KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 – The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysian (Tennis Malaysia) wants the sports ministry to give tennis due recognition for the sport to “grow further” in the country.
And the national games (Sukma) is the right place to kickstart this campaign and wants the Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican to make the racquet sport a “compulsory sport” although past attempts have fallen on deaf ears.
Tennis Malaysia, at its Exco meeting via Zoom on Saturday (Aug 7) was unanimous in its decision on the matter. The meeting was chaired by its president Mirzan Tun Mahathir and attended by the full committee.
Describing the issue as “thorny” the national tennis body, has been made aware that vice president Johnson Koh has been very vocal and consistent in pursuit of the matter. and has written to three sports minister, including the present minister Reezal Merican.
Lawn Tennis is hoping that Reezal Merican, who has “injected many positives” in Malaysian sports despite the coronavirus pandemic, will breathe new life into tennis in Malaysia.
Before this the national tennis body also wrote to former sports ministers Khairy Jamaluddin and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. In fact Mirzan led a delegation that included Johnson Koh, for a meeting with Syed Saddiq on the matter but nothing came out of it.
Johnson Koh, who is also the president of the Sabah Tennis Association (Sabah Tennis), has been very vocal on getting tennis into Sukma.
“Tennis Malaysia has decided to write and seek the approval of the Sports Minister on the inclusion of tennis as a compulsory sport in all Sukma. We also seek a meeting with the minister (Reezal Merican) on the matter,” said Johnson Koh.
“There are facts and reasons why tennis must be a compulsory sports in all SUKMA . Tennis is ranked second in the world of sports in terms of prize money. It is the second most viewed and popular as individual sports other than golf. Tennis has been included in the Olympics Games, Asian Games and SEA Games.”
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