RI avoids relegation with Uzbekistan win
RI avoids relegation with Uzbekistan win
JAKARTA (JP): Up-and-down Indonesia had the last laugh at the
Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group One women's tennis tournament in
Bangkok on Friday, beating Uzbekistan 3-0 to avoid relegation.
The result put Wynne Prakusya and company fifth in the 10-team
field after two wins and two defeats. They finished sixth in last
year's event, also in Bangkok.
The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) deputy secretary
general, Benny Mailili, expressed his delight, saying the outcome
was more than he had expected. Indonesia set a modest target of
avoiding relegation to Group Two prior to the tournament.
"I knew that on paper we must win but I did not expect them to
score a big win. I thought it would have been 2-1. It's a relief
that we are still in Group One," he said.
Second singles choice Irawati Moerid Iskandar made up for her
defeat on Thursday with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Lilia
Biktyakova in a tiring match to give Indonesia an early lead.
Wynne Prakusya, the team's anchor after Indonesia's tennis
queen Yayuk Basuki retired early this year, clinched the result
with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over Natalie Nikitina.
Irawati and Wynne teamed up to crush the Uzbekistan pairing of
Biktyakova and Nikitina 6-0, 6-2.
Meanwhile, national men's team coach, Dedy Prasetyo, said his
Davis Cup team members had canceled their planned Philippines
outing after they were denied a guaranteed entry to the draw at
two satellite tournaments there.
The tournaments run in successive weeks, starting on Monday.
"Our Davis Cup players don't have ATP rankings so the
tournament organizers put us on the waiting list. It's a waste of
money if we fly to Manila without any guarantee of playing," Dedy
said.
About 100 players have been registered in both tournaments,
but only 48 will be admitted.
National number one Andrian Raturandang, world ranked 840,
will become the only Indonesian to compete in the tournaments.
Andrian failed to join the Davis Cup team after losing in the
national selection process last month.
Indonesia will field Febi Widhiyanto, Suwandi, Edy Kusdaryanto
and Hendri Susilo Pramono when it hosts the Philippines in their
Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group Two second round match on April 2 to
April 4.
The Philippines has requested the International Tennis
Federation (ITF) moves the match to a neutral country, citing
safety concerns in the wake of riots in Indonesia. The ITF is
expected to decide on the issue next week.
Pelti also announced Friday it would stage the Baskin Robbins
International Junior Championships in Kemayoran from April 8 to
14.
Seventy-eight boys and 53 girls from 21 countries have
confirmed their participation in the event. Unfortunately, no
Indonesian boys have been admitted to the main draw due to poor
rankings.
Peter-Jon Nombo of South Africa, ITF junior ranked 67, is the
top seed in the boys' event while Nicola Rencken, ITF junior 61,
heads the girls' draw. (yan)