Pessimistic tennis team heads to SEAG in Vietnam

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian tennis squad is pessimistic about its medal prospects at the upcoming 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam, as most of the team members are younger players, an official has said.

The squad's team manager, Kresno Merdiko, told reporters on Monday that the junior players had not yet shown much consistency.

"Their performances are still unpredictable, going up and down," he said from the Indonesian Lawn Tennis Association (Pelti) office.

Nevertheless, the squad will still put in the practice time with a special training camp at Pelti chairperson Martina Widjaja's residence, from Nov. 19 to 29.

"That will hopefully build the team's togetherness, at the same time finding the right pair for the doubles events," he said.

During the last couple of months the team members have been traveling around participating in various overseas tournaments and have not yet prepared as a team, he said.

The men's squad consists of Febi Widianto, Hendri Soesilo Pramono, Prima Simpatiaji and Suwandi, while the women are Wynne Prakusya, Sandy Gumulya, Septi Mende and Maya Rosa.

Kresno was particularly concerned with the women's squad, especially after their showing in recent tournaments, namely the Afro-Asian Championship, ITF Indonesia and Philippines Circuit Tennis Tournament, where the girls showed inconsistent performances.

"They won in one tournament, but unexpectedly lost in another," he said.

However, he has some hope that one of them may come up with a surprise, because even the Thai tennis players, considered the strongest group, might be distracted by the pressure and ripe for an upset.

The squad is scheduled to leave for Ho Chi Minh city on Dec. 2, while the team events will start on Dec. 5 and the singles on Dec. 7.

In previous events, particularly in the Kuala Lumpur games in 2001, Indonesia won five gold medals, followed by Thailand with two.

The five tennis golds in the 2001 SEA Games were part of the 72 overall golds collected by the Indonesian contingent to finish in third behind Malaysia (111) and Thailand (103) in the final standings.

The SEA Games are a biennial multi-event sporting showcase among the 10 Southeast Asia nations.