Febi wins tennis gold for Jakarta

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Febi Widiyanto lived up to his number one status by winning the men's singles to contribute one of the golds Jakarta grabbed on the tennis court at the National Games here on Friday.

West Java also ended the day with two gold haul while Central Java took one.

Top seed Febi crushed rival Prima Simpatiaji of Central Java 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Jakarta's second gold came in women's doubles after veteran Indonesian star Yayuk Basuki and Wukirasih Sawondari cruised to an easy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Eny Sulistyowati and Mimma Chernovita of East Kalimantan.

The West Java tennis team triumphed in the women's singles and men's doubles.

Third seed Liza Andriyani upset second seed Wynne Prakusya of Central Java 6-3, 7-6 (7) in the women's singles while Suwandi and Sulistyo Wibowo won the men's doubles with a 7-6 (8), 6-1 win over Sebastian Dacosta and Surya Wijaya of West Nusa Tenggara.

Liza called her team's Java achievement unbelievable as they did it without star Angelique "Angie" Widjaja, who opted to play on the international tour.

"This is unbelievable because even without Angie, West Java could grab a gold medal," Liza told The Jakarta Post with a broad grin.

Liza added that she had been given extra motivation with her team manager Uce Suganda already promising to pay for her umrah (Islamic minor haj pilgrimage) if she won the game.

Meanwhile, Wynne was feeling a little bit disappointed with her loss in the game she attributed to injury.

"I had been confident about the prospect until I got injured during the Olympic Games in Athens. I'm disappointed with the result," she said.

She added that her doctor had told her to take a rest for at least three months but she insisted on playing for her home province as she knew that it would be difficult for Central Java to win a medal in tennis competition without her.

Wynne made amends for her loss by helping win the mixed doubles gold. She teamed up with Prima to defeat West Java's pair Liza Andriyani and Sulistyo Wibowo 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.