At the Grade 3 China Junior 1 in Jiangmen, Brian Yeung (ITF 297) reached the boys' singles semifinals before bowing out to Zheng Weiqiang, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-3, while 2nd-seeded Katherine Ip (ITF 97) was also stopped short of a finals berth in the girls' singles when she went down against No. 4 seed Tang Hao-Chen, 6-2, 6-3.

Zheng Weiqiang (ITF 247) is no stranger to the Hong Kong contingent, as he teamed up with Liu Siyu earlier to beat Brian Yeung and Andy Lau in the men's doubles semifinals, 6-4, 6-3, at the 7th National Intercity Games in Nanchang last October.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Ho Chih-Jen (ITF 87) of Chinese Taipei eliminated 6th-seeded Kelvin Lam in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory before meeting his demise in the ensuing round against eventual champion Liu Siyu (ITF 98).

Thailand's No. 2 seed Nattan Benjasupawan (ITF 121) did not fare any better, as he blew a one-set lead and lost to China's Zhu Zhicheng (ITF 426) in the first round, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

According to the latest ITF Rankings, Kelvin Lam has cracked the top-200 for the first time and now sits at a new career-high No. 195.

Over in the girls' singles, although Katherine Ip (ITF 97) is currently ranked just one spot off her career-high, not to mention being seeded above her semifinal opponent Tang Hao Chen (ITF 154), the 17-year-old Zheng Zhou native most certainly plays at a higher level than her current ranking suggests.

In fact, Tang Hao Chen was ranked as high as No. 12 (27 Sep 2010) on the world junior circuit and commands a WTA Ranking of No. 802 at present. Moreover, she had already made her Fed Cup debut for China in Group I last year when she went 3-1 in singles play.

At the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, she reached the quarterfinals in singles and then teamed up with Zheng Saisai to claim the gold medal in girls' doubles.

The only other Hong Kong player to survive the opening round in the girls' singles was Maggie Ng, who defeated China's Zhang Zixian in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. However, she could not advance past No. 4 seed Tang Hao Chen either, as she succumbed in the following round in a 6-2, 6-2 setback.

Elsewhere in the boys' doubles, Kelvin Lam and Ronald Pak (ITF 739) took the opening set, 6-3, against second-seeded eventual champions Chen Wei-Jen and Yu Cheng-Yu of Chinese Taipei. The HK duo then had a chance to go up 5-1 in the second set when they held two game points leading 4-1 and 40-15.

However, they could not capitalize on their lead and went on to lose a heartbreaker, 3-6 7-5 [10-8].

While some of the juniors from Hong Kong are contesting the G5 in Shenzhen this week before returning home for the G4 at Victoria Park, Katherine Ip will be travelling Down Under for the G1 Loy Yang Traralgon International as well as the Australian Open Junior Championships.

Although she is only listed among the qualifiers at the time of writing, the world No. 97 from Hong Kong will obviously be seeking to win herself a place in the maindraw proper of both tournaments.

The last time an HK player competed in the maindraw of the girls' singles event at the Aussie Open was 2008 when Romania's Elena Bogdan defeated Jessica Yang in the opening round in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Related Story: Early round exit for Jessica Yang at AOJC 2008 (26 Jan 2008)



Results
China Junior 1 (G3)
Jiangmen, China
January 3-8, 2012

BOYS' SINGLES

First Round
(6)Kelvin Lam (HKG) d. (q)Han Yu (CHN) 6-2 6-2
Aoran Wang (CHN) d. (LL)Ronald Pak (HKG) 6-4 3-6 6-0
Brian Yeung (HKG) d. (WC)Zhong Su Hao (CHN) 6-3 6-0

Second Round
(6)Kelvin Lam (HKG) d. Huang Chao-Yu (TPE) 6-2 6-2
Brian Yeung (HKG) d. (3)Chiu Yu Hsiang (TPE) 7-5 6-4

Quarterfinals
(1)Ho Chih-Jen (TPE) d. (6)Kelvin Lam (HKG) 6-3 6-1
Brian Yeung (HKG) d. (8)Sun Fajing (CHN) 6-3 6-4

Semifinals
Zheng Weiqiang (CHN) d. Brian Yeung (HKG) 6-7(4) 6-4 6-3


GIRLS' SINGLES

First Round
Xun Fang Ying (CHN) d. Vivian Lin (HKG) 6-3 6-0
Maggie Ng (HKG) d. Zhang Zixian (CHN) 6-1 6-3
(2)Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Zhang Yukun (CHN) 6-1 6-3

Second Round
(WC)(4)Tang Hao Chen (CHN) d. Maggie Ng (HKG) 6-2 6-2
(2)Katherine Ip (HKG) d. Dong Xiaorong (CHN) 6-2 6-3

Quarterfinals
(2)Katherine Ip (HKG) d. (8)Chen Jiahui (CHN) 6-3 6-1

Semifinals
(WC)(4)Tang Hao Chen (CHN) d. (2)Katherine Ip (HKG) 6-2 6-3


BOYS' DOUBLES

First Round
Kelvin Lam/Ronald Pak (HKG) d. Chen Long/Sun Fajing (CHN) 6-0 6-3

Quarterfinals
Kelvin Lam/Ronald Pak (HKG) d. Liu Siyu/Zheng Weiqiang (CHN) 6-3 6-3

Semifinals
(2)Chen Wei-Jen/Yu Cheng-Yu (TPE) d. Kelvin Lam/Ronald Pak (HKG) 3-6 7-5 [10-8]


BOYS' SINGLES QUALIFYING

First Round
Tommy Lam (HKG) d. (1)Chen Hanxiang (CHN) 7-5 6-1
(2)Ronald Pak (HKG) d. Liu Chen (CHN) 6-2 6-1
Marco Lam (HKG) d. Li Zhao-Tai (CHN) 7-6(5) 6-1
(4)Andrew Li (HKG) d. Hu Qixiang (CHN) 7-6(4) 6-0

Second Round
Wang Huixin (CHN) d. Tommy Lam (HKG) 6-2 6-2
(2)Ronald Pak (HKG) d. Zhou Sheng Hao (CHN) 6-1 6-1
Marco Lam (HKG) d. Huang Leiting (CHN) 6-3 6-2
Han Yu (CHN) d. (4)Andrew LI (HKG) 6-3 2-6 6-4

Third Round
(6)Li Zeyu (CHN) d. (2)Ronald Pak (HKG) 6-2 6-2
(5)Chen Long (CHN) d. Marco Lam (HKG) 6-3 6-1


GIRLS' SINGLES QUALIFYING

First Round
Venus Pang (HKG) d. Han Shuhe (CHN) 7-5 6-2
Zhang Chan (CHN) d. Carmen Lai (HKG) 4-6 6-3 6-4
Zhang Ying (CHN) d. Eudice Chong (HKG) 6-0 7-5
(8)Michelle Lo (HKG) d. Sheng Yuqi (CHN) 6-3 6-2

Second Round
(7)Yan Ruyu (CHN) d. Venus Pang (HKG) 4-6 6-2 6-3
Liu Zhiruo (CHN) d. (8)Michelle Lo (HKG) 6-2 6-1