CHRISTIAN BAGS THIRD INTERNATIONAL TITLE IN THREE MONTHS
Christian shows progress with third title in Pune
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s up-and-coming tennis youngster Christian Didier Chin made it a hattrick of titles at the HCL Asian Junior Tennis Championships in Pune, India.
The 18-year-old flew the flag high for Malaysia, partnering Sergey Fomin of Uzbekistan to beat Indian pair Dev JaviaMann Shah 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the final yesterday.
Christian-Fomin opened accounts in the first round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over India’s Aryaan Bhatia-Tejasvi Mehra.
The third-seeded pairing advanced into the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Odeda Muhammad Arazza-Kabir Hans of India.
Christian-Fomin rose to the occasion to secure their place in the final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over top seeds Siddhant Banthia-Megh Bhargav Patel.
Javia-Shah earned a shot at the title by beating second seeds and Korean-Thai combination Seon Yong- han- Thantub Suksumrarn.
It is the third doubles title for national No. 1 junior Christian in the last three months.
The Sabah-born teenager partnered Tsai Chang-Lin of Taiwan to bag the boys’ doubles title at the China Junior (ITF Grade 2) tournament in Beijing in September.
Christian combined with India’s Rishabh Sharda to claim his first silverware at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Circuit G4 tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in July after two unsuccessful title bids in the men’s doubles earlier.
Christian played in the singles competi- tion in Pune earlier in the week but did not get past the first round following a 4-6, 2-6 defeat by fourth seed Bathia.
“We didn’t play our best today in the final but we got the win.
“It’s not often you play badly in the final and still win, so life is great.
“I am enjoying my last year in junior level and always learning. Thanks India for a wonderful time,” said Christian, who will play in the Chuncheon International Junior Tennis Championships in South Korea next week.
He became the first Malaysian to play in the Junior Grand Slam events this year, qualifying for the French Open in May and Australian Open in January.
He did not make the main draw at Roland Garros but reached the second round in the Australian Open.