Junior paddlers off the mark at Milo-Malaysia Hopes meet
KUCHING: Sarawak junior paddlers failed to perform up to expectations at the 30th MiloMalaysia Hopes Table Tennis Championship in Johor from Dec 5 to 8.
They captured three silver and two bronze medals to accumulate 19 points to finish joint fourth overall with Penang.
Kuala Lumpur were the overall champions with 46 points, followed by Selangor on 39 points and Negeri Sembilan on 20 points.
Sarawak silver medals were won in the Boys U13 team, Boys U13 doubles ( Benjamin Thian-Boon Jia Xin) and Girls U10 doubles ( Malyn Mo- Joanne Chen).
The bronze medals were contributed by Benjamin Thian in the Boys U13 singles and in the Girls U13 team.
“Our team’s overall performance was not up to expectations but I do believe that the players have given their best.
“One thing very obvious is that other states have caught up very fast and improved tremendously and we have to take a serious view into how to further improve the standard of our players,” said team manager Paul Ling King Tasn.
“Our players lack exposure as there are not enough tournaments being organised in Sarawak.”
He said one of the ways is for Table Tennis Association of Sarawak (TTAS) and the Sarawak government through the Sarawak State Sports Council to organise more tournaments and leagues to give our players more exposure.
“One reason why Selangor and Kuala Lumpur are so strong is that they have leagues for their players to play more competitions.
“There are many tournaments held in Semenanjung Malaysia all year round and the states can easily participate in them whereas if we are to participate that will involve huge costs which are beyond our means,” he pointed out.
He added that hiring more foreign coaches would also help in improving the skills and standard of the state players.
“We hope that table tennis will also be included in the next Sukan Malaysia in 2019. That would be good for the development of our players.
Ling also extended the state team’s and TTAS’ appreciation to the Sarawak government through the Sarawak Sports Corporation and Sarawak State Sports Council as well as corporate sponsor managing director Jackson Ling of Success Sunworld Sdn Bhd for helping fund our trip to Johor,” he added.