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)