Kiwis Fall In Quarters & Semis At International Table Tennis
Saturday 10 April 2010, 9:37AM
By Dave Worsley
813 views
New Zealand players put up some good performances but fell by the wayside as in the quarters and semis of singles at the KVB Kunlun ITTF New Zealand Junior and Cadet Open table tennis tournament held in Auckland.
The best of the home players was Kevin Wu, 15 had earlier booked his place in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August and is also looking toward to playing in the senior Oceania table tennis champs starting on Monday in Auckland with Commonwealth Games up for grabs.
Wu beat highly regarded American Alexander Yao in the quarters 4-1 but then lost to top seed Daryl Hung from Hong Kong. Wu started his semifinal well by winning the first game 12-11, however the hot form of Hung then showed through putting Wu under pressure with the Hong Kong player then wrapping things up quickly.
Hung will face countryman Hon Ming Li in the final. Earlier Hung had defeated Kiwi Thom Nguyen 4-0 in the quarters.
In the girls quarters all four Kiwis - Natalie Paterson, Sophia Dong, Jennifer Tseng and Julie Wu all lost. Wu, New Zealand’s female representative for the Youth Olympics had the best chance of making the semis managing to gain a game of Australian Vy Bui, but eventually losing 1-4.
The junior girls final has Hong Kong’s Chung Wan Wong up against Australia’s Lily Phan.
The same players in the junior girls and boys finals are also dominating the Cadet finals.
Results:
Junior Boys singles quarterfinals:
(New Zealand unless noted)
Daryl Hung(Hong Kong) bt Thom Nguyen 4-0, Kevin Wu bt Alexander Yao(USA) 4-1, Hon Ming Li(Hong Kong) bt Heming Hu(Australia) 4-0, Siu Hang Lam(Hong Kong) bt Tan Santiwattanatarm(Thailand) 4-0.
Semifinals:
Hung bt Wu 4-1, Li bt Lam 4-0
Junior Girls singles first round:
Natalie Paterson bt Vaihiria Gaumet(Tahiti) 4-0, Sophia Dong bt Kayla Coombs(Australia) 4-0, Jennifer Tseng bt Louise Manico(Cook Islands) 4-0.
Quarterfinals:
Chung Wan Wong(Hong Kong) bt Paterson 4-0, Anna Du(Australia) bt Dong 4-0, Vy Bui(Australia) bt Julia Wu 4-1, Lily Phan(Australia) bt Tseng 4-0.
Semifinals:
Wong bt Du 4-0, Phan bt Bui 4-1.
Cadet Boys singles quarterfinals:
Daryl Hung(Hong Kong) bt Roger Rao 3-0, Dillon Cathcart(Australia) bt Man Ho Kwan(Hong Kong) 3-2, Hon Ming Li(Hong Kong bt Xu Ning 3-0, Siu Hang Lam(Hong Kong) bt Alexander Yao(USA) 3-1.
Semifinals:
Hung bt Cathcart 3-0, Li bt Lam 3-0.
Cadet Girls singles quarterfinals:
Chung Wan Wong(Hong Kong) bt Sam Ong(Malaysia) 3-0, Vy Bui(Australia) bt Fleur Dumortier(New Caledonia) 3-0, Yuen Wai Ng(Hong Kong) bt Jennifer Tseng 3-1, Lily Phan(Australia) bt Desiree Hung(Hong Kong 3-0.
Semifinals:
Wong bt Bui 3-0, Phan bt Ng 3-1.