SLTA set to welcome international players from March
The 2024 International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Junior Team Competition Under-14 Asia/ Oceania Final Qualifying tournament for boys and girls will be held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) centre at Crookshank Road here from March 16 to 30.
“The tournaments will allow Kuching to be a platform for various international tournaments to be organised for people from overseas as far as Australia and China coming to Kuching to participate,” said Deputy Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Dato Gerald Rentap Jabu at a press conference held at the SLTA centre yesterday.
The 32 teams for both boys and girls are from countries such as Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Uzbekistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Malaysia. Each team comprises three players and a coach.
The tournament will also serve as an opportunity for local officials to prepare for the upcoming Malaysian Games (Sukma) in August.
Meanwhile, SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew said the association has been regarded positively by ITF and Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) to host the tournaments with the high standard of facilities and officials in Sarawak. The tournament will witness livestreaming of scorelines of all matches on the federation’s website.
“Under our junior development programme, this tournament will enable the local players to see the standards (of players) from other countries as Malaysia’s performance is still not in the best position in the Asia or Oceania region,” Liew added.
A welcoming dinner for all international players and their teams will be held at Kuching Waterfront Hotel on March 23.