West Coast lift MSSS tennis overall crown
KOTA KINABALU: Harish John from Sandakan clinched the main title as Kota Kinabalu dominated proceedings at the Sabah Schools Sports Council (MSSS) Tennis Tournament here, yesterday.
Nine titles out of 12 gave proof to where the talents hail as West Coast players lived up to expectations for the overall crown.
They proved their prowess with no indication that development efforts may be gender-bias in the leading district for tennis advancement in Sabah.
A clean sweep in the Girls’ events gave an added achievement to Kota Kinabalu’s claim on the overall crown.
The Boys’ Under-18 Singles title would have made their success sweeter but an allSandakan final in the main event showed that Kota Kinabalu are not the only ones who know a thing or two about talent identification and development.
Harish John had the toilsome task of facing his teammate in a match to win the tournament’s biggest individual bragging rights.
The budding talent took it in stride and put it where it counts in this State-level affair. He won the match 8-5 to earn his place at the top in the list of players for State representation.
Sandakan also won the Under-12 title where Jonathan Joshua beat fellow teammate Sharwin 8-5 in the final.
Joining the list of winners were Ryan Chee and Clarissa Sofia from Kota Kinabalu. Ryan won the Boys’ Under-15 final 8-4 against his team mate Daniel Shan, while Clarissa won Girls’ title 8-2 against Jashnavishni from Sandakan.
Nurul won the Girls’ Under-18 final 8-2 against team mate Kenwyn, while Kyra beat a Keningau opponent (also 8-2) in the Girls’ Under-12 final.
Kota Kinabalu also bagged titles in the Girls’ Doubles for Under-18, Under-15 and Under-12 categories as well as the Boys’ Doubles Under-18 and Under-15 titles.
Tawau won the title in the Boys’ Doubles Under-12.
A total of 140 players took part in the tournament that was jointly organised by the Sabah Education Department (under MSSS) and Sabah Tennis Association.
Meanwhile, STA president Johnson Koh lauded the parents for their willingness to fork out on flight and accommodation expenses in lieu of the up-coming nationallevel championship in Kuala Lumpur.
Due to State budget constraints, parents were asked to assist in bearing the costs for their children’s representation at the national event later this month.
“We want to say thank you to all the parents for their continued support. The roles they play in supporting their children’s development in the tennis is very important.
“Without their support, our (STA) efforts to develop tennis in Sabah would be greatly hindered, so thank you again for all your support,” Koh said.
For the record, STA agreed to provide a small subsidy of RM100 for every player who was selected for State representation.