Uzbekistan beats RI 3-2 in Davis Cup tie

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia bowed out 2-3 to visitor Uzbekistan before a home crowd at the Kemayoran Tennis Center, Central Jakarta, Sunday during the final day of the three-day Davis Cup Group I Asia Oceania zone tie.

Indonesia's top male singles player Suwandi surprisingly ousted Uzbekistan no. 1 player Vadim Kutsenko 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 7- 5 in a very tight match to equal the score 2-2.

In the do-or-die second singles, Andrian Raturandang was short of preparation and was easily tamed by Oleg Ogorodov 3-6, 1-6, 4- 6 in the one-hour-and-30 minute match.

Indonesia was down 0-2 on Friday's singles matches but the doubles bounced back on Saturday to narrow the lead 1-2.

Indonesia will face South Korea from April 6 to April 8. While Uzbekistan will challenge New Zealand for a promotion to the World Group qualifying round. South Korea lost to New Zealand 2-3 on Sunday.

Andrian said in a post-match conference that he was under constant pressure from Ogorodov who gave him little opportunity to develop his own strategy.

"I was not nervous but I was outclassed. I could win three games in the first set but Ogorodov put me under pressure from the very beginning. He was also very tough, he chased the ball even if it was nearly out of reach."

Indonesian non-playing captain Tintus Arianto Wibowo admitted that Andrian was not well-prepared.

The 24-year-old player replaced Hendri Susilo Pramono just a week away from the tie and only practiced for five days.

Hendri withdrew in protest to alleged bad treatment he received from an Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) official in charge of athletes development Sudjiono Timan.

Tintus also said the team would not search for a scapegoat for the defeat.

"We don't want to blame anybody. The whole team is responsible for winning or losing."

However, Tintus pointed his finger at his players' low world rankings.

As of Jan. 29, Suwandi ranks 423 in the world, Andrian and Bonit Wiryawan are 1023th while Sulistyo Wibowo has no singles rank.

On the contrary, Kutsenko is the world no. 205, Ogorodov 226, Dmitriy Tomashevic 355 and Dmitriy Mazur 490.

"We don't belong to the same class as the Uzbeks. We have to improve our world ranking if we want to improve our position in the group.

"We don't want to give up to Uzbekistan, we want to win because we are the host. But this is the final result. We should make some self-improvement."

Kutsenko said he lost to Suwandi because he was very nervous in the most decisive match to his team.

"It was a very important match. If I won, it would finish the tournament. So I was very nervous and the atmosphere didn't support me. I really wasn't ready to play."

Suwandi said: "I had promised yesterday (Saturday) to contribute one point for the team and I managed to keep my word."

The first match had to be delayed for more than an hour due to a heavy downpour of rain.

In Seoul, Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea beat Mark Nielsen of New Zealand 6-0, 6-1, 7-6 on Seoul's Olympic Park indoor court, AP reported. In the following match, Alistair Hunt of New Zealand beat Baek Seung-bok of South Korea 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.

In Langfan City, China, India completed a 3-2 victory over China in another group one first round tie. During the reverse singles, Chinese Zhang Yu lost to Leander Paes 0-6, 2-6, 3-6, but Yang Jing-zhu Yang beat Fazaluddin Syed 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4.

India led 2-1 after its top doubles Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi beat Xu Ran and Yang 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. On Friday, Chinese Wang Yu lost to Paes 6-4, 0-6, 0-6, 4-6 and Zhang beat Syed 6-4, 6-1, 6- 0, according to Reuters. (ivy)