South Korean boys lead charge into last eight
KUCHING: South Korea have qualified for the quarterfinals of the World Junior Team Competition Boys U14 AsiaOceania Final Qualifying after registering their second win in Group A against Indonesia yesterday.
The tournament top seeds blanked Indonesia 3-0 to record two wins out of two matches.
Jang Junseo was one set down 2-6 against Roger Wirawan in the first singles but he staged a strong comeback to win 6-1, 6-4 to hand South Korea the first point.
Kim Dongjae had little problem in seeing off Calvin Jonathan Santoso 6-1, 6-1 in the second singles while JangKim beat Roger-Jordan Faith Suryaatamadja 6-3, 6-2 in the doubles.
The South Koreans will play fifth seeds Hong Kong today to decide the top two teams in the group.
Third seeds Australia are also ensured of a place in the last eight after securing their second win in Group B.
They were 3-0 winners over Pakistan, thanks to points from Lucas Han who beat Muhammad Hamza Ali Rizwan 6-0, 6-0, Taiki Taikizawa who beat Abubakar Talha 6-3, 6-2 and Heaton PannTaiki who defeated Omar JawadMuhammad Hamza 6-2, 6-3.
However, the second seeds India faced stiff opposition from China but eventually won 2-1 in Group D.
They won the first singles through Tavish Pahwa who defeated Jiang Xiaohan 76-0, 6-3. However, China levelled through Ding Chuan who beat Hruthik Katakam 3-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Fazal Ali Meer-Tavish scored the winning point for India after they tamed Jiang-Yua Shundu 64, 6-4 in the doubles.
In the same group, last year’s champions Japan are also into the last eight after scoring their second consecutive win, blanking Singapore 3-0.
In other matches, fifth seeds Hong Kong and sixth seeds Kazakhstan fell to their second straight defeats, thus making their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals look bleak.
Hong Kong, who lost 1-2 to Indonesia on Monday, were whipped 3-0 by New Zealand in a Group A match yesterday.
They next face South Korea in the final group match today.
Kazakhstan, who fell 1-2 to Pakistan in the opener, lost to Uzbekistan by the same margin in Group B.
Fourth seeds Thailand are also in the last eight after beating Iran 3-0.
Joining the Thais in the quarterfinals are Chinese Taipei who beat Sri Lanka 3-0.