Angie gets wild card for Bali tournament

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.