Dark clouds and thunderstorm were threatening to wreak havoc again from above but an hour's worth of rain was not nearly enough to stop the Hong Kong trio of Kevin Wong, Brian Yeung, and Jonathan Cho from securing a 2-1 victory over the Philippines that set-up a 9th-10th Place Playoff with New Zealand at the WJT Asia/Oceania Qualifying in Kuching on Sunday.

First up at the two spot, Jonathan Cho got his first win in singles and gave the team the perfect start when he beat J. A. Opulencia, 6-0, 6-3, to handover an early 1-0 advantage to Kevin Wong. Funnily enough, like so many of the number ones on the higher seeded teams on quarterfinal day yesterday, it was the player from the trailing side who prevailed.

J. Z. Mendoza's 6-4, 6-3, victory at the one spot dealt his Filipino contingent a lifeline, as matters will now have to be decided via the doubles. However, it turned out to be a mere delay of the inevitable, as the Brian Yeung-Kevin Wong tandem proved its earlier win against the top Aussie pair was no fluke, winning against Mendoza and C. C. Canlas in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

The 2-1 win, third straight for the territory since losing to 5th-seeded Chinese Taipei and 3rd-seeded Australia in the opening round robins, thereby guarantees the HK boys a meeting with New Zealand on Sunday in a battle for outright 9th position at this year's World Junior Tennis Asia/Oceania Qualifying, held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association in Kuching, Malaysia.

On Saturday, the Kiwis also booked their place in the 9th-10th Place Playoff with a 2-1 victory over Indonesia. Alexander Klintcharov gave New Zealand a fast start by beating opposing number two Irfandy Hendrawan, 6-2, 6-3, before Cameron Norrie sealed the win with a 6-3, 6-0, decision over Nuradim Ramdani Iswan at the one spot. Indonesia then won the doubles against New Zealand's Nos. 2 and 3 to complete the overall score line.

In the semifinals, No. 5 seeds Chinese Taipei continued their winning ways after beating No. 2 Korea earlier on Friday, as they saw off No. 4 Japan by coming up with a pair of wins in singles.

Taiwanese number three Jao Chi-Shan, who had been utilized primarily as the doubles lynchpin, gave his team the lead when he beat Japanese No. 2 Keisuke Numajiri, 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 that took exactly three hours to complete.

Chinese Taipei's number one Tang Chih-Chun then showed his leadership qualities as the anchorman when he beat opposing number, Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-3, 7-6(6), to seal his team a spot in the final against Australia.

After such a rousing come-from-behind win against top seed Thailand a day earlier behind the heroics of Temur Ismailov, the Uzbek No. 1 was unable to reproduce that fine form against the Aussies on Saturday, as his team lost all three match-ups in straight sets in a 3-0 defeat.

Even so, the loss should not dampen the spirits in the Uzbek camp that much, given that their quarterfinal win over No. 1 seeds Thailand a day earlier was enough to earn them a trip to the World Finals later this year.

The top-4 placed teams – Australia, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Japan – regardless of finishing order, have already ensured themselves qualification for the finale to be held from August 3-8 in Prostejov, Czech Republic.

The groupings were as follows (Brackets denote seedings):

Group A – (1)Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, (8)China
Group B – (4)Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, (6)Uzbekistan
Group C – (3)Australia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, (5)Chinese Taipei
Group D – (2)Korea, Philippines, Myanmar, (7)India

Results
World Junior Tennis Competition 2009
Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying
Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association
Kuching, Malaysia
May 5-10, 2009

ROUND ROBINS

Day One (May 5)

(5)CHINESE TAIPEI defeated HONG KONG   3 – 0
R-1 Chen Wei-Jen (TPE) d. Jonathan Cho (HKG) 7-5 6-3
R-2 Tang Chih-Chun (TPE) d. Kevin Wong (HKG) 4-6 6-1 6-3
R-3 Jao Chi-Shan/Chen Wei-Jen (TPE) d. Jonathan Cho/Brian Yeung (HKG) 1-6 6-2 6-4

Day Two (May 6)

(3)AUSTRALIA defeated HONG KONG  2 – 1
R-1 Nicholas Kyrgios (AUS) d. Jonathan Cho (HKG) 6-3 6-2
R-2 Jay Andrijic (AUS) d. Brian Yeung (HKG) 6-0 6-1
R-3 Kevin Wong/Brian Yeung (HKG) d. Jay Andrijic/Daniel Talens (AUS) 6-4 4-6 6-4

Day Three (May 7)

HONG KONG defeated SRI LANKA   3 – 0
R-1 Brian Yeung (HKG) d. Aritha Weerasinghe (SRI) 6-1 6-1
R-2 Kevin Wong (HKG) d. Arron Assauw (SRI) 6-4 6-3
R-3 Jonathan Cho/Brian Yeung (HKG) d. Nishangan Nadaraja/Aritha Weerasinghe (SRI) 6-0 6-0

9th-16th PLACE PLAYOFFS

Day Four (May 8)

HONG KONG defeated SINGAPORE   3 – 0
R-1 Brian Yeung (HKG) d. Rohan Kamdar (SIN) 6-2 6-1
R-2 Kevin Wong (HKG) d. Sean Lee (SIN) 6-1 6-3
R-3 Jonathan Cho/Brian Yeung (HKG) d. Sean Lee/Tan Jun Sing (SIN) 6-1 6-1

9th-12th PLACE PLAYOFFS

Day Five (May 9)

HONG KONG defeated PHILIPPINES   2 – 1
R-1 Jonathan Cho (HKG) d. J. A. Opulencia (PHI) 6-0 6-3
R-2 J. Z. Mendoza (PHI) d. Kevin Wong (HKG) 6-4 6-3
R-3 Kevin Wong/Brian Yeung (HKG) d. C. C. Canlas/J. Z. Mendoza (PHI) 6-2 6-4