First place in the group, at the conclusion of the first stage of matches in the Junior Boys' Singles event at the Nikon Hong Kong Junior Open on Friday 9th August 2013, was the lot of China's Yu Ziyang, the top seed. 

Similarly it was top spot and unbeaten for Chinese Taipei's Wen Wei-Chieh and Japan's Tonin Ryuzaki, the respective third and fourth seeds.

Likewise, Yang Heng-Wei and Wang Tai-Wei, the fifth and seventh seeds secured top places in their groups as did Hong Kong's Li Hon Ming, the sixth seed and his compatriot Lam Siu Hang, the eighth seed.

Second Place
However, for Brazil's Vitor Ishiy, the second seed, he had to settle for runners spot; the consolation being that the door is still open. 

Players finishing in first and second places in each group, in both the Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' Singles events, book main draw place. 

Suffered at Chinese Taipei Hands
Vitor Ishiy, after accounting for Hong Kong's Lai Cheuk Yin (11-6, 11-8, 11-4), suffered defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei's Lin Hsueh-Yu (10-12, 11-4, 12-10, 11-7).

Lin Hsueh-Yu duly secured first place in the group; he beat Lai Cheuk Yin in three straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-7).

Further Notables Hit Trouble
A somewhat surprise defeat for Vitor Ishiy, who was one of four notable names to experience problems in the first stage of the Junior Boys' Team event.

Japan's Ryotaro Ogata, the no.9 seed and Masato Kakitsuka, the no.11 seed, both had to settle for second place in their groups; whilst the eventual lot of Sweden's Carl Ahlander-Johansson, the no.10 seed, was third place and no passport to the main draw.

A Good Start
Ryotaro Ogata overcame Hong Kong's Tsoi Ka Wai (11-8, 11-6, 11-7) in his opening contest but then suffered defeat at the hands of Sweden Anton Kallberg in a close five games duel (6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 14-12). 

Anton Kallberg duly won the group beating Tsoi Ka Wai in the concluding contest (11-6, 11-7, 11-1).

Defeat on Second Visit
Defeat on his second visit to the table, for Masato Kakitsuta it was defeat in his opening contest; he was beaten by China's Lv Xiang (11-4, 11-7, 11-9) who secured top place in the group by beating Hong Kong Daryl Hung (11-7, 11-7, 11-8).

Masato Kakitsuta duly secured first place in the group; he accounted for Daryl Hung on his second visit to the table (11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8).

Third Position for Swede
The door is still open for the Japanese duo; for Carl Ahlander-Johansson it is closed.

He accounted for Chinese Taipei's Chang Cha-Chun in five games (11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7), before losing to Japan's Tomo Miyazaki in four games (11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8); success for Tomo Miyazaki but in his concluding match it was defeat. He lost to Chang Chia-Chin in four games (13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4).

Thus it was first place in the group for Tomo Miyazaki (4:3), second position for Chang Cha-Chun (5:4) with Carl Johan-Ahlander (3:5) the player to miss out.

In Form Japanese Pair
First place in the group for Tomo Miyazaki; it was the same finish for Naoki Matsuda and Masahiro Otsuka, the 12th and 13th seeds. 

Both remained unbeaten to secure first position and thus enjoyed a relatively comfortable path to the main draw.

Experienced Problems
Meanwhile, in the first stage of the Junior Girls' Singles event, two players of note experienced problems. 

Chinese Taipei's Huang Hsin and Japan's Rira Ishikawa both had to settle for second places in their groups.

Huang Hsin, the no.8 seed, accounted for Hong Kong's Chan Mei Shan in her opening contest (11-6, 11-7, 13-11), before suffering defeat at the hands of Japan's Hitomi Sato (11-9, 11-9, 13-11); Hitomi Sato duly secured first place in the group by beating Chan Mei Shan (13-11, 11-6, 11-6).

Fine Start
Similarly, Rira Ishikawa, the no.10 seed, made a fine start to her campaign, she beat Canada's Phoebe Wong (11-1, 11-2, 11-1) but then lost to Hong Kong's Lam Yee Lok in three straight games (11-8, 11-9, 11-6), before recovering to defeat Soo Wai Hin, also from Hong Kong without surrendering a single game (11-4, 11-3, 11-3).

Equally Soo Wai Hin accounted for Phoebe Wong (11-7, 11-9, 11-6), as did Lam Yee Lok (11-4, 11-4, 11-3); however, in the opening match in the group Soo Wai Hin had beaten Lam Yee Lok in four games (11-7, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8).

Games Ratio Decided

Thus Soo Wai Hin, Lam Yee Lok and Rira Ishikawa finished level on matches won; each had won two and they had beaten each other. 

Games ratio decided with Lam Yee Lok finishing in first place (4:3) ahead of Rira Ishikawa (3:3) and Soo Wai Hin (3:4).

Leading Names Enjoy Success
First place for Lam Yee Lok as it was for the leading names in action. It was top spot for Mima Ito (Japan), Doo Hoi Kem (Hong Kong), Hu Limei (China), Ariel Hsing (United States), Miyu Maeda (Japan), Eka So (Japan), Ayane Morita (Japan), Chen Xingtong (China) and Jang Xue (China).

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: Donald Chin