Christian needs support to climb back up the rankings
Published on: Monday, April 08, 2024
Mandela (third left) presenting the contribution from the Chief Minister to Christian.
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah tennis ace, Christian Didier Chin needs assistance, especially from the State and national tennis associations to build up his career in the sport.
“His highest ranking in the ITF world junior (Under-18) was 44 before the pandemic struck and now he needs all the help he can get to push him back up the rung,” said Senior Confidential Secretary to the Chief Minister Datuk Ceaser Mandela Malakun.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Christian is now 23 years old and he still has a bright future ahead to bring glory for Sabah and Malaysia so I urge the tennis governing body in Malaysia and Sabah to give him support,” said Mandela after meeting with Christian at the Likas Sports Complex here recently.
Among Christian’s achievements were being the Asian Tennis Federation Under-14 number one player in 2014, the top Malaysia Under-16 in 2015, Sukma 2016 gold winner and the youngest finalist at 16 in the KL Open 2016.
He also has two singles titles namely the ITF International Junior Championship in 2017 and the ITF Terengganu International Junior Championship in 2017 and nine doubles champion titles under his belt.
Christian had also represented Malaysia and competed in three consecutive Davis Cups in Group 3. In 2018 he managed to go through the second round of the Australia Junior Open in the singles and doubles category.
ADVERTISEMENT
He won his first ITF World Men’s Tour 2019 partnering Singaporean Steve Ng to beat Japan’s pair in the men’s double final of the M15 International Tennis Federation Singapore 1.
“Despite his achievements, I was made to understand that Christian is providing coaching services, while at the same time trying to up his gameplay and vision to go up through the ranking,” said Mandela.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mandela was told by Christian’s father, Christopher Chin that his plan was to enrol his son into a tennis academy, perhaps at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy near Paris, France for six months.
“But, tennis is a different ballgame. Not only does Christian need the funding but he also needs a team so that he can focus totally on tennis,” said Christopher.
During the meeting, Mandela handed over a contribution from Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor to Christian.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
