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.