Tennis tears and triumph;The ITF World Junior Circuit finals were held in Hong Kong last weekend
Many local junior players have seen a dream come true this week, getting into the final of an International Tennis Federation ( ITF) tournament - the ITF World Junior Circuit Hong Kong Open Junior Championships 2010.
The final day of the tournament began with the boy's singles final at Victoria Park Tennis Centre on Saturday. Hong Kong's title hope was 14th seed Brian Yeung Pak-long, who faced second seed Ryota Kishi from Japan.
The previous day, Yeung survived a three-set thriller in the semi-final against Thai Player Krittin Koaykul, despite pulling a tendon.
He had a slow start in the final, and couldn't cope with Kishi's serves and attacks. Kishi served some aces in the early games and broke Yeung's service game twice to lead 4-0, closing the first set 6-1.
Yeung stepped up his efforts in the second set. There were longer rallies, and the attacks were fierce. The set was close, but the Japanese boy won 6-4.
"My target was to reach the quarter-final. I can't believe that I got through to the final. It's a pity that I didn't win my first ITF title here, but I think this is one of my best tournament performances so far," Yeung said after the match.
Kishi also praised Yeung for his toughness: "He had great shots and always moved very fast. He played so well this week -it's not easy to beat him."
Anna Clarice Patrimonio from the Philippines took home the girls' singles title after beating Mana Ayukawa from Japan, 7-5, 6-1. "I like playing in Hong Kong. I always do very well when I play here. In the last Hong Kong ITF competition, I reached the semi-final. Now, I've won the title. I also like the weather here and I can go sightseeing and shopping after matches," she said.
In the boys' doubles, third-seeded Hong Kong pair Kelvin Lam Siu-fai/ James Kong Kwun-ho won the second ITF Circuit title of their career. They were unstoppable on court against Estonian pair Markus Kerner / Henrik Raag in the final. Lam/Kong blew away their opponents in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, to claim the title.
Kelvin thanked his partner and gave credit to their perfect co-operation, "Our partnership split for more than six months due to the preparation for team matches. We had a tough first-round match against a pair from Chinese Taipei, other than that, we didn't drop a set on our road to final," said Kelvin.
Local player Vivian Lin Wing-man paired up with Rebecca Peterson from Sweden to beat the duo of Ayukawa and Nattawadee Kotcha from Thailand in two sets 6-4, 6-2 to claim another title for Hong Kong.
"Rebecca is the only girl from Sweden and I asked her to form a scratch pair. We did very well in every aspect - it's nearly impossible to win the title with a player who I've never partnered with before," said Vivian.
