Archives

Tennis in Sri Lanka will reach another first under the presidency of Suresh Subramaniam when the Sri Lanka Tennis Association hosts the country's first ever international women's tournament shortly.

The USD 10,000 tournament will have a total professional look. It will be hosted by Sri Lanka for the first time at the National Tennis Centre courts in Greenpath, Colombo. The tournament is sponsored by Jembo Cables (PVT) Ltd, who also sponsored the men's equivalent of this tournament last year.

Jembo Cables will sponsor the September 17-24 tournament, which is listed as an ITF Grand Slam Development Fund event. "Obviously, the very big names in women's tennis won't be coming - but that is not the intention of the ITF either. Rather, these $10,000 tournaments which carry WTA ranking points are for those young players striving to make it to the big times," said Shalini de Silva, the tournament director. "We're hopeful that players ranked between 400-800 will compete here."

SLTA officials are optimistic players of quality will grace the historic event as it is the one of three $10,000 ITF tournaments to be held in the region. "Our event will follow the two Thailand tournaments to be held in early September. The two Bangkok events, with a collective prize purse of US$20,000, are bound to attract more than a few quality players. Colombo not being far from Bangkok, I am sure, will bring the quality Bangkok competitors here," said Shalini de Silva.

An unexpected bonus could come the way of Sri Lanka's top women players as the ITF traditionally offers wild card entries to the host country. "The ITF hasn't yet told us if we'll be given wild card entries directly into the main draw - if they do that will be a real bonus. But getting a few slots to play in the qualifying round is a certainty," said the tournament director.

The main draw will feature 32 players and how many slots will be reserved for qualifiers will depend on the number of entries, which closed with the ITF yesterday. The qualifying round is scheduled for September 17-18 while the tournament proper will be held Sept. 18 through to 24.

SLTA president Suresh Subramaniam saw not only the historic value of hosting the first Women's Professional tournament in the island, but said: "It is encouraging that the ITF has shown faith in our ability to host a Women's professional tournament of this magnitude. In fact, this is one of eight tournaments the ITF has asked us to host this year. The benefits of hosting international tournaments of quality will no doubt rub off on our players," said Subramaniam.

"All the visiting players will pay their bills during their stay here - and that no doubt is going to help the economy of the country."

In another expression of faith in the SLTA, the ITF has nominated Sri Lankan Asitha Attygalle as the Tournament Referee. Attygalle is a bronze badge umpire of the ITF.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager