China ends Indonesia's dream of tennis team gold
By Primastuti Handayani
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesia's dream of reaching the women's tennis team final at the 13th Asian Games ended here on Thursday after losing to China in a hard-fought battle.
The defeat, which brought tears to all Indonesian team members, came after world number 57 Yayuk Basuki went down 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (3-7) in a tense second singles match to Li Fang.
Earlier second-seeded China won the opening singles, with Yi Jing-qian coming from behind to douse Wynne Prakusya's fire 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4.
China underlined its dominance by taking the academic doubles match. The Chinese set up an intriguing final with their Taiwanese opponents who edged out Japan 2-1 in the other semifinal.
The final will be played on Friday.
Indonesian nonplaying captain Suharyadi gave credit to Chinese players for their extraordinary performances.
"The Chinese were more solid. Their groundstrokes, serves and passing shots were much better," Suharyadi, who is also Yayuk's coach and husband, said. "But I'm proud that Yayuk and Wynne did their best. It was a close battle as shown on the scoresheet," he added.
Indonesia, which won a silver in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, earned only a bronze following the loss.
Wynne exploited her forehand strokes to convert a 2-5 deficit into a 6-5 lead and take the first set. Yi, who lost to the same opponent in a Fed Cup qualifying match nine months ago, stood firmly on the baseline to keep Wynne's attack at bay.
The Indonesian started to become frustrated and, despite relentless cheers from teammates sitting on the sidelines, failed to match Yi's resilience.
Wynne slammed her racket into the court in disappointment after she hit a wide return that allowed Yi to seal the match.
"I thought I played well but she was too tough to beat. I lost some critical points because of a lack of consistency," the sweet seventeen Wynne said.
After dropping the first set, Yayuk moved within sight of forcing a decider when she raced to a 5-3 lead and served for the set. But numerous unforced errors denied the Indonesian her hopes of pulling level.
Yayuk's error-prone play continued as the match went Li's way. The Chinese number one player ensured her team the coveted final ticket after Yayuk's backhand slice hit the net.
An out-of-control Yayuk then kicked a linesman's chair before shaking Li's hand.
Indonesian team manager Benny Mailili said Yayuk had failed to find her top form after a two-month absence from women's singles competition. She played her last singles match at the U.S. Open in New York in September.
"It's not easy for her to adjust herself to the pressures in the team," Benny said.
He also blamed his team's failure on the slow surface, which did not fit the attacking style of his players.
"We are not the ones who take time to accustom ourselves to the slow court. Even host Thailand is not too familiar with this kind of surface," he said.
The Thai women's team lost to Chinese Taipei in Wednesday's quarterfinals. The host also missed out on the gold in the men's team event after losing to South Korea 2-1 on Thursday.
South Korea will now meet top seed Uzbekistan in Friday's semifinal while the other match will be between India and Japan. The men's team final will be played on Saturday.