KUALA LUMPUR: The first round of the 2019 National Circuit Tennis Championship will raise its curtain at the National Tennis Centre, Jalan Duta from Jan 23 to 27.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) president Mirzan Mahathir said the National Circuit encompassed six rounds and its apex was the Masters Tennis Championship in November.
He said four main categories would be contested at the National Circuit, namely, singles men and women and doubles men and women.
‘’After the first round, five more rounds will be held in March, July, August, September and October including the Kuala Lumpur Open Championship and Raintree Open which are also part of the National Circuit this year,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, for the Junior Tour Circuit, which would start on Jan 10 to 13, would involve eight rounds and would also end with the Masters Tennis Championship.
LTAM had received 240 participations in 18 categories contested for the first round which would also be held at the National Tennis Centre.
The main players set to perform in the Men’s 16 years and below category were Chaiyaward Phetthani of Perlis as the incumbent number one ranking last year and his main challenger Muhammad Nur Iman from Selangor and Mitsuki Leong of Perak.
“Only eight best players for every categories for the two championships (National Circuit and Junior Tour Circuit) will
qualify for the Masters Championship later.
“In addition, the topmost player in the open categories, 16 years and 14 years and below men’s and women’s will receive incentives to the Australia Open Grand Slam Championship like the winners prior to this,’’ he said. – Bernama
