Pelti hopes Febi, Hendri able to keep up Asiad gold rush

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) hopes two national players -- Febi Widhiyanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono -- will be able to carry on the tradition of winning gold medals in the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

Pelti deputy secretary-general, Benny Mailili, told a news conference on Tuesday that both Febi and Hendri would have the chance to equal Asian players by competing in the German tennis Bundesliga next year.

"If they train in Germany, they can compete in European satellite tournaments the whole year. By increasing their tournament experiences, I believe they will be able to be ranked among the ATP 200s in two years time," he said.

Indonesia has mostly won gold medals ever since it first competed in the Asiad in 1966. Only in 1994, the national team failed to bring home the gold. Last year, Yayuk Basuki added a gold medal collection in the women's singles.

Febi and Hendri are allowed to compete in the Bundesliga after they qualified in three tournaments in Memmingen, Ludwigashafen and Offenbach last month.

They will join the Schwetzingen tennis club, the second highest division in Bundesliga, and will be coached by Peter Traeutlein, a famous regional head coach of the German Tennis Federation (DTB).

Both players, world ranked in the 1,000s, are scheduled to compete in seven games of the league starting April 2000 before returning home to compete in the 2000 National Games in June in Surabaya.

Febi and Hendri, who are being sponsored by Allianz Life Indonesia insurance company and German airline Lufthansa, will continue their German-based training in July to compete for more European tournaments.

Coach Deddy Prasetyo said both players were expected to reach a world ranking in the 300s in the next two years.

"We hope Febi and Hendri can compete in between 20 and 30 tournaments per year in Europe. By having good sponsorship for them, I can focus my attention on grooming younger athletes in the future," said Deddy, who is also Pelti official in charge of the development of juniors.

Viven Setiabudi, vice president director of Allianz, said: "This is a great example of an active sponsorship, where we are utilizing our contracts to partners and friends in Germany."

Febi and Hendri will compete in the Indonesia Future 5 and 6 series starting next week at the Danamon tennis center in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

Febi, ATP ranked 1,304, is expected to exact revenge on Thai Danai Udomchoke, who defeated him twice in last month's Southeast Asian Games in Brunei. (yan)