Maiden Dato Henry Harry Jinep tennis tourney’s cup goes to SLTA A

KUCHING (Dec 22): Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) A lifted the champion’s trophy of the inaugural Dato Henry Harry Jinep Inter-Team Tennis Tournament after having edged Persatuan Tenis Bumiputera Sarawak (PTBS) 2-1 in the inter-team final played at SLTA Tennis Centre here on Thursday.

Mohd Assri Merzuki and Gilbert Yeo gave SLTA A the lead upon beating Muhammad Hanif Pauzi and Mohd Abdul Qaiyyum 6-1, 6-1 in the Men’s Doubles Open.

Shawn Lee and Emerson John extended the lead to 2-0 after they outplayed Wahi Sahmad and Shuairi Zawawi 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the Age 40 Years and Above Doubles.

Dr Mark Hardin and Alex Ting conceded the point in the third match of Age 50 Years Doubles to the pair of Amin Tamel and Hasbullah Ahmad.

Apart from Dato Henry Harry Jinep Cup, the victory earned SLTA A, which also included members Gabriel Ong and Brandon Chong, RM2,000 and medals, while PTBS settled for RM1,000, a trophy and medals.

Rinduk Team edged Uplands A 2-1 in the placings playoff to finish third and collect RM500, while Uplands A received RM250.

Other participating teams included SCSG, SLTA B, Uplands B, Berimbai team, KDLTA A, KDLTA B, Team Harmony, HDTC and Kota Samarahan.

The event’s patron Deputy Minister of Transport Sarawak Dato Henry Harry Jinep officiated at the closing ceremony and presented the prizes.

In his remarks, he said he was pleased that the competition could finally ‘be completed’, having been postponed since last Sunday due to heavy rain.

“Last Sunday, we had a press conference before the final was abandoned and the matter of roofed courts was brought up.

“The roofing is necessary because we do not have good weather all the time” he said.

According to Henry, all tennis enthusiasts at SLTA, PTBS and Malaysian Government Servants Welfare and Sports Council (Maksak) are all talking about the need to construct roofed courts.

“It is time for us to go together on this and for a start, let’s begin at SLTA, then later at PTBS, while Maksak would be backed by the government,” said Henry.

Chinese Consul-General in Kuching Xing Weiping and SLTA president Dato Patrick Liew also attended the ceremony.