The territory's final match at the 10th ACG qualifying saw Yu Hiu Tung go down against No. 8 seed Wang Yi-Ning of Tianjin earlier today in the 5th-8th place men's singles playoff in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, which was, in actuality, inconsequential since the all-important top-four placings already belong to the top four seeds – Sun Peng, Wang Yu, Jr., Zhu Ben-Qiang and Zeng Shao-Xuan. The only question left is which of the top seeds other players will be drawn against come October at the ACG finals in Nanjing.

In fact, due to the hectic schedule of qualifiers that took place over the past ten days or so, which included all the singles and doubles events, have rendered many of the players completely fatigued, with others citing injuries. Even the mixed doubles final was declared a double default, with Hubei's Zhu Ben-Qiang/Li Ting and Jiangsu's Zeng Shao-Xuan/Ji Chun-Mei accorded joint-first placings.

The All China Games had always been held in high regard on the mainland, with all national team players being sent back to their respective provinces for final roll call. Olympic champions Li Ting and Sun Tian-Tian; WTA top-50 players, Li Na, Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie; not to mention leading men Sun Peng and Zhu Ben-Qiang; were not exempt from the ACG qualifying.

The Nanjing Olympic Centre's Tennis Arena (right) has a seating capacity of 8,000; a construction area spanning 40,000 sq. meters; built at an estimated cost of RMB158 million; and includes a Centre Court, two semifinal courts, 14 outdoor courts, and four indoor courts all located within a waterside setting.

Competing at the ACG qualifying on behalf of the territory were Yu Hiu Tung, Wayne Wong, and Lam Po Kuen. Tung and Wayne were seeded ninth and eleventh respectively for the men's singles qualies, while Tung and Polly were the eighth seeds in the mixed doubles qualifying.

As reported earlier, both Tung and Wayne secured their places in October's ACG maindraw by getting to the quarterfinals, while second round losses in both the women's singles and mixed doubles events meant Hong Kong will take no further part in the individual events other than the men's singles.

With seedings accorded in relation to ATP and WTA Rankings instead of mainland rankings as in years past, Hong Kong's two-pronged attack in the men's singles qualies benefited the most, as both Tung and Wayne avoided early collisions with the top-seeded big guns such as Sun Peng, Wang Yu, Jr., or Zhu Ben-Qiang, or any seeds for that matter, until the round of sixteen.

Qualification for the team events will take place in Jiangsu and Hubei respectively from June 20-26 later in the year. The 10th All China Games proper will take commence in Nanjing in October 2005.

In all, teams representing the PLA, Beijing, Tianjin, Hunan, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, etc., constitute the 23 different provincial teams that total more than 200 competitors in the tennis qualifiers this year.

At the last All China Games in 2001 held in Guangdong, the territory's very own Melvin Tong and John Hui combined to capture Hong Kong's first-ever ACG medal since its inception in 1959 when they defeated Zhu Ben-Qiang's Hubei team in the Men's Doubles 3rd place playoff to bring home a Bronze.

The 1st edition of the All China Games was held in Beijing in 1959 in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.*

Related news:

HK representatives advance to final eight (www.sports.cn)

Results
10th All China Games - Qualifying
Tianjin, China
18-26 March 2005

Men's Singles

5th - 8th Place Playoff
(8)Wang Yi-Ning (Tianjin) d. (9)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-1 6-4

Quarterfinals
(1)Sun Peng (Tianjin) d. (9)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-1 6-0
(3)Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei) d. (11)Wayne Wong (HKG) 6-1 6-1

Fourth Round
(9)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) d. (7)Zhang Yu (Beijing) 6-1 ret'd
(11)Wayne Wong (HKG) d. Li Zhe (Tianjin) 7-5 7-5

Third Round
(9)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) d. Bu Wan-Bo (Hebei) 6-2 6-1
(11)Wayne Wong (HKG) d. Gong Mao-Xin (Jiangsu) 6-0 7-5

Second Round
(9)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) d. Li Jian (Henan) 6-0 6-0
(11)Wayne Wong (HKG) d. Zhang Zhe (Shandong) 6-2 6-0

Women's Singles

Second Round
Dong Yan-Hua (Shanghai) d. Lam Po Kuen (HKG) 6-0 7-5

First Round
Lam Po Kuen (HKG) d. Yuan Wen-Qui (Anhui) 6-2 6-1

Mixed Doubles

Second Round
Zhou He/Li Ting (Anhui) d. (8)Yu Hiu Tung/Lam Po Kuen (HKG) 2-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5)

*Source: Official Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee (http://en.olympic.cn) Images: www.10thgames.org.cn