Hendri withdraws from Davis Cup team

Hendri withdraws from Davis Cup team

JAKARTA (JP): Men's tennis player Hendri Susilo Pramono
confirmed his withdrawal from Indonesia's Davis Cup team only a
week away from the tie.

The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) immediately invited
three others players -- Andrian Raturandang, Febi Widhiyanto and
Suhendar Dinata -- to join the team, but they have yet to approve
the invitation. The deadline is on Friday.

Indonesia will face Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Group I Asia
Oceania zone tie from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11 at the Kemayoran Tennis
Center. Indonesia will field top men's player Suwandi as the
first singles contestant and the veteran doubles pair, Bonit
Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo.

Hendri pointed out on Thursday that the bad treatment he had
received from the Pelti official in charge of athletes
development, Sudjiono Timan, was the main reason for his
withdrawal.

Sudjiono rebuked Hendri for skipping practices at Ragunan on
Wednesday morning.

Hendri said non-playing captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo had
invited him to come to Ragunan to play with hostess Martina
Widjaja, Pelti's head of development, promotion and international
relations. But Hendri thought it wasn't an occasion for serious
training.

"Pak Tintus asked me on Tuesday to play at Ragunan. I thought
it wasn't a practice session, because the official practice time
for the team is Thursday morning at Kemayoran Tennis Center. So I
didn't show up," he said.

On Wednesday evening, Hendri met Sudjiono at Bung Karno tennis
complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. Sudjiono promptly lambasted
him.

"He said if I didn't want to play, I shouldn't play for the
team. I felt offended by his outburst. I came to Kemayoran this
morning (Thursday) to seek clarification."

"Pak Udjin (Sudjiono's nickname) apologized for Wednesday's
incident. But my heart is already hurt. He can't blame me before
understanding the reason. I think I did the right thing because
there isn't normally a practice session on Wednesday. Even Bonit
and Sulistyo didn't show up that day."

He also said that the atmosphere had sapped him of his
motivation to play in the team. Therefore, he submitted his
resignation letter.

"I'm disappointed because I can't join the team. But I think
Pelti officials can learn a lesson from this incident, so they
don't readily accuse somebody without evidence again. They should
also try to build up good communication and rapport with the
players," he said.

Febi, who off the court is Hendri's best friend, said he is
likely to refuse the call despite his desire to perform in the
Davis Cup tie.

"If I don't feel comfortable with the atmosphere whilst
playing, I would rather refuse to play. To tell you the truth,
I'm 60 percent sure that I will not join the team," he said.

Dede, Suhendar's nickname, said separately that he was ready
to join the team if nobody else was willing to.

"If others refuse to perform in the Davis Cup tie and I'm the
only one left, I will have no other choice. But I'm ready to play
if I decide to join the team," he said.

Andrian could not be reached for comment.

The Uzbekistan contingent arrived on Tuesday to allow enough
time for acclimatization. The contingent comprises of players
Oleg Ogorodov, Vadim Kutsenko, Dmitriy Tomashevich, Dmitriy
Mazur, non-playing captain Abdukhamid Makhkamov, coach Mojmir
Mihal. The contingent also had a supporting team consisting of
five reporters. (ivy)