BANGKOK: While many would tremble at the thought of facing a world-class opponent, national tennis player Shihomi Leong (pic) embraces the fight.
The 18-year-old played a key role in steering Malaysia into the SEA Games semi-finals after a hard-earned 2-1 win over Singapore in the quarter-finals at the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand yesterday.
But a bigger test now awaits. Shihomi is set to face Indonesia’s top player Janice Tjen in the last four – a duel that promises to stretch her resolve and skill to the limit.
Janice became the first Indonesian to win a main draw Grand Slam match at the US Open, and that has gotten Shihomi excited.
“Indonesia are a really balanced team, they’re strong in both the singles and doubles,” said Shihomi.
“And now they have Janice in the team, who I will be playing against.
“I’m excited to play her (Janice). It’s a good opportunity for me to measure myself against a top player.
“Plus, we’re coming in as the underdogs, so there’s nothing to lose and I’ll go all out.”
Shihomi recently became the first Malaysian in six years to make a pro-level final at the ITF W15 Gurugram, but fell to Russia’s Vlada Mincheva.
The strong performance was on display from Shihomi when she defeated Singapore’s Eva Desvignes 2-0 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Teammate Sharifah Elsa Wan Abdul Rahman had defeated Tan Sue Yan 2-1, but the pairing of Shihomi and Sharifah fell to Sue Yan-Deanne Choo 1-2 in the doubles match.
Having moved into the senior-level tournaments now, Shihomi added that her time is mostly spent around the sport, but some downtime with her teammates in Bangkok comes as a nice treat as well.
“We have a really good team this year, and I enjoy spending time with my teammates.
“We’re close to each other, and we always find time to do things as a group when we’re not competing or training,” she added.
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