Sarwono pessimistic about Davis Cup
Sarwono pessimistic about Davis Cup
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia chances of winning against South Korea in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania qualifying zone here next month are getting slimmer, chairman of Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said yesterday.
"This time it will be much more difficult for our players to win. We don't have many good players in stock. South Korea, on the other hand, has a lot of them," Sarwono told The Jakarta Post.
The Davis Cup matches will be held here from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. Indonesia will field Suwandi, Adrian Raturandang, Donny Susetyo and Eddy Kusdaryanto, who are an average of twenty years old.
The fact that the four are junior players without much international experience is also another reason why Sarwono is not very optimistic about them.
"Fielding junior players is our priority now. We have no other option but to start investing in them. Our senior players are now more than 27 years old and we cannot hope for much from them. The guard must change sooner or later, after all. And I think this is the right time to start the rejuvenation process," Sarwono said.
As for the Federation Cup women's tennis tournament, Sarwono said that Indonesia keeps relying on world number 32 Yayuk Basuki and Romana Tedjakusuma.
"Pelti is yet to decide who shall fill the other two berths available to team up with Yayuk and Romana. Certainly the two will be given to our junior players. We're still selecting them," Sarwono said.
Indonesia has been drawn to meet Belgium in the Federation Cup Group One matches in the capital, slated for April 22 to April 24.
Sarwono, who is also Minister of Environment, was making the comment at the end of the US$328,000 Indosiar Men's Open tennis tournament at the Senayan rebound-ace stadium yesterday.
Not a single Indonesian player survived the first round. This has happened almost every year Indonesia hosted the tournament.
Sarwono said that "non-technical problems" were behind the trend. Giving examples, Sarwono said that the problems are, among other things, poor fitness, poor mentality, lack of sports culture, and lack of intelligence and understanding of the game.
"Not all of us, meaning Pelti's administration and coaches, are aware of these problems," Sarwono said. "We have indeed tried to improve matters, but thus far our efforts have never touched at the root of the problem."
Apparently, it is not easy for Sarwono to cope with the situation. He is also having a busy time handling the country's increasingly pressing environmental issues, Sarwono said. "I have only been Pelti's chairman for a year." (arf)