Jamil grabs two titles at tennis meet

Mohamad Jamil Abdul Samah swept the men's singles and doubles titles at the 2012 Sandakan Closed Tennis Championships recently. The 25-year-old, formerly one of the top juniors in the state, was in uncompromising mood as he easily won the singles title without dropping a set throughout the event. A powerful display of precision tennis in the final saw him defeat Ryan Mauleon Guasis 6-4, 6-2 to claim the crown. Jamil claimed his second title when he partnered school teacher Iruwan Amboragang of SK Tanjung Batu, Sandakan, to victory over Gary Leong and Desmond Ang in the final. With Jamil's power game complemented effectively by Iruwan's sharp and deceptive volleying, the duo successfully fought their way to the title by a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win. Meanwhile, 46-year-old 'junior veteran' Chin Ming Boak also clinched twin victories in the men's veterans' category. Played in a round-robin format, he won all his matches to emerge the undisputed singles champion among the four contestants. Amir Bukhari Mohd Razali was second while former three-time Sabah champion Simon Wong was third. Ming Boak's success continued in the veterans' doubles when he and Peter Poon also won all their round-robin ties to be declared champions. Amir Bukhari Mohd Razali/Abd Halim Hj Hussin came in second. Five pairs took part in this event. At the prize-giving dinner, joint tournament sponsors SDTA President Taren Sunil Manoharan and Vice-President Koichi Murakami, presented the prizes and medals to the winners. - http://www.dailyexpress.com.my

Kaoy can be next Adam Malik

National junior tennis player Koay Hao Seng can be the next Adam Malik of Malaysia if given the chance to train overseas and play in more international competitions. International Tennis Federation (ITF) representative to the Asia-Oceania Zone Final Qualifying for the World Junior Team Competition (Boys) Ajay Pathak said the 13-year-old boy from Perlis had great potential to go far in tennis with proper guidance and coaching. “I think the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) should give him the maximum opportunity by sending him to train at one of the tennis academies in Spain,” Ajay told The Borneo Post last Saturday. “He can be the next Adam Malik of Malaysia. You don’t have many good players like Adam in Malaysia,” he added. Ajay, also ITF Junior Committee member and Asian Tennis Federation Junior Committee chairman, said Koay was fortunate to have wealthy parents who can afford to send him overseas and sponsors can also come in to support him. “I’m very impressed by his performance in the World Junior Team Competition final qualifying in Kuching this week and although Malaysia lost all but one of their matches, I think they have also shown improvement,” said Ajay. This was because when compared to previous years, Malaysia used to lose 3-0 to their counterparts from the Asia-Oceania region but now they only lose 2-1. “This is a team competition and to shine in the competition, all members must be good players. I believe Koay can do well if he plays in individual competitions.” In the singles matches of the World Junior Team Competition final qualifying, Koay beat Philippines’ Eric Olivarez Jr 6-1, 6-1, Anthony Jackie Tang of Hong Kong 6-4, 7-6(5), Indonesian Bryan Husin 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and only lost 0-6, 3-6 to Australia’s Oliver Anderson and 5-7, 1-4 (retired) to Kareem Al-Allaf of Kazakhstan due to injury. Koay scored a double triumph at the 2nd Penang Asian U14 Series Tennis Championship in March this year. He beat Yu Hua Chen of Taiwan to clinch the Boys singles crown and partnered Sherwin Foo to beat compatriots Talhah Mohamad Rahizam and Sheikh Ameer Sheikh Ahmad 7-4, 6-5 for the boys doubles crown. At the 3rd leg of the LTAM Sport Excel U14 Circuit in July last year, Koay won his first boys doubles title with Khairil Anas Abd Rahim.

Imran wins in Hat Yai

IMRAN, the son of former national No. 2 Abdul Hazli Zainuddin, clinched the boys’ eight-and-under title at the PTT Junior Tennis Championships at Hat Yai Municipality Courts yesterday. The 6-year-old, who trains with his dad regularly at the National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur, turned on a master class performance to overcome his rivals.

Funding for courts in Sabah

TENNIS enthusiasts in Sandakan can look forward to better days after the government’s recent announcement to resurface four courts. Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Peter Pang En Yin revealed that RM128,000 has been approved for the project at the tennis centre owned by the Sandakan Municipal Council. Sabah Tennis Association president Johnson Koh said the minister made the surprise announcement during a friendly match between the association, its affiliate the Sandakan Tennis Association and the Sibu Recreation Club. Koh revealed the courts are under the care of the Sandakan Tennis Association and described the resurfacing project as a windfall for tennis enthusiasts in the east coast district. “The new courts will help further promote the sport in the district,” he said. Koh also said that the Sabah Tennis Association’s 26th Inter Affiliate championship this year will be held in Kota Kinabalu on May 25-27. “Kota Kinabalu will be the favourites to defend their title but there may be a few surprises from other districts,” he said of the tournament which will see six districts competing in four categories — men, women,juniors and veterans. By Roy Goh (NST)

Why Hide Behind The Cloak of the Internet? (LTAM website)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20, 2012– It has been quite some time since I last wrote this column. I must say this column is not only meant to share with our readers of LTAM’s plans but also to provide our side of the story, given the fact that we are seldom being granted the right of reply in the mainstream media. Our detractors seem to thrive on other people’s modesty and civility. I was wrong to think these “sick people” have repented. Recently there has been another spate of e-mails but from a different person purported to be from somebody by the name of BS Sidhu. I’m not too sure if these e-mails are from the same “sick people” working under disguise. Sad to say, the allegations and accusations are again unsubstantiated, disjointed and manipulated. Unfortunately, they warrant the attention of those who do not know about tennis activities and its development in the country. Nevertheless the allegations are indeed serious, written with malice and evil intention solely meant to deliver character assassination on me as President of LTAM. However, I am happy as he has boldly put his name and address and I presumed, he really meant what he alleged. Let me share something with our readers. Tennis is full of funny characters. There is one particular father who is known to harass and abuse officials, parents, coaches, his own kids and other kids resulting in him being banned by a State association. LTAM decided not to interfere. We remained above the fray and did not take any action against him as this may be interpreted as victimising his kids’ involvement in tennis. But this fellow has gone to great lengths to discredit LTAM and me. Should LTAM entertain a person like him who also has a couple of police reports against him? The sad thing these reports have racial insinuations. If go unabated will create problems within the tennis fraternity. If this fellow is the same individual who wrote and attached these allegations in his e-mails, then he has given me the opportunity to take action against him by bringing him into the ring. It is difficult to “box” with your opponent if he keeps on throwing stones and insults from outside the ring. We did call him through one of our Exco to engage with us by meeting the LTAM Exco on the 18 May recently but he declined. Again I have been forced to lodge a police report, similar to that I made against a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. I hope this will give him the opportunity to substantiate his allegations against me and I can clear my name once and for all. I am pretty sure the allegations come from a group of individuals who hide behind the cloak of the Internet.I am not going to waste column inches and answer all these allegations on this Tie Break Corner. Why should I be shooting at an invisible target? Some may accuse me of a lot of things. For their information, I did not charge my expenses incurred on behalf of LTAM and the reason why I am able to source for funds and sponsorship to support LTAM all this while is due to the trust I have acquired. We, at LTAM work very hard to organize events like the WTA and ATP, to secure good sponsorships so that we can channel some money towards other LTAM development activities. For everybody’s information, I run a business with an annual turnover of RM100 million per year, with interests in power plant, sports and event management and oil and gas. I am not cheap to squander LTAM’s funds of few thousands. In fact my companies had no choice but to issue payments in advance to LTAM with substantial sums, during the early years of my presidency. Substantial sum were converted to sponsorship, because there is none or when there is sponsorship it did not come in on time, more often than not after the event. To make sure the event goes on I have to unwillingly advance my money first and all these are properly accounted for. Through these unidentifiable e-mails, letters and short messages they manipulated this situation and accused me of squandering LTAM’s money. If they are really serious with their allegations please reveal yourselves and not hide behind these poison e-mails, letters and short messages? I feel saddened that my sincerity in developing tennis has been put to question by people who themselves have done little as stakeholders to develop the game. On another issue, the Forum Board for LTAM office bearers which is used to discuss certain issues and matters before they are formally accepted at our monthly Exco meeting, are not the full thread produced in the poison e-mails and letters. The Forum Board was created as a platform for office bearers to express their opinion without fear or favour. It has helped us make timely decisions as we can only meet once a month due to the nature of the composition of the Office Bearers who are mainly outside the Klang Valley. Certain contents of the Forum Board have been leaked by an insider. Well! This is beyond my control as officials are nominated and elected by the State Affiliates who are members of LTAM. I have no control with regards to the competency and trustworthiness of these office bearers other than on a trial and error basis since September 2005. On one hand State Affiliates want to be represented so that they know the activities of LTAM first hand. On the other, such representation has been subjected to abuse all this while. Even though all matters are agreed by the majority at all times, the disgruntled minority unhappy with the decision is not professional enough to keep things within themselves. We have proof of who downloaded them as we maintain the Forum Board ourselves! Let it be known to everybody, I am here to make things right for tennis. The state of affairs of tennis before I took over in September 2005 was really in shambles. I am sorry if I make the minority unhappy and I am not wrong to state these poison e-mails, letters and short messages are the work of some previous office bearers of LTAM who were “kicked out” by the majority Council Members because of their, I quote in their own words in the poison e-mails and letters, “was infested with cronyism, nepotism, discrimination, conflict of interests, financial abuses, hindrance to tennis and player’s development, ineffective and incompetent tennis development, no integrity, no transparency, no credibility. LTAM brought to disrepute by their administration”. The Constitution states the Council sits only every year unless there is an Extraordinary General Meeting. The Agenda to be discussed are very clear as stated in the Constitution and we have been following it ever since. The day to day activities of LTAM are decided by the elected office bearers as dictated by the Constitution. If at the Council Meetings you have not been entertained that is beyond my power as I am guided by the majority. How come I am accused of manipulating the decisions at LTAM Council Meeting when the majority chose not to? May be the majority of the Council Members are fed up with cowards and so called “actors” who were given the opportunity to run LTAM before but are preaching from the pulpit, not actually practising what they preach! Except for 2007, why during the last BGM I won uncontested and interesting enough I don’t belong to any State Affiliates. This means if any Council Members do not nominate me, I cannot be President!!!It saddens me that some people choose to play blind and dumb to the things that we have done. I believe we are on the right track. Compare our packed Calendar of Events with those not during my time. Only time will tell as we can only play the role of facilitator to facilitate the development of our players. Let our detractors play “evil” politics behind the cloak of the internet! - www.ltam.org.my Rest assured it is not the nomination that matters most to me. I will not overstay my welcome if I am no longer able to secure sufficient sponsorships to support LTAM’s development activities even though I may get majority votes from Council to remain as President. It saddens me that some people choose to play blind and dumb to the things that we have done. I believe we are on the right track. Compare our packed Calendar of Events with those not during my time. Only time will tell as we can only play the role of facilitator to facilitate the development of our players. Let our detractors play “evil” politics behind the cloak of the internet!

Davis Cup battle between Malaysia and Cambodia on the cards next year

Cambodia eventually earned Group III promotion following their success at the IV event in Qatar last month. We could be in for a titanic tie between Malaysia and Cambodia next year :) Final positions 1. UAE, Cambodia (both promoted) 3. Qatar, Turkmenistan 5. Saudi Arabia 6. Singapore 7. Jordan 8. Iraq 9. Myanmar 10. Bahrain Cambodia: Kenny Bun, Pannhara Mam, Samneang Long, Vetu Mam, Tep Rithivit (captain)

Cambodian tennis rises from the ashes at Davis Cup

KENNY BUN What's most remarkable about Cambodia's imminent Davis Cup debut is not that the small nation has finally made it to a top world tennis event. It's that the sport exists in Cambodia at all. When the country's number one player and budding heart-throb Bun Kenny steps onto the court in Qatar in the coming week, it will mark the crowning moment of years of effort to revive a sport that was all but wiped out by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s for being too upper-class. "Tennis almost completely disappeared," Kenny told AFP as he took a break from practising his ground strokes with his three Davis Cup teammates on a recent sweltering afternoon in the Cambodian capital. "Today, for the players and for the trainers, I think it's our job to revive tennis and get more people interested in the game," the 21-year-old said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "We are looking forward to the Davis Cup. It's only the beginning." Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society and launched a radical revolution that led to the deaths of up to two million people from overwork, starvation or execution between 1975 and 1979. "Like many sports, tennis was considered an elitist sport and there were no exceptions when the Khmer Rouge came. They wanted to wipe out anything that was part of the old era," said Tep Rithivit, the non-playing Davis Cup team captain and the secretary general of the Tennis Federation of Cambodia. "Pol Pot wanted to start Year Zero in Cambodia. As far as tennis was concerned, he succeeded. We had to rebuild everything from scratch." Only three of an estimated 40 players who were in the national team before the regime's "Killing Fields" era are known to have survived. One of them is Yi Sarun, an energetic 67-year-old who still hits the courts almost every day and who is widely credited for leading efforts to keep the game alive in Cambodia. "I survived because I was smart enough to lie," he told AFP after an effortless coaching lesson with a young Sri Lankan student at a sports club in Phnom Penh. "I told them I was just a cyclo driver and that in my free time I enjoyed playing football," he added, his soaked red t-shirt emblazoned with the words "From Killing Fields to Tennis Courts" -- the federation's unofficial slogan. Fellow players who didn't hide their identity from the Khmer Rouge "were considered rich people or high-ranking officials. They were killed." Sarun himself didn't come from a wealthy background but his talent for the game was discovered as a teenager when he was spotted copying the moves from the local officials he saw playing tennis in his home province. In 1975, he buried his trophies and medals, evidence of a glittering tennis career in the 1960s, and spent much of the next four years toiling in the fields, like most of his countrymen. But the endless labour did not break his spirit nor did it extinguish his love for tennis, and after the regime was ousted from power he was at the forefront of a push to wake the game from its slumber in the early 1980s. "I wanted to restart tennis because it's my skill, it's what I know... I love this sport. "We had only three players, there were no other people who knew how to play so the game was paralysed," Sarun said, recalling how they had nothing better than a fishing net to string across the court and were reliant on foreigners to bring in new equipment. Inspired by these efforts, Rithivit, whose family had left Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge era, returned to his home country in the early 1990s to help set up the Tennis Federation of Cambodia and nurture the next crop of players through free tennis lessons for school children and orphans. "I tell them never to forget what has happened in the past and try to give a better hope for the new generation," he said, standing on the sidelines of the court, not taking his eyes off the practise doubles match now going on between his four Davis Cup team members. Today, Cambodia boasts two ranked players and was allowed to join the Davis Cup competition after it hosted an ATP event last year and its membership to the International Tennis Federation was upgraded, Rithivit explained. "For us, it's the greatest tennis revival, you know. It's beating all the odds and beating all the challenges that we were confronted with... It's one of the greatest moments of tennis in Cambodia." Rithivit and the players say they hope their Davis Cup debut will lift the profile of the game in impoverished Cambodia, where it continues to be viewed as a rather expensive pastime and doesn't come close to rivalling the popularity of football or boxing. The team will start their Davis Cup campaign in Doha in the Asia-Oceania Group IV, in which 10 nations -- including Myanmar, Iraq and Singapore -- will compete from April 16-21 for two places in the next stage. "We have a good chance to be in Group III next year," said Kenny, who moved to Cambodia from France nearly two years ago to give himself the best shot at a professional tennis career. He is ranked 1192th in the world by the ATP. * Cambodia eventually earned Group III promotion following their success at the IV event in Qatar last month. We could be in for a titanic tie between Malaysia and Cambodia next year :) Final positions 1. UAE, Cambodia (both promoted) 3. Qatar, Turkmenistan 5. Saudi Arabia 6. Singapore 7. Jordan 8. Iraq 9. Myanmar 10. Bahrain Cambodia: Kenny Bun, Pannhara Mam, Samneang Long, Vetu Mam, Tep Rithivit (captain) Team captain Rithivit believes his boys feel the weight of history on their shoulders. "These guys are hungry and they are proud to play for their country. They have worked hard to be here," he said. -- AFP