Sunu clears first round in Salonpas title defense
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Defending champion Sunu Wahyu Trijati advanced to the second round on Tuesday as most seeded players overcame their first- round hurdles in the Salonpas International Junior Championships at the Kemayoran Tennis Center, Central Jakarta.
Indonesia's fifth seed fought back from a set down to overtake compatriot Agung Bagus Dewanto 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the boys' singles division.
Top seed Weerapat Doakmaiklee of Thailand crushed Australian Ryan Biancardi 6-4, 6-2, while second seed Luka Ocvirk of Slovenia bested Charl Wolmerans of South Africa 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Japanese players fourth seed Sato Naoki outplayed British Ned Boone 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 and seventh seed Fujii Takanobu overpowered Indonesian Armendio Anggara 6-3, 6-3.
However, third seed Kevin Doh, sixth seed Lai Xiao Peng and eighth seed Bogdan Leonte exited the tournament early.
Doh of New Zealand surrendered to qualifying Indonesian Ismail Jaya 4-6, 5-7, while Peng of Hong Kong bowed to unseeded South African Derek Drabble 7-6 (9/7), 7-5.
Another Indonesian who pounded out a surprise victory was Christ Mayanto, who upset Leonte of Romania 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Indonesia's younger generation lineup for the next round includes Ayrton Wibowo, Elbert Sie, Anthony Tan, Sandy Purnomo and Jonathan Amdanu.
In the girls' singles draw, all eight seeded players advanced to the second round led by top seed Hsu Wen Hsin, who overwhelmed Thai Ratchaya Chaichanacha 6-2, 6-1.
Indonesia's favorite duo Maya Rosa and Septi Mende, respectively seeded seventh and eighth, took down their opponents in straight sets: Maya with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Nancy Metriya and Septi scoring 6-4, 6-3 over Dian Mayasari.
However, Febri Joana and Denise Harijanto, two of Indonesia's rising stars, fell to the wayside in their first round matches. Febri, the surprise winner of the Cigna Open last week, was defeated by South African Ghizela Schutte 2-6, 5-7, and Denise lost to unseeded American Ellah Nze 3-6, 5-7.
With 150 players from 24 countries taking part, the Grade 2 International Tennis Federation category tournament will end on March 15.