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Of Soft Tennis In Malaysia
 
 
The 10th World Soft Tennis Championships, Gifu, Japan, 1995.
 
The Malaysian Women and Men Teams after the Prize Giving on 31st October, 1995 in Gifu,Japan.
 

The Malaysian men and women teams participated the above championships. It was held at the
Gifu Memorial Centre and Nagarawa Tennis Plaza from October 26 to 31, 1995. The other
paricipating countries were :

Kazakhstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Puertorico, Singapore, Thailand,
Chinese Taipei, United State Of America, Venezuela, Vietnam and Japan.

The Malaysian Teams were represented by the following officials and players :
Team Manager        :        Mr. Bardin Bin Uteh
Coach                     :        Mr. Ngo Ah Lek
Chaperon                :        Miss Pee Siew Kein
Men Players            :        Mr. Hussin Bin Ali  (  Captain  )
                                        Ngo Kun Kuang
                                        Goh Koon Hui
                                        Lau Keong Aik
                                        Hasnur Rizal Bin Hussin
Women Players       :        Lim Sze Sian
                                        Ngo Ruey Mei
                                        Tan Siew Hun
                                        Wong Yi Ling
                                        Tey Siong Peng

The Malaysians played well in the Championships despite of being young and inexperienced.
No other countries could take the three Big Giants of Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei.

The Malaysian women and men won gold and bronze medals respectively  in the Consolation
Pools. More importantly, the Malaysian players won many hearts in the Championships because
they were warm and friendly and nearly all of them could speak English, Chinese and Malay
well. Mr. Bardin Bin Uteh could speak Japanese pretty well too. He managed to meet his
adopted family in Gifu .
 

 
Malaysian players with one of the Venezuela          Malaysian players at the Nagarawa Tennis Plaza
players
 
 
 
First Chung Hwa Cup Soft Tennis International Championship, June 8-12, 1995 Nantou, Taiwan.
 
The President of STAM Tan Sri Khir Johari expressed his gratitute to the organiser for inviting
Malaysia to her inaugural Chung Hwa Cup Championship. Although Malaysia's contingent of
two boys and two girls was not expected to make any great impact at Nantou, Taiwan, the experience they would have gained would be immense for their future involvements.

Malaysian players were well treated and guided by the super soft tennis stars of Taiwan.  It was
indeed a good exposure for Malaysian players and officials. Not to forget the advice and guidance
given to Malaysian coach by the coaches and officials of the Soft Tennis Association of Taiwan ROC. Further more, arrangements were made to deliver soft tennis racquets to Malaysia for
development by the Taiwan Soft Tennis Association.
 
 
The 1st Malaysian Open Soft Tennis Championship 6-11 June, 1996 In Melaka
 
The first Malaysia Soft Tennis Open was organised by Soft Tennis Association Of Malaysia
and Melaka Soft Tennis Association at Air Keroh Tennis Complex  in the historical town of Malacca.

There were six teams participated in the championship.The foreign teams were Korea, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. Malaysia put up two teams in the match. The championship was well organised. The Chief Minister of Melaka, Datuk Seri Hj. Mohd Zin Bin Hj. Ab. Ghani
in his opening speech assured to the players and esteemed guests that Melaka will do their utmost
to make their stay in Melaka comfortable, memorable and they will enjoy the City's unique standing.

Tan Sri Dato' Hj. Muhyiddin Bin Hj. Mohd Yassin, Minister of Youth and Sports expressed
the government's desire to promote a healthy and clean lifestyle for its people. Therefore,
sports, whether recreational or competitive, have always been primary in achieving this goal.

Datuk Setia Raja, Tan Sri Datuk Seri Hamzah Bin Hj Abu Samah, President of Olympic Council Of Malaysia praised the Association for its inaugural Open Championship. He said that the action
would no doubt be the catalyst to prompt it to aspire for a much greater effort to catapult the sport, which is in its early years of growth in Malaysia and its neighbouring countries.

Tan Sri Dato' Khir Johari, President of Soft Tennis Association Of Malaysia, extended a warm
welcome to all participants. He looked upon this inaugural tournament as the fore-bearer for
the sport moving into international arena in both the national as well as the regional sports calenders.

Korea ,as expected , was the overall champion in the Championship.
 
 

The Organising Committee Members with the
President and wife Of Korea Soft Tennis Association
and International Soft Tennis Federation
Mr. Park Sang-Ha
during the Farewell Dinner on 9th June, 1996.
 
 
2nd Chung Hwa Cup International June 12-15, 1996 In Taipei, Taiwan.
 

The Malaysian soft tennis team was represented by players from historical town of Malacca headed
by Mr. Lee Fook Mun, an active tennis coach and tournaments organiser from the State of Malacca.

The men players were Tay Shew Kuan and Frank Ong. The women players were represented by Ruzimah Othman and Zalilah Muhamad.

The Malaysian men player Tay Shew Kuan had surprised his top seeded opponent by trailing close behind him despite of his first apperance in international soft tennis championship.

 

The 3rd Asian Soft Tennis Championships, November 2 - 8, 1996
Bangkok, Thailand.
 
 
The designs of emblems and programme cover for the 3rd Asian Soft Tennis Championships '96

With the the sponsorship of sportswear by the Peremba Nursery Of Malaysia and the partial
sponsorship of airfares by ASTF, Malaysia managed to put up full teams to Bangkok for the 3rd
Asian Soft Tennis Championships.
 
Malaysian Players and officials at the Opening Ceremony in Bangkok, 1996.

The Malaysian Contingent was headed by Mr. Lee Cheng Kim. Mr. Ngo Ah Lek and
Miss Tan Siew Imm were coach and chaperon respectively. The men players were Hussin Bin Ali
( Captain ), Ngo Kun Kuang, Lau Keong Aik, Goh Koon Hui and Wong Foo Hau.  The women
players were Lim Sze Sian, Ngo Ruey Mei, Lim Luang Gaik, Lim Sze Min and Wai Yee Beng.
 
 
  Malaysian Team with the Asian Delegates                   Malaysian Team at the Farewell Party

The Malaysian players were young and inexperienced. Half of them were first timers. The failure
to get permission for centralized training had further weakened the team. However, they played
with high spirit and good sportsmanship.
 

 
The Malaysian Team at the Closing Ceremony       Malaysia and India soft tennis players bade
                                                                             farewell to one another
 
 
3rd Chung Hwa Cup Soft Tennis International Championships 
June 12-16,1997 At Pingtung, Taiwan.
 
Malaysian Team at the Pingtung Indoor Stadium, 1997.

Malaysia men players were represented by two school boys, Ngo Kun Kuang and Lau Keong Aik
from Sekolah Menengah Paduka Tuan Segamat. The women players were represented by two
school girls Ngo Ruey Mei and Lim Sze Sian from Sekolah Menengah Paduka Tuan and Sekolah
Menengah Seg Hwa, Segamat respectively. All of them were the finalists during a recent selection
trial held at Segamat Country Club.
 
 The Malaysian Team at the Opening Ceremony    The Farewell Dinner with Taiwan players/officials

The tournament was interrupted by frequent rain that caused the clay courts relatively wet and the
organisers had to shorten the games in the preliminary rounds.
 

 
 
Soft Tennis Friendly Match With Hiroshima Municipal Board Of Education 
In Kuala Lumpur
 
Date        :        5-9, November, 1997.
Venue     :        Titiwangsa Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The friendly soft tennis match and goodwill visit was organised by the Kuala Lumpur Municipal
Board in return for the warm reception given to them in 1994 in Japan by their Hisroshima
counterpart, a sister city of Kuala Lumpur.
 

Welcoming Dinner hosted by the Lord Mayor of DBKL
at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall on 6/11/97
 

The Malaysian soft tennis players were students from Universiti Putera Malaysia and Segamat,
Johor. The match was real exciting and interesting.  Mr. Kazuyuki Matsuda and Mr. Shinpei
Katoka , senior soft tennis coaches from Hiroshima had even conducted a short but all round
coaching to the participating players. The goodwill visit ended in a cheerful and memorable
dinner gathering which was hosted by the Hiroshima Sports Exchange Delegation at the Federal
Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
 
 

Chuang Hock Chen ( right ), Shinpei Katoka and     The Malaysians performing a musical show at
Ngo Kun Kuang ( left ) at the farewell dinner.           the Federal Hotel on 8/11/1997.
 
 
 
The 2nd South East Asian Soft Tennis Championship, Hanoi, Vietnam
12-14, Deccember, 1997.
 
An extract from Soft Tennis Magazine of Japan ( March Edition, 1998 )
 
 
The 2nd South East Asian Soft Tennis Championship was organised by Vietnam Soft Tennis Federation and Hanoi Sports Department from December 11 to December 14, 1997 at Quang Ba Court in the City of Hanoi. Although it was the first time soft tennis championship was organised in Vietnam, it was in fact the best championship Malaysia has ever participated. Every minor aspect
of the championship was well taken care of.
 
    The Championship Emblem        The Program Cover Design               The VSTF Emblem

The games were tough but all the players including the people of Vietnam and supporters from Malaysia and Philippine were warm and friendly. In between the matches, the Malaysian players
were taken to the city for sight seeing and shopping. The Vietnam guides did a superb job.  The reception by the staff of Quang Ba Hotel was tip-top. The receptionists were sweet and firendly.
Malaysians players will remember the hospitality of the people and the government of Socialist Republic Of Vietnam throughout their stay in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 
     The Malaysian Contingent at Hanoi                Malaysian players with receptionists of QB Hotel

The Malaysian Contingent was headed by Mr.Ngo Ah Lek with Mr. Hussin Bin Ali as the Team
Captain.
                Men Players        :    Hussin Ali
                                                Goh Koon Hui
                                                Chuang Fook Chen
                                                Zahrullail Ahmad
                                                Goh Choon Lee
               Women Players    :    Ngo Ruey Mei
                                                Tan Siew Hun
                                                Lim Luang Gaik
                                                Tan Mei Fern
                                                Wong Poh Ling

Hussin Ali and Chuang Fook Chen  as well as their counterparts Tan Siew Hun and Lim Luang Gaik were Runners-Up in the men and women Individual Doubles ( pictures shown below ).
 

Philippine was the overall Champion, followed by Vietnam, the Runner-Up and Malaysia in the
Third placing.
 
 
The 12th Asian Games 2-16 October, 1994 In Hiroshima, Japan.
 

The 12th Asian Games was held at Hiroshima Prefecture and City from 2nd December, 1994 to
16th December, 1994. " It is a great pleasure and a tremendous honour to receive such a great
number of people from all the Asian countries. We will do our best to make you feel best for your
competition, as well as to allow relaxation and promote international friendship, " said Masayuki
Sano, Athletes Village Mayor, Fumio Hiyoshi and Keiko Kawamori, Deputy Mayor.

Indeed, the Japanese had thoroughly practised what they said. It was not just a place for
competition but a place for promoting international friendship, a fundamental objective which many
great and top sport management executives, athletes and politicians had forgotten.
 
 

The Malaysian soft tennis players were not allowed to participate the 12th Asian Games initially,
through negotiations and appeals, a team of 4 men and 2 ladies were finally allowed to participate
under B category. As expected, they did not perform well in the competition but their presence
at the session ' Meet the People of Hiroshima ' , a gathering where Malaysian athletes and officials were hardly seen, had promoted Malaysia and won many hearts. The soft tennis players were
busily explained to the Hiroshima residents where Malaysia is and how the many races of Malaysia
can live peacefully. The Malaysian soft tennis players were treated like sports stars when they
signed many authographs and received many presents. At the end of the session, many Hiroshima
residents had shown keen interest to visit Malaysia soon. All these were done quietly and of course
did not receive any publicity in the mass media.
 
The Soft Tennis Squad from Malaysia
 
 
 
The 2nd Asian Soft Tennis Championships October 19-26,
1992 At Tennis Stadium Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Malaysia was able to send a full team to participate the 2nd Asian Soft Tennis Championships at
Jakarta. Many thanks to the sponsorship contributed by ASTF and Mr. Koh Chee Hua, Managing Director of Tennis Builder Malaysia, who has all the time kept himself very low profile.
The Malaysian players and officials

The Malaysian men palyers were represented by Kelvin Yong, Alex Chai, Douglas Chai and
Teo Kee Chiong. The women players were represented by Lee I-Jin. Rowena Yong, Ng Siew Cheng, Loew Lai Fun and Kuan Miau Hoon. Mr. Tan Eng Kim was the Chef-de-Mission with
Mr. Yong Bang Kuang and Mr. Ngo Ah Lek as the team coaches.
 
.
Despite of being young and inexperienced, the Malaysian players had played beyond expectation.
Lee I- Jin had won the Runner-Up in the Women's Individual Singles and the Men's team had
entered the quarter-final round.

There were 17 countries participated in the 2nd Asian Championships. All matches were played in
the clay courts. The championships ended by a day's city trip sponsored by Hotel Atlet Century
Park.

 
Malaysian and Thailand soft Tennis Coaches          Malaysia and Philippine soft tennis players
 
 
 
 
An Extract From Identity, New Straits Times Malaysia on Friday, December 8, 1995.
 
 
 
Ngo Ah Lek demonstrated a forehand swing to the primary school boys and girls
from the Segamat District, Johor.
 
 
 
 
An Introduction To Soft Tennis  /  Soft Tennis In Segamat  /  Johor Soft Tennis Association ( JOSTA )
Soft Tennis Association Of Malaysia ( STAM )  /  Soft Tennis In Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia