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Father-son connection

IT is common for fathers and sons to share the same field in sports.

But it is uncommon to have a father become a line umpire of his son’s tennis match in an official tournament.

Syed Naguib Syed Mohd is a qualified chair and line umpire in tennis while his son, Syed Agil is one of the leading players in Malaysia.

Syed Agil saw action in the ongoing ATP Malaysian Open, where the 20-year-old was ousted in the second round of the qualifiers.

He partnered Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the doubles but the pair lost 6-3, 6-4 to Britain’s Jamie Murray and Australia’s John Peers in the first round on Thursday.

Syed Naguib was not the line umpire for any of his son’s matches this year but had done so in the previous editions.

“It is quite odd to have my father as the line umpire when I am playing in a tournament. But frankly, I am too focused on court and I don’t really pay attention to the line umpires,” said Syed Agil at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

“My father, however, neither bothers me nor helps me when he is the line umpire for my matches.

“But of course his presence, whether as a fan or line umpire, inspires me to give my best. He is a qualified chair umpire so you can see him regularly officiating matches in local tournaments.”

Despite being an ex-Selangor state footballer, Syed Naguib did not encourage his son to play the game.

“My father was a footballer and despite being good at it, he did not push me to play the sport. However, I am a successful tennis player and I do not regret playing it full time,” said Syed Agil.

The World No 1,613, Syed Agil is actively competing in the lower-tier Futures and he hopes to break into the top 800 in 2016.

“I’ve so far earned two points on the tour and hopefully, I can win more matches when I travel to Iran in November for the Futures,” he said.

On his experience playing with Kyrgios, whose mother is Malaysian, Syed Agil said he had two practice sessions with the Australian prior to their match.

“Kyrgios taught me the finer points of the game. Although he is only half-Malaysian, he has given me the self-belief that a player from this country can go far in the sport,” Syed Agil added.

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