Angie's Bali bid ended by Obata

Angie's Bali bid ended by Obata

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Angelique Widjaja's hopes for a repeat win of the Wismilak
International WTA tennis tournament were dashed after she was
beaten in the quarterfinals in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday.

But Angie's bid in the doubles with Venezuelan Maria Vento-
Kabchi is still intact. The top seeds registered a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
victory over Trudi Musgrave (Australia) / Abigail Spears (U.S.).

Their opponents in the finals are second seeds Emilie Loit
(France) / Nicole Pratt (Australia), the 6-4, 3-6, 5-7 winners
over Wynne Adianto Prakusya (Indonesia) / Tamarine Tanasugarn
(Thailand.

Earlier, Angie, who won the 2001 event, seemed to lose power
against Japanese Saori Obata, particularly in the third set, to
go out 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

"Playing two ties yesterday with nearly not enough rest in
between cost Angie dearly. She dropped physically," tennis
columnist Benny Mailili told The Jakarta Post after the match.

Trailing 3-5 in the second set, Angie broke Obata's serve and
won her own to make it 5-5. She came close to making another
break but failed to hold on and Obata held serve to force the
third set.

Angie was completely out of sorts, being pounded four games to
nil before pulling one game back. But that was the last game she
won.

"It just appears that Angie is not ready yet to play in two
pairings. After playing the singles, she had to return to the
court for the doubles after only a 30-minute rest. That affected
her physical condition," Benny said.

"She lost her control and, consequently, made many unforced
errors," he said.

Angie's doubles partner Vento-Kabchi was also involved in a
three-set match, with Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, but
the result went in the Swiss's favor and gave her a semifinal
date with second seed Elena Dementieva of Russia.

Dementieva marched through with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Thai star
Tanasugarn.

Obata, whose win over Angie was a redemption of her loss to
the Indonesian during the 2002 Asian Games, will challenge top
seed Chanda Rubin in the other semifinal match.

The world No. 8 from the United States conceded only four
games in her 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Germany's Anca Barna.