JAKARTA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's capital of Jakarta on Tuesday kicked off the 2019 Thamrin International Junior Championship, drawing young tennis players from 19 countries and regions.

In the qualifying round that started in the day, 18 of the host country's male and female players advanced to the next qualifying round of the tournament, which is sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and slated to end on July 7.

In women's section, nine Indonesian players advanced to the next round after they took out opponents from Malaysia, China, India, South Korea and Chinese Taipei.

Another nine Indonesian players qualified into the next round, taking out opponents from the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Australia in several matches held in a South Jakarta indoor tennis lawn.

The grade 4 ITF tournament draws players representing each of the five continents in the world, tournament chief organizer Heru Haryanto said earlier.

"The United States represents America, Switzerland and the United Kingdom represent Europe, Egypt represents Africa, and Australia and New Zealand represent Oceania," Heru said.

Asia is represented by several countries and regions. Besides Indonesia, the other Asian players vying in the tournaments are from China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia.

In addition to the matches for seeded ITF junior players, other matches for younger Indonesian players in the age groups of 10, 12 and 14 years old were also held throughout the tournament at a northern Jakarta tennis court.