Ahmad Shabery serves a surprise

2009/11/08

K.M. Boopathy

SPORTS Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek gave up playing tennis, his favourite sport, when he became a Member of Parliament in 2004 but he served a pleasant surprise yesterday by confirming his participation for the CEO and Celebrity Charity Tennis 2009.

Ahmad Shabery will be the first federal minister to compete in the charity event as CEOs, ambassadors and celebrities competed in the inaugural event last year.

Ahmad Shabery said he decided to make a comeback when he became the Sports Minister this year and is excited by opportunity the CEO & Celebrity Tennis, which will be held at the National Tennis Centre in Jalan Duta on Dec 13, has offered.

Although squash and golf have overtaken tennis as his priority sports, Ahmad Shabery is happy to have gotten a chance to resume his practice sessions with Khairul Anwar Abu Bakar, who he used to regularly play with since 1998.

"Tennis used to be my favourite sport and I was quite active since 1997 but after becoming Dungun MP in 2004, I had to stop. Squash and golf have been my favourite events since then," said Ahmad Shabery in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"Since becoming the Sports Minister, I decided to play tennis again but have only had about three to four sessions and with the CEO and Celebrity Tennis fast approaching, I need to get a little more practice.

Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek returns a shot yesterday. Pic: OSMAN ADNAN

"Anwar is a qualified coach and used to train my daughter and we used to play a lot.

"When I was a member of the Micasa Tennis Club, we used to have matches with other clubs in 2000 but this is my first experience competing in a unique format.

"I'm not particularly good at doubles but it will be a lot of fun playing in this tournament."

The CEO & Celebrity Charity Tennis, jointly organised by NSTP and Bursa Malaysia, will be held in conjunction with the ECM Libra Foundation-LTAM Junior Tennis Tennis Championships (Dec 14-21).