Tennis body gets Rp 13.2m

JAKARTA (JP): National tennis team director Benny Mailili complained yesterday about the small amount of money he received from the National Sports Council to groom his athletes for the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December.

Benny said the assistance disbursed earlier this month was only Rp 13.2 million (US$920), well below the Indonesian Tennis Association's estimated quarterly spending of Rp 37.5 million.

The council has agreed to pay half of the association's training expenses for the Asian Games.

Benny said he needed more funds to send players to international tournaments which would serve as warm-ups for the men's Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group I second-round playoff in China in September and for the Asiad. Indonesia lost to Lebanon 3-2 in the first-round playoff in Beirut over the weekend. (yan)