Australia win Junior title

Australia emerged winners of the 2012 World Junior Tennis (WJT) Girls Championship qualifiers final, defeating China 2-0 in the final at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre in Kuching on May 13. Priscilla Hon (picture) collected Australia's first point after overcoming China's Ren Jia-Qi 6-3, 7-5 in the first singles, before Sara Tomic ensured the Aussies' win by edging Cao Si-Qi 6-4, 6-2. The Australian doubles of Sara and Kimberly Birrell were trailing 5-6 in the second set against Jia-Qi and Li Yue-Nu, after winning the first 6-3, before the match was eventually abandoned due to heavy rain. India finished third after beating Thailand 3-0 in the playoff match.

India, Thailand join top two for Czech event

AUSTRALIA and China, the top two seeds, as well as India and Thailand qualified for the 2012 World Junior Tennis (WJT) Girls' Championship scheduled for Prostejov, Czech Republic later this year after each won their respective quarter-final matches at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre in Kuching on May 11 Both Australia and China scored 2-0 wins over Japan and South Korea respectively, while fourth-seeded India edged Taiwan 2-1. Thailand, the sixth seeds, ousted New Zealand 2-0. Priscilla Hon got Australia's first point, easily beating Chihiro Muramatsu 6-3, 6-3, but Sara Tomic had a scare before prevailing 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 against Momoko Kobori. China's Ren Jia-Qi was also made to sweat before winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 against Um Seong Young. Cao Si-Qi then sealed her team's spot in the last eight with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Bae Do Hee. India had a tougher tie against Taiwan when Himani Mor lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chang Chung-fang, before Pranjala Yadlapalli put the Indians on level terms with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Chien Pei-ju. Pranjala then partnered Vanshika Sawhney to beat Chun-fang and Pei-ju 6-3, 6-1 to ensure an Indian win. Thailand meanwhile continued their good run with Manita Bootsarakomvisit winning their first point beating Chanista Ampornachariya 6-1, 6-1 and Napharat Sawangkaew overcoming New Zealand's Rosie Cheng.

Australia, China lead seeds into last eight

ALL eight seeded teams in the World Junior Tennis (WJT) Girls Championship Asia/Oceania Final Qualifiers moved into the last eight after each won their tie at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre in Kuching on May 9 The top two seeds, Australia and China once again had trouble-free 3-0 triumphs against the Philippines and Sri Lanka respectively. Kimberly Birrell had an easy Group A match against the Philippines' Maia Bernadette Balce, winning 6-0, 6-1, before Priscilla Hon had an easier time, beating Maria Dominique Ong without losing a single game. Kimberly then partnered Sara Tomic to beat the pair of Maia and Erika Mae Manduriao 6-0, 6-1 in the doubles. Second seeds China also had an easy Group B tie against Sri Lanka, with their players also dropping just two games in the tie when Cao Si Qi overcame Nethmit Waduge 6-2, 6-0 in the second singles. The other two matches both ended 6-0, 6-0 when Li Yue-Nu beat Rukhsana Abdeen in the first singles and Li-Ren Jia-Si Qi winning against Waduge-Fathoum Issadeen in the doubles. Malaysia, in the meantime, lost for the second time in Group C, 3-0 against Japan, while India, the fourth seeds, trounced Hong Kong 3-0 and fifth seeds Korea won 3-0 against Singapore in Group D. In other matches yesterday, Thailand beat Kazakhstan 3-0 in another Group C match, Taiwan beat Indonesia 2-0 in Group B and New Zealand, seeded eighth, beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in Group A. By Winston Way

S. Korea, Japan in showdown

TOP seeds South Korea will face second seeds Japan in the final of the Asia-Oceania qualifying round of the world junior tennis boys championship at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre in Kuching. The Koreans ousted fourth seeds Australia 3-0 while Japan trounced Taiwan with the same score in the semi-finals yesterday. Chung Yun Seong gained Korea's first point by defeating Australian Brian Tran 6-2, 6-3, while Lee Duck Hee outplayed Oliver Anderson 6-1, 6-4 before the pair of Duck Hee and Oh Chan Yeong thrashed Anderson-Tran 6-0, 6-3. Taiwan will play Australia for third placing today while China will battle Hong Kong for fifth position. Uzbekistan and Thailand will vie for seventh place. China edged Uzbekistan 2-1 whilst Hong Kong overcame Thailand 2-0. The Philippines defeated India 2-0 while Indonesia edged New Zealand 2-1 in the 9th-12th placing playoffs. In the playoffs for 13th-16th positions, Malaysia lost their fifth consecutive match, falling 2-1 to Kazakhstan. Malaysia will play Syria (who lost 2-0 to Iran) today to avoid finishing as wooden spoonists. All matches in the April 30-May 5 tournament were played and going to be played at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre here. By Winston Way

Aussie girls show the way

TOP seeds Australia steamrolled Uzbekistan 3-0 in the World Junior Tennis (WJT) Girls Championship Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying Round at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre in Kuching on May 8 The Aussies, top finishers in the Asia/Oceania zone in the previous WJT in Prostejov, Czech Republic last year, won their opening point through Kimberly Birrell who beat Valeriya Kolegova 6-2, 6-4, before Sara Tomic outplayed Valeriya Popova 6-2, 6-1. Sara and Priscilla Hon completed Australia's Group A tie triumph when they overcame Valeriya and Milisa Bekirova 6-1, 6-1. In Group B, second seeds China trounced Indonesia 3-0, their first point coming courtesy of Ren Jia-Qi who beat Arrum Damarsari, after which Cao Si-Qi got their second, blanking Rifanty Dwi Kahfiani 6-0, 6-0. Si-Qi then partnered Li Yue-Nu to edge Arrum-Rifanty Dwi 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the doubles. Japan, the third seeds, however, were made to sweat by Kazakhstan before gaining their first win in the tournament with a 2-1 victory in a Group C tie, while fourth-seeded India had an easy 3-0 win over Singapore in Group D. Hosts Malaysia fell 2-1 to Thailand in another Group C tie, with the first two matches ending in easy wins for the Thai girls. Manita Bootsaramvisit beat Nurin Nabilah Roslan 6-1, 6-0, while Napharat Sawangkaew routed Yus Syazlin Nabila Yusri 6-0, 6-0. Nurin and Yus Syazlin salvaged some pride for Malaysia when they beat Manita and Wijitbanjong Pakkaro 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. In other results yesterday, South Korea beat Hong Kong 3-0 in Group D, Taiwan slammed Sri Lanka 3-0 in Group B and New Zealand beat the Philippines 3-0 in Group A. In today's matches, Australia play the Philippines, China face Sri Lanka, Japan take on Malaysia, while India will be square off with Hong Kong. Also, Indonesia meet Taiwan, Uzbekistan play New Zealand, Kazakhstan face Thailand and Singapore meet Korea. The top four finishers proceed to play in the WJT finals, also to be played in Prostejov, on Aug 13-18.

South Korea, Japan win

KUCHING: Top two seeded teams South Korea and Japan scored easy opening victories as the final qualifying competition for the ITF World Junior Team Competition for Boys kicked off at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association Tennis Centre yesterday. Chung Yun Seong led the way for top seeds South Korea as he thrashed New Zealand’s Alexender Calder 6-0, 6-1 in one hour and 40 minutes in the first singles in Group A. His teammate Lee Duck Hee had no problem beating Rawhiti Williams 6-2, 6-0 in the second singles while the pair of Chung Yun Seong and Oh Chan Yeong crashed Williams-Calder 6-1, 6-1 in the doubles for a 3-0 win. In the same group, Thailand sprung an upset as they beat eighth seeds India 2-1 for their first win. Nawakarn Khunjan tamed Alex Solanki 7-5, 6-4 in the first singles to hand the Thais the first point but Nikshep Ballerkere levelled the score 1-1 for India when he beat Art Faoart 6-3, 7-6(5) in the second singles. In the doubles and the deciding match, the Thai combination of Sirawit Daosaengsawangng and Nawakarn overcame Nikshep-Aryan Goveas 6-1, 6-4. South Korea will play Thailand today while New Zealand are up against India. In Group B, second seeds Japan who faced a weaker Iran, made easy meat of their opponents as Tomohiro Masabayashi blanked Arman Jalili Uromiyeh 6-0, 6-0 and Riki Oshima registered a similar score over Ashkan Shekarriz. In the doubles, Renta Tokuda and Tomohiro saw off the pair of Mohamad Kargaran Oroochi and Ashkan Shekarriz 6-0, 6-2 for a 3-0 win. Meanwhile, host Malaysia failed to secure their first win as they went down fighting 1-2 to sixth seeds Philippines in Group D. Alberto Lim Jr was simply too good for Talhah Rahizam, beating the latter 6-1, 6-2 in the first singles while Koay Hao Sheng kept the contention alive by beating Eric Olivarez Jr 6-1, 6-1 in the second singles. In the doubles, Koay and Khairil Anas Abd Rahim put up some opposition to lose the first set 6-4 but Olivarez and Jerome Romualdez closed out the Malaysians in the second set 6-2 to give Philippines three points. The other Group D match saw fourth seeds Australia edging Hong Kong 2-1. Malaysia is facing an even tougher match against the Australians in today’s match. Other teams who won their first matches were China and Taiwan who beat Syria and Kazakhstan 3-0 respectively while Uzbekistan took more than six hours to crack the Indonesian resistance and won 2-1.- www.theborneopost.com

Sarawak defend MSSM Boys U-15 tennis tourney

KUCHING: Defending champions Sarawak emerged victorious in the recent Malaysia Schools Sports Council (MSSM) Boy’s Under-15 tennis championship after defeating Perlis in the final held in Ipoh, Perak. Sarawak’s top junior ace, Alvin Tan gave his team the lead by beating Asrul Ekshan from Perlis 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 while his teammate Kenneth Tan earlier on trounced Wan Ahmad 6-0, 6-0. The state’s double team lost 3-6, 1-6. The state team could have defended the overall title if not due to injuries to the top two U18 players in Jane Chang and Gerald Yao while a few other good players had also opted out due to studies commitment. According to Sarawak Schools Sports Council (MSSS) tennis technical chairman, Oliver Rengga Bantin the state players could have done better with the services of experienced players who are either injured or opted out due to their study commitments. He commended the Girl’s under 15 team members who performed well beyond expectations by entering the semi-finals despite been just promoted from the under 12 category. “I wish to record our appreciation to the players’ parents who have sacrificed so much for their kids…come rain or shine, they were there with us,” he said. In the Girl’s under 18 competition, Sarawak narrowly lost to Selangor and Federal Territory in their group matches. “The team was unfortunate not to have Jane Chang who was down with a shoulder injury and Adriana Chua who was participating in another tournament…if they had been available, we could have been up there at least in the finals,” Oliver said. He revealed that Sarawak’s two under 18 boys players, Gerald Yao and Izzul Aizuddin are also nursing their injuries.- http://www.theborneopost.com