Wednesday, February 03, 2010

WAKE UP JAWAIRIAH




It is time for Malaysia's number one player Jawairiah Noordin to take stock of her situation and decide where her tennis career is heading.

The 19 year old was a pale shadow of herself on court when she faced a virtua unknown in the likes of Singapore's Stefanie Tan in the Federation Cup tie at the National Tennis Centre in Jalan Duta.

It was obvious that Jawairiah was in a different world or maybe even planet as she succumbed to a shocking 2-6,3-6 defeat to the resilient Stefanie who potrayed a never say die atitude and was brimming in confidence right from the time she stepped onto the court despite Singapore being a match down after veteran Khoo chin Bee had given Julienne Keong a lesson in tennis, winning 6-1,6-0 in under an hour.

Nothing went right for the Malaysian lass as she double faulted 10 times in the match and was clearly lacking in self confidence. Jawairiah was short on fitness as she was left struggling to retrieve shots from Stefanie, who cashed in on the pathetic performance of the Malaysian.

LTAM too should take the necessary steps to get players to toe the line as it is learnt that Jawairiah has been given the blessings by NSC to train under her own coach, although at one point last year she was under LTAM.

With the tie level at 1-1, Malaysia made a change for the doubles with Jawairiah paired with Chin Bee, and it resulted in a face saving 2-1 win for Malaysia who take on India on Friday.

Jawairiah should probably sit down with Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm and find out just what drives the 39 year old to give her best each time she takes to the court.

Kimiko, who last represented Japan in the Federation Cup in 1996 was full of zest and despite coming out of retirement, she went out and did her job professionally.

" After I played some exhibition matches in Japan against Maria Sharapova in March 2008, I realised I still had the zest for tennis,"said Kimiko who trained for six months for the exhibition matches.

"My husband encouraged me and here I am. The matches here will give me a chance to adapt to the weather here before the WTA event later this month.

"Seeing Kim Clisters and Justin Henin back on court has given me some confidence as all it takes is the desitre and discipline to excel and one can play tennis well."



Results

Malaysia 2 Singapore 1
Khoo Chin Bee def Julienne Keong 6-1,6-0
Jawairiah Noordin lost to Stefanie Tan 2-6,3-6
Khoo Chin Bee/Jawairiah Noordin def Stefanie Tan/Clare Fong 6-4,6-2

Japan 3 Indonesia 0
Ayumi Morita def Lavinia Tanata 6-1,6-2
Kimiko Date Krumm def Ayu Fani Damayanti 6-2,6-0
Yurika Sema/Rika Fujiwara def Sandi Gumulya/Jessie Rompies 6-2,6-2

Thailand 3 Uzbekistan 0
Suchanun Viratprasert def Sabina Sharipova 6-2,6-2
Tamarine Tanasugarn def Akgul Amanmuradova 7-5,6-1
Nudnida Luangnam/Varatchaya Wongteanchai def Nigina Abduraimova/Albina Khabibulina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

Korea 2 New Zealand 1
Jin A Lee def Marina Erakovic 6-1,6-3
So Jung Kim def Sacha Jones 6-1,6-0
Na Ri Kim/Min Hwa Yu lost to Marina Erakovic/Sacha Jones 4-6,4-6

Hong Kong 3 Syria 0
Zi Jun Yang def Kim Sadi 6-0,6-1
Ling Zhang def Diala Jamaleddine 6-0,6-1
Po Kuen Lam/Ho Ching Wu def Kett Sadi/Diana Makki 6-0,6-2

Kyrgyzstan 3 Philipinnes 0
Bermet Duvanaeva def Michelle Pang 6-2,6-1
Ksenia Palkina def Anne Chiristine Patrimonio 6-2,6-3
Bermet Duvanaeva/Ksenia Palkina def Anna Christine Patrimonio/Marinel Rudas 6-2,6-1

Match between Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan affected by rain, tie is all square at 1-1