Suwandi, Febi clear first selection hurdle<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Men's singles Suwandi and Febi Widhiyanto posted
\ntwo victories each in the first day of the national tennis
\nselection for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei in
\nAugust.<\/p>\n
Suwandi defeated Suhendar Dinata 6-2, 6-2 and Edy Kusdaryanto
\n6-2, 6-3, while Febi bested Yusmawan Fahmi 6-2, 6-3 and Sebastian
\nDa Costa 6-1, 6-2 during Wednesday's matches.<\/p>\n
Both Suwandi and Febi were members of the Davis Cup team which
\nplayed against Qatar and the Philippines earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Another Davis Cup member, Edy, beat Da Costa earlier in the
\nday 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), while his Davis Cup teammate Hendri
\nSusilo Pramono lost to Yusmawan 3-6, 3-6.<\/p>\n
Seven players -- Suwandi, Febi, Edy, Hendri, Yusmawan,
\nSebastian and Suhendar -- are taking part in the national
\nselection from Wednesday to Saturday.<\/p>\n
From these seven, four players will be selected to compete in
\nthe SEA Games from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.<\/p>\n
Hendry's coach Deddy Prasetyo was shocked by his athlete's
\npoor performance.<\/p>\n
\"I never expected him to lose. I was shocked,\" he said. \"Maybe
\nhe was still suffering from jet lag after returning from
\nTennessee last week, but neither Febi or Suwandi showed any signs
\nof it.\"<\/p>\n
Suwandi, Febi and Hendri spent two weeks at Bill Tym's tennis
\ncamp in Nashville, Tennessee, working on various aspects of their
\ngames, including their match strategy.<\/p>\n
\"Tym said that a player must have a strategy when he enters
\nthe court. We must work harder on strategy,\" Deddy said.<\/p>\n
Despite his two victories, Suwandi remained cautious. \"I still
\nhave a long way to go to qualify for the team because I still
\nhave to play four more matches,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) deputy secretary-general
\nBenny Mailili said for the national selection the organization
\nwas using a new system to determine the matchups. Now, the
\norganization conducts a draw to determine matchups.<\/p>\n
\"It's a new system to make the competition fairer by not
\nallowing athletes to pick their opponents. Like it or not, they
\nmust be prepared when they enter the court,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Benny also said Pelti would give the players a Rp 1 million
\n(US$145) performance fee for taking part in the selection.<\/p>\n
\"Let's say it's for their transportation. We'll also give the
\nsame amount to the women's players during their selection,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The women's selection is scheduled to take place from July 1
\nto July 3.<\/p>\n
Deddy said the selection was only a warm-up for the Indonesian
\nFuture 3 and 4 tournaments from June 28 to July 11 at the
\nKemayoran Tennis Center. (yan)<\/p>",
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