Pakistan & Hosts Hong Kong Win Asian Junior Team Titles

15 Feb 2007

Favourites Pakistan and hosts Hong Kong won the men's and women's titles, respectively, in the Hoe Hin White Flower Ointment Asian Junior Team Championships in Hong Kong - in both cases beating Malaysia in the finals.

Four days after winning the individual title, Farhan Mehboob led Pakistan to a successful defence of the men's team crown. The 18-year-old beat Malaysia's top string Muhd Asyraf Azan 9-1, 9-1, 9-4 - but, in a dramatic second string encounter, Elvinn Keo fought back for the second seeds to beat Pakistan's Waqar Mehboob 9-4, 4-9, 0-9, 9-7, 10-9 to level the tie.

In the decider, however, Pakistan's Farzan Rasheed dashed Malaysia's title hopes with a 9-2, 9-4, 9-2 defeat of Choong Kam Hing to record a 2/1 tie win.

After sensationally winning the Women's World Junior Team Championship title in 2005, Hong Kong successfully claimed the regional title with their 2/0 defeat of Malaysia in the Asian final - despite losing the services of the newly-crowned individual champion Annie Au through injury.

Joey Chan led the hosts' attack, beating 16-year-old Wee Wern Low 7-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-2. In the next rubber, it was Wee Wern's younger sister Wee Nee Low that faced the Hong Kong second string Shin Nga Leung - but, to the local crowd's joy, Leung prevailed 9-3, 9-0, 7-9, 9-6 to give the hosts their anticipated victory.

Men's Final:
[1] PAKISTAN bt [2] MALAYSIA 2-1
Farhan Mehboob bt Muhd Asyraf Azan 9-1, 9-1, 9-4
Waqar Mehboob lost to Elvinn Keo 4-9, 9-4, 9-0, 7-9, 9-10
Farzan Rasheed bt Choong Kam Hing 9-2, 9-4, 9-2
3rd place play-off:
[3] INDIA bt [4] HONG KONG 2-1
Sandeep Jangra lost to Leo Au 3-9, 0-9, 9-5, 9-6, 0-9
Parth Sharma bt Fung Ji Yang 9-5, 9-0, 9-4
Naresh Kumar bt Chan Kai Chi 9-3, 9-5, 10-8
5th place play-off:
KUWAIT bt SOUTH KOREA 2-1
Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Tawari lost to Lee Jin Tong 7-9, 9-0, 6-9, 3-9
Ammar Al-Tamimi bt Lee Nyeon-Ho 9-5, 0-9, 9-7, 9-7
Ahmad Al-Randi bt Se Hyun Lee 9-4, 3-9, 4-9, 10-8, 9-1
7th place play-off:
SINGAPORE bt SRI LANKA 2-0
Marcus Phua bt Eranga Alwis 10-8, 9-1, 9-0
Kenneth Chan bt Chakkranga Rajapakse 9-2, 9-7, 9-0
Nigel Koh v Nilruk Soysa (dead rubber - match not played)
9th place play-off:
JORDAN bt JAPAN 2-1
Mohammad Harb lost to Shinnosuke Tsukue 8-10, 10-8, 7-9, 8-10
Ahmad Al Zabidi bt Syo Miyakawa 9-3, 9-0, 9-1
Saif Kamal bt Kikoyu Itagaki 9-1, 9-4, 9-3
11th place play-off:
IRAN bt MACAU 2-0
Navid Malek Sabet bt Lao Chin Hang 9-3, 9-0, 9-2
Mohamad Hassan Jafari bt Fong Tai Kei 9-1, 9-0, 9-2
Mohammad Reza Sadeghpour v Leong Wai Hon (dead rubber - match not played)
13th place play-off:
CHINESE TAIPEI bye

Women's Final:
[1] HONG KONG bt [2] MALAYSIA 2-0
Joey Chan bt Wee Wern Low 7-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-2
Shin Nga Leung bt Wee Nee Low 9-3, 9-0, 7-9, 9-6
Ka Kei Chiu v Nabilla Ariffin (dead rubber - match not played)
3rd place play-off:
[4] JAPAN bt PAKISTAN 2-0
Misaki Kobayashi bt Maria Toor Pakay 9-6, 6-9, 9-3, 9-7
Yuki Sakai bt Zoya Khalid 9-2, 9-3, 9-0
Midori Saji v Aliya Sarfraz (dead rubber - match not played)
5th place play-off:
SINGAPORE bt SOUTH KOREA 2-0
Pamela Chua bt Sun-Mi Song 6-9, 8-10, 9-6, 10-8, 9-3
Nicole Chua bt Chan-Mi Bae 9-1, 9-0, 9-2
Mao Shi Hui v Kwon Sung-Eun (dead rubber - match not played)
7th place play-off:
SRI LANKA bt PHILIPPINES 2-0
Nirasha Guruge bt Jamyca Aribado 9-1, 9-1, 9-0
Randima Ranaweera bt Yvonne Alyssa Dalida 9-6, 9-5, 9-1
Daminda Udangawa v Jenny Aribado (dead rubber - match not played)