Deddy says Tintus fit to be head coach
JAKARTA (JP): Former men's national team coach, Deddy Prasetyo, urged the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) to team him up with Tintus Arianto Wibowo to coach the men's team for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam in August.
"I think Tintus should serve as the head coach and I would only assist him. Of four players who have qualified for the team, three of them are my players and one is Tintus's," he said during a lunch on Tuesday.
Pelti selected four players last week -- Suwandi, Febi Widhiyanto, Hendri Susilo Pramono and Yusmawan Fahmi. However, the organization has yet to name the coach.
Pelti official in charge of athletes development Sudjiono Timan, who also attended the lunch, declined to comment on the coach issue.
Pelti deputy secretary-general Benny Mailili said he would discuss the matter with the secretary-general, Soegeng Sarjadi, on Wednesday.
Deddy said the coaches must be named, at the latest, by Wednesday.
"Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the first day of the Future 3 and 4 tournaments here. If Pelti has appointed the SEA Games men's team coaches, they can evaluate their athletes' performance at both tournaments as a preparation for the Games," he said.
The Future tournaments will take place from June 30 to July 11. Thai's Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached Wimbledon's second round last week, is scheduled to compete at the event.
"Up to today he was still confirmed for the tournament," Benny said.
Indonesia will face tough challenges from Thailand and the Philippines at the biennial event, which takes place from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.
Deddy said with Edy Kusdaryanto's absence in the national team, Febi would most likely play in the singles and doubles events.
"It's too bad Edy failed to qualify because he's one of our best doubles specialists. If Suwandi is our first singles, the second must be Febi, because Yusmawan has not enough experience for such a multi-sports event," he said.
During the lunch, Febi and Hendri received sponsorships from Allianz Life Indonesia, a German-based insurance company. The sponsorships provided both players and Deddy with US$25,000 life and accident policies. Allianz also contributed money to both players.
Allianz marketing director Jens Reisch said he had invited German coach Thilo Klein to come to Indonesia on July 29 to observe both players before they leave for Stuttgart.
"They will leave Indonesia in October to stay in Stuttgart for about three months to see if they can compete in the first division of the German league next year. In the mean time, they will play in several clubs in the city," Reisch said.
He said both Febi and Hendri must compete in more than 20 tournaments a year to reach the 300s position in the ATP ranking list.
Reisch said Allianz would provide bonuses for both players if they won the Future tournaments or gold at the SEA Games. He declined to mention the bonus amount.
He also said if the sponsorship deals with Febi and Hendri were successful, more tennis players, particularly juniors and women players, would benefit.
"This is the first time Allianz sponsors athletes in Indonesia. We are looking for potential Indonesian players who are still low profile," he said. (yan)