KUCHING: The Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) continues its hardwork in putting Malaysia in the world tennis map with president Dato Patrick Liew announcing yesterday that the highly anticipated Eighth edition of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Asian U-14 Series tournament will commence here from Sept 5 to 9.
According to Liew, the tournament has been and will always be a platform for young and aspiring tennis players to gain useful experience and also improve their world rankings. It will be a very useful exposure for them.
He assures youths who participate in the competition, especially those who came from far, will not go home empty-handed as there will be no knock-out phase in the tournament. All players stood a chance to play equal number of matches and will be ranked accordingly after the competition.
“We (SLTA) were the first to organise an Asian U-14 tennis tournament, sanctioned by the ITF in this country. We were also among the earliest in Asia,” he added.
Liew continued that it is essential for those who aspire to play tennis seriously to start at a very young age. He is especially serious about the development of youth tennis here in the country.
“We can see now that more Asian tennis players are becoming professional tennis players. There is indeed a future for tennis here in this continent,” he said.
Giving out a piece of advice, Liew told The Borneo Post yesterday that local junior tennis players should be grateful that there is an international-class tournament held right here in Sarawak.
They need not travel abroad for exposure or experience.
In another development, Liew also informed that organising a tennis tournament is not an easy task and admitted that it would be nice if there are more sponsors who are willing to co-operate with SLTA. With the sponsors, it will help SLTA continue its work in organising more world-class tournaments in Sarawak.
A total of 55 boys and 26 girls tennis players will represent their respective countries at the Asian U-14 Series tennis tournament next month.
Twelve countries have registered for the competition including Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
Among the players to watch during the tournament is Malaysia’s very own Koay Hao Sheng who is ATF ranking number seven, the highest in the tournament.
Alvin Teng Wee Jie is another player to watch as he is a local Sarawakian, ranked 109 in the ATF.
“Let’s see how well Malaysia do compared to the other countries in Asia in tennis. It will be exciting to see how well we do as we really harbour the ambition to be among the best tennis countries here in Asia,” said Liew at the end of the interview. -- http://www.theborneopost.com
