KUCHING: Sarawak has once again been selected to host the final qualifiers for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-14 (U14) Asia/Oceania World Youth Tennis Championships 2025, which will take place here from March 31 to April 15, 2025.

Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (MYSED), Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this selection follows the success of organising the same event last month for the U16 category and several previous tennis tournaments, putting Sarawak on the world map for international tennis events.

According to him, this tournament will involve 18 countries competing for a spot to the final stage which will be held around July to August in European countries.

“With a total of 18 countries participating, including some of the best in the sport such as Australia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iran, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Indonesia, it will be a stage to showcase skills, determination and good sportsmanship.

“The ITF has seen how we organised the event before and they were very pleased with the level of organisation we provided, so they requested for us to organise it again through the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA), led by Dato Patrick Liew,” he said.

He said this at the ITF U14 Asia/Oceania 2025 World Youth Tennis Championship Final Qualification press conference held at the Baitulmakmur II Building, here, on Friday.

Regarding the selection of Kuching as the host, Dato Sri Abdul Karim revealed that the ITF has also provided a fund of RM230,000 to cover the needs of the athletes, coaches and officials of the tournament, including their food, transport and accommodation needs throughout the event.

Apart from benefiting from the development of sports, the Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts added that organising international sporting events like this will further boost Sarawak's tourism sector.

"Of course, for athletes competing at such a young age, from a tourism perspective, their parents will come to support their children and through this, the hospitality industry and the tourism industry will benefit greatly.

"The general public will be able to know more about Sarawak, whether from their sharing of photos, videos, or from the live streaming of the tournaments by the organisers," he added.

Also present at the press conference session were MYSED Permanent Secretary, Morshidi Fredrick, SLTA President, Dato Patrick and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC), Khairul Nizam Morshidi. -UKASnews