Pelti has two candidates to replace Hendri in Davis Cup
Pelti has two candidates to replace Hendri in Davis Cup
JAKARTA (JP): National men's tennis players Andrian
Raturandang and Suhendar Dinata are the only candidates to
replace second singles Hendri Susilo Pramono in the Davis Cup
Group I Asia Oceania zone tie against Uzbekistan next week.
Another candidate, Febi Widhiyanto, turned down Pelti's offer
on Friday as the substitute for Hendri, his best friend off
court, arguing that he was not well-prepared for the event.
Hendri withdrew from the team on Thursday after allegedly
enduring bad treatment from the Indonesian Tennis Association
(Pelti) official in charge of athletes development Sudjiono Timan
on Wednesday.
Pelti's spokesman Benny Mailili said the association wouldn't
force players to join the team against their will.
"We can't force them to accept our request," he said.
Pelti has yet to announce the substitute before the Davis Cup
tie starts on Feb. 9 to Feb. 11 at the Kemayoran Tennis Center in
Central Jakarta.
Indonesia will field top national player Suwandi as the first
singles participant and veteran doubles pair Bonit Wiryawan and
Sulistyo Wibowo.
Uzbekistan brought team members Oleg Ogorodov, Vadim Kutsenko,
Dmitriy Tomashevich and Dmitriy Mazur. The drawing will take
place on Wednesday.
Dede, nicknamed Suhendar, had said he would join the team if
nobody was left to play in the tie. Andrian also said that he was
ready if Pelti needed him.
"I'm ready to perform if Pelti asks me to," he said, adding
that he has never beaten Tomashevich and Kutsenko.
"I met Tomashevich twice but I have never beaten him. I fought
Kutsenko once but he also beat me in straight sets," he said.
Febi said he had never practiced on a plexi-pave court at the
Kemayoran Tennis Center.
"I am not physically prepared for the Davis Cup. I haven't
competed on a hard court recently. I should have also warmed up
in various tournaments as suitable preparation. It's an honor to
play in the Davis Cup, but without adequate preparation I will be
humiliated," he said.
SEA Games
In an unrelated development, veteran women's player Yayuk
Basuki said she could not resist Pelti's expectation to include
her in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games team.
"Pelti hopes I can perform to get the best achievement for
this country because it still considers me one of the country's
best players," she said, adding that she might perform in the
women's doubles and mixed doubles event.
"Pelti asked me to play my best for this country. If it's for
the country I must be ready. I am nominated, but those who are
the best and the most prepared will surely perform in the Games."
"Pelti is adamant that Indonesia can win in the women's
singles as we have top players like Wynne Prakusya, Romana
Tejakusuma and Wukirasih Sawondari. But they are not so sure of
Indonesia's chance in the doubles because they predict Thailand's
top player Tamarine Tanasugarn will also perform in the Games,"
she said.
Yayuk said she had asked Pelti to provide opportunities for
juniors but the body said they were not prepared for the Games,
which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in September.
"Maybe in two years time, our young players will be ready to
become champions of the biennial event. I myself consider my
career in the singles event to be over."
"I won gold in two SEA Games, but Wynne has never achieved
that so far during her professional career. She needs to be the
SEA Games champion to increase her pride, her competitiveness and
her self-confidence, like I did," she said.
Pelti invited Yayuk, Romana, Wynne, Liza Andriyani, Wukirasih
and juniors Angelique Wijaya, Dea Sumantri and Frederika Girsang
to participate in the women's side. In the men's side, Pelti
called Suwandi, Andrian, Hendri, Febi, Bonit, Sulistyo, Peter
Handoyo and Eko Kurniawan. (ivy)