At the 2008 Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying in Bangkok, the Hong Kong trio of Katherine Ip, Lorraine Cheung, and Leung Lok Sze defeated Singapore 3-0 in the final playoff game to finish in 13th place overall. (1)Uzbekistan, (6)China, (7)Chinese Taipei, and Korea qualified for the September World Finals in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

[Full Results]

Although (2)Japan, (3)Australia, Thailand(4), and India(5) all finished in the top eight, they nevertheless missed out on the World Finals this year. Earlier in the quarterfinals, No. 7 Chinese Taipei shocked the third-seeded Aussies, while the Koreans upset the second-seeded Japanese.

Drawn in arguably the most difficult Group in the round robins with the likes of (2)Japan, (7)Chinese Taipei, and New Zealand, who is possibly the strongest unseeded team in Bangkok, the HK trio did what they could under the circumstances but to no avail. Against opposition that were simply bigger, faster, and more experienced, the territory ended up fourth in Group 4 and thus had to contend with the 9th-16th Placements.

According to JFC Captain, Eric Chung, "We were kind of unlucky to have drawn such a strong group but having said that, I think the teams that finished in the Top-8 were clearly a level above the rest of us. In terms of competitive experience, the pace with which they can generate on some of their shots, and physical attributes, such as fitness, power, and height, etc, are areas in which they have an obvious advantage."

"Our players, nevertheless, tried their best, and their performances in fact gradually got better after recovering from the initial shellshock of being thrown against three very strong teams in the group stage. I mean, they held the fort for as long as they could, but against that kind of relentless pressure, it really was only a matter of time, unfortunately," lamented Eric.

Luck of the draw again escaped the Hong Kong team, as the girls were drawn to face eighth-seeded Indonesia in the opening round of the 9th-16th Placements, with the Indonesians being the only seed that failed to progress to the knockout stage.

After four successive shutouts, the team honestly recovered well both physically and mentally to post back-to-back wins against Malaysia and Singapore to place 13th overall.

Perhaps some of their opposition had picked up niggling injuries by this stage. Perhaps their opponents were understandably a little fatigued after five straight days of competition under intense heat. On the other hand, perhaps the girls from Hong Kong simply had more fight left in them than the rest. Perhaps it is just a simple case in that they just love to play the game, no matter the time of day or against whom they face.

The point is this: Katherine Ip, Lorraine Cheung, and Leung Lok Sze should be given due credit for donning the Hong Kong shirt because, as it turned out, the teams that finished in 15th and 16th positions, i.e. Kazakhstan and Malaysia, will have to contend with pre-qualifying next year.

The girls are, after all, Hong Kong representatives.

Make no mistake about that.

Results
Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
2008 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

Day 4 (May 8)

9th – 16th Place Playoffs
(8)INDONESIA defeated HONG KONG   3 - 0
R-1 Dwi Rahayu Putri (INA) d. Lorraine Cheung (HKG) 6-2 6-1
R-2 Laili Rachmawati Ulfa (INA) d. Leung Lok Sze (HKG) 6-1 6-1
R-3 Laili Rachmawati Ulfa/Bella Destriana Masyhur (INA) d. Lorraine Cheung/Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-4 6-2

Day 5 (May 9)

13th – 16th Place Playoffs
HONG KONG defeated MALAYSIA   3 - 0
R-1 Lorraine Cheung (HKG) d. Toi Sieu-Minn (MAS) 6-0 6-2
R-2 Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Sia Huey-Teng (MAS) 6-0 6-4
R-3 Lorraine Cheung/Leung Lok Sze (HKG) d. Adelle Boey/Sia Huey-Teng (MAS) 6-3 6-1

Day 6 (May 10)

13th – 14th Place Playoff
HONG KONG defeated SINGAPORE   3 - 0
R-1 Lorraine Cheung (HKG) d. Laura Elizabeth Lim (SIN) 6-3 6-0
R-2 Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Stefanie Tan (SIN) 6-1 6-0
R-3 Katherine Ip/Leung Lok Sze (HKG) d. Laura Elizabeth Lim/Carolin Ann Lim (SIN) 6-3 7-6(6)

FINAL POSITIONS (brackets denote seeding)