The Hong Kong trio of Jack Hui, Lam Po Kuen, and Brian Hung left Chek Lap Kok on Monday in search for glory at the 2005 World Universiade in Izmir, Turkey, which begins August 12 at the Karsiyaka Tennis Center. A total of fifty-eight countries have sent representatives to compete in the men's tennis events, with another fifty-two entered for the women's disciplines. The tennis event will last nine days, and representatives will contest for medals in Men's & Women's Singles and Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.

Past Hong Kong representatives at the World University Games included John Hui (Pepperdine), Jackie Fu (Cornell), Rudy Chung, and Monty Lo.

However, the Hong Kong contingent will be facing stiff competition in Izmir this year, as evidenced by the USTA's nomination of NCAA No. 13 John Isner (University of Georgia) and No. 7 Ryler Deheart (University of Illinois) to compete in the Men's Singles, and Ohio State's No. 6 ranked pairing of Scott Green and Ross Wilson in the Men's Doubles. Amber Liu (Stanford) and Jennifer Magley (University of Florida) were named by US Women's Coach Lori McNeil to take part in the Women's Singles.

DeHeart finished his junior season at Illinois with a No. 7 ITA singles ranking after briefly peaking at No. 1 in February. He won the 2005 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships and was named the 2005 Big Ten Player of The Year. He is a familiar name to University of Michigan's Brian Hung, as the Hong Kong Davis Cupper lost to DeHeart in the final of the 2004 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, 6-3, 6-4, with both finalists qualifying for the subsequent ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.

Green and Wilson bagged three national titles on the US Collegiate Circuit last season, winning the ITA National Summer Championships, the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. The pair finished their junior seasons at Ohio State with sixth-ranked ITA doubles ranking.

Liu finished her junior season at Stanford with a singles ranking of No. 7. She is a two-time NCAA singles champion, winning in 2003 and 2004, and had led Stanford to NCAA team titles the past two years. Magley finished her junior season at Florida ranked No. 5 in the ITA singles rankings and was a NCAA singles semifinalist this past season.

Liverpuldian, Ken Skupski, of Louisiana State University, ranked as high as No. 5 on the ITA rankings list earlier this year, will be one of the leading contenders for the British contingent. The LSU sophomore was a singles semifinalist at the 2004 ITA All-American Championships and the ITA Southeast Regional Doubles Champion. He was also a quarterfinalist at Junior Wimbledon in 2001.

Skupski and his LSU teammate, Mark Growcott, the No. 4 ranked doubles tandem in NCAA, lost to Michigan's Brian Hung and Matko Maravic at number one doubles in a dual match between the two schools earlier in March this year. The Michigan pair also managed to beat OSU's Green and Wilson at No. 1 doubles in a 4-0 loss in the Big Ten semifinals, the last match of the past season, when Brian and Maravic won 8-6.

At the 22nd Universiade in Daegu, Korea, Taiwan's second-seeded Lu Yen-Hsun defeated Igor Zelenay of the Slovak Republic, 6-2, 4-6, 8-6, to lift the men's title. Zelenay had upset top-seeded Wang Yeu-Tzuoo in the quarterfinals, 7-5, 2-6, 11-9.

Thai doubles specialist, Sonchat Ratiwatana, defeated China's Sun Peng, 7-5, 6-3, in the fourth round in Daegu, while Yu Xin-Yuan made it to the quarters before bowing out to Korea's Kim Young-Jun in straight sets.

The Russian duo of Artem Derepasko and Mari Goloviznina beat the mainland's Wang Yu, Jr. and Xie Yan-Ze, 7-6(5), 6-2, to win the Mixed Doubles gold.

In the Women's Singles, Goulnara Fattakhetdinova of Russia captured the gold medal when she defeated China's Xie Yan-Ze, 6-3, 6-4, in the final. Hong Kong's Polly Lam was the lone representative from the territory and she beat Britain's Alice Barnes, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round before being ousted by eventual semifinalist, Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, 6-2, 6-2, in round two. China's Liu Nan-Nan upset top-seeded Stanislava Hrozenska of the Slovak Republic, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, to reach the final four before losing to eventual gold medallist Fattakhetdinova.

The Women's Doubles went to Taiwan's Chan Chin-Wei and Chuang Chia-Jung, as they overcame Katarina Basternakova and Stanislava Hrozenska of the Slovak Republic, 6-4, 6-1, in the gold medal game.

Other notable past Summer Universiade medallists included Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik (Silver, 1995) and Yoon Yong-Il (Gold, 1995); Japan's Rika Hiraki/Shinobu Asagoe (Women's Doubles Gold, 1995); Taiwan's Wang Shi-Ting (Mixed Gold & Doubles Silver, 1995); and China's Yi Jing-Qian (Singles & Doubles Gold, 1993)

Former Hong Kong resident and Davis Cupper, Lu Ling, was a member of the Chinese contingent at the '95 Games in Fukuoka where he reached round two of the Men's Singles before losing to No. 10 seed Martin Dvoracek, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Olivia Graveraux, a former Hong Kong Fed Cup team member, represented her native country France at the '93 Games in Buffalo and went all the way to the singles semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up, Kaoru Shibata, of Japan.

China had dominated the past two Universiades, topping the table with 54 gold medals in Beijing in 2001 and again with 41 in Daegu two years ago.

The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes, by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The Universiade is often referred to in English as the World University Games or World Student Games. The first World University Games were already held in 1923, but it took decades for the international student organisations to unite into the FISU (International University Sports Federation) in 1949. The first official Summer Universiade was held in 1959 in Turin, Italy.

Next up, the 24th edition of the Summer Universiade will take place, a little closer to home, in Bangkok in 2007; followed by Belgrade in 2009.

Summer Universiade Host Cities:

- 1923 Paris, France
- 1924 Warsaw, Poland
- 1927 Rome, Italy
- 1928 Paris, France
- 1930 Darmstadt, Germany
- 1933 Turin, Italy
- 1935 Budapest, Hungary
- 1937 Paris, France
- 1939 Monte Carlo, Monaco
- 1947 Paris, France
- 1953 Dortmund, West Germany
- 1957 Paris, France
- 1959 Turin, Italy
- 1961 Sofia, Bulgaria
- 1963 Porto Allegre, Brazil
- 1965 Budapest, Hungary
- 1967 Tokyo, Japan
- 1970 Turin, Italy
- 1973 Moscow, Russia
- 1975 Rome, Italy
- 1977 Sofia, Bulgaria
- 1979 Mexico City, Mexico
- 1981 Bucharest, Romania
- 1983 Edmonton, Canada
- 1985 Kobe, Japan
- 1987 Zagreb, Yugoslavia
- 1989 Duisburg, Germany
- 1991 Sheffield, England
- 1993 Buffalo, USA
- 1995 Fukuoka, Japan
- 1997 Sicily, Italy
- 1999 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- 2001 Beijing, China
- 2003 Daegu, Korea
- 2005 Izmir, Turkey
- 2007 Bangkok, Thailand
- 2009 Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro

Sources
International University Sports Federation (FISU)
www.usta.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.internationalgames.net
www.collegetennisonline.com
www.itatennis.com
sports123.com
Official Website of the 18th Universiade Fukuoka 1995