Daniel attempts full comeback after recovering from injury

JAKARTA (JP): Former national number one men's singles player Daniel Haryanto is gearing up for a promising comeback on court with Indonesia's tennis team after recovering from back injury.

Daniel has restarted his training session with his former team after a four-year lapse in answer to an offer made by the Indonesian tennis association (Pelti).

"I believe I can regain my top form through rigorous training," Daniel said after his afternoon workout at the Senayan tennis court Thursday.

Daniel opted out of the national tennis team with a nagging back injury in 1991 and left for the United States for school commitments.

"Once I recovered from my injury, I returned to the tennis court to represent my college during the NCAA competition," Daniel, now 25, recollected. He ranked 38th in the NCAA tennis competition.

"Yayuk and Wailan gave me a significant morale boost to rejoin the national team," Daniel said.

It appears Daniel will come home just in time to save a weakened Indonesian side which has lost number one player Benny Wijaya. Pelti dropped Benny out of the team early this year, following his decision to sign for a Taiwanese club.

A Benny-less team was blanked 0-5 by South Korea in its Davis Cup match in February, but survived a relegation threat with a 4- 1 win over Chinese Taipei in April.

"Daniel is a different player. He follows strict discipline during his training session," national coach Wailan Walalangi, who now heads the national team board, said.

He added that Daniel was set for a Davis Cup match next year. "We want him to play in the SEA Games in December first, but he has to sit for his exams then," said Wailan.

Daniel refused to accept automatic entry into the national team, saying that he was ready to undergo any proving ground. "I'm not number one any longer. I want Pelti to treat me as it does to other players," he said.

Despite his age disadvantage, Daniel plans to turn professional as soon as he completes his study overseas. "I'm going to make a lot of trips within two years. If I succeed I'll move onward, but if I fail I will step down," he said. (amd)