'Post' players fail to advance

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Post suffered early defeats in individual events at the Garudafood-SIWO PWI Jaya Inter Media Tennis Tournament at the Bung Karno Sports Complex on Thursday.

Bruce Emond provided the biggest upset after defeating second seed John Lembong of Suara Pembaruan in a close men's singles match.

During their first round match, John took the lead several times but Emond managed to catch up and turned the tide just in time to win 9-7.

Playing out of form, John was leading 3-1 before extending his lead 4-2 and 6-4. Emond, who played inconsistently, equalized the game 6-6 but let John take a 7-6 lead.

But that was all John could do as Emond finished it 9-7.

Emond, however, was not able to continue his winning streak after falling to Achmed K.S. of Pilar later in the day. Achmed did not find it difficult to beat Emond 8-1 in their second round match.

The Post suffered another defeat in the men's doubles when Emond faced Achmed for the second time. This time, Emond teamed up with Veramala Anjaiah to challenge Achmed and Adi R.M. of Tempo.

Achmed and Adi won the match 8-2 quite easily despite the fact that Achmed suffered cramp in his left leg. -- JP