KUCHING: Third seed Japan ruined eighth seed Pakistan’s dream of a fairy tale ending as they triumphed over the Pakistanis by 2-1 in the final of ITF World Tennis Junior Team Competition U14 (Boys) Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying round held at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre here yesterday.
The Pakistanis had been causing upsets in the past two days prior to the final by taking down second seed Australia in the quarter-final and later fourth seed Hong Kong in the semi-final.
Unfortunately, they were unable to carry the momentum into the final to pull off one final upset. Kanta Watanabe first defeated Abubakar Talha in the first singles match by 6-3, 7-5 even though Talha put up a good fight in the second set.
Pakistan’s Hamza Roman then equalised the scoreline by destroying Motoharu Abe by 6-2, 6-1 to bring the tie into the third match.
Roman later partnered up with Talha in the boys doubles match by taking the first set by 6-4 against Abe and his compatriot Kensuke Kobayashi.
With their backs against the wall, the Japanese boys rallied back by taking the second set with the same scoreline of 6-4.
In the deciding set, both pairs went back and forth until super tiebreakers and the Japanese boys managed to steel their nerves by taking the victory by (10-5) to secure the championship.
Meanwhile, South Korea were third by beating Hong Kong 2-0 in the 3rd/4th place playoffs, with Chinese Taipei finishing fifth by walkover against Australia due to players injuries.
Thailand ended their journey in seventh, followed by Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Iran, Singapore, New Zealand, Uzbekistan and India in 14th.
Jordan and Kyrgyzstan finished in 15th and 16th respectively and they will both be relegated into pre-qualifying tournament next year.
