Last Sunday saw the conclusion of this year's LIONS Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships at Victoria Park where in the 12 & Under age group finals, boys' top seed Tommy Lam came up trumps against No. 2 Oscar Cheung, 6-3, 6-4, while on the girls' side, No. 4 seed Eudice Chong beat third seed Caroline Lampl, 6-4, 6-3, to lift the title.

[Roll of Honour] (2002 - 2008)

During Sunday's Prize Presentation ceremony, the winners of the Best Champion Awards sponsored by Wilson were also announced. The recipients, Vincent Yau and Lin Wing Man, will each receive a one-year Wilson Junior Player sponsorship.

Close to some 700 junior tennis players in Hong Kong took part in this year's championships, which, for the seventh year running, had benefitted immensely once again by the generous support of the Lions Clubs International District 303 - Hong Kong & Macau. The goal of developing tennis in Hong Kong while fostering a competitive spirit, sportsmanship, responsibility, promoting a healthy lifestyle among youngsters, and instilling self-discipline among children at a young age remains as strong a motivational force as ever.

The objectives of the Lions Clubs International District 303 are simple, but far-reaching. They are to encourage service minded people to serve their community without personal reward or gain; and to serve their fellow men by giving their sympathy to those in distress, their aid to the weak, and their substance to the needy.

There are a number of worthy Lions Service Projects to be a part of, for example, Youth Services, Elderly Services, Leadership Development, and Environmental Protection, just to name a few. If you are interested in devoting some of your time to humanitarian causes by becoming Friends Of The Lions, visit their Official Website for details today!

Meanwhile, at Victoria Park earlier last week...

In the 18 & Under age group, defending champions Darren Ng and Wu Ho Ching, despite being unseeded this year, have successfully registered back-to-back B18 and G18 titles respectively. Darren Ng beat No. 2 seed Ryan Ho in the final, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Wu Ho Ching saw off No. 3 seed Feng Yi-Di in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

[Photo Gallery]

In the 18 & Under age group, defending champion Darren Ng, despite being unseeded this year, managed to come from a set down to beat No. 2 seed Ryan Ho, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the title decider. In doing so, he became the first player this century to repeat as boys' singles champion in this age group. In the previous round, Darren Ng accounted for Lui Shing Fung in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, while Ryan Ho saw off Wong Yat Sing, 6-3, 7-6(3).

On the girls' side, defending champion Wu Ho Ching, also unseeded, did not drop a set en route to beating No. 3 seed Feng Yi-Di, 6-3, 6-4, in the final. Unless records suggest otherwise, she, too, became the first player this century to win successive girls' singles titles in this company.

In the B18 doubles, after disposing No. 2 seeds Darren Ng and Ryan Ho, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(5), in round one, Lui Shing Fung and Chau Kwan Lam went from strength to strength, as they eventually beat Kelvin Lam and Lam Wing Lun in the final, 7-5, 6-2. The tandem from Ying Wa College thus went one better than last year when they finished runners-up to Kevin Kung and Darren Ng.

Lui Shing Fung and Chau Kwan Lam are the reigning CRC Open School Boys' doubles champions.

In the G18 doubles, the pairing of Wu Ho Ching and Katherine Ip beat top-seeded Feng Yi-Di and Tiffany Tang, 6-3, 7-6(4), to lift the title. Seeded fourth, the winning tandem was also responsible for the demise of No. 2 seeds Ki Yan Tung and Swati Tyagi, as they won their semifinal encounter in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

In the 16 & Under age group, boys' third seed Lui Shing Fung avenged his loss to Kelvin Lam in last year's CRC School Boys' final by beating the No. 2 seed in the title decider, 7-6(6), 6-3. Earlier in the semifinals, Lui Shing Fung upended number one seed Ryan Ho in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, while Kelvin Lam ended the run of Vincent Yau, 6-2, 6-0.

Just last month, Kelvin Lam (DBS) also got the better of Lui Shing Fung (Ying Wa College) in the final of the K•Swiss Inter-School Tennis Championships when the former won 8-6 in a tiebreak in the face-off between the two school's No. 1s to clinch the title for DBS. It was doubly sweet for Lui Shing Fung, as he was a losing finalist to Lam Wing Lun in last year's championship match.

Over in the G16s, second-seeded Feng Yi-Di defeated No. 4 seed Katherine Ip in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, to lift this year's title. In the previous round, teammates from this year's World Junior Tennis squad were matched up against one another, as 12-year-old Katherine Ip came from a set down to beat 14-year-old Leung Lok Sze, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, while the other final four encounter saw Feng Yi-Di beat No. 3 seed Tiffany Tang, 6-0, 6-2.

In the 14 & Under age group, boys' number one seed Vincent Yau withstood the challenge of second-seeded Kevin Wong by winning the final, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0. Incidentally, Vincent Yau also came out on top in the B12 singles final against Kevin Wong in 2006.

As anticipated, pre-tournament favourite for the G14 singles, No. 1 seed Katherine Ip, dominated proceedings to the extent that she yielded a mere five games in all matches played. In fact, she conceded the most games in the final (three) against Lin Wing Man in a 6-1, 6-2 triumph.

In the G14 doubles, the second-seeded pairing of Vickie Ip and Lin Wing Man caused a minor upset by beating No. 1 seeds Lucy Tang and Sunnie Lampl in the final, 6-3, 6-3. Over in the B14 doubles, the all-conquering tandem of Brian Yeung and Vincent Yau, the No. 1 seeds, gave up just six games in three matches en route to beating the second-seeded pairing of Chow Ka Lok and Timothy Chow, 6-2, 6-0, in the final.

In the 12 & Under age group, No. 1 seed Tommy Lam defeated third seed Robin Nguy, 6-3, 6-1, to power into the final where he will face second-seeded Oscar Cheung for the silverware, who earlier saw off the challenge of No. 4 seed John Li in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-2. On the girls' side, No. 4 seed Eudice Chong defeated unseeded Ng Man Ying, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, to go through to the final where she will face No. 3 seed Caroline Lampl, who knocked off second-seeded Michelle Lo in the other semifinal, 6-3, 7-6(7).

In the B12 doubles final, No. 2 seeds Ong Man Ho and Oscar Cheung defeated top seeds Tommy Lam and John Li, 7-6(2), 6-4, to lift the title, while top seeds for the G12 doubles, Christy Chan and Eudice Chong, saw off No. 2 Ng Man Ying and Lau Hiu Wai, in the title game, 6-4, 6-3.

In the 10 & Under age group, top seeds ruled the day, as Boys' No. 1 seed Wong Hong Kit claimed his first national junior title when he beat unseeded Lam Ji Fung in the final, 6-2, 7-6(2). Earlier in the semifinals, Lam Ji Fung overcame Yuen Cheuk Yin to advance to the title decider, while Wong Hong Kit accounted for No. 3 seed Jackie Tang, 6-1, 6-4. In the Girls' equivalent, No. 1 seed Abigail Chiu defeated third seed Alvina Lai, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in the title match despite dropping a set for the first time in the entire tournament.

Ranked in equal-27th position in the Boys' 10 & Under age group at the end of last year, the 15 ranking points Yuen Cheuk Yin has garnered as a result of his semifinal showing at this year's Championships looks set to propel him up the rankings list by a conservative estimate of at least several spots.  Last year, he managed to reach the final round of the B10 singles qualifying but was upended by then qualies No. 14 seed, Law Ka Long.  However, he still managed to contest the maindraw via a lucky-loser spot but unfortunately ended up losing to eventual semifinalist Augustin Delahodde, who closed out the 2007 season ranked No. 4 in this age group.

Therefore, in the space of just twelve months, young Yuen Cheuk Yin has already made huge improvements by going from a lucky-loser in the qualies to a semifinalist of a Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships.  Furthermore, he is, at present, the No. 2 seed in the B10 singles of this year's opening leg of the Hong Kong Junior Tennis Novice Competition.

Congratulations to all the winners this year.

Results
LIONS HK National Jr Tennis Championships 2008
Victoria Park Tennis Courts
16 February – 16 March 2008

BOYS' 18U SINGLES FINAL
Darren Ng d. (2)Ryan Ho 3-6 6-4 6-3

BOYS' 18U DOUBLES FINAL
Lui Shing Fung/Chau Kwan Lam d. Lam Wing Lun/Kelvin Lam 7-5 6-2

GIRLS' 18U SINGLES FINAL
Wu Ho Ching d. (3)Feng Yi-Di 6-3 6-4

GIRLS' 18U DOUBLES FINAL
(4)Wu Ho Ching/Katherine Ip d. (1)Feng Yi-Di/Tiffany Tang 6-3 7-6(4)

BOYS' 16U SINGLES FINAL
(3)Lui Shing Fung d. (2)Kelvin Lam 7-6(6) 6-3

GIRLS' 16U SINGLES FINAL
(2)Feng Yi-Di d. (4)Katherine Ip 6-2 6-0

BOYS' 14U SINGLES FINAL
(1)Vincent Yau d. (2)Kevin Wong 6-4 1-6 6-0

BOYS' 14U DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Brian Yeung/Vincent Yau d. (2)Chow Ka Lok/Timothy Chow 6-2 6-0

GIRLS' 14U SINGLES FINAL
(1)Katherine Ip d. (3)Lin Wing Man 6-1 6-2

GIRLS' 14U DOUBLES FINAL
(2)Vickie Ip/Lin Wing Man d. (1)Lucy Tang/Sunnie Lampl 6-3 6-3

BOYS' 12U SINGLES FINALS
(1)Tommy Lam d. (2)Oscar Cheung 6-3 6-4

BOYS' 12U DOUBLES FINAL
(2)Ong Man Ho/Oscar Cheung d. (1)Tommy Lam/John Li 7-6(2) 6-4

GIRLS' 12U SINGLES FINAL
(4)Eudice Chong d. (3)Caroline Lampl 6-4 6-3

GIRLS' 12U DOUBLES FINAL
(1)Christy Chan/Eudice Chong d. (2)Ng Man Ying/Lau Hiu Wai 6-4 6-3

BOYS' 10U SINGLES FINAL
(1)Wong Hong Kit d. Lam Ji Fung 6-2 7-6(2)

GIRLS' 10U SINGLES FINAL
(1)Abigail Chiu d. (3)Alvina Lai 6-2 3-6 6-4