South Korea leads Indonesia 3-0 in Davis Cup zonal group
South Korea leads Indonesia 3-0 in Davis Cup zonal group
JAKARTA (JP): A broken racket string ended Indonesia's fight
in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group One second round playoff
on Saturday and forced the visitor to bow out 3-0 to host South
Korea.
Indonesia's veteran doubles players Bonit Wiryawan and
Sulistyo Wibowo failed to maintain their pace and lost to Lee
Hyung-taik and Yoon Yong-il 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, 4-6, 4-6, 1-6 at
Olympic Park outdoor court in Seoul.
Bonit said that lady luck did not smile on them.
"We won the first two sets. We led 4-0 in the third set and
managed two break points. We should have been able to end it 6-0
but suddenly South Korea turned the tables. We were out of luck.
It's a very bitter experience," he told The Jakarta Post by
phone.
It was 4-0 for the Indonesians when Sulistyo broke his racket
string before serving.
"It wasn't just about the broken string, for Sulistyo was very
disturbed by the minor incident. He lost confidence when using
the new racket as he was very familiar with the old one.
Everything changed so quickly afterwards," Bonit said, while
Sulistyo was not available for comment.
Bonit expressed hope that the juniors would learn from the
failure.
"The South Korean pair was rather frustrated after we beat
them in the first set. But we failed to win the psychological
war."
Non-playing captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo said he was
disappointed with the result, but he also praised the doubles
team's performance.
"We want to change the old tradition that we always lost 0-5
to South Korea on the latter's home soil."
Indonesia fought for the 10th time against Korea. Indonesia
was whitewashed 5-0 by host Korea four times but routed the
Koreans 3-2 in another four home matches here. Only in 1996 did
Indonesia lose 1-4 on home soil.
Earlier on Friday, Indonesian second singles player Andrian
Raturandang managed to win one set before losing 1-6, 6-4, 2-6,
2-6 to Lee. Compatriot Suwandi failed to equalize, giving up to
South Korean second singles Yoon 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 2-6. The four
players will see each other in indecisive reversed singles
matches on Sunday.
In Bangkok, AFP reported that fire threatened to halt play in
Thailand's Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone tie as the host nation
condemned China to a play-off against Indonesia to keep its place
in group one of the regional competition.
Flames and smoke from a grass fire just a few meters from the
stands briefly held up play as spectators were urged to move
their cars parked nearby.
But play continued as volunteers and firefighters battled the
blaze, and Thai duo Narathon Srichaphan and 30-year old Vittaya
Samrej rallied from a disastrous start to overcome Chinese Zhang
Yu and Xi Ran 3-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the doubles.
With victory already attained in Friday's two singles matches,
the win gave Thailand an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best of
five match series. It retains its place in group one in the
region for 2002.
In Tokyo, doubles stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi put
India within one match of a play-off for a place in the Davis Cup
World Group with a hard fought victory here on Saturday.
Their win put India 2-1 ahead against Japan but they were
forced to come back from two sets to one down to secure the
crucial edge.
The former world number one doubles team came up against
spirited resistance from Japan's Takao Suzuki and Thomas Shimada.
But they prevailed in the last two sets for a 6-4, 3-6, 2-6,
6-2, 6-3 victory at the Ariake Coliseum center court, where the
pair won the Japan Open in October.
In Invercargill, New Zealand, James Greenhalgh and Alistair
Hunt gave New Zealand a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania
tennis qualifier against Uzbekistan on Saturday, beating Oleg
Ogorodov and Dmitri Tomasevich 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. (ivy)