Against all odds, Chan Soon Keat from Pulau Penang surprised everyone at the Malaysia Tennis Junior 2017 Perak’s leg when he beat the fourth favourite, Mohd Irzad Shazurin from Johor, and won the Below-16 Men category.
The battle at Ipoh City Council’s Tennis court first saw Chan lose the first match 0-6 but bounced back and won the second and third matches; 7-5, 7-6(5). According to Mirzan Mahathir, the president of Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM), the four-day tournament from February 11 to 14 received over 235 entries.
“It is ecstatic to know more and more contestants are participating in this tournament. The tennis scene in Malaysia has the potential to be bigger and better,” said Mirzan.
When asked for his opinion regarding the fact that tennis will not be in Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) held in Perak next year, Mirzan and his team are preparing for an appeal.
“We want tennis to be in SUKMA 2018, that is our aim. But I do understand that we have to prove to the National Sports Council of Malaysia (MSN) that it is a sport worth competing in,” said Mirzan.
Following Perak’s leg will be Johor’s leg to be held next month. The Malaysian Tennis Junior 2017 has 18 categories where the top eight of each category from each leg will be invited to join the Malaysian Tennis Master 2017 to be held in November later this year.
Ili Aqilah
