Sabah tennis ace Christian wins doubles title in Beijing
KOTA KINABALU: Christian Didier Chin clinched the Boy’s doubles title in the Beijing ITF in China over the weekend.
Seeded third in the event, the national junior ace from Sabah with his Taiwanese doubles partner Tsai Chang Lin defeated fourth seed Kasidit Samrej and Thantub Suksumrarn 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
The victory ensured Chin made amends for his defeat in the singles event where he lost to top seed and good friend Mu Tao of China 0-6, 2-6 in the quarter-finals.
It was still a good outing for Chin as it was his first tournament after having taken up coaching three weeks prior to playing in the Grade II junior tournament under the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
“For three weeks, I decided to take up coaching and earned my own money with a few Malaysian kids here (China) and also a few from Shanghai, which is more of a touring coach to educate and inspire them.
“Not expecting much in this tournament because I had some struggles early in the year with some politics and a lot of expectations.
“I came all the way to play here in this tournament, not for the result but to learn and now as a coach my approach is slightly different and there was less pressure.
“Although I lost my singles to this guy (Mu Tao), but game wise I think I have more varieties in mine.
“Physically, he was much stronger. In fact, I used to beat him while we were training together in the States.
“Winning the doubles final was unbelievable though,” he said while expressing his gladness to the supporters who followed him around and asked for photo opportunities.
“I was the only Malaysian in the tournament and it was one of the best tournaments I had ever played,” he added.