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| 24 May 2003 | |
| Asia/Oceania Regional Qualifying Event (Melbourne) Report and Photos |
THE PHILIPPINES BOYS' TEAM QUALIFY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE START OF COMPETITION
It was Asia against Oceania in the finals of the World Junior Tennis ITF 14/u teams regional qualifying competition at Melbourne Park on Saturday 24 May when Japan faced hosts Australia in both the boys and girls events.
The Australian girl's team, seeded second, had only one scare on the way to the final and that was a tight 2-1 win over Japan in the round robin so were favourites but expecting a difficult match. However the Australian singles players Shayna McDowell and Holly Cao were on top of their games winning their matches comfortably in straight sets to give the home team a 2-0 lead. McDowell and Michelle Brycki then beat Emiko Ito and Ayumi Morita to complete a 3-0 win.
Although they were seeded one, the Australian boys lost both singles to fifth seeds Japan in the round robin and were in for a tough final against the unbeaten Japanese team. Kei Nishikori began well in the opening singles for Japan, taking a handy lead in the first set against Patrick Nicholls but the big Australian fought back from 3-5 to win the set and then run away with the match. Japan number one Fumiaki Kita played great tennis to win the first set of the number one singles and give Japan hope. The second set went to a tiebreaker which Alex Bothe won for Australia and then he narrowly won the third set 6-4 to make Australia top qualifiers in the competition.
The Philippines boys caused a sensational upset when they beat second seeds Thailand 2-1 in the quarterfinals to qualify for the world finals in the Czech Republic in August for the first time. Pablo Olivarez was the hero for his team winning the opening singles and then combining with Ralph Barte to win the deciding doubles in three sets. Indonesia beat Philippines in the play-off for third and fourth and will also be in the world finals.
New Zealand and Thailand join Australia and Japan in the world finals of the girl's competition with New Zealand beating Thailand comfortably in the play-off for third place. Their number one player Ellen Barry was the only top ranked girl to go through the competition unbeaten although New Zealand’s 2-1 semifinal loss to Japan meant they did not play traditional rivals Australia during the competition.
This was the first time that the Asia/Oceania qualifying event for the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition had been held in Australia and the players relished the opportunity to be at a Grand Slam venue and play on the show courts including the Margaret Court Arena. Team members were also taken on a tour of centre court, Rod Laver Arena.
Qualifiers in finishing order:
Girls: Australia 1, Japan 2, New Zealand 3, Thailand 4
Boys: Australia 1, Japan 2, Indonesia 3, Philippines 4
Other placings:
Girls: Chinese Taipei 5, India 6, Indonesia 7, Malaysia 8, Korea 9, Hong Kong 10, Philippines 11
Boys: Korea 5, India 6, Thailand 7, Chinese Taipei 8, New Zealand 9, Hong Kong 10, Sri Lanka 11, Malaysia 12.
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