Mohd Aiman Abdullah was the only bright spark for Brunei tennis after the rest of the Sultanate's representatives struggled to get past the early rounds in regional competitions. Picture: BT file
Melanie Lau Shu Ping was Brunei's best performer at the 47th Brunei ITF Junior Circuit held in the Sultanate in March. Pciture: BT file
Brunei tennis has had to endure a mixed year with the national squad experiencing vastly different fortunes in both regional and international tournaments.
The Bruneians had a bad campaign at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Circuits, failing to get past the second round of the tournament in both occasions.
Melanie Lau Shu Ping was the Sultanate's best performer at the 47th Brunei ITF Junior Circuit in March when she made it to the second round of competition.
That was as far as she got, the Bruneian finding herself on the losing end in her third round match against Singapore's Wee Khee Yen.
The match ended with a one-sided 6-1, 6-1 scoreline at the National Tennis Centre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.
The March 12-17 tournament was a disappointment for the trio of Law Vi Chen, Nurul Andi Hambali and Jefri Schmidt who all suffered defeats in the first round.
Nurul Mohd Andi fell 6-0, 6-0 to Indonesia's Yoga Argi Syahputra.
Law went down by the same scoreline to the Philippines' Marcen Angelo Gonzales.
Jefri Schmidt did a little better after picking up a point in his 6-0, 6-1 loss to 11th seed Kenta Kurita of Japan.
Sri Lanka's Sharmal Dissanayake would lift the boy's singles title following his 6-4, 6-3 win over Lo Chien Hsun of Chinese-Taipei in the final.
Over in the girls singles final, Hong Kong's Claire Yoonkee Choi Spackman lifted the trophy after her 6-1, 6-4 win over Myanmar's Nilar Win.
Claire also moved into the final of the girl's doubles.
She partnered with compatriot Ka Man Carina but lost the final 6-3, 6-2 to Singapore's Doshi Rheeya and Japan's Miyo Kobayashi.
The boy's doubles team of Kazakhstan's Sagadat Ayap and Indonesia's Armando Soemarno finished off Hong Kong's Chun Hei Lam and Hong Kit Jack Wong 7-5, 6-1 to win the title.
Brunei fared no better in the 48th edition of the Brunei ITF Junior Circuit.
The tournament, held earlier this month, saw the country's only representatives Nurul Mohd Andi and Law fall in the first round.
Nurul Mohd Andi was eliminated 7-5, 6-1 by Jerome Romualdez while Law suffered a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Joachim Samson.
Law also paired up with Korea's Yohan Sung in the boy's doubles but lost 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 to the duo of Samson and Jack Pulliam.
Despite the let downs, there is a silver lining to 2013 for Brunei tennis.
Mohd Aiman Abdullah made headlines after performing well at the STA Open Singles and Doubles 1 2013 competition held from January 26 - February 3 in Singapore.
He stunned top seed Shoki Kasahara of Japan 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the second round in a match that spanned over three hours.
Aiman continued his fine form with a double bagel victory over Brice Barret before losing 7-5, 3-6, 0-6 to Singapore's No 1 Roy Hobbs in the semi-finals.
Aiman, who is the country's only touring player, also reached the last-eight of the Singapore Tennis Association (STA) Open Singles & Doubles IV in September.
He started off with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Aden Chen at the Sept 21-29 event before beating Nathaniel Ghui 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.
He faced Abadia Adelo after beating No 6 seed Stuart Oldham 6-2, 6-1 in the third round, but was denied a place in the semi-finals after going down 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to the eventual champion.
It was the second time in as many tournaments that Aiman lost to an eventual champion.
He was sent packing 6-2, 6-2 by Logan McKenzie in the quarter-finals of the Prince Pesta Sukan Open/Veteran Tennis Championships 2013 in Singapore in July.
He also defeated No 4 seed Harold Lowe 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the tournament.
