Tennis, squash players primed

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THIS year’s Tennis and Squash Open is tipped to be more competitive “without any superstars” as the tournament continues to go from strength to strength, says the Port Moresby Racquets Club.
The club held a sponsors’ reception last week to provide an update on preparations for the tournament, which will be held from Friday to Sunday, with players expected from Lae, Cairns (Australia) and the nation’s capital.
President Tim Kriebisch said his club had grown from 18 to 615 members since the tournament’s 2016 inception with a turnover of K80,000 then to K1.1 million through corporate and individual sponsorship.
Following Coronavirus (Covid-19) disruptions over the last two years, this year’s tournament is expected to be bigger with nine division competing in squash and eight in tennis.

“Our main focus is on our juniors,” Kriebisch said.
“We have started our junior development programme.
“Tennis has continued from what coach Kwalam (Apisah) and his family had started.
“Squash started from scratch under the director of the sport, Merlyn Alarcos.
“Seven years later, we’ve sent two youngsters (Feanor Siaguru and Amity Alarcos) to Birmingham (for the recent Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom).”
Kriebisch thanked the sponsors for their continued support over the years and assured that the funding would go towards junior development.
“This year’s tournament is different without any superstars coming, it’s open,” he said.
“The focus has now shifted to the juniors, so your sponsorship is appreciated.
“Moving forward, there will be an increase in international appearances.
“The sponsorship will cover their development into the next phase because we have to bring them overseas.
“This way, we’ll try to make our juniors competitive on the international stage, including the South Pacific.”
Meanwhile, for the tournament this weekend, the squash events include open men’s, women’s, B-grade and C-grade singles as well as open mixed Under-19, U15, U11 and legends singles and doubles.
Merlyn said due to Covid-19, the two sports had been holding their tournaments separately, but for this year, it would be a combined three-day tournament.
“Last year, we (squash) had 65 players which was great, given the pandemic,” she said.
“But hopefully, we can come up with more players this year.
“Lae and Mt Hagen squash have expressed interest, but we are yet to confirm their attendance.
“We’ll also have a few players from Cairns, so it’s a good comeback for squash amid Covid-19.
“The squash highlight so far this year is our two junior athletes’ participation in the Commonwealth Games.
“Before that, they had undergone a training camp in Malaysia, getting doubles exposure, which had helped them in Birmingham.
“So the only event added (to the tournament) is the mixed open doubles.

“We found that was our strength in the Commonwealth Games, so we’ll focus a bit more on that.”
Meanwhile, tennis director and national representative Abigail Tere-Apisah said an inclusion in the tennis category was the mixed U12s.
“It’s crucial for children to compete and be a part of the tournament,” he said.
“We’ve already had three junior tournaments this year and they’ve all been successful.
“We’ve put together a junior elite squad and had our first international trip to Fiji, competing in the U12 to U16 divisions in the West Pacific qualifying championships.
“We had 63 players for last year’s tournament.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have at least the same number of participants.
“Unlike last year, we’re expecting a couple of Lae players.”
The tennis events include open singles for men and women, mixed singles for the B-grade, legends, U18s, U14s, U12s and open mixed doubles.
The tournament will begin on Friday morning with the finals and presentations scheduled for Sunday evening.