KUCHING: Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) will once again host the 38thPremier Sarawak Cup ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J300 (J1) at the SLTA Centre here from March 14 to 19.
This is held following another prestigious international event, which is the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour W15 that is currently on-going since February 28 until March 5.
Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah revealed that more than 300 players, coaches, and parents from 33 countries are expected toattend the 38th Premier Sarawak Cup tournament, with 105 of them competing in the boys’ category while 80 of them in the girls’ category.
“They are from Australia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan,Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland,Taipei, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
“We could feel the enthusiasm and energy of the players who travelled long hours to play in Kuching, such as players from the USA, Russia, European countries, etcetera.
“We admire their commitment and passion to excel in tennis. This tournament is a great opportunity for the players to show their skills and professionalism in competing at an international level,” Karim told the reporters during a press conference held at Baitul Makmur II here today.
When asked if his Ministry will provide more funding to improve the facilities at SLTA, Karim said his Ministry will sit down with SLTA to discuss the matter.
“We will talk with them about it and update in due course when we have a structured plan in place to upgrade the facilities there,” he added.
The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior comprises over 650 tournaments in 140countries.
During the tour, players compete in six (6) tournament levels – from JA (which includes the Junior Grand Slam) to J1, J2, J3, J4 and J5 (the lowest level).
The ITF World Tennis Tour Junior offers the best teenage players a good starting point and pave the way for them to become successful professionals in tennis in the future.
Touching on the tournament, SLTA president Datuk Patrick Liew said that SLTA has actually hosted the Premier Sarawak Cup since 2001.
“The Premier Sarawak Cup J300 is a highly prestigious tournament of which, as far as I am aware, so far Kuching, Sarawak is the only state to hold the J300 (formerly known as J1) in the South East Asia region.
“The continuous awarding of J300 (J1) by the ITF World Tennis Tour represented an endorsement and recognition by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Asean Tennis Federation (ATF) to SLTA’s contribution to the development of tennis in Sarawak, Malaysia.
“This recognition is a testament to the SLTA’s hard work and commitment in promoting tennis in Sarawak and it is a great achievement that we should all be proud of and we hope that this will inspire more players to take up tennis and contribute to the growth of the sport in the region,” Liew added.
