Tuesday November 13, 2007
Gold drought set to continue in tennis
TENNIS is a regular feature in the SEA Games programme but the gold medal has remained elusive for the national team since 1973. And it is not about to change in Korat.
Seven gold medals are at stake and, as usual, the top contenders are the players from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Adam: A veteran in the team Coach Mohamed Rahizam Mohamed Rahim concedes that the team to Korat are not at par with the top three contenders and the realistic target for them is to win three bronze medals.
“For one, our players are not professionals and we lack exposure to top-level matches. It will be difficult in Korat,” he said yesterday.
“We are putting our hopes on winning medals on the men’s doubles pair of Adam Jaya and Si Yew Meng and the mixed doubles pairing of Adam-Jawairiah Nordin. And if we get a favourable draw in the team event, the men could land a bronze too.”
Rahizam added that although the players had been involved in local tournaments regularly, the team's preparation for the Games began only a month ago.
The players took part in the just concluded Selangor Open at Kelana Jaya.
Yew Meng ended up as runner-up to “old man” V. Selvam. In the doubles, Adam-Yew Meng and B. Kanagaraja-Razlan Rawi were declared as joint champions after the match was washed out by heavy rain.
Rahizam said that unless the players were ready to go professional, the standard of Malaysian tennis would remain low.
“That is my observation. We do have talented players and there are a number of juniors coming up the ranks.
“But players from the other Asean countries like Thailand are already playing regularly on the World Tour and they certainly have a big edge over us,” he added.
Malaysia did not play in the 2005 Manila Games and in the 2003 series in Hanoi, they returned with three bronze medals.
The four women who will carry the Malaysian challenge in Korat are Sia Huey Teng, Dorothy Chong, V. Chellapriya and Jawairiah.
Only Adam and Yew Meng have had SEA Games experience – in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
“The SEA Games will provide the newcomers with some valuable experience,” said Rahizam.
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