Thai shocks Indonesia in tennis men semis
Thai shocks Indonesia in tennis men semis
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): A spirited Thailand turned the
tables at the 18th Southeast Asian Games men's tennis team
semifinals here yesterday, sending top seed Indonesia packing
with a surprising 3-0 trouncing.
But Yayuk Basuki and company salvaged Indonesia's pride in
the women's team with a 3-0 thrashing of the Philippines. The
Indonesian women will now face high-riding Thailand in today's
final.
Thailand, powered by Wimbledon junior runner-up Tammarin
Tanasugarn, thwart Malaysia in the women's team semifinals.
The men's team final today will pit Thailand against
defending champion the Philippines, a 2-1 winner over Singapore
yesterday.
Big serves pounded the Indonesian men's shaky defense in the
first two singles. Worapol Thongkanchoo breezed past newcomer
Sulistyo Wibowo 6-1, 6-1 to put Thailand 1-0 ahead. Then
Thanakorn Srichapan displayed his best which forced 1993 SEA
Games men's singles gold medalist Suwandi out with 2-6, 2-6.
Indonesian coach Deddy Prasetyo decided to field the makeshift
doubles of Eddy Kusdaryanto and Bonit Wiryawan, who also crashed
in a straight set 3-6, 4-6 defeat to Thanakorn and Vittaya
Samret.
"We never thought that Thailand would play such fantastic
games," Deddy said after his team's thrashing. "We failed to
match their spunk, although the statistics favored us." Indonesia
also crashed to Thailand in the opening round two years ago, but
was seeded first because of their players' world rankings.
Big pressures triggered an error-prone performance by
Sulistyo, a late substitute for Eddy. Sulistyo, who tops the
national rankings but lacks international experiences, bungled
his serves to veteran Worapol.
Suwandi also failed to maintain his usual composure, allowing
two breaks that gave Thanakorn a commanding 5-1 lead in the first
set. The 19-year-old Indonesian won another game in his own
serve, but it did not stop powerful Thanakorn from taking the
set.
Thanakorn gave no room for hapless Suwandi to fight back,
blasting his strokes to every corner from the baseline to soar to
another 5-1 lead. Serving for a winner, Thanakorn shot two wide
returns before sealing the match with an ace.
The easy passage to the final surprised Thailand's New Zealand
coach Paul Dale. "We have predicted a win, but normally it is
decided in the doubles match," said Dale, who has been with the
Thai team since 1988.
Yesterday's victory over Asian Games silver medalist now
boosts Thailand's bid for the gold medal it last won in 1989.
"Indonesia is our biggest enemy. I feel sorry that the draw
tipped us in such an early stage," Dale said.
Dale decided not to take his players to the Asian
Championships in Manila like Indonesia did. Instead, he gathered
his squad here to acclimatize -- and it worked.
Thailand has now set its eyes on winning two golds from the
individual men's singles and doubles. The individual competition
will start tomorrow, with Indonesia dominating the seeding lists.
"Worapol could land the men's singles laurels if he manages
to maintain his form," said Dale.
In the women's team, Indonesian first singles Romana
Tejakusuma had a little trouble seeing off Jennifer Saret 6-2, 6-
3. World number 24 Yayuk Basuki also broke no sweat in her 6-3,
6-2 win over Maricris Fernandez. The team of Mimma Chernovita and
Maria Veronica Widyadharma completed the drubbing by beating
Saret and Pamela Floro 6-1, 6-4. (amd)`