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)