Kaneko outclasses Suhendar
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)