SABAH secured a vital confidence boost ahead of the ECM-Libra Foundation Junior Tennis Team Championship on Dec 14-20, when their boys' Under-16 team clinched a bronze medal at the BIMP-EAGA Games in Brunei last weekend.

Sabah Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Johnson Koh said he hopes the medal will inspire his juniors to make an impression at the ECM-Libra event.

"Sabah are regarded as minnows in Malaysian tennis. We have been working hard for a long time to produce players under our various junior programmes and it is finally beginning to pay dividends," said Johnson.

The players who helped Sabah get a bronze at the BIMP-EAGA Games were 11-year-old Mohd Faeez Said and 13-year-old Gibson Madelin, who will both feature in the ECM-Libra event.

Besides them, the others are Gideon Madelin, Stanley Wong (boys Under-16) Mohd Faeezam Said, Stefan Walter Alex (boys' Under-13), Syafiqah Nurshahira , Cheryl Ye, Nurshameem Iman Shamsuddin (girls' Under-13), Kimberly Ye, Joanne Chong and Serena Nicole Tang (girls' Under-16).
l A TOTAL of 140 players will be battling for titles in various categories at the Wilson Malaysian Seniors Age Group Championships at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Kuala Lumpur, which starts today.

The men's singles and doubles will have eight categories -- 35-39 years, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, and 70 and above.

The women's singles and doubles are divided into three categories -- 35-44 years, 45-49 and 50 and above.

Among the big names competing are former national Davis Cup player Khairuddin Baharom, Megat Khairul, Perry Lim, Azlan Aziz, Wan Rahman and Singapore's Mahathir Hassan.