Yayuk reaches first Asiad singles final<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki moved a step closer to
\nrealizing her dream of a third Asian Games gold medal after
\nposting an upset 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win over second seed Li Fang of
\nChina in the women's singles semifinals on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Li turned in a topsy-turvy performance, helping Yayuk clinch
\nher first appearance in an Asian Games singles final.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian world number 58 and third seed will now play
\ntop seed Tamarine Tanasugarn from the host nation, who defeated
\nChina's Yi Jing-qian 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the other semifinal.<\/p>\n
It will be the first time Yayuk and Tamarine have met since
\nthe 1995 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 700
\nkilometers north of here. On that occasion, Yayuk lost to
\nTamarine in the final of the women's team event and pulled out of
\nthe singles, which was eventually won by the Thai girl.<\/p>\n
\"I lost to Tammy in 1995, but everything will be different
\ntomorrow,\" Yayuk said optimistically.<\/p>\n
\"I'm highly motivated and I want to beat her in front of her
\nhome crowd this time around. Hopefully I won't disappoint
\nIndonesian tennis fans,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Yayuk has collected two gold medals in her three previous
\nAsian Games appearances. The medals came in a glorious debut in
\nthe women's doubles in 1986 and in the mixed doubles in 1990. A
\ngold in the singles on Thursday would be a fitting end to Yayuk's
\nmemorable career, which she has said will end in January, 1999.<\/p>\n
Yayuk, who lost to Li in China's 3-0 rout of Indonesia in the
\nwomen's team semifinals last week, made a number of unnecessary
\nmistakes to go 2-4 down in the first set. However, an equally
\nerror prone Li failed to capitalize on her early lead.<\/p>\n
Both players then upped their games to end a monotonous spell
\nof service break exchanges as the first set advanced toward a
\ntie-break.<\/p>\n
Yayuk appeared the more composed of the two in the tie-break
\nand took the set with a well placed forehand winner.<\/p>\n
The second set then became clearly one-sided, with Li, who was
\nbattling a cough throughout the match, showing signs of nerves at
\nmany critical points.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, the umpire called a let on a Yayuk
\nserve in the third game just after Li had fired off a winning
\nforehand return.<\/p>\n
The late call caused the Chinese girl lost her cool and she
\ncomplained that the umpire had ruled against her on three close
\nline calls. However, her tirade went unheeded and a frustrated Li
\nnever regained her composure, finishing the match with some
\nerror-strewn play.<\/p>\n
Li's coach Zhang Xiaoning exploded after the match. \"I'm very
\ndisappointed with the umpire. Several times the linesmen made bad
\ncalls and she just kept quiet. The bad calls disrupted my
\nplayer's concentration. It was terrible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite the loss, Zhang praised Li for her efforts.<\/p>\n
\"She played good tennis even though she was suffering from a
\ncough. She kept fighting throughout the match,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yayuk said the umpire had done a good job, but added that \"the
\nlinesmen were sometimes too afraid to make a call.\"<\/p>\n
A reporter from The Nation, a Thai daily newspaper, suggested
\nthat the umpire had called several decisions in Yayuk's favor
\nbecause the Indonesian player was perceived as being an easier
\nfinal opponent for Tamarine than Li.<\/p>\n
In the men's singles, Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan beat South
\nKorea's Lee Hyung-taik 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the final. Iwabuchi
\nwill meet India's Mahesh Bhupathi who upset top seed Oleg
\nOgorodov of Uzbekistan 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.<\/p>\n
In the men's doubles semifinals, The Srichaphan brothers,
\nParadorn and Narathorn, kept alive Thai hopes of another medal
\nwith a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory over Chen Chih-jung and Lin Bing-
\nchao of Chinese Taipei. In the final, the Thais will meet the
\nSouth Korean pair of Lee Hyung-taik and Yoon Yong-il, who downed
\nJapan's Michihisa Onoda and Takahiro Terachi 7-5, 6-1.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/yayuk-reaches-first-asiad-singles-final-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}