Wynne is hopeful for Sydney Olympics chance

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)