The territory last hosted the Championships at Victoria Park in 2001 when local aces Melvin Tong and John Hui finished runners-up in the Men's Doubles to Lee Hyung-Taik and Chung Hee-Seok of Korea. This remains the best result ever produced by players from Hong Kong at the Asian Championships.


That year, Thailand's second-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan, who was still ranked outside the Top-100, beat Korean number one and top-seeded Lee Hyung-Taik to capture the Men's Singles title and, with it, a wildcard to the Australian Open the following year.


By April 2003, Paradorn had become the highest-ranking Asian player ever on the ATP Tour when he cracked the Top-10 for the first time, beating the previous best of No. 16 held by none other than Vijay Amritraj of India back in July 1980. Some might argue it was the 2001 Championships right here at Victoria Park that spring-boarded the Thai's ascendancy to such lofty heights in world tennis.


In 2002, the event was moved to Tashkent, Uzbekistan for the first time when Japan swept both the Men's and Women's Singles titles behind Gouichi Motomura and Akiko Morigami. Since then, Uzbekistan has secured another three-year tenure to host the Championships where it will remain in Central Asia until 2008.


Uzbekistan's Vadim Kutsenko defeated Kazakhstan's Alexey Kedriouk, 7-6(3), 6-2, to win the 2003 men's title, while Chuang Chia-Jung beat out Hsieh Su-Wei in an all-Taiwan final to take the women's equivalent.


The following year saw Taiwanese Davis Cupper Wang Yeu-Tzuoo and China's Li Na capture the coveted titles to secure their respective places at the 2005 Aussie Open. Wang defeated Pakistani number one, Aisam Qureshi, in the title showdown, 6-3, 7-6(5), whereas Li Na beat Indian teenager, Sania Mirza, 6-2, 6-1, in the women's final. As it turned out, Li Na's ranking was high enough for a direct acceptance to the maindraw the following January, where she reached the third round before losing to Maria Sharapova. The vacant wildcard was duly given to Mirza, who made the most of it by also getting to round three before exiting at the hands of eventual champion, Serena Williams.


In 2005, the host nation swept both singles titles, as No. 2 seed Denis Istomin came from a set down to beat top-seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in the men's final, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. In the women's equivalent, fourth-seeded world No. 232 Akgul Amanmuradova, a Tashkent native, needed all the support of the home crowd before seeing off the dogged determination of No. 3 seed Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.


That same tournament also happened to mark the first time Venise Chan had competed in open company against ranked professionals, as the sixteen year-old from the territory sent WTA No. 338 and seventh-seeded Korean, Yoo Mi, packing in the opening round of the women's singles with a 7-6(3), 7-6(4), victory. The Hong Kong prodigy then outfoxed Filipino Fed Cupper, Czarina-Mae Arevalo, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, in the ensuing round before falling to the abovementioned eventual champion, Amanmuradova, in the quarterfinals.


The Australian Open first started offering wildcard entries to Asian players in 1997, and since 2002, these have been offered to the winners of the Asian Championships to help the development of the tournament and tennis in the region. Over the years, leading players in the region such as Leander Paes of India, Takao Suzuki of Japan, Li Fang of China, and Janet Lee of Taiwan have all benefited from it, with the opportunity to represent Asia in each year's opening Grand Slam.


Geoff Pollard, President of Tennis Australia, commented, "The introduction of wildcards for the winners of the Asian Tennis Championships will have the dual impact of giving an opportunity for emerging Asian players to play at a Grand Slam while, at the same time, having a more significant developmental benefit for the Asian Championships."



Sources
The Encyclopedia of Asian Tennis
www.tennisaustralia.com.au