KUALA LUMPUR – The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) is seeking collaborative support from state governments to preserve their tennis infrastructure, creating a foundation for their dynamic junior development programmes.
The sports body has set its sights on launching comprehensive programmes in five regions (North, South, East, Central and Sabah-Sarawak-Labuan) this year, with an ambitious goal of nurturing approximately 10,000 young talents over the next decade.
LTAM president Mirzan Mahathir stated that the underutilised infrastructures could serve as ideal grounds for young players to train and improve their skills, facilitating their absorption into the national team.
“We understand that many infrastructures remain unused due to a lack of players participating in the sport in the country. However, we plan to change this through our development programmes.
“These infrastructures should be protected to provide players with a place to train and hone their skills. We will provide our state affiliates with specialised coaches, but we hope that state governments can protect the infrastructures to help us achieve our goals.
“In addition to collaborating with the Education Ministry, we will also work with the state education departments. We will soon meet with them to propose the idea of developing more tennis players from primary school levels, utilising the underused infrastructures,” said Mirzan in a press conference at the National Tennis Centre yesterday.
According to LTAM, there are currently 98 state government-funded tennis sports complexes nationwide, with 32 of them labelled as white elephants.
In 2017, the Johor state government invested between RM5-8 million in constructing a tennis complex in Nusa Duta, Skudai, for the 2020 Sukma, which was eventually postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The complex remains underutilised for tournaments, with few people playing tennis there despite a low rental rate of RM8 an hour for public use.
Mirzan also expressed hope that the junior programmes planned by the association would attract more sponsors in the future.
The national body recently secured a sponsorship deal with the popular tennis brand Wilson to sponsor tennis balls for its tournaments throughout the year.
For the record, the Malaysian women’s national team secured a commendable sixth place in the Billie Jean King Cup last July, triumphing over Hong Kong in the classification match.
Malaysia are fifth in the all-time SEA Games medal table for tennis, with a remarkable tally of 21 medals, including three silvers and 18 bronzes.
The men’s doubles pair of Zainuddin Meah and Mohd Akbar Baba hold historical significance as the first Malaysians to clinch a medal in the SEA Games, achieving this milestone at the 1973 edition in Singapore.
Malaysia also have a record of winning two bronze medals in the Asian Games. – January 13, 2024