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RI defeats Sri Lanka in Davis Cup, stays in Group II Asia/Oceania
No pressure: Indonesian Aditya Hari Sasongko returns a shot from Nishangan Nadaraja of Sri Lanka in their relegation playoffs match for Davis Cup Group II Asia/Oceania in Surakarta on Sunday
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span class="inline inline-center">No pressure: Indonesian Aditya Hari Sasongko returns a shot from Nishangan Nadaraja of Sri Lanka in their relegation playoffs match for Davis Cup Group II Asia/Oceania in Surakarta on Sunday.(Courtesy of Dwiari Setyadi)
Indonesian tennis experienced a grand slam on Sunday after the national team outclassed Sri Lanka 5-0 in relegation play-offs on Sunday to stay in Group II Asia/Oceania of the Davis Cup.
The win has secured Indonesia’s position in the group for next year’s Davis Cup, while Sri Lanka will now be relegated to Group III Asia/Oceania.
Amid the weekend success, Indonesia, which had already secured victory after leading 3-0 on Saturday, grabbed a chance to improve its tennis prowess on the international stage.
“It clearly provides momentum for Indonesian tennis to get back in shape,” Wibowo Suseno Wirjawan, chief of the Indonesian Tennis Association (PELTI), said in a statement.
“PELTI will schedule players in this year’s Davis Cup team to participate in training and tournaments overseas,” he added.
Next week, Christopher Rungkat and David Agung Susanto, who respectively contributed two wins in the relegation play-offs, are set to head to Vietnam to play in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s Futures tournament in Thu Dau Mot.
In the US$10,000 tournament, the country’s top player Christopher is seeded sixth, while David is a qualifier.
In the weekend relegation play-offs, David and Christopher showed convincing performances by securing two important openers at the Gelora Manahan tennis courts in Surakarta on Friday.
David beat Harshana Godamanna 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, while Christopher dominated Yasitha De Silva 6-2, 6-0, 6-2.
In a decisive doubles play in the third rubber on Saturday, pair Christopher and Sunu Wahyu Trijati presented Indonesia the victory by leading 3-0 after crushing Godamanna and De Silva 6-2, 6-3, 6-0.
“I’m happy that we played solidly [on Saturday], despite a nagging pain in my injured left shoulder in the first set,” said Christopher, who is world No. 370 in the doubles.
“We’re grateful to have contributed a point, which secures our spot in the group,” he added.
On Sunday, Aditya Hari Sasongko and David wrapped up perfectly with their respective 6-0, 6-1 match against Nishangan Nadaraja and 6-3, 6-1 against De Silva.
Aditya said he was content with the win.
“When I was told to replace Christopher to play the fourth rubber, I was actually not ready — two painful losses I experienced during the Davis Cup first round against Vietnam in March on this very court flooded my head,” explained the world No. 923.
