Letcher, Hsieh win int'l junior c'ships
Letcher, Hsieh win int'l junior c'ships
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian sole survivor in the boy's singles Al
Imron lost his dream of winning his first international title
after bowing out to Clint Letcher of Australia 1-6, 1-6 in the
2000 Nabisco International Junior Championships final at the
Senayan tennis complex on Saturday.
In the girl's final, Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei rebounded
after much pressure to beat Australian Tiffany Welford 2-6, 6-1,
6-2.
Indonesian duo Eko Kurniawan and Nesa Artha overcame Letcher
and Eko Putro of Indonesia 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to win the boy's doubles
title late in the evening, while Diana Julianto and Maya Rosa
outclassed Sandy Gumulya and Septi Nindya Yutami 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in
the all-Indonesian girl's doubles final.
Imron said that being a runner-up in the junior championships
was his highest achievement so far.
"I performed poorly today. I couldn't develop my skills during
the match. Letcher has hard and fast strokes and I could barely
return his service. This is my highest achievement.
"I usually end up in the quarterfinals at the most in other
junior championships. Maybe because there are only a few foreign
players here so it was less competitive. Moreover, I play well on
a clay court," said Imron, who competed in Thailand, Malaysia and
Brunei Darussalam before returning to Indonesia.
The girl's final event was halted for about half an hour due
to a downpour. Welford led the first set with 6-2 at that time.
But when the second set resumed, Hsieh appeared to be more
careful and tactical to take an early lead at 5-0. Welford
managed to win a game but she looked frustrated when Hsieh, whose
world junior rank is 47, was able to return her powerful strokes
and ended the match at 6-1.
In the last set, Welford, who is the world's no. 224, managed
to tie 1-1 with Hsieh. But the daughter of an Australian father
and Banjarmasin-born mother lost her concentration when she did
not see the ball and hit it astray. She was leading 2-1 up to
that moment.
Hsieh was quick to take control from the fourth game. The
remaining games saw Welford make many double fouls.
"Did you see when I missed the ball? I really couldn't see
it," she said after the match. (ivy)