Indonesia's juniors book tickets to world tennis meet

JAKARTA (JP): The nation's junior tennis players bagged berths in the final of the World Junior Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, next August in the closing matches of the qualifying event of the Asia/Oceania zone here Sunday.

The boys' team finished in the top position of their event by blasting Chinese Taipei 2-1. Chinese Taipei and India, in second and third places, also qualify for Nagoya.

In the girl's event, Indonesia won by the same scoreline over defending champion Australia for third place. The other qualifiers were Thailand, the event winner, and Chinese Taipei.

It was a historic milestone for the boys as it marked their first time to pass through all the qualifying rounds to emerge the winner.

Tournament coordinator Mansyur Djabir said that Indonesia's target for the boys' team would be higher than last year.

In last year's tournament, the boys only finished in fifth position and did not qualify for the final, held in Tokyo.

"I am proud of the boys' team for their achievement," Mansyur said.

The duo of Eko Kurniawan and Naharuddin saved the team's fate in the doubles by trouncing Chinese Taipei's Yeu Tzuoo Wang and Chueh Cheng Shih 6-2, 6-1.

In the singles, Indonesian first singles Eko was defeated by Wang 6-0, 6-4 but Naharuddin made up for this with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2 win over Yi Chang Wu.

Much depended on Naharuddin of Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, who was the motivator for his teammate Eko.

"Eko is too young to understand his responsibility as the first to play for the team while Naharuddin displayed good play," said the team's nonplaying captain Deddy Prasetyo.

In the girls' event, Novianti Warsono beat Adriana Szili 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, but the tie hinged on the doubles after Angelique was defeated by Samantha Stosur in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

But Novianti and Angelique proved they were made of tougher stuff as they beat Stosur and Natalie Ko 6-4, 7-6 to snatch the final berth.

They will play in the championships in from Aug. 24 - Aug. 30.

"We'll surely do our best at the Nagoya tournament. We still have enough time to prepare ourselves," Alfred Raturandang, the nonplaying captain for the team, said. (emf)

Final standings (Qualifiers)

Boys: 1. Indonesia; 2. Chinese Taipei; 3. India.

Girls: 1. Thailand; 2. Chinese Taipei; 3. Indonesia.