Indonesia beats Taipei to join Group I

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia crushed Chinese Taipei 3-0 at the Davis Cup Group II Asia Oceania zone and was promoted at the same time to compete in Group I next year.

Host doubles Bonit Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo proved their superiority over contenders Cheng Wei-Jen and Chen Wei-Ju in the second day of the tie to win 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in nearly two hours at the Kemayoran Tennis Center.

"We were very optimistic that we would win the match, regarding their lowest rank," said Sulistyo in a post-match conference. "We played as we usually do, without any pressure."

"Even if we played with only 50 percent of our ability, we would have still won," added Bonit.

As soon as Bonit and Sulistyo won the match, other members of the team -- singles Suwandi and Hendri Susilo Pramono -- made a victory lap, bringing the red-and-white flag in front of about 200 spectators.

Afterwards, the team urged nonplaying captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo to make the victory lap alone.

Indonesia had to wait two years to join Group I again after the country bowed out to China in September 1998.

"We caused the defeat to China and relegation to Group II two years ago. Now we've helped the country be readmitted to Group I. I have no more debts," said Sulistyo with a laugh.

Cheng expressed his disappointment as the Taipei pair failed to grab an opportunity to capture a point. They were defeated 0-2 on the first day as Suwandi beat Cheng 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, while Hendri defeated Tsai Chia-yen 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

"Of course we were disappointed with the results, because we were doing well in the first and second rounds. But the Indonesian doubles played really well and they have been partners for a long time. We tried our best but we didn't make it," Cheng said.

"It is only the second time we have been partners. We were OK but we could have been better if we had practiced together all the time."

Cheng said they lost their chance in the tough match as Bonit and Sulistyo managed to break the Taipei serves in the second and third sets.

"We were quite nervous because we were having problems with not being accustomed to playing together."

Speaking on the match against Uzbekistan in next year's first round, coach Deddy Prasetyo said the team had three months to prepare for it.

"We still have three months to prepare our players for the match. They need to compete more. We'll have the fifth and sixth legs of the Indonesia Future later this month," he said.

He said Uzbekistan players Vadim Kutsenko, Oleg Ogorodov and Dmitri Tomashevich are in the world-ranked 100s and it would be a tough challenge to be able to overcome them.

Deddy said should Uzbekistan be appointed as host, he would prepare his team to train and compete in chilly weather. (nvn/yan)