KUCHING: The Malaysia national junior team will face an uphill battle in the group stage of ITF World Tennis Junior Team Competition U14 (Girls) Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying which will be held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre from March 20 to 26.
They have been drawn with fourth seed Japan and eighth seed Uzbekistan along with Sri Lanka in Group C during the captain’s meeting and group stages draw ceremony, also held at SLTA Centre on Sunday.
Their chances to qualify from the group stages into the quarter finals do not look bright but upsets, as shown during the 38th Premier Sarawak Cup ITF World Tennis Tour Junior J300 (J1), that it can definitely happen.
Meanwhile, strong favourite and first seed Australia have been drawn into Group A, along with New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and fifth seed Kazakhstan.
Group B will feature third seed Thailand, Nepal, Iran and sixth seed South Korea while Group D will include second seed India, Singapore, Lebanon and seventh seed Hong Kong.
Top two of each group will qualify for the quarter finals where they will compete in a single elimination bracket for a chance to finish in the top three in order to qualify for the grand finale, which will be staged in the first week of August in Czech Republic.
