Indonesia secures berth in Junior Davis Cup
Indonesia secures berth in Junior Davis Cup
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian boys' tennis team followed the Fed Cup women to
enjoy a rare opportunity in the limelight after securing a berth
in the next Junior Davis Cup competition.
The ticket to the World Group competition was assured on
Friday after Indonesia, which comprised Sunu Wahyu Trijati,
Anthony Mukti Tan and Sandy Purnomo, mounted a comeback fight to
beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in the quarterfinal stage of the Asia-Oceania
qualifying matches here on Friday.
The Indonesian Fed Cup team, spearheaded by world No. 63
Angelique Widjaja, triumphed in Tokyo last week to move a step
closer to the World Group. They will have to take on Germany in
Jakarta in July.
In the Junior Davis Cup, Indonesia will go to the final, along
with India, Chinese Taipei and South Korea, the three also
winning over their respective opponents.
Second-seed India beat Hong Kong 2-1, Chinese Taipei had a
tough game, only in the first match, before crushing Sri Lanka 3-
0 and Korea scraped through at the expense of Thailand, also with
a 3-0 victory.
The Indonesian team, under the tutelage of Yustejo Tarik, went
a match down after Anthony Mukti Tan was forced to retire due to
leg cramp just when Indonesia was in the course of mounting
pressure against Vaja Uzakov.
Anthony lost the first set 3-6, and defeat seemed certain as
he looked desperate to shake off the jitters to trail 1-4 in the
second set.
He steadied the pace to take control and lead 5-4. After
allowing his opponent another game for 5-5, he was back in
charge.
With serve, and leading 40-15, Anthony was hit by cramp in
both legs, which caused him to hobble on the court, his face
contorted in sheer pain. He struggled to fight the affliction but
to no avail, and limped off the court at deuce.
Sunu evened the score with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Akmal Sharipov
before he continued his winning run in the doubles with Sandy
Purnomo.
Sunu/Sandy beat Uzakov/Sharipov 6-0, 7-5, to put Indonesia in
the Junior Davis Cup Final, to be played in Essen, Germany, in
September.
Meanwhile, the ITF Women's Circuit, being held at the same
venue, will see the final played out between the top two seeds,
with first-seed Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei taking on
second-seed Khoo Chin Bee of Malaysia.
Chuang made quick work of Indonesian Wukirasih Sawondari 6-2,
6-2, while Khoo stopped Liza Andriyani, also from Indonesia, 7-5,
6-3 in semifinal matches on Friday.