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Post by Brinyi on Nov 3, 2005 13:19:17 GMT -5
Wow, check out the reinforcements for the Philippines! Indonesia finds Philippines a new threat in tennis Sports News - October 29, 2005 Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Indonesia sees the Philippines as a new threat along with perennial archrival Thailand in the tennis competition at the 2005 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games with the hosts fielding a group of "imported" noteworthy American tennis players on their squad. "We should keep our eye on the Philippines right now, as several good American tennis players (with Philippine heritage) will play for them," Indonesia's women's singles ace Wynne Prakusya said on Thursday. According August Ferry Raturandang, the deputy secretary of the Indonesian Tennis Association, world ranked number 103 women's singles player Lilia Osteloh, 27, Riza Zalameda, 19; number 204 men's singles player Cecil Mamiit, 29, and world ranked 211 men's player Eric Taino, 30, will represent the Philippines at the SEA Games, which will run from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5. He said that those players were born and raised in the U.S. but held Philippines passports. Now living in Columbus, Ohio, Lilia, whose father is American and mother is from the Philippines, once had a world ranking of 41 back in 2001, according to the WTAtour.com. Cecil, born and living in Los Angeles, has his best ranking at 72nd in 1999, according to the ATPtennis.com. Eric, a U.S. citizen and living in Los Angeles, had his best world ranking at 122nd. Ranking-wise, they are well ahead of Indonesian players. Prima Simpatiaji is world ranked 635th, Suwandi 639th, Sunu Wahyu Trijati 918th and Bonit Wiryawan 1,088th. Suwandi's best ranking was 318th, achieved during the 1995 season. Wynne, who has taken over the pivotal role of the ace of the team after the withdrawal of Angelique Widjaja due to injury, is ranked 284th, along with compatriots Romana Tedjakusuma, 352nd, Ayu Fani Damayanti, 484th and Septi Mende 796th. But Ferry refused to write off Indonesia's medal prospects. "There will be a tough competition in tennis between Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines now," he said. "We might still be able to secure women's doubles and men's doubles wins as we are usually strong in those areas." While acknowledging the three-way rivalry, Wynne hopes good achievements in past SEA Games would provide extra motivation to her squad. "Our strength is that as a team ... we have more experience (in the SEA Games) than the Philippines," she said. Wynne will play in the singles but she sees better prospects in the doubles with Romana Tedjakusuma and mixed doubles. "We are usually good in the doubles," she said. "In mixed doubles... I think we still have stronger contenders than the Philippines," she said. Wynne contributed two of thee golds that the tennis team won at 2003 SEA Games through her partnership with Maya Rosa in women's doubles and Suwandi in mixed doubles. The other gold was produced by the men's team.
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Post by molala on Nov 3, 2005 13:54:42 GMT -5
Ooooh!! I'm not really sure if that is fair to field American-trained players. I never even knew Osterloh had Flip blood. I hope the SEA guidelines are at least as strict as the Olympics, then I wouldn't feel funny about it.
Tsk tsk, Cecil, after all those years of snubbing our DC offer, you finally play for us.
I hope Wynne isn't too mad at us Flipbatches, I think Thailand will get the golds anyway.
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Post by Brinyi on Nov 3, 2005 15:43:48 GMT -5
Poor WYNNE -- she couldn't even beat Maricris Fernandez and now she has to deal with Yankees.
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Post by janie on Nov 13, 2005 20:13:53 GMT -5
Wynne Prakusya won both singles AND doubles in the Jakarta 25K this week.
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Post by Brinyi on Nov 24, 2005 11:31:45 GMT -5
Wynne Prakusya won both singles AND doubles in the Jakarta 25K this week.
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Post by Brinyi on Nov 24, 2005 11:32:26 GMT -5
Sania to play in Hong Kong invitational
Press Trust of India
Hong Kong, November 24, 2005
Rising tennis star Sania Mirza was announced on Wednesday along with three other top 50 players as starters in Hong Kong's Watson's Water Challenge women's invitational.
Organisers named Mirza along with Russian world number eight Elena Dementieva, the Czech republic's 15-ranked Nicole Vaidisova and China National Games champion Zheng Jie, ranked 44 in the world, for the January 4-7 event.
They will join the world's top two players Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters as starters for the tournament, seen as an important warm-up for the Australian Open later in the month.
Mirza, ranked 31, became the first Indian woman tennis player to enter the fourth round of a Grand Slam at the US Open in September.
Grand Slam champions Venus and Serena Williams are also confirmed for the Hong Kong tournament at the Victoria Park Tennis Centre.
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Post by Brinyi on Dec 28, 2005 9:54:42 GMT -5
Wynne helps RI women players court triumph in Angie's absence Sports News - December 27, 2005 Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta With national number one women's player Angelique "Angie" Widjaja waylaid by injury for the whole year, no great shakes were expected from the country's tennis scene. The former Wimbledon and Roland Garros junior champion underwent surgery on her right knee in November 2004, and was out of commission for the rest of 2005. An expected return for the U.S. hardcourt season in August-September was postponed when the 21 year old developed an infection in her knee, and she was only able to return to training in November. Angie, with a WTA Tour special singles ranking of 118, will start her return by competing in small Challenger tournaments in the new year, although she may also seek a wildard into the Toray Pan Pacific Tier 1 tournament in February, her manager Virginia Rusli said last week. In her stead, Wynne Prakusya, herself returning to play after a six-month layoff due to a knee injury suffered at the 2004 National Games, was able to hold her own during the year, especially in an outstanding end-of-the-year performance. The 24 year old from Surakarta returned to the court in April, but, still rusty in matchplay, promptly suffered a 2-6, 0-6 thrashing by Anna Lena Groenefeld in the first match of the Fed Cup tie against Germany in Essen. The Indonesian women, also including veteran Romana Tedjakusuma and teenager Ayu Fani Damayanti, lost 1-4 to the higher-ranked host team, but the year was to get decidedly better. All of 1.6 meters tall and 50 kilograms, Wynne went from strength to strength, and was key in Indonesia's away victory over Puerto Rico in the Fed Cup World Group II playoffs. The team silenced doubters who said they would be unable to overcome Puerto Rico, fielding world number 68 Kristina Brandi, without Angie. The tie hinged on Wynne's straight sets victory over Brandi as the Indonesian team -- also including Romana and Ayu -- won 4-1. With her Puerto Rico victories, Wynne surpassed former world top 20 player Yayuk Basuki in total wins (61), singles wins (31) and doubles wins (31) for an Indonesian player since the country began competing in the then Federation Cup in 1969. The team will face China in Jakarta in April. Despite a first-round loss in the Wismilak International in Nusa Dua, Bali, in September, Wynne came back in December at the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to achieve a rare "triple crown" of three gold medals. Wynne, Romana and Ayu won the women's team gold by beating defending champion Thailand, before Wynne defeated Romana in an all-Indonesian women's final for her first singles gold in five Games outings. Wynne and Romana then joined forces in the women's doubles to beat Ayu and Septi Mende for her third gold, a feat only achieved by three other Indonesian players. Wynne, with Suwandi, also reached the mixed doubles final. "I've been feeling better and better recently. I take pride in the fact that I have won 12 titles this year, four in singles and eight in doubles, since April," Wynne, whose last Challenger title came in Jakarta in November, told The Jakarta Post during the SEA Games. Wynne, who started the year ranked 339 but ended it at 240, attributed her improved play to her training regimen with American technical consultant Bill Tym, who was a U.S. nationally ranked player in the 1960s. "I have improved my service with him. He has also given me valuable tips on the mental side of the game," she said. Ayu, who made her Fed Cup debut against Germany and turned 17 in November, is already showing potential, with wins in the Cigna and Hemaviton Challenger events earlier this year. The success of the women was not followed by the national men's players, who suffered their third 2-3 Davis Cup loss in four years to the younger, higher ranked players from Uzbekistan in Jakarta in March. Still reliant on Suwandi, 29, and Prima Simpatiaji, 24, in singles, and 37-year-old Bonit Wiryawan in doubles, the men also went down to Thailand 1-4 in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 relegation tie later in the year. The men also failed to win a gold at the SEA Games, with team offiicals blaming biased judging for the host team, filled with American-born players of Philippine descent. Notably absent Febi Widhiyanto, who was not called up for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan because, the National Tennis Association (Pelti) said, he did not arrive in time for training. Although Febi, 25, defeated national number one Prima in the Hemaviton Cup in Jakarta, he also did not earn a place on the SEA Games team. Febi is coached by Deddy Prasetyo, the former coach of Prima, who has not always seen eye to eye with Pelti. There are some bright prospects in the men's game, including Sunu Wahyu Trijati, 18, who was included in the Davis Cup and SEA Games squads in doubles. All-court player Christopher Rungkat, who will turn 15 in January and is currently ranked 182nd in the world for junior boys, is being groomed for the French Open juniors in June, his coach Deddy Prasetyo said earlier this month.
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Post by janie on Jan 16, 2006 10:37:54 GMT -5
Sania is playing AO doubles with Corina Morariu! Very cool team, but too bad they start off against a seeded team, I believe it's the formidable Kuz/Amé squad that they play.
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Post by janie on Jan 23, 2006 9:16:00 GMT -5
from http://www.thejakartapost.com: Look out tennis, here comes China, and HingisFormer national number one and world top 20 tennis player Yayuk Basuki looks at the rise -- and fall -- of Asian women at the Australian Open, the return of Martina Hingis and Angelique "Angie" Widjaja to the tour, the underwhelming form of the Williams' sisters and the two-year ban for steroid use of Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatantcheva.No Lost Cause: Even though most of the Asian women lost in the first round at the Australian Open, I don't think it was a setback. They lost to better players, and some of them had their chances. Tennis really needs to watch out for China. To have five players from one country in the main draw is really something. It's growing very fast, not only in tennis but in all sports. They used to follow us and the Japanese but now they can produce good, professional players because they have great facilities. The Chinese players are very strong, hard workers and mentally tough. The only thing is that they need to be a bit more independent (from their national federation). I don't think they will be like Russia is at the moment in the women's game, with so many talented players. But they could certainly be like Japan in the 1990s. We in Indonesia need to look at what they're doing in China. They're stepping forward, and we're going backward.Swiss Hit or Miss: Martina Hingis is very consistent and smart, but she doesn't have a really big weapon. It's different from the players right now, who are very fit and very strong. That's why it's going to be hard to come back. In terms of talent, she is one of the most talented -- she's got good hands, good touch play, but she needs to build on her physical fitness, and practice and consistency. And I don't know if mentally and physically she's ready for coming back from the bottom. If she starts to push herself to play on the higher level today, there's the risk of getting injured again. It all depends on physical conditioning and selecting the right tournaments to play. She's got a great will and she is already into the fourth round in Melbourne; I could see her getting back to the top 10 if she wants it, but I don't know about number one. Angie's Return: With her height and strength and will, Angie is a player who should be able to compete at the top level of the game. But with her injuries in the past, she really needs to be well prepared in her way of thinking and her decisions.I follow quite closely what she is doing because she lives here, but to be more professional we cannot think like an Indonesian anymore. You have to decide what you need, and make a commitment. High commitment means high discipline -- about when you practice, what you eat, listening to directions from your coach, everything. If she has that, she can make a successful comeback. Changing of the Guard: It's an exciting time in tennis right now; you have the young players coming up, but the "oldies" are still there -- Justine, Kim, Lindsay and also the Williams. And then Martina is back. But I think there is little chance of Monica Seles returning. She is just like Steffi Graf - if she is not 100 percent, she won't play. It's not about playing for the money for her, unlike for some players. It's about the quality and pride -- she' a perfectionist. As for Jennifer Capriati, I don't know if she will come back. She has strong will and has come back before, but the last time I saw her she had put on weight. Serena Slammed: Like I said, tennis is all about being professional. Your career is only 20 years , at most. So forget about the glamour thing, the fashion stuff, the distractions. But it seems for the Williams, it matters. And you never see Richard Williams around anymore after he split with Oracene Williams, although I think the sisters want to see them both together because they helped them get to the top. The Williams used to be the idols for the other players, who would talk about how long they spent in the weight room, on the practice court. I would be up at 6 a.m. to practice, but nobody else wanted to practice at that time, except for them. They would be up and playing, too. Now, it seems Venus is exploring fashion more, and she does not look mentally strong anymore, with no accuracy and missing easy balls. Even her big serve isn't the same -- the players can anticipate it. Serena didn't look fit, especially with her weight. She was defending the Australian Open, so she should have been prepared. I have to say that they are not like the Williams sisters I knew. Bulgarian Ban: I saw Sesil Karatantcheva a couple of years ago at a tournament in China. She was supposed to be 13 but she already had such muscle development that I thought she must be about two years older. She was not like Rafael Nadal -- it was only at 17 or 18 that he started looking so muscular. So the ban didn't surprise me. For one, I would like to see her birth certificate, because her physical condition was always so much different from other kids her age that it was suspicious. Nandrolone is a pretty heavy drug; players who get caught using that will get banned for a long time. To be honest, though, compared to other sports and the Olympics, tennis is pretty nice to the players when it comes to drug punishment. Yayuk Basuki talked to The Jakarta Post's Bruce Emond.
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 23, 2006 9:19:12 GMT -5
Thank you for the Wisdom of Yayuk! She'll always be my number one.
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Post by janie on Jan 23, 2006 11:15:16 GMT -5
Wow, Yayuk is above your beloved Wynne? I'm shocked!
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Post by Brinyi on Jan 23, 2006 11:27:32 GMT -5
Wow, Yayuk is above your beloved Wynne? I'm shocked! Wynne was beloved in the first place because was a Yayuk protégée and was carrying the Indon torch after her, if you must know.
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Post by janie on Jan 23, 2006 12:13:01 GMT -5
yes, I always must know all.
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Post by janie on Mar 14, 2006 8:22:41 GMT -5
Tennis-X stated: 'From Matt Cronin in Indian Wells: "India's Sania Mirza is hoping to renew her doubles partnership with Israel's Shahar Peer despite protests from some Muslim and Jewish groups. ... " 'Well, this Cronin article was picked up by Reuters and can now be found on many news sites. But I guess anyone can change these things to suit themselves -- on an Israeli news site, I noticed that it had been edited to say " ... despite protests from a number of Muslim groups."
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Post by Brinyi on Mar 14, 2006 8:38:43 GMT -5
This "controversy" is the biggest non-issue in tennis history. They've only played together twice in their careers, for God's sake. If Sania had a chance to play with Ai she would have been a fool not to take it. But I guess it's a one-off since Hantuchova is not at IW. By the way, yesterday Sania/Ai def. Black/Stubbs 67(8) 62 76(8).
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Post by janie on Mar 14, 2006 8:57:10 GMT -5
Really! That's great stuff. Maybe helped take the sting away from Sania's loss in singles against an exceptionally pathetic ED.
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Post by janie on Mar 24, 2006 7:00:28 GMT -5
Sania Looks like Sania might be having the sort of sophomore season that Golovin did last year.
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Post by janie on Mar 24, 2006 14:14:24 GMT -5
I love Sania's interview, on the Miami web site. She's just likable. She's so cool she could join the Five Neat Guys.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 7, 2006 6:28:56 GMT -5
"See, this is all because of a statement I made in Pakistan that Sania are I are very good friends, and that is the only truth. I have met also Sania's parents a couple of times and got to know her mother pretty well, but there is nothing more than friendship between the two of us."
-- Aisam Qureshi
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 15, 2006 13:18:27 GMT -5
Taufik, Wynne picked best athletes of the year Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta World men's singles badminton champion Taufik Hidayat and comeback tennis queen Wynne Prakusya swept the major honors Friday in the glittering inaugural national sports award presentation. Taufik, 24, accepted the evening's final award of best male athlete with a message for Indonesia's campaign in the Thomas Cup men's team competition, to be held in Japan from April 29 to May 7. "I ask for the support of the Indonesian people as the national team will head to Tokyo on April 28 for the Thomas Cup. We are all hoping that we can win back the Thomas Cup," Taufik said of the competition, last won by Indonesia in 2002. The 2004 Olympic and 2005 world champion was chosen over fellow nominees Bambang Pamungkas (soccer), Husein Abdullah (table tennis), Sutrisno (powerlifting) and Umar Syarief (karate). "Thank God for this award. I had not expected to win the award, which has been organized for the first time by KONI (National Sports Council)," said the 24 year old, who recently married Ami Gumelar, the daughter of KONI chairman Agum Gumelar. "I'm proud about this appreciation of me. It shows that people still support me. I thank PBSI (the National Badminton Association) which has pushed me to the top. I thank my family and the people of Indonesia." Wynne, who returned from a long injury layoff to win three golds at last December's Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, beat out markswoman Bary Agustini Said, runner Olivia Sadi, archer Rina Dewi Puspitasari, cyclist Santia Tri Kusuma and rower Sarce Aronggear for best female athletes. Wynne, who will miss next week's Fed Cup tie against China due to a recurrence of injury, and Taufik each received Rp 25 million (US$2,781.6). "These days have been great for me. Hopefully, this will inspire me further to creating good achievement in the future," said the 24-year-old from Surakarta, who received the best female athlete award from Bola sports tabloid last week. The seven-member jury was journalists Ian Situmorang, Atal S. Depari, university practitioner Imam Suyudi, Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry staff Hari Setiono, as well as former athletes Zoraya Perucha and Loekman Niode from swimming, and tennis great Yayuk Basuki.
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Post by janie on Apr 16, 2006 20:18:18 GMT -5
I wish Wynne every success in her dream of creating good achievement.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 16, 2006 20:27:38 GMT -5
Ironically, Wynne and Taufik were a high-profile dating item for a while.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 17, 2006 18:29:58 GMT -5
Sania playing 'against doctor's advice' PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Posted online: Monday, April 17, 2006 at 1626 hours IST
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17: Having missed out on last year's action, sania mirza is braving multiple injuries to spearhead India's campaign in the upcoming Fed Cup women's team tennis competition.
Sania said that despite some serious injury concerns and doctor's advice to not play, she was keen to represent India in the Asia-Oceania zonal qualifying tie to be held in Seoul, Korea, from April 19 to 22.
"As an athlete, I am always taking risk. Sometimes you do have to take risk, and this is going to be a bigger risk," the 19-year old said after a practice session with her teammates Ankita Bhambri and Isha Lakhani at the R K Khanna Stadium.
Sania has injuries to her wrist and elbow, both of the serving right arm, and an hyper-extension of the lower back.
She was part of the team but did not play due to an ankle injury when the tie was held in Delhi last year.
"I am going to stop for 3-4 weeks after this. In fact, the doctor told me not to play even this week. But then I did not play last year, so I want to play this time," the Hyderabadi girl said.
"There are three injuries. Each one is worse than the other. The wrist (injury) is the most serious," she said.
"The back is a muscle spasm. It is not a longterm problem, not an injury that needs an operation, but is very painful at the moment.
"It catches me occasionally, hopefully I can stay free of it the coming week.
Asked how far she would go to play in the event despite the risk, Sania said she would not play "only if the pain was unbearable."
"Not feeling much pain (at the moment). We will see how I feel when I get there," she said.
The trio were put through an intense practice session on the centre court by captain and coach Enrico Piperno.
Shikhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Uberoi, the other member of the team, has already reached the venue and has been practising for the past week.
Australia, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Philippines, Uzbekistan and hosts Korea are the other six teams in the fray.
The teams will be divided into two pools of three and four, with the top teams from either pool playing the final on Saturday. The winner qualifies for a world group 2 play-off in July this year.
Piperno said Sania's presence has boosted India's chances of winning the zonal competition.
"I wish last year was this year," Piperno said.
"I would have loved to play in India with this team, but you can't have it both ways.
"Without China, we have a great chance. With Sania in, we are better than the rest."
Piperno hoped India are placed in the smaller group, "so that Sania has less load to carry," but was confident about the Indian star's form.
"I haven't seen her hit the ball so well before. I am surprised she has not won a tournament in the US (on the WTA tour)," he said.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 17, 2006 18:33:12 GMT -5
RI promises tough fight in Fed Cup Sports News - April 15, 2006 Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite being outgunned on paper, Indonesia has promised a tough fight for China in the first round of World Group II in the women's Fed Cup tennis competition next week in Jakarta.
"Theoretically, our team will lose the tie because the visiting team is much stronger. But we hope our players will benefit from playing in front of their home supporters," Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) deputy secretary-general August Ferry Raturandang told The Jakarta Post over the phone Friday.
"We will try to steal points from the visiting team, and if possible win the tie 3-2," he said.
The match will be staged April 22-23 at the Senayan Tennis Courts in Jakarta. The Chinese squad will arrive Tuesday.
Indonesia defeated China in their last encounter in Japan in 2003. However, with the Chinese revving up for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, their squad, led by nonplaying captain Hong-Wei Jiang, is expected to be in top form thanks to the players' participation in numerous international tournaments.
All of the Chinese players boast better world rankings than the Indonesians. Jie Zheng is currently ranked 46th, Na Li (56), Shuai Peng (60) and Zi Yan (78).
None of the Indonesian players are currently ranked in the top 100 in the world.
Not even close, Bubba!
Romana Tedjakusuma, who is likely to play the first singles, had a career-high ranking of 82 in 1994. She is now ranked 258th. Angelique "Angie" Widjaja, who climbed as high as 55 in the singles rankings in 2003 and 15 in doubles in 2004, has since fallen out of the top 1,000.
Angie returned earlier this year after a lengthy injury break, making the semifinals of the KIA International tournament in Victoria, Australia, last month.
Other players on the Indonesian squad include Cigna Open 2006 champion Ayu Fani Damayanti, ranked 519th in the world, and Septi Mende, ranked 837.
The home side will be led by nonplaying captain Suzanna Anggarkusuma.
"The lineup, however, is still subject to change," Ferry said, adding that the squad had begun practicing at the Senayan Tennis Courts on Monday.
Pelti had originally planned to stage the tie at the Kemayoran tennis courts, but moved the tie to Senayan to meet the international standards required the International Tennis Federation.
One of these requirements is that the playing venue be able to accommodate at least 5,500 spectators.
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Post by janie on Apr 17, 2006 18:39:39 GMT -5
Hey Pelti, save a seat for Brinyi! (preferably front row so he can stare)
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 20, 2006 19:54:46 GMT -5
A. Widjaja
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 20, 2006 19:55:38 GMT -5
T. Jakusuma & Peng S.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 20, 2006 19:57:18 GMT -5
A. Widjaja & Li N. Sad to see the punk hair is no more.
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Post by Brinyi on Apr 20, 2006 19:59:04 GMT -5
The Indonesian captain Suzanna Anggarkusuma has called on the local tennis fans to provide the team with “fair and wise support”.
Translation: throw bags of urine!
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Post by DBBN on Apr 20, 2006 20:01:29 GMT -5
A. Widjaja looks particularly beautiful in that first picture, he said heterosexually.
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