MJTA Juniors kick start 2018 with national and state junior tours

KOTA KINABALU: Junior players from the Manoharan Junior Tennis Academy MJTA) kicked off their 2018 tennis campaign last week by participating in both a national and a state-level tournament held in Johore and Sandakan respectively.

Reigning SAGA men's singles champion 16-year-old Harish John Sunil Manoharan and his fellow players Mark Reuben Pang and Johnaton Chan went to Johore to participate in the 3rd Leg of the national level Tennis Malaysia Junior Tour organised by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM).

Considering that this was a national event with the cream of Malaysia's juniors present, all three MJTA players did well and played up to expectations.

In the 16 and Under boys singles, Harish John defeated 4th seed Joe Chong Zhao Jo of Selangor 7-6, 6-3 and 8th seed Neelan Rajoo of Penang 7-6, 67, 11-9 to set up a semifinal clash with the tournament top seed Jimmy Liong Kai Long of Sarawak.

Harish was narrowly edged out 57, 5-7 by Jimmy. In the boy's doubles, Harish and partner Mitchell Brapui Tidan (Sarawak) reached the semifinals but lost to the top seeded pair of Jimmy Liong and Muhd Farid Wajdy (Kelantan) 3-6, 2-6. Jimmy & Muhd Farid were the eventual champions.

Also in the 16 and Under boys singles, Mark Reuben Pang whitewashed Mikael Mohd from Pahang 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round but unfortunately met and lost to the top seed in the round of 16.

In the doubles, Mark and his MJTA partner Johnaton Chan went past Penang's Asshwinmurti and Neelan Rajoo but lost to Harish John and Mitchell in the quarterfinals 1-6, 1-6.

Meanwhile MJTA¡¦s younger upand-coming players Jonathan Joshua Sunil Manoharan, Grace Chan and Harith Jay Sunil Manoharan stayed back in Sabah to compete in the Mark Pang Ka Miew event, the 1st Leg of the Sabah Junior Tour held in Sandakan.

To their credit, even without their older teammates with them, the trio did a surprisingly good job by taking home one gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Sandakan event.

Jonathan Joshua, the Sabah Junior Masters 2017 10-Under singles champion, partnered Mohd Radhi Md Nor (KK) to claim the gold medal in the boys 12-Under doubles event. Jonathan, who has just moved up into the 12-Under category, also took the singles bronze medal after he reached the semi-finals stage but lost to Mohd Radhi, the eventual champion.

Meanwhile Grace Chan added another two silver medals to her growing collection of medals. She emerged as the 10-Under girl's singles runner-up. Then, playing in the older 12-Under category, she claimed her second silver medal with her Keningau partner Mira Rasyidah in the doubles.

Also at the fray was seven-yearold Harith Jay Sunil Manoharan. Although most of his opponents were older than him, he still managed to make it into the quarterfinals of the 10-Under doubles, winning a bronze medal with his partner Jedidah Kwan Ming Zhe (KK).

"It's all part of the learning curve for our younger players. Harith Jay has been playing well in the 'mini-tennis' competitions meant for those of his age-group.

"However, moving into the older agegroup, he will sooner or later have to compete in the format used for older players. I am confident that he and others of his age will be able to handle the transition smoothly with guidance from our coach," said Taren Sunil, the coordinator of MJTA.

Taren Sunil also thanked the sponsor and organisers of the Mark Pang Ka Miew junior age-group tournament.

"Such tournaments open opportunities for juniors to play with their peers from other places. They will be able to know where they stand as compared to their opponents from other zones," he said.

Taren Sunil also said that the continued support of sponsors was a good indication that the game of tennis had taken a firm root. He was confident that tennis would soon find its place among the most popular games here in Sandakan, Sabah and Malaysia.