Time spent training with the national team and opportunities provided by Tennis Cambodia to represent the Kingdom in ITF Junior events have opened a new avenue for Chheang Vannasak, who was to head to the United States yesterday to pursue his studies at Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, on a tennis scholarship.

Vannasak, 18, graduated from high school in Phnom Penh two years ago and succeeded in getting a scholarship at an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) tennis college.

Vannasak, who began playing tennis under his father’s tutelage, got into Tennis Cambodia’s grassroots program as an 8-year-old and moved to the junior program, and eventually to the national team camp, where he picked up valuable lessons training with Davis Cup squad members on a regular basis.