Pelti to select top players for SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the national men's Davis Cup and women's Fed Cup teams will go through a selection process in May to compete in the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in August in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Coach Dedy Prasetyo told reporters on Monday that the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) would select four challengers for the Davis Cup team and another four for the Fed Cup team to vie for places in the national tennis team for the SEA Games.

Dedy said the Davis Cup and Fed Cup challengers would be decided in a nationwide selection tournament from April 12 to April 16. Twelve players will turn up for each stage of the tournament.

Pelti has named six men's players -- Andrian Raturandang, Bonit Wiryawan, Surya Wijaya, Sebastian da Costa, Yusmawan Fahmi and Samsuddin Pare -- and six women's players -- Wukirasih Sawondari, Eny Sulistyowati, Diana Laksono, Dewi Monika Siregar, Angelique Wijaya and Dian Anggraini -- for the tournament. The other contenders will be announced later this month.

The Davis Cup team comprises Suwandi, Febi Widhiyanto, Edy Kusdaryanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono. They will face the Philippines early next month in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group Two second round match.

Dedy said that Pelti had offered former junior No. 1 player Peter Handoyo a place in the selection, but he refused due to school commitments. He studies at the Tennessee University in the United States.

Indonesia's Fed Cup team of Wynne Prakusya, Irawati Moerid Iskandar, Liza Andriyani, Frederika Girsang and Dea Sumantri finished fifth in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group One in Bangkok last week.

Dedy said Wynne would be exempted from the April selection due to her world ranking of 187, the best among her teammates.

The coach also said Pelti had given former top player Romana Tedjakusuma a chance to rejoin the national women's team.

"Romana is one of our best players although she has been absent for the past two years. She managed to beat Wynne during a practice in December," Dedy said of Pelti's decision to call Romana.

The East Javanese player, the only other Indonesian player other than Yayuk Basuki to crack the world top 100, has yet to respond to the offer. (ivy/yan)