RI boys team lose to Korea in NEC opener

RI boys team lose to Korea in NEC opener

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's under-16 tennis team lost to South
Korea 1-2 in its opening group one match in the qualifying round
in the Asia/Oceania zone of the NEC World Youth Cup on Tuesday.

Indonesia's first singles player Naharudin was powerless to
stop South Korean Kim Seung-jin and bowed out in straight sets 6-
7 (4-7), 3-6. Second singles Eko Kurniawan failed to earn a point
for his country, giving up to Lee Seung-joo 4-6, 2-6.

Double's pair Eko and Harris Ernanda Tedjokusumo fared better
and beat Kim and Lee 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 at Senayan tennis court here.

Under-16 team coach Deddy Prasetyo regretted the results,
saying Naharuddin should not have lost his first game. "He made
too many unforced errors," he said.

He said that Eko was outclassed by Lee. "Lee never made an
error apart from in difficult situations."

He said Indonesia's chances of entering the top eight were
slim, because the team were playing strongmen Chinese Taipei on
Wednesday. "I have no idea of what the result will be. Taiwan's
first singles Wang Yeu-tzuoo currently ranks 30th on the ITF
world junior list."

Deddy said he would deploy Harris Ernanda Tedjokusumo as first
single and Eko as second single on Wednesday. "If we can tie 1-1
in the singles, we will deploy the best doubles team. If we win
2-0 or we lose 0-2, we will include Nahar in the doubles event."

Meanwhile, girl's team coach Meiske Handayani Wiguna expressed
optimism that her team, consisting of Angelique Widjaja, Novianti
and Diana Nur Fatimah, would win 3-0 against Malaysia in its
group one match on Wednesday.

"We are optimistic, but we don't want to underestimate
Malaysia. We will deploy Novi as first single and Angie
(Angelique's nickname) as second single. We are still waiting for
the singles result before we decide the doubles team. But we will
likely field Novi and Angie."

In Tuesday's other matches, China beat Sri Lanka 3-0 and Hong
Kong outclassed Uzbekistan 3-0 in group two matches; New Zealand
beat the Philippines 3-0 and India defeated Pakistan 3-0 in group
three matches; while Thailand overcome Malaysia 3-0 in a group
four match.

In the girls event, India beat Malaysia 3-0 in a group one
match; Australia outshone the Philippines 3-0 and South Korea
beat Hong Kong 3-0 in group two matches; China beat Sri Lanka 3-0
and Thailand defeated Singapore 3-0 in group three matches; and
New Zealand won 2-1 against Uzbekistan in a group four match.
(ivy)