Day 3 of the Junior Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying saw an injury-depleted Hong Kong side beat Kazakhstan 2-1 to progress to the knockout stage where they will face-off with Pat Rafter's 5th-seeded Aussies on Saturday. At stake is a place in the final four and a ticket to September's World Finals in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Against Kazakhstan, first up at No. 2 singles was Vincent Yau (ITF 1017), who assumed starting singles duty following James Kong's ankle injury sustained during Thursday's match against second-seeded India. The DBS student did not disappoint, as he produced a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 win against unranked Dinmukhammed Yessenkulov to give the territory a morale-boosting 1-0 lead.

Then at No. 1 singles, Justin To, who was eager to redeem himself after yesterday's somewhat subdued effort against India's world No. 168 Mohit Mayur, did not disappoint either, as he easily outclassed opposing number one Denis Yevseyev (ITF 1174) in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, to stake the team to an unassailable 2-0 advantage.

Although Justin To and Vincent Yau went on to yield the doubles, it became a mere consolation for Kazakhstan, as Hong Kong had already secured passage to the knockout stage and a mouth-watering clash with the Australians.

"We won 2-1 today and we're in the quarterfinals playing the Aussies tomorrow on show court!" were the words from Justin To, who, like the rest of the HK contingent, is looking forward to the upcoming showdown.

In an interview with tennisaustralia.com following his team's hard-fought win against No. 6 seeds Japan earlier today, Aussie JDC Captain, Pat Rafter, said: "It will be interesting to see how we go against Hong Kong tomorrow. I know on paper it looks favourable for us, but as we have seen before, results can be unpredictable when you are playing as a team."

With James Kong having to retire in his match against world No. 108 Saurabh Singh yesterday due to a twisted ankle, the Hong Kong team is now, of course, down to just two players – Justin To and Vincent Yau.

They will go up against an Australian side that features Joey Swaysland (ITF 244), Luke Saville (ITF 340), and Todd Volmari (ITF 907) on its roster.  A glaring ommission from its line-up, however, is Jason Kubler (ITF 247), who had led the Australian 14U team to capture the World Junior Tennis competition in 2007 by going undefeated at No. 1 singles during the WJT World Finals.

In terms of rankings, as well as home court advantage, the Aussies clearly have the upper hand. However, should the HK duo manage to cause an upset and reach the semifinals, they will become only the second side ever from the territory to progress to the World Finals.

Since the world's premier 16U tennis team competition first started as the World Youth Cup in 1985, only one team from the territory has managed to advance to the elite 16 stage. In April 2001, a Jack Hui-Brian Hung led HK contingent came 2nd in the Asia/Oceania Qualifying in Jakarta before placing 10th overall at the World Finals held in Santiago, Chile later that year.

However, to emulate the unwordly feat of their illustrious predecessors, the boys from Hong Kong would need to keep their emotions in check and play smart tennis in front of an anticipated partisan home crowd at Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday.

In terms of match-play experience in major team events, Joey Swaysland was in fact a starting singles player on the 2007 Aussie 14U team that won the World Junior Tennis competition that year. Last year, Luke Saville led his country's WJT team to a fifth place finish after victories against the 3rd-seeded Brits and the 6th-seeded Russians during the World Finals.

On the other hand, Justin To is slowly but surely gathering some solid experience himself having competed at the Grade 1 Mitsubishi-Lancer, Japan Open and Eddie Herr, was accorded a seeding at the 2007 Junior Orange Bowl, not to mention placing 4th at the ITF Asian 14 & Under Junior Championships a couple of years ago.

That high finish at the Asian 14U Championships also netted him a stint on the ITF 14U Touring Team that went on a six-week European tournament schedule. Recently, the 15-year-old, who stands at 6'1", was also drafted into the Davis Cup training squad prior to last month's encounter with Cecil Mamiit's Philippines team.

Elsewhere, over on the girls' side, Hong Kong notched its first win at this year's Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying when the trio of Leung Lok Sze, Katherine Ip, and Lucy Tang combined to beat Malaysia earlier on Friday.

Powered by much improved play, Leung Lok Sze defeated Malaysia's Theiviya Selvarajoo, 7-5, 6-1, to handover a precious 1-0 lead to Katherine Ip.

The territory's G16U number one did not disappoint, as she beat Choo Lyn Yee, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, to seal the victory for Hong Kong. She then collaborated with Lucy Tang to beat Adelle Boey and Theiviya Selvarajoo, 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4, to finalise the overall 3-0 score line.

Hong Kong will face Sri Lanka on Saturday in the 9th-12th Place Playoffs.

The Junior Davis Cup & Junior Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Qualifying event is held at the Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club and Tatura Lawn Tennis Club throughout the week of April 15-20.

The Junior Davis Cup/Junior Fed Cup Qualifying begins with a round robin stage where teams are divided into four groups. After three rounds of matches, the top two teams of each group then advance to the knockout stage (quarterfinals). The top 4-placed teams (i.e. semifinalists) will then progress to the World Finals where they will compete against the best 16U teams from around the globe – South America, Africa, Europe, and North America, etc.

This year's World Finals will be held from September 29 to October 4 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

About the Junior Davis Cup & Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas (tennis.bnpparibas.com)

Results
Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying
Shepparton and Tatura Lawn Tennis Clubs
Victoria, Australia
April 13-21, 2009

ROUND ROBINS

Group D – Day 1 (Apr 15)

HONG KONG defeated (7)PHILIPPINES   3 – 0
R-1 James Kong (HKG) d. Leander Lazzaro (PHI) 6-2 6-0
R-2 Justin To (HKG) d. Jeson Patrombon (PHI) 7-6(3) 6-4
R-3 Justin To/James Kong (HKG) d. Jeson Patrombon/Leander Lazzaro (PHI) 6-2 7-5

Group D – Day 2 (Apr 16)

(2)INDIA defeated HONG KONG   2 – 1
R-1 Saurabh Singh (IND) d. James Kong (HKG) 4-6 6-2 -- Retired (ankle)
R-2 Mohit Mayur (IND) d. Justin To (HKG) 6-1 6-3
R-3 Justin To/Vincent Yau (HKG) d. Saurabh Singh/Ronit Bisht (IND) 3-6 7-6(7) 7-5

Group D – Day 3 (Apr 17)

HONG KONG defeated KAZAKHSTAN   2 – 1
R-1 Vincent Yau (HKG) d. Dinmukhammed Yessenkulov (KAZ) 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3
R-2 Justin To (HKG) d. Denis Yevseyev (KAZ) 6-1 6-3
R-3 Denis Yevseyev/Dinmukhammed Yessenkulov (KAZ) d. Justin To/Vincent Yau (HKG) 4-6 6-2 6-1

Results
Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying
Shepparton and Tatura Lawn Tennis Clubs
Victoria, Australia
April 13-21, 2009

ROUND ROBINS

Group A – Day 1 (Apr 15)

(1)JAPAN defeated HONG KONG   3 – 0
R-1 Akiko Omae (JPN) d. Leung Lok Sze (HKG) 6-0 6-0
R-2 Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-1 6-1
R-3 Akiko Omae/Yuki Ito (JPN) d. Leung Lok Sze/Lucy Tang (HKG) 6-2 6-1

Group A – Day 2 (Apr 16)

(8)KOREA defeated HONG KONG   3 – 0
R-1 Yea Hyojung (KOR) d. Leung Lok Sze (HKG) 6-2 6-1
R-2 Jang Su-Jeong (KOR) d. Katherine Ip (HKG) 3-6 6-4 6-2
R-3 Jang Su-Jeong/Choi Ji-Hee (KOR) d. Leung Lok Sze/Lucy Tang (HKG) 6-1 6-0

Group A – Day 3 (Apr 17)

HONG KONG defeated MALAYSIA   3 – 0
R-1 Leung Lok Sze (HKG) d. Theiviya Selvarajoo (MAS) 7-5 6-1
R-2 Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Choo Lyn Yee (MAS) 6-4 2-6 6-2
R-3 Katherine Ip/Lucy Tang (HKG) d. Adelle Boey/Theiviya Selvarajoo (MAS) (5)6-7 6-0 6-4

Rafter quote from: Big wins for Aussie juniors (tennis.com.au, 17 Apr 2009)