Injured Yayuk set to lead SEA Games team

Injured Yayuk set to lead SEA Games team

JAKARTA (JP): Yayuk Basuki, struggling with a back injury,
intends to give everything she has to Indonesia's quest to win
five tennis gold medals at the 18th Southeast Asian Games.

Yayuk, representing her teammates, told the touring National
Sports Council (KONI) Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar yesterday
that the national tennis team would battle it out to reach the
target at the Dec. 9-17 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"We have a unified commitment to winning at the Games at any
cost," Yayuk told Wismoyo.

A chain-smoking Wismoyo spent more than an hour giving
encouragement to the national tennis players. Wismoyo will make
further visits to various training camps between now and KONI's
announcement of the line-up for the national SEA Games team on
Nov. 15.

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Tennis Association, Zaenal
Abidin, said Yayuk and her fellow team members would take five
golds, two more than Indonesia's tennis golds at the 1993 Games
in Singapore. However, the two Indonesian coaches went further,
predicting a clean sweep.

Women's team coach Deddy Prasetyo said Yayuk, who skipped the
past two Games, was expected to lead her juniors to seize three
golds in the team, singles and doubles events.

"We also hope to steal the mixed doubles crown," Prasetyo
said. Prasetyo picked Federation Cuppers Yayuk, Romana
Tedjakusuma, Mimma Chernovita and reserve player Maria Veronica
Widyadharma for the nucleus of the women's tennis squad.

Another Deddy, Tedjamukti, expressed guarded optimism that his
men's quartet of Suwandi, Bonit Wiryawan and debutants Sulistyo
Wibowo and Edi Kusharyanto would give Indonesia three more golds.
Suwandi took the singles laurel in his debut in 1993.

"They made satisfying improvement during their try-outs in
three satellite tournaments in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and on home
soil recently," Tedjamukti told Wismoyo.

Both Prasetyo and Tedjamukti admitted that the host players
would present the toughest hurdles. "But on paper we can overcome
them," Prasetyo asserted.

Nevertheless, clouds continue to hang over the Indonesian side
as Yayuk has yet to recover from the nagging injury she suffered
during the Nokia Open in Beijing late last month. Yayuk, making
her title defense attempt, crashed out of the second round to
unheralded Linda Wild of the United States. The American went on
to win the tournament.

The injury has since stopped Yayuk from unleashing her
powerful ground-strokes and serves during training sessions.

"Yayuk is receiving intensive medical treatment, using
physiotherapy and acupuncture. Hopefully she will regain her top
form in three weeks time," Yayuk's personal coach and husband
Suharyadi said.

Yayuk will undergo her final fitness tests at a US$100,000 WTA
tournament in Pattaya, Thailand from Nov. 13 to Nov. 19 and the
Asia Championships in Manila two weeks later.

Yayuk will only play doubles with Romana in the Asia
Championships, which also serve as the qualifying round for the
1996 Olympic Games.

Romana will join the team on Nov. 9, after completing her
American tours. She clinched a double in the NCAA tournaments in
Houston recently, winning both singles and doubles titles. (amd)