The under-14 boys’ contingent of Richie Choi, Kayden Lok, and Kyle Wan defeated Austria and Peru to place 13th overall at 2025 ITF World Junior Tennis Finals, equalling Hong Kong, China’s highest placing that was first achieved in 1994. Prior to this year, only three boys’ teams have managed to qualify for the WJT Finals in its 33-year history.
Accompanying the team were Ray Lam (Vice Captain) and Romain Deffet (Fitness Coach).
Hong Kong, China drew No. 4 seed Germany, No. 6 seed Japan, and Kazakhstan in Group B. Aside from the 3-0 setback against the Germans on Day 2, the matches against Japan and Kazakhstan were both even-steven at 1-1 and with everything to play for heading into the deciding doubles.
The Japanese made the biggest change in their lineup when they nominated a new player, Lyoma Hotelier. He was immediately slotted in as the No. 1 singles player, while Hozumi Kaneda, who had occupied the one spot during the Asia/Oceania Qualifying, moved down to No. 2 singles.
Kazakhstan fielded the same duo who beat Hong Kong, China in the deciding doubles in the semifinals via a third set super-tiebreak earlier at Kuching. Although Choi and Wan fought furiously to snatch the second set, it was déjà vu once again, as Makhanov and Zhetkerbay combined to secure the third set with another super-tiebreak to win 6-1 6-7 [10-3] this time round.
Then, in the 9th-16th Place Playoffs against Czechia, Choi took down ETA No. 14 Tobias Zapsky 6-2 1-6 [10-5] to extend proceedings, but he paired up with ETA No. 17 Ondrej Kacin to win the deciding doubles and condemned TeamHK to a fourth straight loss.
To their credit, the boys did well to keep their spirits up and competed till the end, as they conjured successive 3-0 victories to defeat Austria and Peru to conclude this year’s WJT campaign.
Hong Kong, China placed 13th amongst the world’s top 16 teams, equalling the previous high set by the trio of Jason Sankey, Wayne Wong, and Desmond Chen in Japan in 1994.
Choi went 5-1 at No. 1 singles, with his lone loss coming against ETA No. 5 Luys Calin of Germany in the group stage. Amongst all the players at Prostejov, only Korea’s Jang Junseo at No. 507 is ranked higher than Choi, who is at No. 931. While Jang has reached a pair of J60 finals, Choi captured his maiden ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors boys’ singles title at the J30 Colombo earlier this March.
Kyle Wan competed in several Tennis Europe 14U tournaments prior to the WJT Finals and beat Kazakh No. 1 Akhmadi Makhanov to reach the CAT 1 Avenue Cup quarterfinals in Bulgaria. At the CAT 1 Lexus International in England, he saw off Germany’s ETA No. 7 Lucas Herrera Sanchez in the round of sixteen before he was upended by ETA No. 2 Moritz Freitag of Austria. Freitag went on to win the Boys’ 14 & Under Singles at Wimbledon.
Richie Choi: “I worked hard and improved my game a lot on clay. I learnt that I have to play point by point with energy, but I need to improve my serve and forehand. It was an amazing experience to compete against the best juniors from around the world.”
Kayden Lok: “Preparing for the WJT Finals was both exciting and nerve-wracking. To participate in the WJT Finals pushed me to grow not just as a player, but also as a teammate. To become a better player, I need to work on my consistency, especially during crucial points.”
Interestingly, less than a third of the 48 boys who competed in this year’s WJT Finals hold an ITF junior world ranking. In fact, none of the players representing the top 4 seeds—Spain, Slovakia, USA, and Germany—possess an ITF ranking to date.
Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying
For Hong Kong, China, this year’s WJT campaign began at the Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying held in Bahrain in February. The team of Justin Chan, Richie Choi, and Kayden Lok defeated Mongolia, Jordan, Iraq, Bangladesh, and Indonesia to place first and secured a spot in April’s Final Qualifying in Kuching.
The trio of Richie Choi, Kayden Lok, and Kyle Wan arrived in Kuching as the No. 2 seed. The team beat Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and No. 6 seed China to top Group D, with Richie Choi and Kyle Wan going undefeated in singles. The duo went on to win their respective singles against No. 7 seed Australia in the quarterfinals to give the team a 2-0 victory, and with it, a ticket to the WJT Finals.
Hong Kong, China was then upended by No. 3 seed Kazakhstan 2-1 in the semifinals before going down 2-0 against top seed Korea in the 3rd-4th Place Playoff.
History
The World Junior Tennis was launched in 1991 as the ITF’s flagship international team competition for players aged 14 and under. Teams from across five regions—Asia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, South America, and North/Central America and the Caribbean—all attempt to vie for a place in the WJT Finals each year when 16 boys’ and 16 girls’ teams converge to compete for the title.
The WJT Finals were held in Japan from 1991 until 1998, with the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) as the title sponsor for the first six years. In 1999, the event relocated to the clay courts at the Tenisovy Klub Prostejov, Czechia, and has remained there since.
Each year, the WJT Finals bring together the best 14U teams from around the globe. Considered as a rite of passage for a top junior, notable past participants include Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Lorenzo Musetti, Carlos Alcaraz, Ash Barty, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff, to name a few.
Results
ITF World Junior Tennis Finals (Boys)
Prostejov, Czechia
4-9 August 2025
Group B
(6)Japan d. Hong Kong, China 2-1
R1 Hozumi Kaneda d. Kyle Wan (HKG) 2-6 6-3 6-4
R2 Richie Choi (HKG) d. Lyoma Hotelier 7-5 0-6 6-1
R3 Yuto Hisano/Hozumi Kaneda d. Richie Choi/Kyle Wan (HKG) 6-3 6-3
(4)Germany d. Hong Kong, China 3-0
R1 Daniel Czarnecki d. Kyle Wan (HKG) 6-3 6-4
R2 Luys Calin d. Richie Choi (HKG) 6-1 7-6
R3 Luys Calin/Daniel Czarnecki d. Richie Choi/Kayden Lok (HKG) 6-1 6-3
Kazakhstan d. Hong Kong, China 2-1
R1 Khaknazar Zhetkerbay d. Kayden Lok (HKG) 4-6 6-2 6-3
R2 Richie Choi (HKG) d. Akhmadi Makhanov 6-3 3-6 6-3
R3 Makhanov/Zhetkerbay d. Richie Choi/Kyle Wan (HKG) 6-1 6-7 [10-3]
9th-16th Place Playoffs
Czechia d. Hong Kong, China 2-1
R1 Filip Sebek d. Kyle Wan (HKG) 6-0 6-3
R2 Richie Choi (HKG) d. Tobias Zapsky 6-2 1-6 [10-5]
R3 Ondrej Kacin/Tobias Zapsky d. Richie Choi/Kyle Wan (HKG) 6-4 6-3
13th-16th Place Playoffs
Hong Kong, China d. Austria 3-0
R1 Kyle Wan (HKG) d. Luca Sageder 7-6 6-4
R2 Richie Choi (HKG) d. Jakob Mittermayr 6-1 6-1
R3 Kayden Lok/Kyle Wan (HKG) d. Leitner/Sageder 6-4 7-6
13th-14th Place Playoff
Hong Kong, China d. Peru 3-0
R1 Kyle Wan (HKG) d. Guillermo Arbe 7-5 6-0
R2 Richie Choi (HKG) d. Cho Min Gook 6-4 6-3
R3 Kayden Lok/Kyle Wan (HKG) d. Guillermo Arbe/Luis Huanca 6-3 5-7 [10-8]
Final Positions (Brackets denote seedings):
- France(5)
- USA(3)
- Korea
- Germany(4)
- Spain(1)
- Venezuela(8)
- Japan(6)
- Slovakia(2)
- Canada
- Egypt(7)
- Czechia
- Kazakhstan
- Hong Kong, China
- Peru
- Austria
- Brazil