mixed doubles, clinched the winning point for Selangor Juniors Super Eight, who are coached by Rahizam, in their 3-2 victory over Tennis Edge in the final at the Kelana Jaya Complex.
With the score tied at 2-2, Talhah-Yussyazlin came onto the court and produced a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Tennis Edge's Danish Martin-Tan Jia Xuan.
The Selangor team received RM900 while Tennis Edge earned RM500.
"It is the best gift ever that I got. I am proud of my son for playing so well in this tournament," said Rahizam. "As a father and coach, I am so happy for Talhah, who before going on court, promised me the title.
"Everyone in the team also played an instrumental role in this memorable victory. It was a last minute thing, as I was told to form a team just days before the event."
At short notice, Rahizam was asked by the STA to put up a team to represent the association in the tournament.
"I couldn't gather a team of only Selangor players as some of them were unavailable. I mixed the squad with players from Penang, Johor, Perlis and Malacca," he said.
The fifth edition of the league attracted nine teams from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan. The teams were drawn in three groups with the top two advancing to the winners' pool to decide the champions.
Each tie was decided over three singles (Boys' Under-12 and Under-14, Girls' Under-14), one Boys' Under-12 doubles and one Under-14 mixed doubles.
The tournament provided an ideal platform for players in the Under-12 age-group to take on one another as they don't have such opportunities often.
They do not get to compete regularly after the Under-12 category was abolished in this year's SportExcel circuit.
"Twenty-seven players in the Under-12 category were involved in this tournament. They were excited throughout the two-day event as they played against those within their age-group," added Rahizam.
STA secretary Tengku Mohamed Tengku Harun said the event has grown in popularity over the years.
"We managed to attract nine teams, which is a good number for a junior inter-team event. One team withdrew in the last minute," he said.
The other teams who took part were MBPJ Juniors, KLLTA, NSLTA Kancil, SBTT, NSLTA Juniors, PJ Club and Ace.
RESULTS - Final: Selangor Juniors Super Eight 3 Tennis Edge 2 (Shahrul Shafiq lost to Shamirul Shahril 4-6, 4-6; Muhd Erza Azmer lost to Tony Chin 0-6, 1-6; Loo Shi Pei bt Svea Zuber 6-2, 6-2; Azrul Ekhsan-Muhd Zafran bt Danial Farid-Naufal Siddiq 6-0, 6-0; Talhah Rahizam-Yussyazlin Nabila Yusri bt Danish Martin-Tan Jia Xuan 6-0, 6-1).
Third placing: KLLTA 3 NSLTA Juniors 0 (Ryan Lee bt Muhd Farhan 6-2, 6-0; Tan Jia Yi bt Hanesah Noh 6-2, 6-2; Sheikh Ameer-Nurin Nabila bt Izzati Zamrai-Afiq Irfan 6-0, 6-1).
