RI men battle to reach team final

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The national men's tennis team was forced to fight before overcoming Vietnam 2-1 on Sunday in the semifinals at the hard courts of the Rizal Memorial Sport Complex.

Indonesia appeared to be on an easy path to the final when Suwandi dispatched Vietnam's first singles player Quong Huy Ngo 6-1, 6-0. The 29 year old from Bandung faced little resistance from the Vietnamese, Antara news service reported.

It seemed Prima Simpatiaji would close out the best of three- match tie when he took the first set 6-4 against Minh Quan Do.

But the Vietnamese was undaunted, attacking and volleying his way to two tiebreak set wins for the match and to force the final doubles.

In the decisive contest, the Vietnamese again proved that they were no pushovers. Suwandi, teamed with veteran Bonit Wiryawan, at 37 one of the oldest players in men's tennis, were able to come through 7-6, 7-6, against Minh Quan Do/Le Quo Khanh.

Indonesia will meet the Philippines in the final on Monday. The host team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Thailand.

The Indonesian women, who overcame the Philippines 3-0 on Saturday but were forced to wait to see who their final opponent would be, will play Thailand.

The Thai women were untroubled in a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

"Of course, we are hoping for two golds from tennis," said tennis team manager Kresno Merdiko.

Wynne Prakusya, the national number one in the absence of Angelique "Angie" Widjaja, refused to make any predictions about the final match.

She will be joined by California-based Romana Tedjakusuma as well as teenager Ayu Fani Damayanti for the final.