Deddy says Tintus fit to be head coach

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)