By Ipoh Echo Correspondent
The fourth tie of the KLK Premier Inter-Club Tennis League (KLK Tennis League) resumed after nearly a month’s break to accommodate local and international tennis events involving many players.
Royal Perak Golf Club (RPGC) and Perak Turf Club @ YMCA (PTC), sitting pretty at the top with 10 points apiece, were 4 points clear of third placed Polo Club (Polo), with 6 points, while Ipoh Swimming Club (ISC) remained bottom of the table with 4 points. With the league nicely poised as such, each club was anxious to strengthen its position in the table when play resumed.
It was perfect weather for the fourth tie and ISC were the perfect hosts as they greeted Team RPGC with unmatched hospitality and the warmest of welcomes. So friendly were they that ISC’s Lam Kar Wai even offered his Mixed Doubles opponents Lingli Chong and Anderson Lee the choice of whether to serve first, and to choose which side they wanted! This sporting gesture was fully supported by his lovely partner Cecilia Yip, and reciprocated by the RPGC pair who chose to let ISC serve first.
Although competition was intense and down to the wire, there were smiles all around as all four put up efforts of Herculean proportions in a topsy-turvy and highly entertaining match that kept spectators riveted and on the edge of their seats throughout. Sadly, there can only be one winning pair and luck was on the side of RPGC’S Lingli/Anderson as they narrowly took out Kar Wai/Cecilia in a tight tiebreak to win 8-7 (7-5). An epic match that had four winners from start to finish.
In the Ladies Doubles, the experience of veteran Rita Tan and the speed of her young partner Emilie Ooi, proved too much for the ISC pair of Shamaine Lai and Lee Hong Yeen. Although Rita/Emilie won 8-3, the match had many deuces and was not as one-sided as the score suggested. It was drama in the Men’s Open when, leading 7-4 and looking like they would cruise home to a third win for RPGC, the pair of Manson Cheng and Ng Keh Tat somehow let their opponents, Team ISC Captain Kenny Lai and Anthony Chin, back into the match 7 all to force a tiebreak. Victory slipped away from the hands of Team RPGC when the valiant ISC pair came back to win the tiebreak and the match 8-7 (7-3) in awe-inspiring fashion. A heartbreaker for RPGC but this would be their sole loss of the day, and ISC’s sole win.
In the Men’s 90 category, the RPGC pair of Ng Keh Jun/Alex Chai overpowered ISC’s Khoo Peng Keat/Daniel Ng 8-2 in a near-faultless display of high quality tennis.
With three wins already in their pocket before the Men’s 110 match even commenced, there was little pressure on RPGC’s pair of Tan Chee Phong/Eric Tan when they took on their ISC counterparts Jak Aw/Lee Kam Boon. It was classy tennis to watch as all four showcased old school serve-and-volley prowess, with quick and crafty exchanges and great finesse at the net. The experienced Tan partnership proved too solid, out playing the ISC pair 8-5 in the end.
Over at Polo Tennis Club, PTC suffered their first defeat at the hands of a mighty Polo team, out to seek revenge from their away loss in the first tie. The Polo men won all three Men’s matches, but PTC managed to take two points from the Ladies and the Mixed. In the Men’s Open, Polo’s firepower pair of Faisal Mokhtar/Raja Hisham wasted no time to demolish PTC’s Chan Wan Kong/Teh Hooi Hong 8-0.
PTC’s Kiko Thadani/Gopi met with similar fate, falling 8-3 to Polo’s Idris Noor/Amir Syahrul, who were far too good on the day. Dr Foo Joo Ee and Foo Loke Fu of PTC also had no answers to Polo’s Daud Idris/Nik Shahrom in the Men’s 110 category, losing 8-3 to a far superior pair. Fighting hard in the Mixed Doubles, PTC’s trusty pair of Ram Kumar/Fiona Toh managed to claim an 8-4 victory over Polo’s Fazwil Wahid/Dr Mahirah Rahim. PTC’s Ladies pair Pinky Leong/Ivene Chan meanwhile continued their good run with a confident 8-4 win over Polo’s Safira Yusof/Ganeshwari.
At the end of the fourth tie, it is a 4-1 win for RPGC over ISC, and a 3-2 win for Polo over PTC. Points as they stand: RPGC consolidate their lead with 14 points, PTC follow closely with 12, Polo is third with 9, and ISC last with 5 points.
Follow Ipoh Echo for continuing updates on the KLK Premier Inter-Club Tennis League as the matches unfold.
