Earlier on Wednesday at the 2008 Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying in Bangkok, the HK trio of Katherine Ip, Lorraine Cheung, and Leung Lok Sze, was defeated by New Zealand 3-0 in the final round robin match of the group stage. They are scheduled to face No. 8 seeds Indonesia on Thursday with a berth in the 9th-12th Place Playoffs at stake.
[Full Results]
The losing team from the Hong Kong-Indo match will have to contend with the 13th-16th Place Playoffs starting on Friday.
Against New Zealand, Lorraine Cheung was beaten by Leela Beattie, 6-1, 7-5, at the two spot before Chelsea Te Tai defeated Katherine Ip, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 1 singles to register an unassailable 2-0 lead. Leela Beattie then team up with Briar Preston to win the remainig doubles against Katherine Ip and Lorraine Cheung, 7-5, 6-4.
JFC Captain, Eric Chung, reports from Bangkok: "We didn't get the best of draws but then again there are no easy matches here. From what I've seen here so far, the level of play is of a very high standard, especially the seeded teams. The pace of the ball and the speed at which some of the opponents move around the court are some of the things our girls are not used to facing. That said, nothing is big enough to stop our girls from giving it their best. So, we'll see what happens."
Seeds: (1)Uzbekistan, (2)Japan, (3)Australia, (4)Thailand, (5)India, (6)China, (7)Taipei, and (8)Indonesia
Group 1 – (1)Uzbekistan, (8)Indonesia, Korea, Philippines
Group 2 – (4)Thailand, (6)China, Singapore, Pacific Oceania
Group 3 – (3)Australia, (5)India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia
Group 4 – (2)Japan, (7)Taipei, Hong Kong, New Zealand
Earlier on Monday, Hong Kong started its campaign in the round robins with a 3-0 loss against a second-seeded Japanese side led by Sachie Ishizu (ITF 116). In the second group stage match on Tuesday, the girls from Hong Kong then fell to the seventh-seeded Taiwanese one-two punch of Miao Yui-Lynn (ITF 282) and Juan Ting-Fei (ITF 213).
Amongst the seeded teams, only eighth-seeded Indonesia failed to progress to the knock-out stage.
Notable Junior Fed Cup participants in previous years include Anka Huber, Amelie Mauresmo, Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva.
Last year, Thai phenom Noppawan Lertcheewakarn almost single-handedly secured her team's 1st place finish, as she went undefeated at No. 1 singles to propel Thailand to the World Finals in Barcelona.
Current Harvard No. 1 Beier Ko and UCLA No. 1 Riza Zalameda represented Canada and USA respectively at the 2002 JFC World Finals. Also making their presence felt in La Baule, France, that year include this week's WTA No. 7 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 14 Agnes Szavay, and No. 33 Sania Mirza. Chakvetadze and Mirza ended up turning professional in 2003, while Szavay did the same the following year.
In 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, the Hong Kong trio of Sher Chun Wing, Samantha Chao, and Sher Pui Wing managed to beat New Zealand in the final match of the round robins before winning the next two against Malaysia and Philippines to reach the 9th-10th Place Playoff where they eventually fell to Chinese Taipei.
In 2006 in Bangkok, the one-two of Jessica Yang and Geraldine Leong (plus Sher Chun Wing) defeated No. 2 seeds Uzbekistan to reach the semifinals before losing to No. 3 seeds China and then No. 4 Japan in the 3rd Place Playoff. By virtue of a top-4 finish, however, the team had already guaranteed its place in the World Finals that year.
HK places 12th at JDC Asia/Oceania Qualifying
Earlier last week at the Junior Davis Cup A/O Qualifying in India, the Hong Kong trio of Kelvin Lam, Lui Shing Fung, and Chau Kwan Lam finished in 12th position overall after losing to Malaysia, 2-1, in the 11th-12th Place Playoff. Having registered a surprise win over Juan Antonio Los Santos (ITF 225) at the one spot in a 2-1 loss to Malaysia earlier in the round robins, Lui Shing Fung, unfortunately, played no part in the final game against the Malaysians when he was declared unfit with stomach pains.
[Full Results]
After opening the 9th-16th Place Playoffs with a 2-1 win over Pakistan, Hong Kong was then defeated by Indonesia, 2-1, in the 9th-12th Place Playoffs, with Lui Shing Fung again winning at number one singles against Louis Theodor. However, Gusti Jaya Kusuma and Louis Theodor combined to beat Kelvin Lam and Chau Kwan Lam, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, to secure victory for the Indonesians.
In all, the territory lost 3 out of the 4 live doubles matches that was contested, an area that was highlighted by JDC Captain, Michael Lai, that needs to be addressed: "Overall, our team did the best they could and fought well till the end. No question. But the doubles is where we need to improve if we want to be competitive against the other teams. Plus the other players have more experience competing at both the regional and world junior circuit level."
"Especially the top four teams here...I believe they're at least another level above the rest of us."
Results
2008 Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying
Bangkok, Thailand
5 – 10 May 2008
Group 4 (Round Robins)
Day 1 (May 5)
(2)JAPAN defeated HONG KONG 3 - 0
R-1 Ema Mutaguchi (JPN) d. Lorraine Cheung (HKG) 6-2 6-2
R-2 Sachie Ishizu (JPN) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-3 6-2
R-3 Emi Mutaguchi/Akiko Omae (JPN) d. Katherine Ip/Leung Lok Sze (HKG) 6-2 6-1
Day 2 (May 6)
(7)CHINESE TAIPEI defeated HONG KONG 3 - 0
R-1 Miao Yui-Lynn (TPE) d. Lorraine Cheung (HKG) 6-0 6-0
R-2 Juan Ting-Fei (TPE) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-2 6-2
R-3 Lee Hua-Chen/Miao Yui-Lynn (TPE) d. Lorraine Cheung/Leung Lok Sze (HKG) 6-3 6-1
Day 3 (May 7)
NEW ZEALAND defeated HONG KONG 3 - 0
R-1 Leela Beattie (NZL) d. Lorraine Cheung (HKG) 6-1 7-5
R-2 Chelsea Te Tai (NZL) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 7-5 6-3
R-3 Leela Beattie/Briar Preston (NZL) d. Lorraine Cheung/Katherine Ip (HKG) 7-5 6-4
JDC photo courtesy of www.itftennis.com/juniors