More than 100 young tennis enthusiasts have applied to become ballkids at the upcoming Watson's Water Champions Challenge next January. Over the weekend on Sunday, they took part in a preliminary training and selection session at Quarry Bay Park Tennis Courts where they were given a range of challenges and games - team games such as Diamond Run, Statues, Lines & Net, plus "Player Says" (a special tennis version of "Simon Says") and a quiz. All of them had the opportunity to learn and get to grips with what a ballperson is supposed to do on court and practised their ballkid skills, while some of the best junior players played out points. [Photo Gallery]

The list of those who have been selected will be posted right here on www.tennishk.org on Thursday. So watch this space!

The star of the day was young Isaac, only four years-old, but as smart and as quick as kids twice his age. We can't wait for Isaac to grow a little older when he will definitely be a great ballkid. Everyone won prizes but, sadly, the biggest prize, the chance to be a ballkid at the Watson's Water Champion Challenge, will only be open to 14-16 ballkids.

Dr Margaret Cheng, the ballpersons' supervisor for the Watson's Water Champions Challenge said after the assessment session: "We have an outstanding group of young ballkids here and most meet the standard we need for the tournament."

She continued: "We will be making the selection based on a number of things - shoe size, age, uniform size, availability, experience in past tournaments, etc. Most will miss out on this particular selection but they should not feel they failed - quite the contrary. In fact, they all blew us away with their talent and enthusiasm and I am really looking forward to working with them in future tournaments - and we have plenty coming up next year, such as the Davis Cup and the HK Nationals."

Last but not least, a huge thank you to the Cheng family – Dr. Margaret Cheng and her three children Alex, Stephanie and Jack – for their precious time and valiant effort in overseeing this ballkid training session. And thanks to all the kids who participated at the selection - hope you all had an enjoyable a time as we did!