Indonesia sends 6 players to Davis Cup in Malaysia
Indonesia sends 6 players to Davis Cup in Malaysia
JAKARTA (JP): After two weeks of infighting, the Indonesian
Tennis Association (Pelti) announced it would send a six-player
team to its Davis Cup tie against Malaysia -- including the
controversial doubles pairing of Bonit Wirayawan and Sulistyo
Wibowo.
Pelti spokesman Benny Mailili said on Monday the organization
registered the squad -- consisting of Suwandi and Febi Widhiyanto
in the singles, plus Bonit/Sulistyo and Edy Kusdaryanto/Hendri
Susilo Pramono in the doubles -- with the International Tennis
Federation (ITF). The second round tie in Group II of the Davis
Cup Asia Oceania Zone will be played in Kuala Lumpur next month.
"Sometimes when we put two reserve players' names on the list,
the ITF doesn't include them. However, it's necessary as we can
change the name one hour before the match if one of our players
is injured," he said.
Benny's announcement ended the dispute which occurred last
week when Pelti decided to call Bonit and Sulistyo, who recently
won the Indonesia Future-1 and the Niaga Cigna tournaments
despite previous poor form.
"Bonit and Sulistyo will likely play the doubles event as Edy
skipped training sessions for three days, saying he would quit
the team. Luckily, the Pelti official in charge of athletes
development, Sudjiono Timan, managed to persuade him to remain on
the team," Benny said.
Coach Deddy Prasetyo said Edy's action disrupted the team's
preparation.
"Due to Edy's absence, Febi had to replace him to partner
Hendri as practice partners for Bonit and Sulistyo. Febi couldn't
concentrate on his discipline as a single player," he said.
"For Bonit and Sulistyo, there's nothing I could do to improve
their technical skills. I only asked them to play the best of
five sets to prepare for the Davis Cup."
Dedy expressed optimism his squad would be able to defeat
Malaysia.
"In the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, we beat Malaysia 3-
0. After the event, our players have competed in many
tournaments. I believe they can win the Davis Cup match 3-2."
Indonesia reached the second round after beating the
Philippines 4-1 in Manila in a tie played from Feb. 4 to Feb. 6.
Indonesia meets Malaysia -- which will likely field Selvam
Veerasingam, Ashwan Hizan, Ramaiyah Ramachandran and Sie Yew Ming
-- on April 7 to April 9. Malaysia reached the second round by
upsetting Iran 3-2.
The winner of the tie will face either Pakistan or Chinese
Taipei.
Benny said Edy and Hendri were good players but they still
needed more experience to compete in the Davis Cup.
"It's different from Bonit and Sulistyo, who have often won
their Davis Cup matches," he said. (yan)