AsiaLIFE

Time was when the Kingdom’s tennis playing elite was feared across the region. After decades of neglect, is the sport set for a rally? Words by Zoe Daniel.

The history of Cambodian tennis reads like a history of the country. A powerhouse in the region in the 1950s and 60s, it fell to pieces during the years of the Khmer Rouge. Elite athletes were seen as part of the French influenced bourgeoisie. They were either killed or hid their talent. At least 37 top players died during those dire years, the rest worked their racquet hands to the bone in the fields like everyone else. The sport is only just recovering. “It was very much an elitist sport,” says Rithivit Tep head of the Tennis Federation of Cambodia. “But today we focus on the grass roots.

Rebuilding tennis is a personal mission for the federation’s secretary general, who is the son of the late Tep Kunnah, Cambodia’s most famous player ever. Even the young Prince Sihanouk used to watch the man they called “Mr Tennis” play at the city’s exclusive French country clubs. He played at Davis Cup level and is now the legend behind the Tep Kunnah Cup – played annually in Phnom Penh in his memory.

Rithivit Tep didn’t make it to the top level as a player, so he feels he owes it to his father to contribute to the sport in a different way – getting kids involved. When he returned to Cambodia in the 1990s, he set about recruiting ball boys and teaching them the game. They are now coaches in their own right. After starting with five schools in the year 2000, the Federation now works with 45 schools. It’s teaching ten thousand Cambodian kids how to play tennis with equipment largely donated by the International Tennis Federation. Another twenty thousand children are exposed to the sport as spectators.

National coach Braen Aneiros is from Panama. He has coached players right across the international circuit including one Wimbledon junior winner. According to him, Cambodia is well behind countries like Thailand when it comes to the number of young people playing tennis. It was Rithivit Tep’s approach to that problem that attracted Aneiros to coach here. “I am completely committed to this and I really like what he’s trying to do for the country.  I’m Cambodian now,” he laughs.

Many of the current crop of top players have learnt the game in France, among them Nissan Tan and Kenny Bun who were both born there. While they still do a lot of their training overseas, they’re seeking sponsorship to spend more time in Asia. “I have my Mum here and everybody, all my family’s here,” Tan says. He won a Bronze medal at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, which pretty much put Cambodian tennis back on the map. No one took any notice of Cambodian players before that, Rithivit Tep says, but “today we are contenders”.

Cambodians who have trained internationally also have a sense of confidence that comes from competing overseas. Kenny Bun has no sense of being the underdog. “I will let my weapons speak on the court,” he says. While success on the international circuit is a priority for the federation, it’s building the profile of the game locally that’s really crucial to rebuilding its popularity. Things have changed since tennis was a game reserved for the rich and famous, but the lack of sporting facilities is still a barrier to getting Cambodians playing. The International Tennis Federation is considering starting a fund to help. For now though, Rithi Tep and his team of former ball boys tour schools with balls, racquets and ropes, which they tie across playgrounds to make nets.

They just want to get children playing. After that, it’s hoped the next champion will emerge with a passion for the game, and for the message that success will send to the world. “These kids are hungry, they have a cause” Rithivit Tep says. “When one plays not for the money, but for the cause, to put the country on the map you have a different feeling when you play.”