Sabah bag one gold, five bronzes at soft tennis c'ship
Published on: Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah tennis team, The Sabah Soft Netters, won one gold and five bronze medals in the 4th Thailand International Soft Tennis Championship on Mar 23-26. The first two bronze medals were bagged by Sabah Girls Under-15. The first bronze came from Kan Ming Jie who booked herself into the semi-final but was overpowered 0-3 by Patcharade of Thailand, the top seed for the championship. The other player, Leviance Chong who stormed into another semi-final was beaten by the second seeded player, Atikam of Thailand, 1-3.
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Nevertheless, Cristabel Ntakop Ndzi won the gold medal in Tier 2 level.In the Boys Under-15, Nigel Doong surprisingly played well to qualify for the semi-final having beaten compatriot Wong Ming Han in Tier 2 but lost to Yuta Suziki of Japan 3-0 in the final. Wong Ming Han and Brandon Lim both grabbed the bronze medals in Tier 2 for Malaysia.In the Girls Under-18 category, Jaimie Luk and Leviance Chong who lost to top seeded players in the main draw managed to qualify for the quarterfinals in Tier 2 level and played against each other where Leviance beat the older Jamie 3-1 to reach the semi-final.
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But Leviance lost in the semifinal match to Panita of Thailand 1-3 but still won the bronze medal for Malaysia.Team manager cum coach KK Chin was nevertheless happy with the outcome.
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"However, our players needed more exposure to get to the level where they can compete against the best in the world in Asia," he said. aHe said that soft tennis tournaments is not held or organised internationally in Malaysia.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"But with tournaments held around the Asean region, we need the support and assistance to send talented young players so as to help them become among the best in Asia," he said. Sabah is the only State in Malaysia to have its association registered with the Sabah Sports Council (MSNS).