After Wayne Wong had secured his place in the final with a straight-set win over No. 4 seed Andrew Town on Thursday night, third-seeded Goran Bosalevski followed suit on Friday night when he came from a set down to beat No. 2 seed Michael Lai in a third-set tiebreak, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(2).

"It was a tough match and a hard win for me that's for sure," said Goran Bosalevski after the match. "I felt I was just hanging in there for most of the match and just hoped that I could play my way into it especially after that opening set because Michael played a smart match."

"I thought I served well in the last two sets which kept me in the game and then I just tried to hold serve in the third and see what I could do on his serve. In the tiebreak though, I thought I executed a little bit better."

"But Michael gave me a big call at 5-5 and 30-all in the final set on my serve. Lineswoman called wide on my shot that sure looked in. He didn't have to give me that as we were playing on the umpire's calls. It was definitely a good gesture and a big call. Who knows, he may have won that point and then possibly the game and taken the match," he recounted.

As for the finalists, they have met twice before at the CRC Open – in consecutive semifinals in 2004 and 2005 – when Wayne Wong prevailed on both occasions in straight sets en route to bagging the title in those two years. Their most recent encounter at Clearwater Bay earlier this January was a lot closer and it took a third set super-tiebreak to separate the two, with Wayne Wong winning it in the end, 2-6, 6-4, [10-4].

However, this will be the first time they are meeting in a final, and indications are that this might even be closer still.

Nevertheless, should Goran Bosalevski prevail, he will be two-thirds of the way to completing the local Triple Crown – a feat not accomplished since Shane Barr last did it in 1997 when he swept the HK National, SCAA Open, and CRC Open titles in the same calendar year.

In the ladies' final, 15-year-old first-time finalist, Sher Pui Wing, will probably be facing the most accomplished opponent in her career thus far when she takes on former Hong Kong number one and five-time champion, Tong Ka Po.

After her three matches in the previous rounds against Ki Yan Tung, Shene Pui Yee, and reigning HK National Juniors G18U winner, Wu Ho Ching, the No. 1 seed has yet to concede a single game to her younger opponents.

The opening match of Saturday's programme saw the top-seeded pairing of Lam Po Kuen/Chattida Thimjapo come from a set down to beat the No. 2-seeded tandem of Tong Ka Po/Tan Lynn Yin, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to lift the ladies' doubles crown. The same HK-Thai combo also won the title together in 2005.

In winning her fifth doubles title here, Lam Po Kuen has also caught up with Tong Ka Po as the only players to win the CRC Open ladies' doubles at least 5 times. Before today's triumph, Lam Po Kuen was in joint second place together with Jackie Fu with four titles each.

"We managed to pick up our games in the second and third sets with better footwork and movement, and therefore we were in better positions to hit better volleys in general. But it was a tough match, as we needed six match points in the end before we finally won it," said Lam Po Kuen.

The other half of the winning combo, Chattida Thimjapo, concurred, "Yes absolutely. And I must say that this was one of the best matches I've played since I came to Hong Kong. But I think all four of us played some really good tennis today."

In other results, No. 2 seeds Andrew Lee/He Chun-Yan registered a 6-2, 6-4, semifinal win against Ethan Farbman/Maya Takizawa in the mixed doubles to set up a final showdown with the top-seeded duo of Yu Hiu Tung/Lam Po Kuen on Sunday, which is scheduled for the first match on (but not before 3:30pm) after the men's final.

The last match to finish on Saturday night was the men's doubles semifinal where former two-time winners, Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos, came from a set down to beat top seeds Yu Hiu Tung/Michael Lai, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. In the final, the Aussies will face No. 2 seeds Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski, who also needed three sets to overcome the pairing of Jason Sankey/Graeme Foster, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, in the previous round.

In the 2000 men's doubles final, the Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos combination defeated Melvin Tong/Xia Jia-Ping, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5, to lift the title. Then in 2005, the Aussie duo beat Michael Lai/Ronald Chow, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, to win their second title.

The Melvin Tong/Andy Brothers tandem was the last pair to win three or more men's doubles titles at the CRC Open when they won during the years 1997-99.


ORDER OF PLAY (Sunday, Nov 24)

MEN'S SINGLES FINAL (2pm)
(1)Wayne Wong v (3)Goran Bosalevski

MIXED DOUBLES FINAL (Not Before 3:30pm)
(1)Yu Hiu Tung/Lam Po Kuen v (2)Andrew Lee/He Chun-Yan

LADIES' SINGLES FINAL (Not Before 5pm)
(1)Tong Ka Po v Sher Pui Wing

MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL (Not Before 6:30pm)
Andrew Town/Adrian Montesinos v (2)Goran Bosalevski/Jason Lijewski


Don't forget, there's LIVE action from Court 7 available via the Internet. Just goto www.crcopen.com and select "Live Information" on the left menu...and voila!