Angie gets wild card for Bali tournament

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

Indonesian Olympic hopeful Angelique "Angie" Widjaja has been given a wild card for the main draw of the Wismilak International women's tennis tournament in Bali, which she won in 2001.

Angie, currently ranked 134th in the world, will be competing against some of the world's top tennis players in the tournament, which will run from Sept. 13 to Sept. 19.

Tournament director Kevin Livesey announced during a press conference here on Wednesday that the tournament had provided three wild card slots.

The other two wild cards will be given to the winners of the ongoing prequalifying tournament in Bangkok, and a tournament in Surabaya scheduled for Aug. 11 to Aug. 15.

The wild card entries will go directly into the main draw of the Bali event, while the second and third place finishers at the two qualifying tournaments will be given entries into the qualifying stage.

The top three finishers at the qualifying events also are assured of entry into the Volvo Open in Pattaya, Thailand, at the end of this year.

"Currently, there are eight or nine Indonesian players competing in Bangkok and we hope one can qualify for the Bali tournament," Livesey said.

With a total of US$225,000 on offer, the Bali Wismilak tournament hopes to draw many of the world's top players.

French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia, Japan's top player Ai Sugiyama, world number 12 Nadia Petrova of Russia and the winner of the event in 2002, Svetlana Kusznetsova, are all confirmed for the tournament.

Last year's champion, Elena Dementieva of Russia, has opted not to defend her title. The Russian has decided to concentrate on the U.S. Open after competing in the Athens Olympics this month.