Taipei to take on RI in Davis Cup
Taipei to take on RI in Davis Cup
JAKARTA (JP): Chinese Taipei will field its best four players against Indonesia at a Davis Cup play-off, slated for March 31 to April 2.
Taipei's number one Lien Yu-hui, number two Chen Chih-jung, number three Chen Wei-ju and number four Tsai Chia-yen, together with their non-playing captain Su Pen-hong are expected to arrive on Tuesday.
Yu-ui, a 186cm 25-year-old, pairing with the 168cm, 23-year- old Chich-jung were the semifinalists of the Asia Championships' mens' doubles.
Yu-hui has been a member of Taipei's Davis Cup team since 1988, and Chih-jung since 1992. Wei-ju and Chia-yen are the newest members of Taipei's Davis Cup team and the Davis Cup's round match in Jakarta will be their first Davis Cup outing.
Host Indonesia, in its effort to win the tie, will also field its best players. The line-up includes experienced Suwandi, Bonit Wiryawan and Donny Susetyo and Teddy Tanjung instead of number one Davis Cupper Benny Wijaya. Donny Susetyo and Teddy Tanjung were the men's doubles bronze medalists at last year's Asian Games in Hiroshima, where Suwandi finished fifth in the men's singles.
Benny's failure to play for Indonesia at the play-off against Taipei is no surprise. Since joining a Taiwanese club early this year, he has been on a very tight schedule, including a stint in Spain under the supervision of Sergei Bruguera's father.
Benny skipped the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group One matches in Seoul, South Korea, in early February when Indonesia suffered a 5-0 trouncing.
Chairman of the Indonesian Tennis Association, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, said he was optimistic that, even without Benny, Indonesia still has a great chance to beat Taiwan.
"Experience shows that our players have, so far, always won over Taiwanese players. However, they must not be complacent because against Taiwan, we badly need a victory, otherwise we will be relegated to Group Two," Sarwono said, Antara reported on Friday.
The Davis Cup has attracted a record entry of 115 nations for 1995. Its eight first round matches in the elite World Group of the 16 strongest nations began in February. Winners will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played at the end of March. The semifinals are scheduled for September. This year's final will be played over the first weekend of December.
This year competition will mark the 15th year of title sponsorship by NEC, a Japanese communications and computer company, which recently renewed its sponsorship agreements until 1998, as did Hugo Boss and Coca-Cola. Beginning this year, Heineken also joined the sponsorship, by becoming the Davis Cup official beer. Other international sponsors are Opel/GM, Ebel and Diadora. (arf)