Pelti vying for two golds at Asian Games

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Tennis Association will be counting on the female squad for any realistic chance of winning gold medals at the upcoming Asian Games.

"The odds in the female events are good enough, with Angie (Angelique Widjaja) and Wynne (Prakusya) in our team," women's team coach Suzanna Anggarkusumah told a discussion organized by the Jakarta Sports Journalists Association (PWI Jaya) at Menara Peninsula hotel here on Tuesday.

On the panel of speakers were Pelti officials Martina Wijaya, Soebronto Laras and trainer Alex Taufik.

Angie, now ranked 75th in the WTA, and number 96 Wynne, are two of the four-strong Indonesian tennis team preparing for the Asian Games, scheduled to run in Busan, South Korea, from Sept. 29 through Oct. 14.

The 17-year-old Angie has recently won the national best athlete of the year award, thanks to her outstanding performance in a number of international tournaments.

The other squad members for the Busan trip are Wukirasih Sawondari and Liza Andriani.

"We have worked it out that we can rely on the women's doubles and team event," Suzanna said, adding that Angie could also spring surprises in the individual event.

"Strong rivalry will come from China and Korea, but we are confident that we can beat them," said Suzanna, who looked delighted for the team to repeat the feat she and teammates achieved back in 1986, also in Korea.

Teaming up with former star Yayuk Basuki, Suzanna earned Indonesia its first ever gold medal in the tennis competition at the quadrennial multi-event sporting showcase among the Asian nations. She continued four years later at Beijing.

Unlike in the female division, the men's players will go to Busan with the odds stacked against them.

"Gold will be hard to achieve, but I'm not completely ruling out a chance of winning one," coach Tintus Ariwibowo said.

"Suwandi has managed many times to reach the semifinals and finals at the Challenger-class tournaments, which see Asia's top players," he said about Indonesia's number one player.

He will be accompanied by Peter Handoyo, with Febi Widhiyanto and Hendri Susilo Pramono being the probable other two members.

Pelti, according to Martina, would be pushing for Febi and Hendri to go with the team, although it was the National Sports Council (KONI) that would decide eligibility based on medal prospects.