Wynne gets wild card for Wismilak meet
Wynne gets wild card for Wismilak meet
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Contributor, Nusa Dua, Bali
Local tennis star Wynne Prakusya, ranked 165th in the world,
will be in the main draw of the Wismilak International tennis
tournament as one of the three wild card recipients, the
organizers confirmed here on Friday.
The other two are Corina Morariu of the United States (ranked
400th) and Venezuelan's Maria Vento-Kabchi (ranked 86th). The
main draw will consist of 32 players.
Wynne will be one of seven local players, including 2001
champion Angelique Widjaja, to take part in the US$225,000
tournament, which will run from Sept. 6 to 14 in Nusa Dua, Bali.
Angelique, whose US Open bid fell short in the opening round
at the hands of Amelie Mauresmo of France, is currently ranked
73rd in the world.
The other five local competitors in the WTA event will be Liza
Andriyani Diana Julianto, Maya Rosa, Aleta Sungkono and Ayu Fani
Damayanti, all of whom will have to go through the qualifying
stages.
The tier-three Wismilak International has seemingly not been
affected by the Aug. 5 JW Marriott Hotel bombing, which took 12
lives, with scores of players from all over the world set to
participate.
Some of the big names include Chanda Rubin of the United
States and Conchita Martinez of Spain, who are ranked 9th and
12th respectively in the world.
Russian's Elena Dementieva (15), Yugoslavian's Jelena Dokic
(17) and Thailand's top player Tamarine Tanasugarn (37) have also
confirmed their participation at the 11-day event.
"The participation of these top players will surely make this
year's event the best tournament in its 10-year history,"
tournament director Kevin Livesey said on Friday.
He attributed the tournament's success in bringing those top
players to Bali to the public relations campaign to show that the
island has a stable security situation.
The campaign has been particularly intensified after the JW
Marriott incident.
"Usually it is very difficult to get players, who are ranked
1-10 in the world, to participate in a tournament like this," he
said.
Separately, the Denpasar Police chief Senior Commissioner
Komang Udayana said he would employ tight security measures,
saying that at least 150 uniformed officers would be deployed to
secure the tournament.
The security details would also include metal detectors,
highly-trained police dogs and a bomb squad.
"We will do all the necessary things to ensure the safety of
the players, the spectators and the tournament itself," he said.