Former tennis star Mien passes away

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia lost its former women's tennis star Mien Gondowijoyo when she passed away on Wednesday morning at the Pelni Hospital at 6.24 a.m. due to complications from diabetes mellitus.

Her body was taken from the hospital to her residence on Jl. Olahraga 6, Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, before being sent to her hometown in Madiun, East Java.

Mien, who was born in Madiun on Dec. 25, 1937, is survived by two children, one of whom resides in Australia. Mien had been hospitalized for two weeks.

Mien grabbed the bronze medal in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. It was her highest achievement as a tennis player.

After retiring from tennis, Mien started coaching and she produced big local tennis stars including, Yustedjo Tarik, Tintus Arianto Wibowo, Suharjadi and Wailan Walalangi.

Mien also took Yayuk Basuki and Suzana Anggarkusumah to win the women's doubles gold medal at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul.

Mien had also served as a staff of the now defunct state minister of sports and youth affairs office, director of the Indonesian Sports College and secretary-general of the Indonesian Sportswomen Association (Perwosi).

The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) chairman Tanri Abeng and Pelti official in charge of competition Subronto Laras urged attendees at the Davis Cup drawing to give a moment of silence in her memory.

One of Mien's best friends, Dangsina Moeloek, said Mien was a hard worker and she had produced top athletes in the country.

"It's really difficult to find someone as dedicated as Mien, who was willing to work really hard, ignoring the time," she said.

Tintus said that he lost a coach who had been giving him lots of knowledge on the sport.

"I miss her a lot. When she was being treated at the hospital, I had a chance to visit her and also collected funds from my friends to help her family with the medical expenses," he said, as quoted by Antara. (yan)