Wynne is hopeful for Sydney Olympics chance

JAKARTA (JP): Competing in the Olympic Games is a lifelong ambition for all athletes, including 19-year-old Wynne Prakusya. But the road to the Games in Sydney is not a smooth one.

Speaking with The Jakarta Post and Republika daily at the Kemayoran Tennis Center, Central Jakarta, on Friday, Wynne said she hoped to reach the world top 120 before July to earn a berth in the women's singles event in the Olympics from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1. Should her ranking reach the 150s during that period, she will have a 70 percent chance to earn a wild card.

Wynne is now the world's 170th on the women's singles list and in the world's 250s for doubles.

"I have collected a total of 130 points so far. I will have to reach 210 points to be in the 120s. If I can record 180 by July, I will have a 70 percent chance to earn a wild card," she said.

The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) is requesting a wild card for her in the singles event and another for the doubles where she will partner with senior Yayuk Basuki.

Wynne plans to compete in 15 overseas tournaments, including the Fed Cup, six tournaments in the United States, one in Seoul, one in Gifu, Japan, and eight more in Europe, to improve her ranking. She said she would cap her world rank pursuit at Wimbledon.

Wynne said she had just returned from three overseas tournaments. In the first US$25,000 challenger in the United States, Wynne crashed in the first round to host player Jennifer Hopkins. She managed to advance to the second round in her second US$75,000 challenger, but she gave up to the world's 90s player from Switzerland, Varrinec Miroslava.

In the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo early this month, she was also stopped in the first round by American player Linda Wild.

In the $10,000 Indonesia Women's Circuit-2, Wynne and Yayuk had to sweat it out to beat third seeds Marylene Losey of Switzerland and Nicole Melch of Austria 6-7 (8-10), 6-2, 6-0.

In Saturday's semifinals, the Indonesians will meet top seeds Keiko Nagatomi and Ryoko Takemura of Japan, who beat Rushmi Chakravarthi and J. Sai Jayalakshmy of India 6-4, 6-2.

Teammates Irawati Moerid Iskandar and Wukirasih Sawondari surprisingly upset second seeds Choi Young-ja and Kim Eun-sook of South Korea 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. They will challenge Maricris Fernandez of the Philippines and Tong Ka-po of Hong Kong, who upset Ana Skafar of Slovakia and Michelle Summerside of Australia 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4.

Irawati and Wukirasih hope to create an all-Indonesian final in the singles event. Irawati beat Jeon Mi-ra of South Korea 6-4, 6-4 to challenge another South Korean, Chae Kyung-Yee, on Saturday. Wukirasih outclassed South Korean Kim Eun-sook 6-1, 6-2 and will play Kim's teammate Choi Young-ja.

In the Indonesia Men's Futures-1, the country's sole hope, Bonit Wiryawan, bowed out to second seed Frantisek Cermak of the Czech Republic 0-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinals. Cermak will face South Korean Yoon Yong-il, who overcame teammate Chung Jong-sam 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

However, Bonit still has another chance in the doubles event. Pairing with Sulistyo Wibowo, they beat the South Korean pair of Chung Hee-seok and Chung Hee-sung 6-4, 6-4 to challenge top seeds Michael Jessup and Le Minh of the United States. (ivy)