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| 17 Aug 2003 | |
| Day 6 - Finals Day |
The World Junior Tennis Championships - the ITF Team Competition for boys and girls of 14 and under - came to a close in Prostejov, Czech Republic this afternoon as the host nation took the girls' title and, for the second consecutive year, the boys of the USA were victorious and return home again with the trophy.
With the positions for 5th to 12th place decided yesterday, today would see the matches for 1st to 4th and 12th to 16th positions confirmed.
For the fourth time in six years, the girls' final was fought between the Russian and Czech teams. In a truly exciting match, the Czech team successfully defeated top seeds Russia, much to the delight of the home crowd. The tie, played out on the magnificent centre court of the TK Plus Tennis Club, provided the captivated crowd with some awesome tennis. Russia took an early lead when Regina Kulikova defeated Sona Novakova 62 61. In the No 1 singles match-up, Czech Nicole Vaidisova, managed to level the tie with a fine 61 61 win over Evgeniya Rodina. In the third and final rubber, the pairings of Eva Kadlecova/Vaidisova and Kulikova/Rodina faced a battle of nerves to decide the Championship Title.
A nail-biting doubles saw the No 1 seeds edged out 64 76(3). The Czech girls jumped for joy as the last point was won and the crowd rose to their feet to give all four girls a much deserved standing ovation.
In the boys' event, Kei Nishikori (JPN) took the first rubber 76(4) 26 62 from Leo Rosenberg (USA). Next on court, Fumiaki Kita (JPN), prepared to do battle with Donald Young (USA) who, commendably, had not dropped a set all week. Young maintained this record and took the second rubber comfortably 62 63. The deciding rubber between Kita/Nishikori and Rosenberg/Young was won with ease by the USA boys 61 61 to claim the boys' trophy for a second consecutive year.
Mr Luca Santilli, ITF Juniors and Vets Manager, commended the two winning teams. "The winners in both events should be congratulated on their overall play. There have also been some outstanding individual performances. In particular, Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) and Donald Young (USA) who have each led their respective teams to victory."
In the boys' event, the play-offs for 12th to 16th place secured wins for South Africa and Chile against Indonesia and the Philippines 2-1 and 3-0 respectively. For the girls', Morocco and Uruguay each defeated Thailand and Bolivia 2-1 respectively. Because of the new ruling regarding the regional distribution of places for 2004, the 16th placed nations in each category would lose a place to Africa in their World region's allocation for the Finals in 2004.
Mention should be made of the unseeded Japanese boys' team who proved themselves a force to be reckoned with. They should also be congratulated on winning the Top Team Competition this week, voted by their fellow competitors for outstanding sportsmanship both on and off the court. The Polish girls' team also finished a very creditable 5th ahead of four of the seeded teams.
FINAL POSITIONS
BOYS
USA (1)
JAPAN
CROATIA (3)
FRANCE (4)
BELARUS (7)
CZECH REPUBLIC (2)
MEXICO
AUSTRALIA (5)
ITALY
ECUADOR
GREAT BRITAIN (6)
VENEZUELA
SOUTH AFRICA
INDONESIA
CHILE (8)
PHILIPPINES
GIRLS
CZECH REPUBLIC (3)
RUSSIA (1)
CANADA (4)
BRAZIL (7)
POLAND
AUSTRALIA (6)
USA (2)
JAPAN
ROMANIA (5)
CROATIA
ITALY (8)
NEW ZEALAND
MOROCCO
THAILAND
URUGUAY
BOLIVIA
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