IO, Surabaya – An Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya student has won second place in the Majlis Perbandaran Hang Tuah Jaya tournament held by the Malacca Lawn Tennis Association in the men’s singles tennis category, near the end of 2018. The prestigious tournament was participated in by various Southeast Asian nations.
Farraz Haidar Akbar was the ITS student, from the Department of Civil Infrastructure Engineering, taking part in the event on his own initiative.
“This is an international standard tournament, as it is participated in by a number of countries outside of Malaysia in the Southeast Asia region, such as Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia,” explained Farraz.
Out of all the games in the tournament, Farraz felt the most impactful game was in the semifinals, when he played against Haqiz, the Malaysian number one seed.
The semifinal was fierce but, in the end, Farraz was able to defeat Haziq and go on to the finals. “I was temporarily behind but I never thought I would be able to defeat the Malaysian favorite with a score of 8-5,” said Farraz excitedly.
In the final, Farraz faced Malaysian second seed David Lee. After giving it his all, Farraz had to be satisfied will settling for runner-up after finishing the game with a score of 5-8.
Rather than being a deterrent, Farraz said the loss gave him more motivation to continue to develop his tennis skills. “There are certainly regrets from losing but I take it as I still have to train more,” said Farraz.
Farraz began playing tennis when he was still in the first grade of elementary school, inspired by his father, who also loved playing tennis.
This isn’t Farraz’s first achievement in the world of tennis. The ITS student has won the Ganesha ITB CUP 2018, won second in the UNEJ CUP 2018 men’s doubles, and won third in the Pati Open Nasional 2018 men’s doubles.
Other than his father, Farraz also idolizes tennis legend Roger Federer. He hopes to be able to mimic his idol’s relaxed but focused style.
According to Farraz, Roger Federer has been very consistent throughout his career. “Roger Federer is now 37 years old but his playstyle and consistency has made it possible for him to stay in the top five world tennis players,” said the class of 2015 student. (ITS Public Relations)