RI beats Uzbekistan in Junior Fed Cup<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia took a narrow 2-1 lead over Uzbekistan on the opening
\nday of the Asia-Pacific zone matches of the Junior Federation Cup
\nat the Bung Karno tennis stadium in central Jakarta on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Maya Rosa Stefanie gave the home team a winning start after
\nshe defeated Elina Arutunova 6-2, 6-4.<\/p>\n
The Uzbeks evened the score, courtesy of Ivanna Isroilova, who
\nregistered a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Sandy Gumulya.<\/p>\n
Sandy should have returned to the court for the doubles match
\nwith Septi Nindya Yutami, but she appeared to be so exhausted
\nafter her singles match that the team decided to replace her with
\nMaya.<\/p>\n
The two teams are drawn in Group Three with India and the
\nPhilippines.<\/p>\n
Team coach Alfred Raturandang said that Sandy was unable to
\nplay the second time as her left foot was immobilized because of
\ncramps.<\/p>\n
The makeshift pair looked shaky early on, losing the first set
\n3-6. But they managed to improve to win the following two sets,
\n6-2, 6-2.<\/p>\n
"I expected a 2-1 win. And one of the points could have come
\nfrom Sandy and Septi. It is a relief, though, that Maya was able
\nto do her job," Alfred said, adding that her attack from the
\nbaseline played a large part in contributing the points.<\/p>\n
The competition features 14 countries and will run until May
\n19.<\/p>\n
Also ending the opening matches with wins were New Zealand
\n(Group Four), India and Thailand (Group Two), the three easing
\npast Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and Sri Lanka respectively,
\neach with a 3-0 score line.<\/p>\n
In the other ties, South Korea was leading Japan 2-0 in Group
\nTwo, while Malaysia and Hong Kong were tied 1-1 in Group One
\nafter the first two ties.<\/p>\n
The other two teams, top seed Australia and second seed China
\nwill start their matches on Wednesday when Indonesia will take on
\nIndia.<\/p>\n
Alfred was doubtful whether they would field Sandy in India's
\nmatch. "Let's see if her condition improves, she should be back,"
\nhe said, while signaling that Sania Mirza on the opposing side
\nwas a potentially dangerous player.<\/p>\n
The top two teams from the four groups will qualify for the
\nnext stage. The winning four will get berths to the International
\nFed Cup in France in October.<\/p>",
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