The annual NTS-TG 2007-08 End of Season Party took place last Saturday at the HKTA Tennis Centre in Kowloon Tsai Park. Aside from pizzas galore, there was a friendly match between TG Hong Kong and TG Kowloon and a doubles match among NTS players before HKTA General Manager, Mrs. Janet Hardisty, presented the certificates and awards to this past season's respective winners.

"Since the inauguration of TG & NTS, the program has been proven successful. However, we are continuously striving to build from our past endeavors and to make any changes needed to improve the overall scheme of things to make it even better," said HKTA Vice president, Mr. Henry Chan, who also chairs the Elite Committee responsible for the Association's high performance training set-up.

"With the official HKTA Tennis Center at Kowloon Tsai Park, the facility will now enable us to handle a much higher volume of intensive training programs. All our coaches are looking forward immensely to the new season, which will commence in September," he enthused.

During this past season, players from NTS and TG have registered some very encouraging results in both overseas as well as local competitions.

At the ITF Asian 14 & Under Junior Championships in Jakarta earlier in April, Kelvin Lam (NTS) was the best HK performer in the boys' competition with a third place finish after the two-week event, while 12-year-old Katherine Ip (NTS) was the best girl performer with a 13th overall placing.

By virtue of his high placing, Kelvin Lam, like Ryan Cheung (2005) and Justin To (2007) before him, was subsequently invited to join the 2008 ITF/ATF 14 & Under Team to Europe, which is financed by the ITF and Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF).

Moreover, NTS players were also well represented in the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup – ITF's premier 16U team tennis competitions. For the boys, Lui Shing Fung, Kelvin Lam, and Chau Kwan Lam registered an 11th place finish for the territory in the Regionals.

At the 2008 Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying in Bangkok, the trio of Katherine Ip (NTS), Lorraine Cheung, and Leung Lok Sze defeated Singapore 3-0 in the final playoff game to finish in 13th place overall. Kazakhstan and Malaysia, which finished 15th and 16th respectively, were relegated to pre-qualifying for next year's competition.

At the World Junior Tennis Asia/Oceania Qualifying in May, the NTS trio of Kelvin Lam, Kevin Wong, and Vincent Yau staked the territory to an equal-5th place finish, the best showing in ITF's premier 14U team event since a Martin Sayer-anchored contingent came third in 2001.

For the WJT Girls' Qualifying, Katherine Ip (NTS), Carmen Lai (NTS), and Lucy Tang finished in 12th spot overall after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Chinese Taipei in the positional playoff.

Locally, at this year's Lions Hong Kong National Junior Championships 2008, No. 2 seed Ryan Ho (NTS) progressed to the final of the B18 singles for the first time. Lui Shing Fung (NTS) reached the semifinals in singles and teamed up with Chau Kwan Lam to beat Kelvin Lam and Lam Wing Lun in an all-NTS final, 7-5, 6-2, to lift the doubles title.

In the G18 age group, not only did Wu Ho Ching (NTS) successfully defend her singles crown, she also teamed up with 12-year-old Katherine Ip to lift the doubles title as well.

In the B16 age group, No. 3 seed Lui Shing Fung beat second-seeded Kelvin Lam in an all-NTS final, 7-6(6), 6-3, while NTS members Chau Kwan Lam and Vincent Yau also made it to the quarterfinals before going down against seeded oppositions.

In the G16 age group, NTS players Katherine Ip and Tiffany Tang occupied two of the four semifinal spots, with the former eventually finishing runner-up to No. 2 seed Feng Yi Di.

In the B14 age group, NTS players Vincent Yau, Brian Yeung, and Kevin Wong all made it to the singles semifinals, with Vincent Yau the eventual winner over Kevin Wong in the title decider in three sets.

In the G14 age group, Katherine Ip, the number one-ranked player in the territory, defeated Vivian Lin (TG) in the final, 6-1, 6-2, to repeat as singles champion.

In the 12U age group, Oscar Cheung (TG), the number two seed, was a runner-up in the boys' singles final to top-seeded Tommy Lam, while in the girls' singles, TG players Maggie Ng, Eudice Chong, and Michelle Lo took three of the four semifinal places with Eudice eventually emerging as the champion.

In the 10U age group, No. 1 seed Jack Wong (TG) justified his top billing by defeating Lam Ji Fung, 6-2, 7-6(2), to lift the boys' singles title. In the girls' singles, top-seeded Abigail Chiu (TG), the No. 1-ranked player in the G10 age group in Hong Kong, defeated third seed Alvina Lai, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to bag her first HK National title.

All in all, a very encouraging past 12 months, but an even more promising season certainly looks to be on the horizon come September.

Lastly, the HKTA would like to thank our official TG sponsors Chickeeduck and Prince for their continued support over the years, and of course to all the tennis parents whose hard work and dedication have without question contributed mightily to the success of this past TG-NTS season.

See [NTS-TG Roll of Honour] (2007 - 2008)