Indonesia leads 2-1 over South Korea

Indonesia leads 2-1 over South Korea Musthofid The Jakarta Post Surabaya, East Java Indonesia took a 2-1 lead over South Korea after Suwandi and Peter Handoyo beat Chung Hee-seok and Chung Hee-sung 7-5, 6-4, 6- 4 in the rain-delayed doubles match of their Davis Cup Zone Asia- Oceania Group One playoff at the Embong Sawo tennis court here on Saturday.

The teams shared the points in the singles encounters on Friday with Febi Widhiyanto winning for the hosts and Chung Hee- seok doing it for the visitors.

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday when Peter is scheduled to take on Kim Dong-hyun -- the two have met once previously with the South Korean emerging victorious last October -- and Febi is to face Chung Hee-seok.

Euphoria erupted in the Indonesian camp on Saturday after Hee- seok hit the ball long on match point.

However, non-playing captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo warned against premature celebrations, saying they still had two matches to win.

"Today's result was a relief for us. But the players should be focused on Saturday's matches. We hope Peter, who will take to the court in the first match, can carry on his improved form and secure the victory for us," Tintus said.

Saturday's program was to have commenced at 4 p.m., but rain that fell for 30 minutes before the start caused a delay of more than two hours.

After the match began at 6:30 p.m. it wasn't until the eleventh game that serve was broken, with the Indonesians sealing the opening set.

In the second set, the Indonesian pairing broke serve in the fourth game and maintained the advantage to secure the set.

Chung Hee-sung played dismally.

Suwandi and Peter showed solid teamwork, particularly Peter who is showing signs of recovering from his default defeat on Friday.

Peter was outstanding at the net, producing points with his volley. His well-placed drive deep to the right of the court secured break point in the decisive game of the second set.

After the match, Peter, 25, from Surabaya, said his form owed much to his decision to abandon his game against Chung Hee-seok when he was trailing by two sets and two games to one.

"It proved to be the right decision for me. If I had been forced to continue playing I could have lost today," he said.