Davis Cup team disappointed at lack Indian warm-up
Davis Cup team disappointed at lack Indian warm-up
JAKARTA (JP): National Davis Cup team members are disappointed
with a decision made by the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti)
that they can compete in three future tournaments in India only
if they pay their own expenses.
Senior player Dede Suhendar Dinata told reporters during a
training session on Thursday that all six players -- Dede,
Sebastian Da Costa, Suwandi, Febi Widhiyanto, Hendri Susilo
Pramono and Edy Kusdaryanto -- have been registered in the
futures.
"If we have to withdraw from the three futures, Sebastian and
I, who qualify for the main draw, must pay fines of about US$150
each for one tournament. I want to ask Pelti officials who will
pay the fines," he said.
"This tournament is really important and it's quite impossible
for us to compete in the Davis Cup against the Philippines in
Manila without any warm-up tournaments," he added.
The Pelti secretary-general, Soegeng Sarjadi, announced
earlier that Pelti would not finance the six athletes in the
futures in India.
"Futures are individual tournaments, so we will let their
clubs pay for their needs if they insist on competing in India.
For Pelti, it's more important to prepare them for the Davis Cup
match than the futures in India. In February we will also have
two future tournaments," he said, adding that Suwandi, who trains
in businesswoman Martina Widjaja's club, would go to India.
Indonesia will meet the Philippines on Feb. 4 to Feb. 6 while
the Indonesian Future 1 will start on Feb. 21 and the Future 2 on
Feb. 28.
Soegeng said instead of sending the athletes to India, Pelti
would send the players on a tour before top officials of state-
owned Petrokimia Gresik company in East Java, private-owned
Djarum and Gudang Garam cigarette companies in Central and East
Java respectively and PT Maspion plastic company in Surabaya to
seek sponsorships.
Edy dismissed the idea, saying it would be a waste of time to
compete among themselves before representatives of the big
companies.
"We have been prepared to compete in India. We have trained
really hard and we're not going. It's too bad. If Pelti sends me
to compete in those tryouts, I will definitely decline. I'd
prefer to go home to celebrate Idul Fitri," he said.
"If we don't have warm-up tournaments and play in the Davis
Cup, I'm afraid we will not be psychologically prepared," he
said.
Sebastian, an East Timorese native playing for Indonesia, said
he would not be able to compete in India at his own expense.
"Who will finance me? I'm an orphan and I don't have a club! I
don't think staging tryouts in provinces will do any good. We
meet every day, why don't we compete here? After returning from
tournaments in Bangladesh last month, we trained really hard for
the futures in India. It's really disappointing."
"We need warm-ups in anticipation of facing the Filipinos. By
competing in India, we could deal with many players from many
countries with different types of playing," he said.
Coach Dedy Prasetyo said Febi and Hendri, who are in his club,
would definitely not go to India as he could not afford to
finance them. He also said he had explained his training
programs, including three warm-up tournaments in India, to Pelti
official in charge of athletes' development, Sudjiono Timan.
"Sudjiono accepted my program, although he didn't comment on
it but he knew the youngsters were scheduled to compete in
India," he said.
Sudjiono was unavailable for comment as he is presently in the
United States. (yan)