By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Jan 26: The Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) will begin upgrading its tennis facilities in Jalan Crookshank here from May in preparation for the 2027 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, said the upgrades will focus on enhancing the existing infrastructure rather than expanding the courts.
Key improvements include enhanced lighting for day and night play, wider spectator grandstands with chairs, upgraded main court facilities, and improved amenities such as the canteen, toilets, media room, and VIP areas.
“Currently, spectator seating is only in the middle section. After the upgrade, the entire stretch will be used, allowing more fans to enjoy the matches.
“The upgrading work should start after May,” he told reporters during a press conference at Baitul Makmur 2 today.
He added that the work will be conducted internally and will not disrupt other events scheduled in September and October.
Abdul Karim also clarified that the courts will remain open-air, as roofing all 13 courts is not feasible.
“If it is an open court, you cannot have some matches under a roof and others not. Everything has to be open-air.
“If it is a closed court, then all tournaments—from the preliminaries right up to the finals—would have to be played indoors. That is my understanding,” he said.
Meanwhile, SLTA chairman Dato Patrick Liew explained that land constraints prevent the construction of indoor courts.
“To convert all 13 courts into indoor courts would require a much wider structure and incur significant costs, not only to build but also to maintain.
“International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules also prohibit mixing indoor and outdoor courts to ensure fair play,” he added. — DayakDaily
