RI, Netherlands to play friendly matches

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and the Netherlands have agreed to establish junior tennis friendly matches, with the first of the annual matches to be held here next week.

Eddy Katimansah from the Indonesian tennis association (Pelti) said on Friday that the agreement would be signed in the form of Memorandum of Understanding by both Pelti's chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and his Dutch counterpart Ruurd de Boer on Aug. 19.

"We have also agreed to facilitate Dutch junior players during their Asian tours and vise versa," Eddy said. The memorandum will succeed the 3-year-old accord on technical assistance between the Dutch and Pelti.

Indonesia and the Netherlands will take turns in hosting the matches for under-16 players. They will use Davis Cup and Federation Cup formats. Both countries will field two boys' and girls' teams of four each.

"This program is expected to give our juniors a lot of experience playing foreign rivals," Eddy said.

Pelti has formed a boys' team and a girls' team for the inaugural matches on Aug. 19 and 20 at the Hilton tennis courts, Jakarta.

Feby Widiyanto, Peter Handoyo, Ivan Taufik and Hendri Susilo Pramono will line up the national boys' team. The girls' squad will be made up of Enny Sulistyowati, who is also a national Federation Cup member, Wynne Prakusya, Wukirasih Sawondari and Marieke Gunawan.

The Dutch boys' team will comprise Remco Pondman, Stefan Aarts, Ronald Kloppert and Sebastian Sikkink. They will travel here with their female compatriots Annette Oosters, Kelly Bouman, Diana Oost and Andrea van den Hurk.

Eddy also said that Pelti is considering looking for more sparring teams other than the Netherlands. "We are still approaching Australia," Eddy said. (amd)