‘Overlooked’ Christian proves a point
CHRISTIAN Didier Chin may have failed to secure spots in Malaysia’s Sea Games and Davis Cup teams but he is certainly the hottest local tennis player in the country.
Yesterday, the 17-year-old turned the tables on his more illustrious local rivals by reaching the men’s singles final and also winning the doubles title in the National Circuit’s Penang Open at Penang CRC Sports Complex.
The seventh seeded Christian, currently ranked No 121 on the ITF junior rankings, reached the singles final when he overcame Sri Aakash Reddiyar 6-3, 6-3.
The youngster created an upset in the quarter-finals by ousting second seed Assri Merzuki, who will play in the Sea Games and Davis Cup, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Sri Aakash also made headlines by booting out Sea Games-bound Syed Agil Syed Naguib in the last eight.
Christian will face top seed Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak, who thrashed Christian Oliver Lee 6-1, 6-1, for the singles crown today.
It will be Christian’s second career final in the National Circuit since the KL Open last year, where he finished runner-up.
In the doubles final, Christian and Assri defeated Syed Agil- Koay Hao Sheng 6-3, 6-3 for the title.
“Christian is playing his best tennis here. He has shown that he can match the best senior players in the country. He is certainly the player to watch in the future.
“Tomorrow’s final will be tough as Deedat is in excellent form. I expect both players to produce their best tennis,” said national coach S. Selvarajoo in Penang yesterday.
Christian caught the attention of many by winning both the singles and doubles titles at the ITF Terengganu International Junior Championships (Grade 4) in May.
He also did remarkably well to reach the final of the Asian Junior Championships (Grade B1) in New Delhi last month.
However, his achievements were deemed as "not good enough" by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) for the Sea Games, where Malaysia are unlikely to finish on the podium in the men's singles and doubles events.
LTAM also overlooked Christian for the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group III tournament in Sri Lanka on July 17-22.
Today’s women’s singles final will pit Sarawakian Aslina Chua and Uzbekistan’s Polina Merenkova.
Aslina defeated Linda Leong 7-5,6-1 while Polina edged Sea Games-bound Suhana Sabtu Adam Das 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in the semi-finals yesterday.
In the doubles final, Aslina-S. Theiviya defeated Belinda Chai-Michelle Khoo 6-1, 2-6, 10-6 for the crown. Ajitpal Singh