Indonesian players dominate Junior Tennis c'ships

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia sent 11 boys and 11 girls to the top 16 of the under-18 2000 Nabisco International Tennis Junior Championships in the Senayan Tennis Complex on Tuesday.

In the boy's singles event, top seed Eko Kurniawan had an easy victory over teammate Theodorus Wiyanto 6-2, 6-1. Eko will face compatriot Christian Adinata, who scored 6-0, 6-1 over Ralf Wijaya.

Second seed Eko Putra eliminated Nesa Artha 6-2, 6-2 to face Imanuel Prabowo on Wednesday. Prabowo barely broke a sweat to beat Aria Vandana 6-0, 6-0.

Prabowo's twin brother, Imanuel Prakoso, was not so lucky. He bowed out to seventh seed Dannio Yahya of Malaysia 4-6, 1-6.

In the girl's singles, top seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei and second seeded Pichaya Laosirichon of Thailand received byes to go to the top 16.

Sasha Abraham, seeded fourth in the championships, was pushed to her limit before eliminating compatriot Gemma Yoselyn 3-6, 6- 3, 6-2. Sasha will challenge Wang Nai-yu of Chinese Taipei, who beat Indonesian Shirley Soesilo 6-0, 6-0.

Fifth seeded Dian Anggraini managed to make her way to the top 16 after overwhelming Sonya Kumar of Singapore 6-3, 6-1. Dian will play compatriot Stella Sondang, who defeated fellow countrywoman Devina Saedi 6-0, 6-1.

The match between Yang Cheng-i of Taipei and Ayako Tamura of Japan was delayed until Wednesday as Yang arrives in Indonesia on Tuesday evening.

In the Under-16 boy's event, top seeded Christian, second seeded Prakoso, third seeded Fachri Syahputra, fourth seeded Tiolana Putra, fifth seeded A. Jonathan Amdanu and sixth seeded Prabowo received byes in the first round.

On Wednesday, Christian will meet Yudha Arditya, who beat Wahyu Sindhunata Basuki 6-3, 7-5. Prakoso will play Robert Leonard W., who defeated Danny 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Fachri will play Bramadita, who beat Rony Himawan 6-2, 6-2. Tiolana will face Theodorus Wiyanto who outclassed Ganda Loekito 6-3, 6-1. Jonathan will meet Armendio Anggara, who outplayed Redy Gunawan 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Prabowo is to play Ichwan Rizaldi, who overwhelmed Fajar Kharisma 6-0, 6-0 on Tuesday.

In the girl's Under-16 event, seeded players Lisa Mariana, Yella Megasari, Meritus Fitria Gani, unseeded player Monica Aryani, all from Indonesia, and Sonya also received byes in the first round.

Mariana will meet Chintha Karrie who beat Yuriko Tampi 6-3, 6- 3. Sonya will meet Devina, who beat Rosidah Kusuma Dewi 6-2, 6-4. Monica will meet Fitria Gani and Megasari will face Mega Margaretha, who beat Yulia Fitri 6-3, 6-1.

Some of the players are competing in both age group events as allowed by the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti). The reason is to give the players more chances to compete. (ivy)