At the 10th All China Games in Nanjing, the Hong Kong Men's team was defeated by Hubei 3-0 in its opening round robin match earlier on Thursday. After former Chinese number one Zhu Ben-Qiang easily beat Yu Hiu Tung in straight sets at the one spot, Hong Kong's Brian Hung was serving with a break in hand at 3-2, 30-0 in the third set against opposing number two, Xie Chun, when a sudden attack of right hip muscle cramp flared up badly from nowhere, while a case of missed opportunities saw Jack Hui and Wayne Wong go down in the doubles 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), to Zhu Ben-Qiang and Liu Bo to complete the final scoreline.

Hong Kong will face the remaining team in the group, Beijing, in a must-win situation for the territory to stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages later today.

The groupings for the initial round robins are as follows:

Group A: Tianjin, Zhejiang, Shanghai
Group B: Jiangsu, PLA, Guangzhou
Group C: Sichuan, Yunan, Anhui
Group D: Hubei, Beijing, Hong Kong

* Top two from each group qualifies for quarterfinals

It was double calamity for Brian, as not only did an ill-timed right hip muscle cramp flare up just when it looked like he would maintain the one-break advantage to close out the second singles rubber, the non-existence of much needed court-side treatment for the University of Michigan standout simply added more frustration to the uphill battle he was already facing on court because of the injury.

In a truly gutsy effort, Brian mustered all he could to actually wrestle a break back for a 4-3 lead, but it was in essence a case of delaying the inevitable as Xie expectedly switched tactics by keeping every ball in play at all cost to frustrate an opponent clearly hampered by a lack of mobility. The Hubei number two ran away with the next three games for a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, tie-clinching win.

In the doubles, Wayne Wong stepped in to partner Jack Hui, and was, according to Hong Kong Men's Team Captain, Derek Ling, actually "the best doubles match I have seen Wayne played". However, one or two loose points and several other missed break opportunities proved the difference, as Zhu Ben-Qiang and Liu Bo ran out 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

Fate seemed to have had a liking for pitting Hubei and Hong Kong together, as the two teams were also thrown into the same round robin group at the 9th All China Games back in Guangzhou in 2001. That year, Hong Kong was grouped together with Hubei, one of the four seeded teams in the four-group, sixteen-team round robins. The other seeds included Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The HK team lost to Hubei 2-1 but won their remaining group matches to place second and qualified for the quarterfinals. However, they drew the formidable Beijing team comprising three Chinese Davis Cuppers in Li Si, Lu Ling, Zhang Yu, and Yang Jing-Zhu, nicknamed "Chinese Goran" for his huge lefty serve, and could only contend with the positional playoffs where they came in fifth overall.

Wayne Wong ended up winning all his singles matches apart from the one against then reigning national singles champion, Li Si.

In that round robin match against Hubei, Hong Kong's John Hui and Melvin Tong lost to Zhu Ben-Qiang and his doubles partner, Ma, but gained sweet revenge later in the men's doubles bronze medal game when the HK duo came back from 5-1 down in the first set against their Hubei opponents to win, 7-5, 6-2, as both Zhu and Ma capitulated after squandering such a seemingly untouchable first set lead on centre court.

Match Report
By HK Men's Team Captain, Derek Ling, from Nanjing

Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei) d. Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-1 6-0
Unfortunately, Zhu Ben-Qiang was a different player today compared from the last time when he lost to Tung 7-5, 6-2, in the ACG Team Qualies earlier this year. He was too good for Tung today no matter how hard Tung tried and he had an answer for Tung's every shot. Zhu was very sharp today and broke Tung's serve right off the bat. After Tung broke back to level at 1-1, Zhu ran away with the match.

Xie Chun (Hubei) d. Brian Hung (HKG) 6-2 5-7 6-4
I put Brian in because Xie managed to moon ball Wayne to death last time out in the qualifying. With Wayne not proving that his shoulder is 100%, I did not want to put Wayne in against Xie to risk over-working his shoulder. More importantly, Brian's net-charging style should fare a lot better against Xie's game. I had full confidence that Brian would come out on top quite comfortably and will be able to play the deciding doubles as well.

Out of the blue, Xie came out a completely different player compared with the time in the qualifying. He was constantly attacking, serving at over 180+ km/h and driving the ball hard at both corners. Brian did not start sharp today probably due to the pressure he was facing. At one point, he was serving 3 double faults a game. Brian did not hold a single service game in the first set and was down 1-3 in the second set. At that point, Brian managed to execute our plan B with immediate success. We started mixing up all kinds of shots and Brian broke back for 3-3. With this new tactic, Brian managed to hold serve throughout the second set and won it 7-5.

Breaking Xie's serve was never a problem today, it was holding serve that was the problem. It was quite a physical game today and Xie had to call for a trainer at 5-6 down in the second set. In the final set, Brain was playing great, holding serve and breaking Xie to go up at 3-2. At the ensuing changeover, Brian indicated that his hip muscle on his right leg was getting tight. Serving at 3-2 and 30-0 with a break up, Brain cramped up badly. We had to call a medical time out even though our physio still had not arrived in Nanjing. Without the help of any medical attention, Brian still managed to break Xie again to go up 4-3. Knowing that Brain was limping, Xie changed his game and made Brian run. Brain lost the last 3 games and the match.

Zhu Ben-Qiang/Liu Bo (Hubei) d. Wayne Wong/Jack Hui (HKG) 3-6 6-4 7-6(5)
This is another tough loss. Brian had cramps so Wayne had to step in to play doubles. Wayne is not known for his doubles play but he played SURPRISINGLY well today. It fact, this was the best doubles match I have seen Wayne played. Brain and Jack had lost to the same pair with an injured Zhu Ben-Qiang in the qualifying 7-5, 7-6, last time out.

Jack has also improved this time around and our boys came out firing and broke Zhu in the second game. That single break was all we needed to take the first set 6-3. They picked up their game in the second set and managed to break us twice. They were up 4-1 but we broke back and were level with them at 4-4. We had break points at 4-4 but we did not convert. At 5-4, Wayne serving, Jack made a few careless mistakes and they broke to take the set. In the final set, our boys tightened up their game and was holding serve with ease. We broke at 2-2 and went up 3-2. Unfortunately, at 3-2 Jack's service was broken due to a few careless mistakes by Wayne this time.

Our boys jumped back and was up 15-40 with 2 break points. We did not manage to convert. At 4-4, we had a break point at 30-40 but again we did not convert. It went into a tie-break and we were up 5-4 serving in the tie-break. Luck turned their way and they won 3 points in a row. We had multiple chances in this doubles match due to Jack and Wayne's great performance today but we were unlucky in not winning.

We hope to have a better day against Beijing tomorrow.

Results
10th All China Games
Nanjing, China
October 2005

Men's Team Event

Round Robins
HUBEI  defeated  HONG KONG   3 - 0
S-1 Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei) d. Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-1 6-0
S-2 Xie Chun (Hubei) d. Brian Hung (HKG) 6-2 5-7 6-4
DoB Zhu Ben-Qiang/Liu Bo (Hubei) d. Wayne Wong/Jack Hui (HKG) 3-6 6-4 7-6(5)