MJTA celebrate successful outing in Tawau tourney
TAWAU: Junior players from the Manoharan Junior Tennis Academy (MJTA) bagged another impressive haul of medals at the 2nd leg of the Sabah Junior Tennis Tournament which ended in Tawau yesterday morning.
Their top junior boys’ and girls’ players, Harish John Sunil Manoharan and Jashnavissri A/P Uigneswaran respectively, were in their element when they captured the prestigious boys’ 16-Under and girls’ 14Under singles titles.
Meanwhile, in the boys’ 14-Under singles event, Rishegeswaran A/L Uigneswaran kept the momentum going by also taking the gold medal by beating Alan Irfan 6-4, 64 in the final while also adding a bronze medal to his collection when he partnered Carvan Lau in the boys’ 14Under doubles event.
The fourth gold medal for MJTA came when Grace Chan partnered Tawau’s Tham Jane Han to win the girls’ 12-Under doubles crown. Grace also won a bronze medal in the girls 10-Under singles.
Harish John put up a solid display throughout the tournament and won the 16-Under singles title by beating Darius Wong from Kota Kinabalu in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 in the final. He also teamed up with Johnaton Chan to emerge as the silver medallist in the 18-Under boys’ doubles.
Jashnavissri was also in unbeatable form as she stopped all her opponents to win her singles gold medal in the round-robin play-off. She and fellow MJTA player Meagan Allison Tan also took the silver medal in the girls’ 14-Under doubles event which was also played in a round robin format.
Meagan was the silver medallist in the singles event.
In the boys’ 12-Under doubles, Jonathan Joshua Sunil Manoharan partnered Mohd Radie from Kota Kinabalu to take the silver medal, losing to Tawau’s Keagan Keith-Amiruz Aziem in the deciding match.
“It was a fruitful outing for our players. The medal haul was good and our players have gotten more exposure to competition tennis,” said MJTA co-ordinator Taren Sunil Manoharan, who was also the president of Kelab Tenis Remaja Sandakan (KTRS).
MJTA coach Leo will be reviewing the performances of the players to pinpoint their weaknesses and take the necessary steps to help them improve further, he disclosed.
“As I have always stressed, playing in tournaments is necessary if players want to improve. It helps develop their skills and temperament as well as court-craft, game tactics and match strategy,” Taren Sunil added, who again thanked the organisers of the tournament.
He also thanked the parents who came along to support their children during the tournament, stressing that parental support was also key to the juniors’ success.
“We will continue to send our players to as many tournaments as possible. It is part of our development programme,” Taren concluded.