KUCHING: First seed South Korea continued to show their dominance in Group A of ITF World Tennis Junior Team Competition U14 (Boys) Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying held at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) Centre from March 27 to April 1.
With their hopes of securing a spot in the top eight playoffs on the line, sixth seed Uzbekistan were not close to posing a threat to the South Koreans as the top dog easily destroyed them by 3-0.
First, Kim Dong Min took down Alan Zinatulin with 6-1, 6-2 and later Kim Won Min defeated Akmal Abdullaev by 6-0, 6-1 in their respective singles’ matches.
With the victory secured, Dong Min and his partner Cho Min Hyuk then took out Zinatulin and Abdulkhodiy Khosilov by 6-2, 6-1 to secure the 3-0 scoreline and help South Korea to finish top of the group.
The loss on Tuesday proved costly for the Uzbeks as Thailand capitalised on the upset victory the day before by beating Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to secure the second ticket into the quarter-finals from Group A.
Meanwhile in Group B, third seed Japan demolished eighth seed Pakistan by 3-0 in the group winner decider tie while Indonesia took out Iran by 3-0 to avoid finishing at the root of the group.
With their top eight hopes hanging by a thread, fifth seed India fought hard in their tie against fourth seed Hong Kong but unfortunately came out short by losing 0-3.
Prakaash Sarran first lost to Choi Fu Wang by 2-6, 0-6 in the first singles’ match, with his fellow compatriot Shivtej Balaprasad Shirfule later fighting back but eventually fell to Tam Sin Hang by 0-6, 7-6(2), 3-6 in the second singles’ match.
With their fates sealed, Sarran and Shirfule still fought with vigour but their endeavours ended up unfruitful as Choi and his partner Selwyn Wong Tsz Yuen won the doubles’ match by 4-6, 6-4, [14-12] after an eventful super tiebreaker.
With Hong Kong securing the victory and the top spot of Group C, their neighbouring country Chinese Taipei seized the chance by securing the second spot out of the group themselves by beating New Zealand 3-0.
Meanwhile in Group D, second seed Australia easily dispatched seventh seed Kazakhstan in the group winners’ decider while Jordan lost to Singapore 0-3 to finish bottom of the group.
After the group stages completed, South Korea were drawn to face Chinese Taipei in the quarter-final, with Japan facing Kazakhstan, Thailand versus Hong Kong, and Pakistan taking on Australia to complete the top eight bracket.
In the meantime, we will see Uzbekistan welcoming the challenge of New Zealand, Indonesia taking on Jordan, Iran versus India and Kyrgyzstan facing off against Singapore in the 9th to 16th places playoffs.
