RI women through to SEATTA semifinals

RI women through to SEATTA semifinals

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian women's table tennis team assured itself of a
place in the semifinals of the 3rd SEATTA championship by booking
two wins at the Pelita Harapan Sports Hall in Lippo Cikarang here
on Thursday.

In Group X, Indonesia beat the Philippines 3-0 in the morning
and then beat unfancied Laos by the same score.

Christine Ferliana and Santi Febriani were the catalysts on
Thursday, with each winning their two matches. The team's other
wins were contributed by Fauziah Yulianti against the Philippines
and Nuni Sugiana in the encounter with Laos.

Also cruising into the semifinals from the same group was
tournament favorite Singapore, which also enjoyed 3-0 wins over
the Philippines and Laos.

Indonesia and Singapore, which lines up 2000 Olympic bronze
medalists Jin Jun Hong and Li Jia Wei, will face each other to
decide the group winner.

Malaysia and Thailand are the semifinalists from Group Y, both
defeating Vietnam 3-0.

The SEATTA championship features seven of the 10 nations
grouped in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Brunei, Cambodia and Myanmar are not taking part in the
competition.

The men's matches are being played in a round-robin format,
with the top two teams qualifying for the final.

On the men's side, Indonesia chalked up a 3-2 victory over
Vietnam and a 3-0 win over Laos. The team, led by manager Samir
Widjaya, was playing Thailand at press time, with the home side
trailing 2-1.

The Indonesians were stretched to five matches against
Vietnam. Ismu Harinto was the hero with wins over Doan Kien Quoc
and Vu Mahn Cuong.

Against Doan, Ismu took the first two sets 11-7 and 11-8.
After losing the third set 10-12, he came back to seal the game
with a 11-8 win in the fourth set.

His win evened the match 1-1 after Dedy Da Costa lost to Vu
Mahn Cuong 21-19, 11-3, 8-11, 7-11, 7-11 in the opener.

David Jacobs gave the host team a 2-1 lead after stopping
Nguyen Nam Hai 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8.

With Indonesia needing another win to wrap up the battle, Dedy
was back at the table only to end up on the losing side for the
second time, crashing out to Doan 7-11, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11.

Tied 2-2, the team turned to Ismu in the deciding game. And he
recovered from a faltering start to beat Vu 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-
6, much to the delight of the home fans. The win also avenged a
defeat to Vietnam in the final of the Southeast Asian Games in
Kuala Lumpur last year.

"I loosened up and just relaxed. I took the initiative to
pressure my opponent right from the start," Ismu said of his game
strategy.

Head coach Tony Meringgi said his team had overcome one of the
toughest teams in the tournament.

"Thailand is next and we are keen to beat them," he said.