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)`