Five state players among 54 vying for ATP ranking points

KUCHING: Five junior players from Sarawak are among 54 players, including 22 girls, vying for the Asian Tennis Federation (ATP) ranking points in the 12th Sarawak ATF 14 and Under Series that kicks off this Wednesday and ends on Sunday ( Sept 17) at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Tennis Centre.

They are Tan Xin Hung, Lydia Liong, Elsa Wan, Tan Lin En, Cornelius Sia and Raidon Tan.

SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew said participating countries include Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia

“This is part of our junior development exposure programme and we have been hosting this for the past 12 years. The participants will be fighting for ATF ranking points.

“Mohd Assri Merzuki and Ariez Elyaas Deen Hesham have previously played in this tournament and they were ranked among the ATF top 10. This a good tournament for young players aged between 10 and 14 to develop and gain match experience,” added Liew.

This is because there is no knockout and all the players have to play until position 31/32 match.

Liew said half of the participants are ATF ranked with Elsa Wan as ATF No. 6 while Tan Lin En, the fourth seed, is ATF Number 202 and some of the Malaysians have just finished competing in a tournament in Selangor that ended yesterday.

Meanwhile, Liew said SLTA felt proud and honoured that two of its committee members were conferred state awards by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud during his 81st birthday celebration on Saturday.

They are long serving members Apin Pauzan and Roger Eng Bak Sui who were conferred the Ahli Bintang Sarawak (ABS) and Ahli Bintang Kenyalang (ABK) for their contribution to tennis development and advancement in Sarawak.

Apin is Kuching Division Lawn Tennis Association ( KDLTA) vice president and joined SLTA committee in 2005 while Eng is KDLTA committee member and he became a committee member of SLTA in 1998.

“SLTA would like to thank the Sarawak government for recognising the contribution of our two committee members,” said Liew.