Wild card for Belinda

KUCHING: Sukma XVIII player Belinda Chai Wei Xin has been given a wild card to play in the main draw of the girls’ competition in 28th Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup (II) ITF Junior Circuit (Grade 3).

S a r awa k L awn T en ni s Association ( SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew said Belinda, who is ITF No. 1036, is among four Sarawakians taking part in the competition at the SLTA Tennis Centre from Oct 11-16. The other three are another Sukma player Tan Lin Xin, Issac Noah Law Hui Tuen and Jimmy Liong Kai Long who have been entered for the qualifying round.

“I am hoping that Belinda will take full advantage of the wild card to gain valuable exposure and learn something from the other players,” said Liew.

“The competition is also a good exposure for Tan, Law and Liong who are groomed for future Sukma,” he added.

Liew said another wild card has been given to a player from Netherlands as she proved she had booked a flight to Kuching for the competition.

In the boys’ main draw, Christian Didier Chin from Sabah is Malaysia’s highest ranked player at ITF No. 554, followed by Sri Aakash Reddiyar at ITF No. 631.

Those needing to qualify for the main draw are Darrshan Suresh, Shamirul Shahril Mohd Adam Das, Sheikh Ameer Abdullah Sheik Ahmad Alias, Yugantaarshwar Ganesan, Muhammad Asyraff Mohd Safian, Satveer Seth Singh, Jimmy Liong Kai Long, Danial Ahmad Farid and Takeshi Koey Jian Keong.

As for the girls’ main draw, siblings Uma Nayar and Sara Nayar will shoulder the Malaysian challenge while Suhana Sofia Mohd Adam Mas and Haarini Balakrishnan will play in the qualifying round. — by Ting Tieng Hee