IC Asian Junior Challenge 2015 - 27 to 30 October 2015

IC Singapore hosted the IC Asian Junior Challenge 2015 from 27 October 2015 to 30 October 2015.  

The prize for the winners was a place in the IC Junior Challenge Finals in Monte Carlo in 2016.

The event was held at Winchester Tennis Arena. The event coincided with the week of the WTA Finals in Singapore as well as several ITF Junior events. Although the haze caused by forest and peat fires in Indonesia threatened the event, the arrival of the teams seemed to have brought about a change in wind directions which cleared the air space above Singapore.

Apart from IC Singapore, four other ICs participated. They came from all directions on the compass. From the North East, came IC Japan. From the South East, came IC New Zealand. From the North West, came IC Pakistan. and lastly, from the Far West, came IC Israel.

IC Japan were represented by Yuki Ando, Yuka Hosoki, Koki Muto and Ryohei Tagata and were led by team coaches, Yoshito Nakamura and Noriyuki Washida. IC New Zealand were represented by Ashleigh Harvey, Brooke Kenny, Ajeet Rai and Finn Reynolds and Marcel Vos led the team. IC Pakistan had Hania Navaid, Muhammad Reza Sawani (who was playing his second Asian Youth Challenge) and Muhammad Nauman Aftab and were led by the Secretary General of the Pakistan Tennis Federation, Mr Muhammad Khalid Rehmani. IC Israel came with Nicole Nadel, Daria Schwartzman, Amit Gavriel and Pavel Semidockikh and Victor Dubnov led the team. Hosts, IC Singapore, were led by IC Singapore member, Marc Koh, and were represented by Ruhi Kamdar, Sin Su-Wen, Jeovanne Canace Poernomo, Justin Oeni and Dong Chen.

The five teams were put into two groups with the winners of each group to play in the finals. In the first group, IC New Zealand were placed with host, IC Singapore. IC New Zealand came through (6-0) to emerge as winners of the group. In the second group, IC Japan emerged winners beating IC Israel (5-1) and IC Pakistan (6-0).In the matches for placings, IC Israel beat IC Pakistan (6-0) and IC Singapore(6-0) to be placed third. IC Singapore beat IC Pakistan (3-1) to secure 4th place ahead of IC Pakistan.

In the finals, the formbook favoured the Kiwi boys and the Japanese girls which hinted that the match would be decided by a mixed doubles. Kiwi no. 1, Ajeet Rai, did his part to win his singles over Koki Muto and partnered Finn Reynolds to win the boys' doubles. However, Japanese no. 2, Ryohei Tagata, upset the formbook by prevailing over Kiwi no. 2, Finn Reynolds, in the boys' singles to give IC Japan a substantial advantage. IC Japan's girls, Yuki Ando and Yuka Hosoki, played to form to beat the Kiwi girls in the singles. However, the Kiwi girls, Ashleigh Harvey and Brooke Kenny, threatened further upheaval of the formbook by putting up a tremendous fight in the girls doubles. The girls doubles hung on the balance for a long while before Yuki Ando and Yuka Hosoki stepped up their game to eventually prevail. This meant that IC Japan had beaten IC New Zealand 4-2 and therefore emerged as winners of the IC Asian Junior Challenge 2015.

Congratulations to IC Japan and all the best in the Monte Carlo next year!

Tournament director and IC Singapore member, XT Tan, and IC Japan coach, Noriyuki Washida, at the Welcome Dinner.

IC Singapore member, XT Tan, with the boys - IC Japan (Koki Muto and Ryohei Tagata), IC New Zealand (Finn Reynolds and Ajeet Rai), IC Pakistan (Reza Sawani and Nauman Aftab) and IC Israel (Amit Gavriel and Pavel Semidockikh) - at the Welcome Dinner.

 

IC Singapore member, Maddie Noda, flanked by IC New Zealand coach, Marcel Vos, and IC Israel coach, Victor Dubnov.

At Winchester Tennis Arena - IC Singapore's Paul Wong with Victor Dubnov (IC Israel coach) and Khalid Rehmani (IC Pakistan manager).

IC Israel girls, Nicole Nadel and Daria Schwartzman, with IC Japan girls, Yuka Hosoki and Yuki Ando.

IC Japan boys (Ryohei Tagata and Koki Muto) with IC Israel boys ( Amit Gavriel andPavel Semidockikh)

IC Singapore team with IC New Zealand team - Finn Reynolds, Justin Oeni, Ruhi Kamdar, Ashleigh Harvey, Brooke Kenny, Sin Su-Wen and Ajeet Rai.

IC Japan girls (Yuki Ando and Yuka Hosoki) with Jeovanne Poernomo (IC Singapore) and IC Pakistan's Hania Navaid.

IC Japan (Noriyuki Washida (coach), Ryohei Tagata and Koki Muto) posed for a photograph after their match against IC Pakistan (Reza Sawani and Nauman Aftab).

IC Israel's Nicole Nadel and Daria Schwartzman take a photo with IC Pakistan's Hania Navaid and IC Singapore's Jeovanne Purnomo before their doubles match.

IC Singapore boys (Dong Chen and Justin Oeni) with IC Israel boys (Pavel Semidockikh and Amit Gavriel) after their boys' doubles match. 

IC Pakistan's manager, Khalid Rehmani, presenting tournament director, XT Tan, with a Pakistani shawl presented to honorary recipients.

IC New Zealand (Ashleigh Harvey, Brooke Kenny, Finn Reynolds and Ajeet Rai) at the prize presentation.

Winners of the IC Asian Junior Challenge 2015, IC Japan (Yuki Ando, Yuka Hosoki, Koki Muto and Ryohei Tagata), flanked by team coaches, Noriyuki Washida on the left and Yoshito Nakamura on the right. Nakamura san has been IC Japan's coach for the IC Asian Junior Challenges in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and all his teams have reached the finals in these events.