Japan edges RI 2-1 in Asiad quarterfinals
By Primastuti Handayani
BANGKOK (JP): An uninspired Indonesia crashed out of the men's tennis team competition at the 13th Asian Games on Wednesday, losing to second seed Japan in a virtually one-sided quarterfinal at the Muang Thon Tani sports complex.
Japan romped to an unassailable 2-0 lead after the two singles matches before Indonesia's duo of Sulistyo Wibowo and Bonit Wiryawan earned a consolation win in the doubles which served only academic interest.
In Friday's semifinals, Japan will meet third seed India, which proved too much for Pakistan despite the absence of Asia's top player Leander Paes. India won 3-0 without dropping a set.
The other semifinal will be between the winners of matches on Thursday between top seed Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei and South Korea and host Thailand.
"This was no surprise, because we never set a target to win a medal in the men's team event. Both Sulistyo and Bonit need a warm-up and have to get used to the court and weather before teaming up in the individual event," Indonesia's nonplaying captain Sulistiono said.
Sulistiono said that Sulistyo and Bonit lacked international competition due to financial constraints. Their absences from the tennis circuit has dropped their world ranking from the 300s to 914.
"That's why they needed a little bit of exposure before playing for a medal in the individual event," Sulistiono said.
Indonesia, which won the silver in the 1994 Asiad in Hiroshima, originally registered Bonit and Sulistyo for the men's doubles individual event at the Asiad. However coaches changed their minds just before a team managers' technical meeting on Monday.
Bonit, Indonesia's best doubles specialist, failed to match the power game of Japan's second singles choice Satoshi Iwabuchi and lost 1-6, 0-6. Sulistyo fared better, although he managed only four games in his 4-6, 0-6 defeat to Japan's number one singles, Hideki Kaneko.
The Indonesian duo salvaged some pride with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Japanese pair of Takahiro Terachi and Michihisa Onoda.
"I didn't expect a win because we lacked preparation. We have had a lot of problems, even before we left for the Asiad," Sulistyo said.
"We only practiced for an hour going into the competition. So we had nothing to lose," he added with a laugh.
Indonesia reached the quarterfinals by defeating Kuwait 3-0 on Tuesday.
In the women's team event, world number 57 Yayuk Basuki leads Indonesia against second seed China in Thursday's semifinals.
Indonesia will field its best line-up, which also includes second singles player Wynne Prakusya and doubles team of Liza Andriyani and Irawati Moerid Iskandar.
China is expected to bank on its top players: Li Fang, Yi Jing-qian and Chen Li.
Indonesian coach Suharyadi, who is also Yayuk's husband, said Wynne had a great chance to give her team an opening lead with a win over Yi in the first singles match.
Wynne last beat Yi in a Fed Cup qualifying round match here in March.
Fourth seed Indonesia, the losing finalist in Hiroshima four years ago, cruised into the semifinals after beating India 3-0 on Tuesday, while China edged out South Korea 2-1.