SSC Open tennis from May 7

Anuradha Abeysekara

The first 'A' grade tennis tournament of the year, Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Open Championships will be kicked off from May 7 and will conclude with the award ceremony scheduled for May 28. This will be the 11th edition of the prestigious tournament. The tournament will commence with the junior qualifying matches at the SSC tennis court. Junior events entries will close on May 2 while the draw will be held on May 5 at the SSC.

Entry forms can be obtained from SSC, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) and leading coaches. The organizers have arranged accommodation facilities for all outstation players free of charge and expect a large number of participants in both senior and junior events. There will be attractive cash awards, certificates, gift vouchers and trophies on offer up to semifinalists in all singles events while the losing quarter finalists of the Men's singles too will be awarded cash prizes.

Daraka Ellawala has been appointed as the tournament referee who will be assisted by Pravin Thalpegamage.

SSC Open is one of the three 'A' grade tennis tournaments in the country. Tough competition is expected as many of the country's ranking players will be in action during this year's tournament. Sri Lanka Nationals and Colombo Championships are the other two annual 'A' grade ranking tennis tournaments.