RI cruises to Fed Cup qualifying semifinals

RI cruises to Fed Cup qualifying semifinals

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Federation Cup tennis team cruised
to the Asia Oceania Qualifying Group I semifinals by eliminating
India 3-0 yesterday in round-robin matches in Wellington, New
Zealand.

Third-seeded Indonesia is scheduled to meet first-seeded
Chinese Taipei, which beat New Zealand 2-1, today to decide the
winner of Group A.

In Group B, China, which was wrongly reported Tuesday as being
beaten 0-3 by little-known Kazakhstan, will face Thailand after
beating Hong Kong 2-1. Thailand defeated Kazakhstan 2-1.

In Indonesia's first singles match, Wynne Prakusya played
aggressively to beat Jahnavi Parekh of India 6-1, 6-3 in an hour.

With about 100 Indonesian spectators throwing their weight
behind her, the 17-year-old Wynne forced her contender to make
many unforced errors with her passing shots and sharp crosscourt
play.

Wynne said she did not feel pressured like she had on Tuesday
in the opening singles match, when she pulled out all the stops
to beat her opponent.

Yayuk Basuki, ranked 24th in the world, had an easy match
against Arati Ponnappa, winning 6-1 6-1 in 45 minutes.

Indonesia's pair Mimma Chernovita and Eny Sulistyowati who
lost their opening match Tuesday, performed better yesterday
winning 6-1 6-2 against Uzman Khan and Jahnavi Parekh.

Mimma and Eny, who dominated the match from the baseline and
net, finished the match in an hour.

The semifinals will start tomorrow. The winners of each group
will fight for a World Group berth. (yan)

Results

Group A:
Indonesia bt India 3-0
Wynne Prakusya bt Jahnavi Parekh 6-1, 6-3
Yayuk Basuki bt Arati Ponnappa 6-1, 6-0
Mimma Chernovita/Eny Sulistyowati bt Uzman Khan/Jahnavi Parekh 6-
1, 6-2

Chinese Taipei bt New Zealand 2-1
Tzu-Ting Wen bt Rewa Hudson 7-6 (6-4), 1-6, 6-3
Shi-Ting Wang bt Gaye McManus 6-0, 6-1
Hsueh-Li Hsu/Shi-Ting Wang lost to Leanne Baker/Shelleh Stephens
5-7, 6-3, 5-7

Group B:
China bt Hong Kong 2-1
Yan Chen lost to Ka Po Tong 1-6, 3-6
Jing Qian Yi bt Min Tang 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
Yan Chen/Jing Qiang Yi bt Min Tang/Ka Po Tong 7-6, 6-4

Thailand bt Kazakhstan 2-1
Busrin Boontemleaw lost to Tatiana Babina 5-7, 0-6
Suvimol Duangchan bt Alisa Velts 6-1, 6-1
Suvimol Duangchan/Phorhathai Suksarnran bt Tatiana Babina/Alisa
Velts 7-6 (6-3), 6-4