Indonesian girls' doubles secure C'ships gold

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia secured a gold medal in the girls' doubles in the first Asian Schools Tennis Championships at the Senayan tennis complex on Saturday.

Angelique Widjaja and Novianti Warsono will face compatriot Frederika Girsang and Mudarwati in the all-Indonesian final. Angelique and Novianti had a walk-over win on Saturday thanks to Chinese duo Fan Na and Liu Yidan, who did not show up for the match.

A Chinese official had told Fan and Lin that he did not know if they had to play again so both players left the complex. They failed to return by the last call to enter the court.

Frederika and Mudarwati had to fight hard to overcome Chataleeya Weserat and Chattida Thimjapo of Thailand 4-6, 6-1, 6- 2.

Indonesia still has a chance to win a gold in the girls' singles after Frederika defeated Khanita Sritawan of Thailand 6- 0, 6-1. The second-seed Indonesian will challenge unseeded Fan Na of China, who upset third seed Angelique 7-6 (7-2), 6-1.

Coach Yosafat Sihombing said that Angelique, nicknamed Angie, was very nervous in the beginning.

"She was down 1-4 in the first set before she changed her playing to tie 4-4, but after that she returned to her old playing. She had applied the right strategy to change her opponent's playing rhythm but I think she lost her confidence, especially in the second set," he said.

"However, Angie played really well during the match. It seems she was a bit scared of Fan, who upset top seeded Thimjapo earlier."

Speaking on Frederika's chances to win over Fan in Sunday's final, Yosafat said Frederika should not play a monotonous game against Fan.

In the boys' singles, Indonesia's sole hope Ferza Gautama failed to reach the final after he bowed out to Yang Tao of China 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

Coach Manuel Koen said second-seed Ferza was too careful in the first game and since then only wanted to play safe.

"Although Ferza had a chance to kill his contender, he didn't and so Yang could take advantage of it. However, Yang is a very tough player. He joined the Chinese team, which won the Asia Oceania zone World Youth Cup this year," he said.

In the boys' doubles, Indonesian students failed to create an all-Indonesian finals after Ferza and Irwan Radjab were eliminated by the Thai duo of Pacharapol Khamsaman and Sornsakol Supakit 7-5, 5-7, 5-7.

Second seeds Khamsaman and Supakit will challenge top seeds Naharuddin and Prima Simpatiaji, who had to fight hard to defeat Asrhutosh Singh and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya of India 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. (yan)