Indonesian girls qualify for World Cup tennis

Indonesian girls qualify for World Cup tennis

JAKARTA (JP): Heavy rain washed out the Senayan clay tennis courts and delayed yesterday's quarterfinal matches at the World Youth Cup Asia Oceania qualifier, but it couldn't stop the Indonesian girls' brilliant run.

Indonesia's first and second singles, Enny Sulistyowati and Wynne Prakusya, gave their team a 2-0 lead over Thailand and a place in the World Youth Cup finals in Essen, Germany, next September.

An under-form Enny struggled all the way in her game against Marissa Niroj. Trailing 0-4, Enny came back to clip the Thai with a 6-4 first-set win. The Indonesian gave away the second set, before Marissa pulled out of the match because of a stomach problem while trailing 1-2 in the decider.

Wynne played elegantly to make short work of Montika Anuchan 6-4, 6-0. Wynne was scheduled to team up with Liza Andriyani in the doubles match before the rain dropped.

Enny and company will complete their quarterfinal matches this morning before playing either Australia or Japan in the afternoon semifinal. Japan led Australia 1-0 after Akiko Morigami beat Bryanne Stewart 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 yesterday.

Australian boys, the only team to complete yesterday's matches, and the South Korean girls' team joined Indonesian girls in today's semifinals. Australia routed Malaysia 3-0, while South Korea took an unassailable 2-0 lead over the Philippines.

The Indonesian boys were on their way to the semifinals after Peter Handoyo outlasted New Zealand's James Shortall 7-5, 6-3. Indonesian boy's second singles Feby Widhiyanto won the first set 6-3 and held his serve at 15-0 and 3-3 before his match against Marc Paulik was washed out. (amd)