The host nation's Lam Siu Hang and China's Fang Yinchi were the players to cause the upsets, as matters progressed towards the semi-final stage of the Junior Boys' Singles event at the Hong Kong Junior and Cadet Open on Saturday 10th August 2013.

Li Hong Ming, the no.8 seed, ousted Brazil's Vitor Ishiy, the no.2 seed in the opening round (7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6), before overcoming Chinese Taipei's Wen Wei-Chieh, the no.3 seed in the second round (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8) and colleague Li Hon Ming, the no.6 seed, in the quarter-finals (8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8).

An earlier than expected meeting against Vitor Ishiy, the reason was that the Brazilian had finished in second place in his group and had thus not progressed to the allotted second seeded place in the draw.

Fang Yinchi Outstanding
Fine form from Lam Siu Hang; it was the same from Fang Yinchi.

He accounted for Hong Kong's Wong Ka Ho (11-3, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8) and Chinese Taipei's Lin Hsueh-Yu in a close seven games encounter (11-5, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9), before reserving his place in the penultimate round by overcoming Japan's Naoki Matsuda, the no.12 seed (8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4).

More Predictable
Two surprise semi-finalists in the Junior Boys' Singles event, the two remaining places were more predictable.

China's Yu Ziyang, the no.1 seed, reserved his place in the penultimate round by ousting Japan's Masahiro Otsuka (10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2, 11-6); whilst the latter's colleague, Tonin Ruzaki, the no.4 seed, ended the hopes of China's Lv Xiang in a titanic seven games duel (11-3, 11-6, 3-11, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11).

Semi-Finals
At the semi-final stage Yu Ziyang meets Lam Siu Hang, Tonin Ryuzaki confronts Fang Yinchi.

Top Four Reach Semi-Finals
Surprises in the Junior Boys' Singles event but there were no surprises in the counterpart Cadet Boys' Singles competition; the top four seeds all booked semi-final places.

In the round of the last eight; in the top half of the draw Chinese Taipei's Huang Chien-Tu, the no.1 seed, accounted for Japan's Koyo Kanamitsu (11-8, 11-7, 11-5), whilst Sweden's Omid Khoshbakht, the no.4 seed, defeated Chinese Taipei'sTang Cheng-Yen (11-6, 12-10, 11-9).

Matters as predicted in the top half of the draw in the Cadet Boys' Singles event, it was the same in the lower half.

The host association's Hung Ka Tak recorded a quarter-final victory over Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-Ju (11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7), whilst the latter's colleague, Yu Cheng-Feng, the no.3 seed, ended the aspirations of Sweden's Adam Blomqvist.

Chinese Pair Cause Upset
Meanwhile, in the Junior Boys' Doubles event, the Chinese pairing of Fang Yinchi and Lv Xiang, not seeded, attracted the attention.

They beat the top seeded Chinese Taipei's Wang Tai-Wei and Wen Wei-Chieh in five games (11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-2), before recording a quarter-final win over Japan's Naoki Matsuda and Tomo Miyazaki (11-6, 11-9, 11-5).

"I think they are not focused enough and impatient", said Lv Xiang after beating the top seeds. "Therefore, they made several mistakes."

Swedes Hit Form
Similarly the Swedish duo of Carl Ahlander-Johansson and Anton Kallberg hit form; the fifth seeds, they ousted the second seeded Japanese pairing of Ryotaro Ogata and Tonin Ryuzaki in the quarter-finals (11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 13-11) in the quarter-finals.

In the penultimate round they meet Hong Kong's Lam Siu Hang and Li Hon Ming, the third seeds; Fang Yinchi and Lv Xiang face Kapan's Masato Kakitsuka and Masahiro Otsuka, the no.4 seeds.

Success for Host Nation Pair
Meanwhile, in the Cadet Boys' Doubles event one surprise partnership progressed to the semi-final stage.

Hong Kong's Kwan Man Ho and Wong Ho Hin, the no.5 seeds, overcame Sweden'sAdam Blomqvist and Omid Khoshbakht in the quarter-finals (11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7).

At the semi-final stage they meet Chinese Taipei's Huang Chien-Tu and Shen Shun-Chang, the top seeds; whilst in the lower half of the draw, Chen Chun-Hsiang and Yu Cheng-Feng, also from Chinese Taipei, meet colleagues Chi Huang-Yang and Lin Yun-Ju.

Finals
All finals will be played on Sunday 11th August 2013.

Article By: ITTF - Ian Marshall

Photo By: Donald Chin