Indonesia completes double in team tennis titles
Indonesia completes double in team tennis titles
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesia accomplished a double win in the
tennis team event at the 21st Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday
with a gold medal in the men's category after beating defending
champion Thailand 2-1.
The success began with a scare, however, as the Indonesian
side trailed one game down after Peter Handoyo lost 6-3, 6-4 to
veteran player Vittaya Samrej, who at 37 is one of the oldest
participants at the Games.
In the second singles, Indonesian top player Suwandi fought
not only his Thai rival Danai Udomchoke, but the psychological
pressure to win the game.
Suwandi got off to a good start, winning the first set 6-3,
but conceded the second 6-2.
Both kept up with each other in the deciding set, and at one
point Danai led 5-3 before Suwandi came back to end with a tie at
6-6.
Again Danai took the early 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker before
Suwandi clawed his way back for an equalizer. Later, the Thai
reached the match point twice, but unforced errors cost him and
his team the gold medal. Suwandi won the tiebreaker 11-9.
"It was very tense because Peter lost his match. But that had
been expected as his opponent is more experienced. On the other
hand, this was Peter's debut in a multisport event," team manager
Aga Soemarno told The Jakarta Post.
The Indonesian team regrouped for a quick discussion to
determine the lineup of the men's doubles pair.
"We initially prepared Bonit Wiryawan to team up with Sulistyo
Wibowo. But after the discussion we decided to field Suwandi and
Bonit and the whole team agreed with the decision," said Aga.
"All team members understood that they had to give priority to
the greater cause, which was winning the gold medal."
Bonit and Suwandi won easily 6-1, 6-3 over Vittaya and Danai,
due in part to Suwandi's flawless play.
Meanwhile in the individual events, Indonesian women's singles
tennis players cruised to the semifinals.
Romana Tedjakusuma barely broke a sweat to defeat Czarina Mae
Arevalo of the Philippines 6-0, 6-1 while compatriot Wynne
Prakusye was also too strong for Malaysian Tan Lynn Yin, who she
expelled with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
In another quarterfinals match, host Khoo Chin Bee did not
lose a point when she beat Vietnamese Tran Thi Kim Loi 6-0, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Suchanan Virapresert of Thailand defeated Singaporean
Wong Rui-Jing Jaime 6-1, 6-1.
In the women's doubles, Romana and starlet Angelique Widjaja
beat Arevalo and Jennifer Saret of the Philippines 6-1, 6-2 for a
place in the second round. (nvn)