Doubles team keeps RI's Cup hopes alive<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's doubles players bounced back from
\ntwo sets down to win the match in their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania
\nzone clash against South Korea yesterday.<\/p>\n
A revitalized pair of Suwandi and Eddy Kusdaryanto outplayed
\nSouth Korea's Lee Hyung-taik and Chang Eui-jong with a dramatic
\n4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 6-2 win to put the score at 2-1
\nin favor of the visitors.<\/p>\n
The duel will be decided in today's reverse singles matches,
\nwith Suwandi facing Lee and Andrian Raturandang taking on Yoon
\nYong-il.<\/p>\n
Captains of the two sides decided not to follow the doubles
\nwith the reverse singles in order to give Suwandi and Lee a break
\nafter the exhausting doubles match which lasted almost four
\nhours.<\/p>\n
\"Had South Korea won today's match, the reverse singles would
\nhave gone ahead as scheduled,\" tournament director Zainal Abidin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The organizers rescheduled the doubles match, which was
\nsupposed to played on Saturday, because of persistent rains that
\nwashed out Senayan's clay court and most of the capital.<\/p>\n
\"If rain continues to fall in the next two or three days, we
\nhave considered letting the International Tennis Federation
\ndecide what to do,\" Zainal said.<\/p>\n
Thick clouds over Jakarta seemed to augur an upset loss for
\nSuwandi and Eddy, whose shaky defense gave the South Koreans a
\nmatch point in the tiebreak of the third set.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the South Korean match-point was the turning-point
\nof the game. Lee served for a winner at 7-6, but a nervy Chang
\nspoiled the only golden chance with a wide volley.<\/p>\n
The Indonesians maintained the momentum, coming up to the net
\nfor a number of volleys. They clinched the set after Lee hit a
\nservice return with a wide forehand.<\/p>\n
Amid the cheering home crowd, Suwandi and Eddy rode their luck
\nin the next two sets as their opponents drilled a number of
\nunforced errors. The Indonesians stood firmly near the net to
\nleave the Koreans' passing shots at bay.<\/p>\n
South Korea praised the Indonesian doubles' recovery, but said
\nthat it would deny the home team a repeat of its brilliant
\ncomeback in 1988. Indonesia rebounded from 0-2 to win the next
\nthree matches eight years ago.<\/p>\n
\"Today's defeat matched our prediction. We decided not to let
\nYoon play doubles after learning from the 1988 drama. Instead, we
\nrested him since we expect him to seal a win tomorrow,\" said non-
\nplaying captain Jeon Hyung-dai, who was a member of the South
\nKorean 1988 team.<\/p>\n
\"Yoon has a better chance to win than Andrian,\" Jeon said.<\/p>\n
Yoon overpowered Suwandi in three sets on Friday, before Lee
\nmade it 2-0 with a hard-earned four-set win over Andrian.<\/p>\n
Suwandi declined a pre-match boast for the crucial rubber
\ntoday. \"Today's victory has boosted my confidence for tomorrow's
\nmatch. I want to win that,\" he said. Suwandi has lost both of his
\nencounters with Lee.<\/p>\n
The winner of the Davis Cup match here will meet New Zealand
\nin the second round in April, while the loser will face China in
\na zonal playoff match. New Zealand routed China 4-1 yesterday.
\n(amd)<\/p>",
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