Doubles team keeps RI's Cup hopes alive
Doubles team keeps RI's Cup hopes alive
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's doubles players bounced back from
two sets down to win the match in their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania
zone clash against South Korea yesterday.
A revitalized pair of Suwandi and Eddy Kusdaryanto outplayed
South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik and Chang Eui-jong with a dramatic
4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 6-2 win to put the score at 2-1
in favor of the visitors.
The duel will be decided in today's reverse singles matches,
with Suwandi facing Lee and Andrian Raturandang taking on Yoon
Yong-il.
Captains of the two sides decided not to follow the doubles
with the reverse singles in order to give Suwandi and Lee a break
after the exhausting doubles match which lasted almost four
hours.
"Had South Korea won today's match, the reverse singles would
have gone ahead as scheduled," tournament director Zainal Abidin
said.
The organizers rescheduled the doubles match, which was
supposed to played on Saturday, because of persistent rains that
washed out Senayan's clay court and most of the capital.
"If rain continues to fall in the next two or three days, we
have considered letting the International Tennis Federation
decide what to do," Zainal said.
Thick clouds over Jakarta seemed to augur an upset loss for
Suwandi and Eddy, whose shaky defense gave the South Koreans a
match point in the tiebreak of the third set.
Ironically, the South Korean match-point was the turning-point
of the game. Lee served for a winner at 7-6, but a nervy Chang
spoiled the only golden chance with a wide volley.
The Indonesians maintained the momentum, coming up to the net
for a number of volleys. They clinched the set after Lee hit a
service return with a wide forehand.
Amid the cheering home crowd, Suwandi and Eddy rode their luck
in the next two sets as their opponents drilled a number of
unforced errors. The Indonesians stood firmly near the net to
leave the Koreans' passing shots at bay.
South Korea praised the Indonesian doubles' recovery, but said
that it would deny the home team a repeat of its brilliant
comeback in 1988. Indonesia rebounded from 0-2 to win the next
three matches eight years ago.
"Today's defeat matched our prediction. We decided not to let
Yoon play doubles after learning from the 1988 drama. Instead, we
rested him since we expect him to seal a win tomorrow," said non-
playing captain Jeon Hyung-dai, who was a member of the South
Korean 1988 team.
"Yoon has a better chance to win than Andrian," Jeon said.
Yoon overpowered Suwandi in three sets on Friday, before Lee
made it 2-0 with a hard-earned four-set win over Andrian.
Suwandi declined a pre-match boast for the crucial rubber
today. "Today's victory has boosted my confidence for tomorrow's
match. I want to win that," he said. Suwandi has lost both of his
encounters with Lee.
The winner of the Davis Cup match here will meet New Zealand
in the second round in April, while the loser will face China in
a zonal playoff match. New Zealand routed China 4-1 yesterday.
(amd)