RI top seeds Wynne Prakusya, Suwandi advance to HK Open's quaterfinals
RI top seeds Wynne Prakusya, Suwandi advance to HK Open's quaterfinals
Agencies, Hong Kong
Indonesians Wynne Prakusya and Suwandi cruised to the
quarterfinals of the US$60,000 Asian Championships after beating
their respective opponents here Wednesday.
Wynne Prakusya, who is top seed in the women's singles, fought
back from a set down to beat Hong Kong's Tong Ka-po 0-6, 7-5, 7-
5, while her male compatriot Suwandi edged out Taiwanese Lu Yen
Hsun 6-4, 6-2.
Two other Indonesians lost in their contention, Peter Handoyo
bowing to Takao Suzuki of Japan 6-2, 6-2 and Wukirasih Sawondari
to Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-4, 6-1.
"I wasn't playing my game in the first set, but Ka-po was
playing like the world number one! She totally overpowered me and
if she had played like that for both sets, she would have won
easily," Wynne said after her match.
"However, I kept telling myself that she can't keep that level
up and I tried to keep the ball in play and she started missing
in the second set."
The Asian ground offers the winners -- each in the men's and
women's category -- a wildcard into January's Australian Open.
However, Wynne is virtually guaranteed a start at the first
series of the grand slams courtesy of her current world number 89
ranking.
She said: "Although I want to lift the title, I also decided
to play (here) because I desperately need the match practice".
In other matches, Japan's second seeded Soari Obata came off
best in a battle between left handers, defeating Korean Choi Jin-
young 6-4,6-4.
Chinese star Liu Nan Nan upset sixth seeded Korean Choi Young-
ja 6-3, 6-3.
Suwandi was joined by Asian stars Paradorn Srichaparn and
title favorite Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea in the
quarterfinals.
Thai number one Paradorn, second seed here, squeezed past
Taiwan's Cheng Wei-jen 6-4, 6-4, after battling hardest in an
untidy contest littered with unforced errors as both players
struggled to adjust to chilly conditions.
Korean top seed Lee Hyung-taik chalked up an impressive 6-3,
6-1 victory over awkward Chinese left-hander Wang Yu.
After a shaky start, Paradorn seized the initiative with a
break in the fifth game of the first set and served out
confidently.
The match seemed over when Paradorn broke serve twice in the
second set and served for the match at 5-2.
But Cheng battled back to break the Thai star and then held
serve for 5-4. Paradorn though showed his mental toughness and
the brash confidence of youth with a booming ace to clinch the
match.
"It was really tough for me. I was still not really confident
playing the first match. But I'm in the quarterfinal and it's
three more matches ... but it's not easy you know," said
Paradorn.
"If I don't win here, I'll go and play qualifying (rounds) at
Melbourne" to try and gain entry into the first Grand Slam of
2002.
He said his next opponent, seventh seed Korean Yoon Yong-il,
would prove a stern test but "all the players from the quarter-
finals onward will be tough because everybody really wants it".