KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- The development of tennis in the country
needs the concerted efforts of all stakeholders involved, including parents and
individuals.
Such an effort was needed for tennis to be listed among the high performance
sports by the National Sports Council (NSC) which currently has athletics,
aquatics, badminton, tenpin bowling, football, gymnastics, hockey and squash.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) Honorary Secretary Ibrahim Abu
Bakar if such efforts are put in place, tennis can move a notch higher.
"Tennis in the country does not get enough support because the people''s
perception is that tennis is an expensive sport but in actual fact, it is the
travelling expenses that are expensive," he told Bernama at his office here
today.
The sport can only become a high performance sport if everyone considered
tennis as a sport with huge potential, just like how it is considered in other
countries, he said.
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SPORTS-TENNIS (LTAM) 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
Citing Spain as an example, Ibrahim said tennis was considered a major
industry by the people of the Mediterranean country.
"They (Spain) have hundreds of tennis courts with excellent facilities and
consider it as a good investment for the future," he said.
Ibrahim said parents from other countries came to Spain and paid huge sums
of money to engage coaches in the country to train their children, hoping that
they can one day become top players in the world like Rafael Nadal who is the
country''s most successful tennis player.
He added that to produce world class tennis players, players must be groomed
from the young.
"One example is world number two Maria Sharapova from Russia who migrated to
the United States with her parents at a very early age because the United States
at that time produced world class players," he said.
Unlike in Malaysia, players in some countries were able to achieve success
at an early age simple because they were fully committed, while some are willing
to even give up their studies to concentrate on tennis, he said.
-- BERNAMA
MCYS KHY JRL
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