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)