Ami Afriatni

Top-seeded Christopher Rungkat won the men’s singles and doubles titles at the X-Pro tournament in Jakarta. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Injured Ayu Bows Out of X-Pro With SEA Games on the Horizon

After days of unwelcome rain, an untimely injury added to Ayu Fani Damayanti’s headaches at the X-Pro tennis tournament.

Ayu, the women’s singles top seed, suffered a scare on Saturday when she injured her right ankle during the women’s doubles final at the Sultan Hotel tennis courts.

She played through the pain and won, but she then withdrew from the singles final against doubles partner Lavinia Tananta.

She suffered the injury in the second set of a 7-5, 6-7 (4), 10-3 super tiebreaker victory over Indonesia teammates Jessy Rompies and Sandy Gumulya.

That gave her confidence she could see out the tournament against Lavinia, but her opinion changed on Sunday.

“The more I pushed myself to play, the more I felt the pain. That’s why I gave up,” Ayu said.

Ayu defeated Romana Tedjakusuma 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s semifinals, while Lavinia won 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 against Sandy.

Ayu’s injury made her reconsider her participation in the Garuda Indonesia Tennis Masters tournament, which begins on Wednesday. She is scheduled to be the No. 1 seed. Also weighing on her mind is the Southeast Asian Games, which run Dec. 9-18 in Vientiane, Laos.

“I hope I will recover soon enough to play in the Masters and the SEA Games,” Ayu said.

Second place earned her Rp 8.48 million ($890) in prize money, while Lavinia won Rp 14.4 million for first place.

Robert John Ballard, the Indonesian tennis team’s physical trainer, said Ayu injured ligaments in her right ankle and should be available with two days of therapy, though he recommended seven to 10 days for a full recovery.

“We will see in the next two days whether she can play in the Masters or not. But it’s OK for her to play in the SEA Games,” Ballard said.

Top-seeded Christopher Rungkat strolled to the men’s singles and men’s doubles titles over the weekend. He took the singles crown after beating No. 2 seed Sunu Wahyu Trijati 6-2, 6-0, pocketing Rp 21.8 million for first place while Sunu took home Rp 12.2 million.

“For me, competing in X-Pro and the Masters will help me improve my performance before the SEA Games,” said Christopher, 19.

“More competitions are all we need as a part of our preparations,” he added.

Christopher, who is also the No. 1 seed for the Garuda Masters, beat Elbert Sie 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the semifinals. Sunu overcame former national player Bonit Wiryawan 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Christopher teamed up with doubles partner Ketut Nesa Arta to sweep the weekend’s titles, ousting national training camp teammates Sunu and Prima Simpatiaji 6-2, 7-5. Tennis

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