RI books a berth in men's singles final

RI books a berth in men's singles final

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Suwandi is up against compatriot
Hendri Susilo Pramono for a place in the men's singles final of
the Extra Joss Future-4 tennis championships at the Kemayoran
tennis center.

Suwandi outclassed Lee Seung-hun of South Korea 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
in Thursday's quarterfinals to set up a semifinal clash with
Hendri, who survived a hard quarterfinal, beating Marian Leysek
of Slovakia 7-5, 6-4.

The other semifinal will feature top seed Danai Udomchoke of
Thailand and Park Seung-kyu of South Korea.

Udomchoke enjoyed an easy win over Leigh Holland of Australia
6-1, 6-2, while Park beat sixth seed Rik De Voest of South Africa
6-4, 6-3.

In the men's doubles quarterfinals, the Indonesian duo of
Yusmawan Fahmi and Edo Bawono beat Marcel Du Coudray of Mauritius
and Wilem Petr Meyer of South Africa 6-2, 6-1

On Friday, the Indonesian pair will meet fifth seeds Alan
Mackin and Luben Pampoulov of Austria. The Austrians beat the
Indian pairing of Mustafa Ghouse and Manoj Mahadevan 6-4, 7-5.

In the other semifinal match, Hendri, partnering Febi
Widhiyanto, will play the experienced Indonesian pairing of Bonit
Wiryawan and Sulistyo Wibowo.

Speaking on his chances in the men's semis, Hendri said he had
prepared a strategy to beat Suwandi, who he lost to in the final
of the National Games in Surabaya last month.

"We are playing on a fast surface so I will have to play
better at the net rather than rallying from the baseline. I
forced him to rally at the Games in Surabaya and I lost. But the
court was not as fast as it is here," he said.

In previous encounters, each player has beaten the other
twice.

He said that reaching the semifinals was his best achievement
in the four Future tournaments this year.

He was also planning to give Bonit and Sulistyo a hard time in
the doubles, remembering his and Febi's defeat at their hands in
last week's Future-3 final.

"We don't want to lose to them all the time. We want to win,
and we have learned from our experience," he said. (ivy)