Dedy is players' first pick to coach Davis Cup squad

JAKARTA (JP): Players on the country's Davis Cup squad prefer Dedy Prasetyo as their coach and nonplaying captain for the first round Asia Oceania Group II match against the Philippines in Manila in February.

Veteran Dede Suhendar Dinata said after practice on Monday that Dedy was an expert trainer.

"Dedy always makes good training programs and we all recognize that. I also think I can communicate with him better than other coaches," said Dede, whose last experience on the Davis Cup team was in 1991.

"His training method has greatly improved and I think he's the best coach in Indonesia now."

Sebastian Da Costa, who is East Timorese, concurred.

"I don't think Indonesia has as good a coach as him. He has great dedication and feeling of responsibility for the benefit of the nation. Other coaches prefer to train their athletes but Dedy doesn't differ between the players," he said.

"Even though I train with another coach, Dedy still makes training programs for me."

Sebastian also said that Dedy should be appointed as coach and captain of the squad.

"We can communicate well with Dedy. He often shouts at us during training and sometimes in matches, but I think it doesn't matter. We need a coach who can keep telling us what to do because it's a team event."

Dedy is temporarily coaching Davis Cup team members Dede, Sebastian, Febi Widhiyanto, Hendri Susilo Pramono, Suwandi and Edy Kusdaryanto.

Four of the six athletes will join the core team.

The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) official in charge of athletes and regional development, Sudjiono Timan, said he would discuss the athletes' request with the official in charge of the coaching committee, Atet Wiyono.

"We don't have any problems with the players' preference. But we have to wait for Atet's response." He added that Pelti would likely announce the name of the team's coach on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Indonesia is scheduled to face the Philippines at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Complex, with the victor to face the winner of the tie between Iran and Malaysia in April.

Indonesia can be promoted to Group I if it can win the final match against the winner of another section comprising top seed Pakistan, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan in October.

Tennis observer and Pelti spokesman Benny Mailili previously warned the team to be on alert for biased judging during the tie. (yan)