RI girls tennis team beats Malaysia 3-0

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian girls' team of Angelique Widjaja, Novianti and Diana Nur Fatimah outclassed Malaysian team 3-0 in the group one match of the qualifying round in the Asia/Oceania zone of the NEC World Youth Cup on Wednesday.

In the first singles match, Novianti beat Sze Pheh Yeap 6-0, 6-3. Angelique, or Angie as she is better known, hardly gave a chance to Chen Yee Liaw in the second singles match, defeating her 6-2, 6-1.

The doubles partnering of Angie and Diana barely broke into a sweat to beat Logeswari Khrisna and Sze 6-0, 6-1.

Indonesia will fight India on Thursday to decide the group's champion and the runner-up. India beat Malaysia 3-0 on Tuesday.

The girls' team coach, Meiske Handayani Wiguna, said she was satisfied with her players' performance. She also hoped that her players could win 3-0 against India, who will likely field Megha Vakharia and Isha Lakhani in the singles and doubles event.

"Our players should be aware of their rivals. Both Megha and Isha are left-handed, and our players will have difficulty guessing the direction of their forehand stroke," she said.

She said she would field Angie and Novi in the singles and doubles matches.

Indonesian boys' team had a day off on Wednesday and will resume their competition against powerful Chinese Taipei on Thursday. Indonesia lost 1-2 to South Korea on Tuesday.

In another girls' event, Australia beat Hong Kong 3-0 and South Korea defeated the Philippines 3-0 in group two matches, China beat Singapore 3-0 and Thailand overcome Sri Lanka 3-0 in group three matches. In group four, Chinese Taipei beat Uzbekistan 3-0.

In the boys' event, Chinese Taipei beat South Korea 3-0 in group one, China beat Uzbekistan 3-0 and Hong Kong outclassed Sri Lanka 3-0 in group two matches. New Zealand beat Pakistan 3-0 and India won 3-0 against the Philippines in group three matches and Australia beat Thailand 3-0 in group four. (ivy)