7 KTRS juniors to represent Sandakan at MSSS
SANDAKAN: Seven juniors from Kelab Tenis Remaja Sandakan have been selected to represent their district at the coming tennis tournament organised by the Sabah School Sports Council (MSSS). It will be held in Kota Kinabalu from today (March 11) to March 13.
“We are delighted to have seven of our juniors called up to play for the Sandakan District schools tennis team,” said Taren Sunil Manoharan, the President of Kelab Tenis Remaja Sandakan (KTRS).
“Any player or sportsman would, and indeed should, feel proud and honoured to be selected to represent his or her district at any sport or game. And it is the same for our junior tennis players,” he added.
In addition to the centralized training organised by the Sandakan District Education Office, the KTRS players had also earlier undergone their own training under their coach from the Manoharan Junior Tennis Academy which is the coaching unit of KTRS.
The KTRS juniors selected into the team are Harish John Sunil Manoharan and Johnaton Chan (Boys Under-18), Rishigeswaran A/L Uigneswaran (Boys U-15), Jashnavissri A/P Uigneswaran (Girls U15), Sharvineswaran A/L Uigneswaran and Jonathan Joshua Sunil Manoharan (Boys U-12) and Grace Chan (Girls U-12). Completing the team are Ng Ngui Larm (Boys U-18) and Vincent Tsia (Boys U-12). However, Vincent and Grace will not be able to join the team due to unavoidable circumstances.
“As this is a state level school tournament, the best youngsters from across the state will be there and we expect the standard of competition to be quite high. It will be a great opportunity for our juniors to gain more tournament experience,” Taren pointed out.
However, he expressed his disappointment that parents had to fully finance the trip of their participating kids.
“Due to budget constraints for the team, the parents will have to pay for all the expenses of their children going for the tournament such as transport, food and accommodation. I really hope that the Education Department will look into this matter and provide some allocation for such activities. Nevertheless, the kids received a pleasant surprise when a few teachers and students decided to pass the hat around and collected some funds to support their trip. It was a great show of moral support that boosted the spirit of our young players,” said Taren.
The KTRS President also expressed his thanks and appreciation to the officials/teachers who will be managing, guiding and coaching the juniors at the tournament. Team Manager Haji Tahir Kahar, Technical Chairman Amir Bukhari and coaches Evelin Abdul Hamid and Mirna Supu will be leading their junior team of 7 players to the tournament.
“We ourselves have regularly taken our juniors to competitions and it is a job with heavy responsibilities especially since they are all kids. I understand that the team officials/teachers are also making the trip at their own expense,” noted Taren.
“We wish the Sandakan District School Team the best,” he said.