Local interest in the singles event of the Malaysian Open tennis championships ended after national No. 1 Si Yew Ming and Co failed to lift their game in the first qualifying round at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Yew Ming was given a wildcard to compete in the qualifying rounds but fell to Ukraine’s Stanislav Poplavskyy – 12 years his junior – 4-6, 2-6.
The second set was delayed for about 30 minutes due to lighting problems at the centre court with Poplavskyy leading 3-1.
When play resumed, Poplavskyy continued from where he left off.
Ipoh lad Yew Ming was quite pleased with his performance despite crashing out at the first hurdle once again.
“He (Poplavskyy) made quite a few good returns on my service ... perhaps I could’ve done better,” said the soft-spoken Yew Ming.
“I will need to brush up on my shots, especially at the net, but overall I thought I played quite well. It was quite satisfying in the end.”
While the elder statesman of the national team failed to get past the first round, the juniors fared no better.
Eighteen-year-old Ariez Elyaas showed flashes of brilliance in his match against China’s Zhang Ze but crumbled in the second set to lose 4-6, 0-6 while 16-year-old Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak was totally outclassed by Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang 1-6, 2-6.
Another Malaysian youngster Wan Abdul Muiz was given a 1-6, 0-6 thrashing by Bulgaria’s Alexander Lazov.
Despite the early whitewash in the singles event, Malaysia will still have something to cheer for as Yew Ming will compete in the main draw of the doubles event , partnering rising American youngster Ryan Harrison.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
First round: Alexander Lazov (Bul) bt Wan Abdul Muiz (Mas) 6-1, 6-0; Zhang Ze (Chn) bt Ariez Elyaas (Mas) 6-4, 6-0; Jean-Rene Lisnard (Mon) bt Koki Matsunaga (Jpn) 6-3, 7-5; Mikhail Ledovskikh (Rus) bt Gong Mao-Xin (Chn) 6-4, 7-5; Chen Ti (Tpe) bt Scott Lipsky (US) 7-6, 6-3; Jimmy Wang (Tpe) bt Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak (Mas) 6-1, 6-2; Stanislav Poplavskyy (Ukr) bt Si Yew Ming (Mas) 6-4, 6-2; Mikhail Elgin (Rus) bt Jean-Julien Rojer (Aho) 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. - (Kng Zheng Guan-Star)
