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)