 Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 15 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 15 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 15 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 15 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 14 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 15 Oct 2004 |
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| 15 Oct 2004 - ITF - Will Fletcher | |
| Osaka Mayor's Cup quarterfinal round up |
There were no surprises at the Osaka Mayor’s Cup World Super Junior Tennis Championships today as the first four boys’ seeds moved into the semifinals of the boys’ singles at the Grade A event in Japan. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the favourite, Korea’s Sun-Yong Kim, dropped a set in his quarterfinal tie against Jochen Schottler, the first time he has faltered this week. However that was the only concession Kim made to the German, closing the match out 62 36 62. Kim will meet Chu-Huan Yi (TPE) who held his nerve in the first set against Thailand’s Weerapat Doakmaiklee to win comfortably in the end 76(1) 62. If Kim is to proceed to the final he will not be able to afford any hiccups against Yi who was victorious the last time the two met in an ITF Junior event on Great Britain’s grass in June.
In the other half of the draw Segei Bubka (UKR) ended Yuichi Sugita’s excellent run of form defeating the Japanese boy with ease 61 62. The fourth seed from the Ukraine will now take on second seed Woong-Sun Jun (KOR) for a place in the final. Bubka will be looking to set the record straight after losing to Jun in the third round of this tournament last year.
The girls’ singles draw is similar to the boys’ in that three of the top four seeds are through to the semifinals. After Chinese Taipei’s Yi Chen knocked out seeded players Julia Cohen (USA) and Stefanie Rath (AUT) it was ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark who ended her run in three sets 26 63 63. The Danish player’s next opponent will be another girl from Chinese Taipei, but a much tougher proposition in Wen-Hsin Hsu. The third seed from Taiwan defeated Czech Republic’s Katerina Kramperova 75 62 to reach the semifinals.
In the other half of the draw top seed Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) will play fourth seed Dominika Cibulkova from the Slovak Republic. Chan looked impressive as she shrugged off the challenge of Vojislava Lukic (SCG) in the quarterfinals. She defeated the sixth seed 63 60. Meanwhile Cibulkova knocked out the last Japanese hope in the form of Erika Sema 64 62. The Slovak player will be striving for her first title of 2004 while Chan will look to add to her three Grade 1 titles from earlier in the year.
If the tournament results continue to follow the seedings then we will be watching an all Korean boys’ final and a Chinese Taipei girls’ final. If that is the case then it will not be the only final that the top two boys’ seeds, Kim and Jun, feature in as the Koreans have carried their dominant singles form into the doubles competition. They overcame Bubka and Tristan Farron-Mahon (IRL) 76(5) 16 64 to book a place in tomorrow’s final. Their opponents are fourth seeds Myles Blake (GBR) and Abdullah Magdas (KUW) who knocked out the second seeds, Takanobu Fujii (JPN) and Chu-Huan Yi (TPE), 76(3) 61 in the semifinals.
All Japanese support will now turn to tomorrow’s girls’ doubles where unseeded Megumi Fukui and Kaoru Maezawa will take on Australia’s Michelle Brycki and Shayna McDowell in the final. The Australians will be looking to extend their consistent run of doubles results with a title victory against a Japanese pair who, before this tournament, have never played together in an ITF Junior event.
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