Senior stars dominate selection tournament
JAKARTA (JP): The country's seasoned tennis players ended the national selection tournament as group winners yesterday and will now lock horns in the playoffs to decide the top four rankings.
Davis Cup team member Andrian Raturandang finished unbeaten in Group D but dropped a set for the first time when he beat Tjahyono 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-1 yesterday.
Andrian's fellow Davis Cupper, Sebastian da Costa was also forced to struggle before stopping Suhendar Dinata 7-6 (7-4), 6- 1. The East Timorese left-hander qualifies for the round-robin matches of group winners with an emphatic 3-0 record in Group C.
Former Davis Cup player Bonit Wiryawan, who played in Group A, had little trouble overcoming Samsudin Pare 6-1, 6-3 to finish unbeaten. In Group B, Sulistyo Wibowo hardly broke sweat in demolishing Djanuar Radjab 6-0, 6-1 for a place in the top-four playoffs.
Bonit will play Andrian and Sulistyo meets Sebastian in the opening clashes today.
Junior player Feby Widhiyanto finally managed to reach the consolation playoffs pitting group runners-up with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over former Asian Games champion Yustedjo Tarik, at 40, the oldest player in the week-long tournament.
Despite losses, Samsudin, Djanuar and Suhendar joined Feby in the playoffs to decide the fifth to eighth places. Feby will take on Djanuar and Samsudin faces Suhendar in today's matches.
Group winners and runners-up will join a centralized training program set by the Indonesian Tennis Association in preparation for international events, such as Davis Cup matches.
The country's top players Suwandi, Donny Susetyo, Edy Kusdaryanto and Benny Wijaya skipped the tournament for various reasons.
Suwandi and Donny are participating in a tournament in Taiwan, Edy is still recovering from hepatitis A and Benny refused the association's invitation to play in the tournament due to his club commitments.
The tournament will resume six months from now, when members of the national team will play outsiders. (yan)