Top seed Andrew Town successfully defended his men's singles title at the SCAA Open 2003 when he defeated No. 3 seed Giovanni Muratore, 7-5, 7-6(4), over the weekend at King's Park. Meanwhile, fourth-seeded teenage prodigy Venise Chan defeated No. 3 seed Kathy Lo, 6-1, 6-4, to win the women's equivalent and, in the process, became the youngest player in the territory to capture a local major in more than a decade.

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Former Hong Kong number one and Fed Cup player, Willy Chan, won her first local major as a 13-year-old back at the 1990 SCAA Open, when she defeated Pang Sheung in the ladies' open singles final.

Venise Chan, a Form Three secondary school student at Marymount, defeated No. 2 seed Cindy Lee in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, in the semifinals, and she has only dropped a single set in the entire tournament, which came in a, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, opening round win against the former third-ranked 14 & under junior in China, Lau Yee Kai.

The 14-year-old almost made it a double at this year's SCAA Open when she and partner Kathy Lo, seeded fourth, were defeated by No. 1 seeds Polly Lam and Cindy Lee in the women's doubles final, 6-4, 6-2.

Chan is currently the only girl in the territory to hold an ITF Junior World Ranking in singles, following a string of positive results this year. After reaching two quarterfinals earlier this year, in Jordan and in Thailand, her ranking now stands at No. 494.

Meanwhile, Aussie Andrew Town made it three wins at the SCAA Open this year after capturing the men's doubles, as well as the mixed doubles title.

Seeded third together with new Hong Kong resident, fellow Aussie Jamie Holmes, they defeated No. 2 seeds and last year's finalists, Alberto Alerre, Jr. and Jim Jack, 7-5, 6-1, in the men?s doubles final. Town then added title number three when he teamed up with Cindy Lee to defeat No. 3 seeds Fung Kar Yip and Polly Lam, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, in the mixed doubles final.

Elsewhere, two up-and-coming local teenagers contested the Men's B final, where Ocean Ng retired due to a back injury after trailing Gilbert Wong 6-7, 0-5.

Looking ahead, the year's final major, the CRC Open 2003, is shaping up to be a much eagerly awaited grand finale where Hong Kong No. 1, Yu Hiu Tung, is the two-time defending champion, while fellow full-time scholarship athlete, Polly Lam, is the defending ladies champion.

Rumours are abound that two former world top-50 players, and now HK residents, may take part in this year's championships - Aussies Andrew Ilie and Mark Kratzmann.

The flamboyant Ilie is a former top-40 player on the ATP Tour who boasts Pete Sampras as one of his many victims, while Kratzmann has won a number of junior Grand Slams, including the 1984 US Open junior when he defeated Boris Becker - the German great went on to win his first of three Wimbledon titles less than a year later.

Kratzmann has won 18 career doubles titles on the ATP Tour and was ranked in the top-50 in 1990. He also played Davis Cup doubles for Australia and was a coach to Jennifer Capriati.

Photos courtesy of Mr. Leslie Chan and the South China Athletic Association.