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There were few problems for the leading outfits in the Junior Girls’ Team event on the first day of play, Wednesday 7th August 2013, at the Nikon Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open but that was not the situation in the counterpart Cadet Girls’ Team competition.
It was a catalogue of casualties.
Occupying the top seeded position, Japan ‘A’ with Mima Ito, Miyu Maeda and Hitomi Sato on duty finished in first place their group in the Junior Girls’ Team event with comparative ease.
No Great Problems
Similarly, there were no great problems for the second seeded China team formed by Hu Limei, Chen Xingtong and Jiang Xue; nor did the next two in the order of merit suffer moments of high drama.
Japan ‘B’ fielding the trio of Ayane Morita, Rira Ishikawa and Kana Takeuchi duly finished at the helm of their group as did the Hong Kong ‘A’ Team represented by Doo Hoi Kem, Lam Yee Lok and Wong Chun Wan.
One Seeded Team Secures First Place
Four groups in the first stage of proceedings; the four seeds all secured top place in style.
However, in the Cadet Girls’ Team competition it was a very different scenario; only one of the top four teams finished in pole position. The one team to remain unscathed was the Hong Kong ‘B’, the second seeds, represented by MakTze Wing and Liu Qi; they imposed their authority on affairs from start to finish.
Two Wins for Minnie Soo Yam but Defeat
Alas, for their colleagues, Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Vaness Leung TszChing, the top seeds, it was a somewhat different story.
They opened their account with a three-nil win over the Chinese Taipei ‘C’ Team trio of Chiang Chih-Wei, Lin Yu-Hsuan and Lee Chun-Yu before suffering a three-two defeat against Singapore’B’.
Minnie Soo Wai Yam beat both Gladys Wong (11-7, 11-6, 11-9) and Ang Wan Qi (8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8) but that was the sum total of success for Hong Kong ‘A’.
Vaness Leung TszChing lost to Ang Wan Qi (11-4, 11-5, 12-10) and in the vital fifth match of the contest was beaten by Gladys Wong (7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8).
In addition, the doubles went the way of Singapore. Ang Wan Qi and Gladys Wong beat Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Vaness Leung TszChing in five games (9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 0-11, 11-6).
Secured First Place
Singapore duly beat Chinese Taipei ‘C’ by three matches to nil to finish in first place in the group.
Third Seeds Beaten
Defeat for the top seeds, it was the same for the third seeds Brazil.
Chinese Taipei 'C' Experience Problems
Leticia Nakada and Bruna Takahashi overcame the Hong Kong ‘C’ Team outfit of Ellie Fong and Desiree Hung by three matches to nil but then suffered by the same score-line when facing the Chinese Taipei ‘B’ Team outfit comprising Lee En-Chi, Su Peng-Ling and Yen Lin-Chen.
In a similar fashion to Singapore, Chinese Taipei `B’ finished in first place in their group; they overcame Hong Kong ‘C’ by three matches to nil.
First place in the group for Chinese Taipei ‘B’ in the opening phase of the Cadet Girls’ Team event but that was not the end result for Chinese Taipei ‘A’, the fourth seeds; represented by Liang Yu-Chieh and Wen Ruei-Ling, they beat the Singapore ‘A’ Team duo of Zhang Wenling and Eunice Lim by three matches to nil but then suffered defeat.
They were beaten by the Hong Kong ‘D’ Team of Lee Ka Yee and Leung Ka Wan.
Good Start
The visitors made a fine start with TsaiYu-Chin accounting for Lee Ka Yee (9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6) but that was the end of Chinese Taipei success.
Liang Yu-Chieh was beaten by both Leung Ka Wan (11-9, 11-4, 11-8) and by Lee Ka Yee (11-9, 4-11, 13-11, 11-4); with sandwiched in between, the Singaporeans combining to win the doubles against Liang Yu-Chieh and Wen Ruei-Ling in four games (13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6).
First Place in Group
Hong Kong ‘D’ duly accounted for Singapore ‘A’ by three matches to nil, to finish in first place in the group.
Door Open
Defeats for three of the top four seeded teams but the door to a podium finish is still open; all three finished in second places in their respective groups, the winners and runners up in each group advance to the quarter-finals.
Team Events Conclude
The team events conclude on Thursday 8th August 2013.
Live on YouTube and Exciting on FlickR
The final session of play at the Nikon Hong Junior and Cadet Open will be streamed live on YouTube between 2.00pm and 5.30pm local time. Also visit the FlickR Gallery for photographs of the event.
Nikon Hong Junior and Cadet Open: The Final Session of Play
Nikon Hong Junior and Cadet Open: Photo Gallery on FlickR
Article By: ITTF - Ian Marshall
Photo By: Rémy Gros
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