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| Friday, 28 January 2005 |
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Budding foreign tennis stars to shine at SSC by Dinesh Weerawansa Over 40 foreigners will be among the galaxy of teenage stars who would compete at the 22nd International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-18 Championships hosted by Sri Lanka. Impressed by the high quality organisation and competition shown by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association, the ITF has once again awarded a top grade international tournament for Sri Lanka. The SLTA will organise the tournament on behalf of the ITF at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) courts, Colombo 7 from February 12 to 20. With more than a week to go for the entries to close, a total of 45 foreigners - 28 boys and 17 girls, have so far confirmed participation. The 28 boys will be from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and India while 17 girls from India, Japan and Indonesia too have already sent in their entries. Few more countries are expected to send in their entries within the next few days. They will be joined by the cream of Sri Lanka junior players, who have fared exceptionally in the international arena during the past couple of years. The Boys event has so far attracted 45 players and another 26 for the girls event. Leading Sri Lanka's challenge in the boys' event will be Oshada Wijemanne, the emerging youth star who has shown good form in recent times. The tournament would also see one of the leading and oldest sports clubs in Sri Lanka - SSC, hosting a top-level international junior tournament. Better known for its cricket grounds, dubbed as the Lord's of Sri Lanka, the Maitland Place club would now host international tennis stars as well. The SLTA usually host all its international tournaments at the National Tennis Centre courts but this time, they have decided to award SSC the prestige of becoming the proud host. Asked about the decision to take the tournament to SSC courts, the CEO of the SLTA, Lionel Almeida said that they thought of giving tennis playing clubs a chance to host an international tournament. "We usually have the top tournaments at Greenpath. Hence, we thought it's high time to take such tournaments to clubs and promoting them as well," he said. Almeida, better known in rugby and golf circles, said Sri Lanka will also be playing in the Davis Cup tournament mid this year. After being promoted to play in Group 111 of the Asia Ocenia Zone of the Davis Cup tournament, Sri Lanka is down to compete in Hong Kong in July. He said though Qatar was tentatively picked as the hosts of the tournament, a recent ITF meeting in Bangkok decided to have the tournament in the former British colony. The SLTA has already made all arrangements to host the forthcoming ITF Junior International tournament under the directive of its President Suresh Subramaniam, who has put in a lot of effort to promote the game during the past three years. His able leadership and right vision was greatly instrumental in Sri Lanka's elevation to the Group 111 of the Davis Cup after several years. |
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