Two surprise wins, two surprise defeats and two expected successes; everything came in multiples of two for Hong Kong in the morning session of play at the JOOLA 2013 Hungarian Junior and Cadet Open, in Szombathely on Thursday 7th November.

Doo Hoi Kem and Hung Ka Tak progressed as their seeding predicted; Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Lam Yee Lok suffered defeats against lower rated adversaries, whilst Li Hong Ming and Lam Siu Hang turned the tables.

They excelled and caused upsets as matters progressed to the quarter-final stage of the Junior Boys’ Singles event.

Major Surprise
In the fourth round, Lam Siu Hang, 16 years old, caused the biggest upset of the first session of play; the no.9 seed, he beat Chinese Taipei’s Liao Cheng-Ting, the no.2 seed and the young man who is currently listed in second place on the ITTF Junior Boys’ Standings.

He won in six games (11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 6-11, 13-11).

Similar Fine Effort
A fine effort from Lam Siu Hang; it was the same from both Li Hong Ming and Hung Ka Tak.

Occupying the no.4 seeded position in the draw, Hung Ka Tak booked his place in the quarter-finals as his status predicted; he beat Frenchman Can Akkuzu, the no.10 seed, in the fourth round (2-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5).

Not Expected
The quarter-final place was as seeding predicted, the quarter-final place for Li Hon Ming was not to be expected; he was the no.13 seed.

He reserved his place in the last eight courtesy of success against Germany’s Qiu Dang, the no.20 seed (11-4, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6), a player in good form. One round earlier, Qiu Dang had beaten Portugal’s Diogo Chen, the no.7 seed (11-4, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6).

Different Story
Notable wins for the young men from Hong Kong but for the young ladies it was a somewhat different story.

Doo Hoi Kem, the top seed, duly booked her place in the quarter-finals courtesy of victory against Israel’s Nicole Trosman, the no.14 seed (10-12, 11-8, 12-10, 6-11,11-9, 13-11) but for Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Lam Yee Lok, there was to be no such good fortune.

Both suffered fourth round defeats. Minnie Soo Wai Yam, the no.4 seed, was beaten by Charlotte Carey of Wales, the no.13 seed (7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 11-7); Lam Yee Lok, the no.5 seed, experienced defeat in the same round. She suffered at the hands of Tamolwan Khetkhuan, the no.10 seed (11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7).

Second in Group but in Last Eight
Two surprise quarter-finalists in the Junior Girls’ Team event and there was one more.

The Czech Republic’s Kristyna Stefcova, who had finished in second place in her group one day earlier, losing to Switzerland’s Céline Reust, hit top form one day later to reach the round of the last eight.

She beat Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Wen, the no.8 seed (15-13, 7-11, 15-13, 11-8, 11-5), before overcoming Romania’s Andreea Clapa, likewise a qualifier, in a nail-biting seven games duel (11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-11, 11-6, 15-13) and Germany’s Alena Lemmer, the no.11 seed (4-11, 11-0, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11, 13-11).

Leading Names Emerge Victorious
Three surprise quarter-finalists but there were no more in the Junior Girls’ Singles event.

In addition to Doo Hoi Kem; Romania’s Bernadette Szocs (no.2 seed) and Irina Ciobanu (no.6 seed) duly negotiated the first four rounds as did Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Ssu-Hua (no.3 seed) and Chantal Mantz of France (no.7 seed).

Similar Scenario
Similarly, in the Junior Boys’ Singles event, the majority of the leading names reserved quarter-final places.

Alongside Hung Ka Tak, Japan’s Yuto Muramatsu (no.1 seed), Hungary’s Adam Szudi (no.2 seed) and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Heng-Wei (no.5 seed) progressed successfully to the last eight, as did the Czech Republic’s David Reitspies (no.3 seed) and Germany’s Kilian Ort (the no.8 seed).

Finals
Play concludes in the Junior Boys’ Singles and Junior Girls’ Singles events on Thursday 7th November.

Article by : ITTF - Ian Marshall

Photo by : Thailand TTA