After running into a red-hot Chinese number one, Sun Peng, in the men's singles quarterfinals at the 10th All China Games in Nanjing, Hong Kong's seventh-seeded Yu Hiu Tung managed to regroup in time to defeat Chinese Davis Cupper and No. 6 seed, Lu Hao (PLA), to advance to the 5th-6th place playoff against Beijing number one, Yu Xin-Yuan. However, the world No. 499 from the capital city was in no mood for another loss after succumbing to fellow Davis Cup teammate and third seed Zeng Shao-Xuan (Jiangsu) in the round of eight, as the Beijing native put in a solid display to claim fifth place with a 6-2, 6-1, victory over the HK representative.
Earlier in the quarterfinals, a lethargic start by the eighth-seeded Wayne Wong saw him concede two early breaks to quickly fall behind 3-0 in both the first and second sets before he went down against top seed, Wang Yu (Tianjin), 6-2, 6-1, in a drawn-out baseline duel that eventually took over some two hours to complete. However, his troublesome right shoulder flared up again and had to forego the originally scheduled 5th-9th place playoff against Yu Xin-Yuan.
Meanwhile, in Tung's, 6-1, 6-0, quarterfinal loss to second seed, Sun Peng (Tianjin), former HK Davis Cupper and ACG traveling coach, Venant Shum, reported that Tung played excellent tennis and put forth a great effort even when getting shut-out in the second set against the Chinese number one. Word was that Sun, who was ranked inside the Top-300 earlier this year, was simply on fire from start to finish, and never let up with his 75%-plus first serve percentage or his jack-hammer forehands all match long. In the end, the huge difference in terms of rank proved too big a hurdle to overcome for the world No. 998 from Hong Kong.
As it turned out, Sun ended up winning the gold medal when he downed hometown favourite and No. 3 seed, Zeng Shao-Xuan, in the final, 6-2, 6-3.
Earlier in the men's team event, home side Jiangsu won the gold by defeating top seeds Tianjin in the final, 2-1, behind an inspired Zeng Shao-Xuan. He took out Sun Peng at the number one singles, 7-5, 6-4, before partnering unheralded Xue Feng to win the deciding doubles against Sun Peng and Wang Yu, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, amid an hour's delay in the tail-end of the third set because of crowd trouble after Sun and Wang had broken serve to lead 5-4.
Pre-Games favourites, Tianjin, boasts singles number seed Wang Yu; number two, Sun Peng; and number five, Wang Yi-Ning.
The Hong Kong team was dealt the toughest possible draw in the round robin stage when they had to contend with seeded Hubei and defending champions, Beijing. Hubei is led by current Davis Cupper and former Chinese number one, Zhu Ben-Qiang, while Beijing boasts Chinese number three, Yu Xin-Yuan, who is undefeated at Davis Cup play so far, and former Chinese Davis Cup singles starter and accomplished doubles player, Zhang Yu.
Yu Xin-Yuan and Zhang Yu, seeded second for the men's doubles event, ended up with the silver medal after falling to the inspired Zeng Shao-Xuan and Xue Feng (Jiangsu) in the final, 6-4, 7-5. The third-seeded Jiangsu pair had earlier knocked out No. 1 seeds, Sun Peng and Wang Yu, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Elsewhere, third seed and world No. 42, Zheng Jie (Sichuan), captured the women's singles gold after beating current Chinese number one and top seed, Peng Shuai (Tianjin), 6-4, 7-6(0), in the title game, while No. 2 seed Sun Tian-Tian (Henan) claimed third place as her opponent in the bronze medal game, Li Na (Hubei), withdrew from the match due to injury.
Zheng Jie then made it a 'double' by partnering fellow Sichuan teammate, Yan Zi, to defeat top seeds Peng Shuai & Xie Yanze (Tianjin) 7-6(3), 6-2, to win the women's doubles gold medal. Second seeds Ding Ding & Zhao Yi-Jing (Beijing) came in third after Li Ting & Li Na (Hubei) had to default the bronze medal game after the latter had sustained an injury towards the end of the first set when the score was still even-steven.
The Sichuan pair, who holds a WTA doubles ranking of 32nd and 33rd respectively, won three points in a row from 4-3 to claim the first set tiebreak before running away with the ensuing set with their opponents making far too many errors in their attempt to force the issue.
Last month, Zheng Jie & Yan Zi were beaten finalists at the Wismilak Open in Indonesia and the US$585,000 WTA Tier II China Open in Guangzhou where they lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain and Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela, 6-2, 6-4, in the final. They also placed third at the 9th All China Games in Guangzhou back in 2001.
Top seed Hubei claimed the women's team gold after defeating Sichuan in the title match with Li Na taking both her singles and doubles points. She beat Yan Zi at the one spot, 7-5, 6-2, before partnering Li Ting to win the deciding doubles against Zheng Jie and Yan Zi, 7-5, 6-4. Zheng Jie had momentarily leveled things up at 1-1 after thrashing Zhou Jing, 6-0, 6-0, at the two spot.
The mixed doubles went to top seeds Zhu Ben-Qiang & Li Ting (Hubei) after they defeated Lu Hao & Liu Wan-Ting (PLA), 6-1, 6-3, in the gold medal game. Wang Yu and Peng Shuai (Tianjin) went home in third place after fellow Tianjin teammates, Sun Peng & Liu Nan-Nan, defaulted the bronze medal playoff game.
Results
10th All China Games
Jiangsu, Nanjing
October 2005
MEN'S SINGLES
Final Placings
1. Sun Peng (Tianjin)
2. Zeng Shao-Xuan (Jiangsu)
3. Wang Yu (Tianjin)
4. Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei)
5. Yu Xin-Yuan (Beijing)
6. Yu Hiu Tung (Hong Kong)
7. Lu Hao (PLA)
8. Wayne Wong (Hong Kong)
Final
(2)Sun Peng (Tianjin) d. (3)Zeng Shao-Xuan (Jiangsu) 6-2 6-3
Semifinals
(3)Zeng Shao-Xuan (Jiangsu) d. (1)Wang Yu (Tianjin) 6-4 4-6 6-4
(2)Sun Peng (Tianjin) d. (4)Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei) 6-1 6-3
Quarterfinals
(1)Wang Yu (Tianjin) d. (8)Wayne Wong (HKG) 6-2 6-1
(3)Zeng Shao-Xuan (Jiangsu) d. Yu Xin-Yuan (Beijing) 6-1 3-0 (retired)
(4)Zhu Ben-Qiang (Hubei) d. (6)Lu Hao (PLA) 6-2 6-1
(2)Sun Peng (Tianjin) d. (7)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-1 6-0
5th – 6th Place Playoff
Yu Xin-Yuan (Beijing) d. (7)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) 6-2 6-1
5th – 9th Place Playoffs
(7)Yu Hiu Tung (HKG) d. (6)Lu Hao 7-5 6-4
Yu Xin-Yuan (Beijing) d. (8)Wayne Wong (HKG) (walkover - injured)
Looking ahead…
Yu Hiu Tung, Wayne Wong, and Lam Po Kuen were confirmed as Hong Kong's tennis representatives at the 4th East Asian Games in Macau later this month. First round matches are scheduled for a 10am start on October 31st.
On paper, however, a potential shot for medal at these games will surely be even more difficult than the recently completed All China Games, as Hong Kong will have to contend with Asian tennis powerhouses, China, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan for any Top-3 finish in Macau.
Assuming the countries mentioned above are bringing with them their best lineups, players from the territory will be competing against the likes of new Asian number two, Wang Yeu-Tzuoo (ATP No. 98), Lee Hyung-Taik (No. 109), Lu Yen-Hsun (No. 133), and Japanese number one, Takao Suzuki (No. 235) on the men's side; while on the women's side, the likes of Ai Sugiyama (WTA No. 32), Peng Shuai (No. 33), Shinobu Asagoe (No. 36), Zheng Jie (No. 42), Li Na (No. 49), and Akiko Morigami (No. 50) will await world No. 776, Lam Po Kuen of Hong Kong.
The East Asian Games was first held in 1993 to create opportunities for sports and cultural exchanges for athletes from the East Asian regions, including China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Republic of Korea, Macau SAR, Mongolia, Chinese Taipei and Guam.
Past Venues
• 1993 Shanghai, China
• 1997 Pusan, South Korea
• 2001 Osaka, Japan
Sources
www.hksi.org.hk/hksdb
www.internationalgames.net