Indonesia Open assured for '96
Indonesia Open assured for '96
JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Indonesian Tennis Association
(Pelti), Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, announced yesterday that poor
attendance and lack of sponsorship would not deter Pelti from
organizing the Indonesia Open Tennis Championships next year.
"For the sake of national tennis development, Pelti has
decided to hold the annual tournament next year," Sarwono, who is
also Minister of Environment, said yesterday in a statement.
Sarwono indicated that if, due to poor attendance, there were
no sponsors interested in next year's tournament, Pelti would
turn to the Adi Nawaeka foundation to keep it running.
The foundation was set up last year to anticipate any
financial crisis related to a lack of sponsorship. It is
comprised of eight people, including Minister/State Secretary
Moerdiono who acts as patron, and Pontjo Soetowo, owner of the
Hilton Hotel Indonesia.
Previously, Sarwono had said he would first discuss the matter
with the private bank which had spent US$600,000 to sponsor this
year's tournament before deciding about the future of the
tournament.
Sarwono said he believed that if Pelti consistently holds the
tournament annually, more and more people would become interested
in going to the stadium to watch it live and, one day, the
tournament would be watched by a filled-to-capacity stadium.
Eddy Katimansyah, the current tournament director, said that
Yusuf Arbianto, director of the private bank which sponsored the
this year's tournament, had told him that he was disappointed
about the turnout and would only act as a co-sponsor next year.
The number of spectators at the two-week tournament, which
started on Jan. 2 with the women's event and continued on Jan. 9
with the men's open, reached a low ebb this year.
Yesterday's finals were watched by only 200 people even though
it was held on a weekend.
Paul Haarhuis, winner of the men's singles, expressed dismay
at the poor turnout.
Attendance was good only at the exhibition match between
Indonesian tennis queen Yayuk Basuki and former tennis great
Martina Navratilova on Jan. 4, where the number of spectators
reached 2,400 (arf).