Losing Sunu looks

Losing Sunu looks ahead for Australia

Zakki Hakim The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Sunu Wahyu Trijati failed to advance to the semifinals of the ITF Indonesia Junior Tennis Championships 2003 and the young Indonesian tennis star said he learned much from defeat ahead of his debut in the Junior Australian Open early next year.

The 16-year-old, who was the second seed, lost to Lee Meng Hua of Chinese Taipei 6-1, 6-3 in 63 minutes in the quarterfinal match at the Bung Karno tennis courts here on Friday.

Sunu praised his opponent, saying that Lee, who was only seeded 12th, was a world class junior player and very consistent.

"Although he was seeded 12th, he gave a world-class performance. I have yet to reach that international level. Therefore, I will need more experience," he told The Jakarta Post.

Sunu, along with Lavinia Tananta in the girls' category, will be awarded a chance of competing in the Australian Open after winning the national Hemaviton Master Series last month.

Sunu, who is currently ranked 120th the world junior rankings (ITF), said that he would try to amass at least 30 points in the next tournaments for a possible inclusion in the main draw.

After the ongoing ITF championships' first leg in Jakarta, the second leg awaits him in Surabaya, followed by the ITF Malaysia in Serawak and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and ITF India.

Meanwhile, the semifinal matches of the Jakarta ITF championships will see top seed Yi Chu Huan of China against Indonesian Immanuel Prabowo and Lee against fourth seed Roman Kelecic of Croatia.

Indonesians dominated the girls' field, securing three places in the semifinals.

Second seed Ayu Fani Damayanti, who won 6-0, 6-3 over the U.S.'s Tori Kinard, will meet Dian Mayasari while Nancy Metriya will challenge top seed Liu Wan Ting of China.