Septi, coach question dismissal from IA
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Tennis coach Deddy Prasetyo questioned on Tuesday the dismissal of promising women's tennis player Septi Mende from the Indonesia Awakens (IA) training program.
"What is the reason for dropping Septi from the IA?," Deddy said at Septi's training session at the Senayan tennis court in Central Jakarta.
Septi was one of eight tennis players in the IA program. The remaining seven are Sunu Wahyu Trijati, Sandi Purnomo, Ayrtan Wibowo and Agung Bagus in the men's section, and Sandy Gumulya, Wynne Prakusya, Angelique Widjaja in the women's section.
A National Sports Council (KONI) venture, the program intensively trains more than 80 athletes from 11 sports for the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.
KONI development affairs head Djoko Pramono, who runs the program, confirmed on Monday Septi was dropped after a recommendation from the Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti).
Djoko said Pelti had proposed Septi's dismissal because the 18-year-old refused to train at the Ragunan center in South Jakarta.
Septi acknowledged she had left the center but said she had never quit the program. She had joined Deddy's training center instead in September, she said.
"I have never been informed that I was dropped from the IA," Septi said, adding she felt more comfortable training under Deddy.
Septi said she was also unhappy with the non-transparent way Pelti officials managed the players' fees in the program.
She said while IA tennis players were supposed to receive Rp 4 million a month, they ended up with only a small fraction of this figure.
During her six-month period at Ragunan she received only Rp 750,000 a month over three months, she said.
Pelti officials also took 80 percent of her prize money from the Humenku Bowono X Cup tournament, she said.
Deddy urged Pelti to better evaluate its centralized training center in Ragunan as players were not happy with the atmosphere there.
"Pelti cannot blame players for leaving the camp. It should evaluate its methods ... as I have heard several other players are also unhappy with the training center but do not dare to speak out," he said.
The IA tennis players are coached by Tintus Arianto Wibowo, Suzanna Anggarkusuma and Deddy Tedjamukti.
A promising player, Septi has been hailed by some as the country's next Angelique Widjaja.
She reached the semifinals at the Hamengku Buwono X Cup from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 in Yogyakarta, and at the pre-qualifying WTA tour in Surabaya.
She has also won several national women's circuit competitions playing doubles this year.
The other sports in the IA program are athletics, weightlifting, cycling, badminton, chess, karate, windsurfing, archery, tae kwon do, tennis and beach volleyball.