Angie gets wild card entry for Athens

Musthofid and Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian tennis star Angelique "Angie" Widjaja, who is being sidelined by a nagging injury, has been granted a wild card entry for the Olympic Games in Athens, said the National Sports Council (KONI).

KONI planning and budgeting official Indra Kartasasmita confirmed on Wednesday Angie's invitation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"We received IOC's invitation on March 12 and they expect our reply not later than March 31. Of course, we look forward to seeing Angie play in Athens," said Indra, who has been appointed chef-de-mission of the Indonesian Olympic delegation.

Indonesia has so far snapped up 18 slots in seven sports for the Olympics in August.

Aside from tennis, Indonesia will send two archers, three swimmers, seven weight lifters, one windsurfer, two tae kwon do artists and two track and field athletes.

Indonesia remains hopeful for additional berths in cycling, badminton, rowing, judo, boxing, beach volleyball and diving.

Angie, 19, had a career high of ranking 55th in the WTA Tour. However, she has dropped to 104 and is expected to fall further in rank, as she is expected to recover from a knee injury for about a month.

Indra said the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) had initially proposed two slots, with Angie teaming up with Wynne Prakusya for the women's doubles.

"It appears that the IOC only grants one invitation in the singles (category)," he said.

Meanwhile, Angie's manager Virginia Rusli made an announcement on her protege's nagging injury: "It was decided this afternoon that Angie will be pulled out of three tournaments after consulting her doctor, coach and physical trainer," Virginia told The Jakarta Post.

The three tournaments, all in the United States, are the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami, Florida, the Bausch & Lomb Championships on Amelia Island and the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.

"Angie will be away for about a month. We are just worried that she might get worse if she plays," Virginia said.

Virginia said that she was not sure the location of Angie 's sustained injury. "She began to feel the pain when she was playing in September in Bali. In Pattaya, she got worse."

Angie reached the quarterfinals in Bali, where she claimed the championship in 2001. She entered Pattaya as the defending champion, but headed home a second-round loser.

"Angie will keep training," Virginia said, adding that Angie would resume playing in Fed Cup in India in April.

With her absence from the three tournaments, Angie will be deprived of a chance to try to collect points to shore up her falling rank after a string of poor performances last year.

She has already lost points from not participating in the ongoing Indian Wells tourney in California, in which she reached the third round last year.

"We decided not to play in Indian Wells because it's too close to the Doha tournament," said Virginia, who expected Angie to drop to around 120 from her present rank of 104.