The Hong Kong Boys' 16U team of Ambrose Wong, Ko Ka Chun, and Ryan Cheung were unfortunately unable to qualify for this year's Junior Davis Cup 2005 finals, as the local trio were no match for some of Asia Oceania's most seasoned 16U ITF World Junior Circuit players, with top seeds Australia boasting world No. 87, Patrick Nicholls, and second-seeded eventual winner, Japan, showing No. 67 Kei Nishikori. The top-four seeded nations - Australia, Japan, Philippines and Thailand - qualified for the September World Finals in Barcelona, Spain.
Hong Kong's number one singles and highest-ranked player, Ambrose Wong, currently holds an ITF Junior World Ranking of 705, followed by Ryan Cheung's 1276, and Ko Ka Chun's 1395.
The entire Aussie team is ranked inside the top-250, with the aforementioned Nicholls at 87, followed by Stephen Donald at 121, and Joel Lindner at 223.
Thailand's top player, Peraklat Siriluethaiwattana, is ranked at No. 210, while the Philippines are led by Kyle Joshua Dandan at 239.
In the initial round robin stage, Hong Kong was grouped ether with top seeds Australia and Uzbekistan, and had to content with the consolation stage after succumbing to 3-0 and 2-1 defeats. Ambrose and Ryan did well to register doubles point, the only rubber the team managed to win at these qualifiers.
In the subsequent consolation playoffs for final positions, Hong Kong was then grouped together with fifth seeds Indonesia and Korea where they went down in identical 3-0 losses to tough oppositions to finish in seventeenth place overall.
The last and only time Hong Kong had ever qualified for the Junior Davis Cup Finals was in 2001 when the ITF's premier 16U team tennis competition was still known as the NEC World Youth Cup. That year, a Jack Hui-led team comprising Brian Hung and Christian Frick was seeded first for the Asia/Oceania Zone Qualifying held in Jakarta where they eventually placed second only to number two seeds Australia.
The Aussies received inspirational play from their top singles player, Chris Guccione, who went undefeated during the regional qualifying. Guccione was to reach the Junior Wimbledon final and climbing to No. 8 in singles and No. 3 in doubles later on his career as a junior.
The four teams to qualifying for the 2001 World Finals in Chile were Australia, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Korea.
Household names that have featured in this Competition include:
Jim Courier (1986)
Michael Chang (1986)
Goran Ivanisevic (1986)
Richard Kraijcek (1987)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1990)
Gustavo Kuerten (1992)
Marat Safin (1995)
Roger Federer (1996)
Lleyton Hewitt (1996-1997)
Andy Roddick (1998)
Rafael Nadal (2002)
All of the above named players, apart from Rafael Nadal, who is still eighteen, have gone on to win at least one Grand Slam singles title in their careers.
Nadal, however, is one of the hot favourites for this year's French Open, due up next month on the famed red clay of Roland Garros.
Results
Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas 2005 Asia/Oceania Qualifying
Manila, Philippines
2-7 May 2005
Round Robins
Uzbekistan d. Hong Kong 2-1
Sergey Dulin d. Ko Ka Chun 6-2 6-2
Si1 Djanibek Orazaliyev d. Ambrose Wong 6-4 6-4
Ambrose Wong/Ryan Cheung d. Sergey Dulin/Viktor Kim 6-3 4-6 6-4
Australia(1) d. Hong Kong 3-0
Stephen Donald d. Ryan Cheung 6-2 6-1
Patrick Nicholls d. Ambrose Wong 6-0 6-1
Stephen Donald/Joel Lindner d. Ambrose Wong/Ryan Cheung 6-1 6-0
Consolation
Korea d. Hong Kong 3-0
Daniel Yoon d. Ryan Cheung 6-1 6-2
Choi Jae-Won d. Ambrose Wong 6-1 6-3
Shin Min-Woo/Daniel Yoon d. Ambrose Wong/Ryan Cheung 7-5 6-1
Indonesia(5) d. Hong Kong 3-0
Dwi Asmara d. Ko Ka Chun 6-0 6-3
Agung Bagus Dewantoro d. Ambrose Wong 6-0 6-0
Dwi Asmara/Agung Bagus Dewantoro d. Ambrose Wong/Ryan Cheung 6-0 6-3
Final Standings (Seeding positions in brackets):
1. Japan(2)
2. Australia(1)
3. Philippines(4)
4. Thailand(3)
Top Four Teams Progress to 2005 World Finals
5. China
6. Chinese Taipei(7)
7. India(6)
8. Sri Lanka
9. Uzbekistan
10. New Zealand
11. Indonesia(5)
12. Korea
13. Pakistan
14. United Arab Emirates
15. Malaysia
16. Singapore
17. Hong Kong
Facts & Figures: International Tennis Federation