Indonesian juniors book 1st wins at world tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Local boys and girls clinched easy wins on the first day of the Asia/Oceania World Junior qualifying tournament at the Senayan tennis complex yesterday.

The girls' team of Angelique Widjaya, Novianti Warsono and Diana Julianto won 3-0 against the Hong Kong duo of Hilary Ng and Hoi Yee Poon.

In the boys' team event, Naharudin, Eko Kurniawan and Fandi Suyadi won 2-1 against Hao Lu and Tao Yang from China.

Deddy Prasetya, the team's nonplaying captain said that based on the team's performance yesterday he was optimistic that the Indonesian boys could win other matches.

"The boys are playing well although they're not at their peak. Unfortunately, Eko wasn't really fit today," Deddy said.

The boys are scheduled to meet Lebanon today while the girls play China.

Indonesia's boys only managed fifth position at last year's tournament here and failed to qualify for the World Junior Championship in Tokyo.

Their female compatriots however, qualified for the championship after finishing third behind Australia and South Korea.

Both Angelique and Novianti were veterans of last year's event and have experience in a number of international junior tournaments. Diana is a newcomer to the team and this is her first time to play in an international event.

Novianti opened the tie, beating Hilary in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.

Angelique won 6-2, 6-2 against Hoi and in the doubles with Diana beat Hilary and Hoi 6-3, 6-2.

Alfred Raturandang, the girls' nonplaying captain, said that the girls did not show their best form.

He said they beat Hong Kong because their opponents were playing poorly.

"Their defenses could be penetrated easily. Hoi Yee Poon often made errors on her serve," he said.

Hong Kong's coach Chris Numbers only commented that the Indonesian girls deserved the win as they performed better than Hong Kong.

"The Indonesian team is still too tough to beat," Numbers said.

Twenty-seven teams, 14 boys and 13 girls, are competing for three places in the World Junior Championships in Nagoya, Japan, next August.

The tournament, which was opened by Indonesian Tennis Association chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja yesterday, lasts through Sunday. (emf)