Kaneko outclasses Suhendar
JAKARTA (JP): Second-seeded Hideki Kaneko of Japan was too strong for Indonesia's Suhendar Dinata, defeating the wild card entry in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in the singles quarterfinals of the Men's Indonesian Fertilizer Future 4 here on Friday.
Suhendar's defeat means no Indonesian player will be contesting the singles semifinal of the US$15,000 (Rp 100 million) tournament.
Tennis commentator Benny Mailili said on Friday that non- seeded Suhendar, nicknamed Dede, was technically outclassed by Kaneko, world No 300, who possesses a greater variety of strokes.
"Kaneko put Dede under constant pressure. He used up Dede's energy by returning the ball to every corner," he said.
In the second set, he said, Dede tried to catch up.
"Dede almost caught up to level the score but lost 4-6 in the second set because he had no energy left," said Benny, who is also deputy secretary general of the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti).
The 1998 Asian Games gold medalist and fifth-seeded Yoon Yong- il of South Korea defeated third-seed and Future 3 champion, Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan 7-6, 6-3.
"They displayed an Asian-class playing strategy. Both players can hit hard. But only the most consistent can win," Benny said.
World ranked 414 Yoon will challenge Kaneko in the semifinal on Saturday.
In other games, non-seeded Ric de Voest of South Africa who beat top-seed Paradorn Srichaphan in the second round, won 6-7, 6-0, 7-5 against eighth-seeded Ryuso Tsujino of Japan. Tsujino was reportedly suffering from diarrhea on Thursday night but he forced himself to play. He withdrew from the mixed double's semifinals on Friday.
Fourth seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand also secured a semifinals berth after defeating lucky loser Glen Bertram of Australia 6-2, 6-2. He will meet de Voest in the semifinals.
"Danai has variety of strokes compared to his compatriot Paradorn, which he can use according to the situation," said Benny.
He said that Indonesia's top players would a face tough challenge from Danai as is most likely be Thailand's second best player after Srichaphan in the 20th Southeast Asian Games next month.
Three out of Indonesia's top four singles players who are in preparation for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games -- Suwandi, Hendri Susilo Pramono, Febi Widhiyanto -- all lost in the first and second rounds.
Suwandi, ranked 929th in the world, lost 6-7, 3-6 to junior Surya Wijaya in the second round. Hendri was crushed 1-6, 2-6 by Tsujino and Febi was defeated 4-6, 2-6 by Kaneko in the third round.
Yusmawan Fahmi, another SEA Games player, was forced to withdraw from the Future 3 tournament because of his commitment to compete in the Universiade in Mallorca, Spain, this week.
In men's doubles, Indonesia's Andrian Raturandang and Yoon Yong-il of South Korea will face the Thai brothers Narathorn and Paradorn Srichaphan in the final on Sunday, after the second- seeded Indonesian pair won by default against Kaneko and Tsujino.
The Non-seeded Srichaphan brothers had to fight hard against Kutsenko and Timur Ganiev of Uzbekistan before they could overcome the third-seeded pair 6-7, 7-5, 6-3.(ivy)