Sports management company offers Imran five-year contract
KUALA LUMPUR: The new year brings fresh hope for up-and-coming tennis youngster Imran Daniel Abdul Hazli.
Imran, who will be 13 in April, has been offered a five-year contract by Lagardere Sports Management Company to manage his tennis career.
The company, which also manages top professional athletes such as Caroline Wozniacki, Jordan Spieth and Richard Gasquet, will help in terms of training facilities, brand deals and securing wild cards.
Imran had also recently signed with Wilson International.
His father- cum-coach Abdul Hazli Zainuddin said it was all going according to plan for Imran, who would continue to play in higher age-group events in Asia as well as in the United States.
“We’ll enter him in a few Under-18 events in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Group 4 and 5 circuits,” said Hazli.
“We’ll work on the technical development in his game in the first quarter. He needs to improve in this area before we start to go for tournaments.
“I’m quite happy with his progress. He has been able to play in as many tournaments as his rivals from Europe or the US.
“He managed to play in 13 tournaments last year compared to nine in 2016,” said Hazli.
Imran, playing in the Under-12 category, reached the round of 16 at the Eddie Herr International Junior Championships and Junior Orange Bowl International Championships in Florida last month.
At Eddie Herr, Imran was forced to retire against Mexico’s Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez after dislocating a bone in his right foot. He lost to top seed Belgian Alexander Blockx.
The two events are among the world’s most prestigious junior tournaments.
“I don’t think a Malaysian has reached this far in either tournament (Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl). He is technically sound and is on par with them (counterparts).”
“Imran, who is 1.50m tall, is at a disadvantage now because he hasn’t reached puberty while many of his rivals have already hit 1.60m and even 1.70m in the Under-12 group.”
Imran’s victory at the Bangkok leg of the Asian Under-14 circuit in April, where he competed in a higher-age group, was one of last year’s highlights. He also reached the singles final in one leg of the National Under16 circuit.