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.