Tourney as popular as ever

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THE Penang International Ju-nior Age Group tennis cham- pionship, which turns 28 this year, continues to be highly popular.

This year, a record turnout totalling close to 350 players is on the cards.

This is no surprise as every year, a decent crop of foreign partici-pants, some from as far as the United States, choose to feature in the annual challenge.

This event caters to juniors in four age categories — the Boys and Girls Under-10, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-18.

Penang Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) president Yusof Ismail confirmed that 131 foreign players from nine countries would be in action at its five-day championship.

It will be held from Nov 29 at the Penang Sports Club, the Chinese Recreation Club and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

“The response has been overwhelming. Our target was 300 players and we have attracted 348 this year,” said Yusof.

“What is heartwarming is the growth in the number of foreign juniors.

“South Africa, for example, is sending 21 players compared to the 15 players they fielded last year.

She's a winner: Penang's Shi Pei receiving a trophy at the Perlis-Milo International Junior championship last year. She has entered the Penang International Junior Age Group event which starts on Tuesday

“The increase is not only sig- nificant but also most encoura- ging towards our promotion and development of our tennis juniors here.”

Neighbours Singapore and Thailand top the list of foreign participants, registering 50 and 26 players respectively, followed by South Africa.

The other foreign countries featuring in the challenge are Ja- pan (14 players), South Korea (eight), Uzbekistan (six), and Indo-nesia, Australia and the US (two each).

Yusof feels that the presence of top junior players from these countries augurs well for the annual challenge and serves as a good international exposure for the Malaysian players.

“With these foreign players coming to our own backyard, I am glad that a good number of our promising youngsters from all over Malaysia have signed up for our tournament,” he said.

He added that this was also a boost for sports tourism.

“Our tournament lured 217 Malaysians and I am confident this will inspire our budding ju-niors to take up the sport seriously,” he said.

The locals players, added Yusof, are from Penang, Kedah, Perlis, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Kelan- tan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sara-wak.

Among the top Malaysian juniors who will be in action are Koay Hao Sheng of Perlis, Colin Wong Wei Ming (Selangor), Wan Abdul Muiz Wan Aziz (Kuala Lumpur) and Penang’s Loo Shi Pei and Michelle Khoo Li Sha.

Both Perlis and Kedah have incidentally been working together with Penang in the promotion and development of the sport.

Linking their International Open championships with Penang, the three northern states have successfully formed a junior circuit.

This gives gives the majority of the players, including foreigners, the chance to feature in two extra tournaments every year.

Perlis LTA set their Interna- tional Age Group Open from Dec 4 to Dec 8, just a day after the curtains come down on the Penang challenge.

Kedah is hosting the Langkawi Open from Dec 9 to Dec 13, to enable the bulk of the players featuring in Perlis to join the final leg of the circuit.