Japan and South Korea claim 2018 World Team Cup spots

Japan men’s and South Korea women’s teams have won the BNP Paribas World Team Cup Asian Qualification in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and qualified for the World Team Cup Finals, set to take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, between 28 May and 3 June.

Victory for top seed Japan in the men’s final came after a 3-0 loss to hosts Sri Lanka in the round robin competition. China defeated Malaysia 2-1, which meant this first phase ended with Japan, Sri Lanka and China all on two wins.

However, the Japanese and Chinese teams qualified for the final due to a better percentage of sets won.

Shunjiang Dong gave China the lead with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Yoshinobu Fujimoto. But world No. 8 Takashi Sanada eased past Chao Du 6-1, 6-0 and then partnered Fujimoto to win the crucial doubles rubber 6-4, 6-3.

Japan will now contest the men’s event at the World Team Cup finals for the 32nd time.

South Korea to contest women’s finals for the first time since 2014

The South Korean female team achieved an overall 2-0 win over Malaysia and will now compete at the World Team Cup Finals for the 17th time.

In Kyung Han opened the Korean challenge with a tentative 6-3, 7-6 (4) triumph over Malaysia’s Norisah Bahrom. Former world No. 7 Ju-Youn Park dominated the second singles rubber to defeat Nur Aqidah Zainuddin 6-0, 6-0 and give South Korea an unassailable lead.

Come the second tie between the two nations, Han had much the better of her match against Bahrom, this time earning a 6-0, 6-3 win. With Park once again beating Zainuddin 6-0, 6-0, the Korean team wrapped up its second victory with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the doubles rubber.

Full story is available on the ITF’s website.