Pessimistic tennis team heads to Vietnam

Pessimistic tennis team heads to 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.