HNB and Hutch power Clay Court Nationals
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Over 500 players will vie for honours in the third edition of the Clay Court National Tennis Tournament 2020 conducted by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) which got underway on Friday at Greenpath.
The biggest tournament in the SLTA calendar, Hatton National Bank and Hutch Telecommunications have joined hands as the main sponsors of the tournament which will run until March 26.
At a media conference to announce the partnerships between the many sponsors, Deputy General Manager of HNB and former Davis Cup player Sanjay Wijemanne urged the need to have a national programme to create a pool of talented players in the next ten years.
“We need a national programme to train juniors. For example in Hong Kong they start from age 8 and 10. They hire former players who have played in the top 100 and are coaches to go and pick who you feel is talented to be trained and who can make it to the top level. From there they follow them and make sure that they got exposure, enough tournament practice and all that, and put them on a high performance programe,” he cited as an example in his inspiring address.
HNB has been in the field of tennis for years now empowering local talent across the island. They have signed on for a three-year contract with the SLTA assuring the fullest support to take this tournament to the next step.
Hutch Telecommunications have stepped in as first-time sponsors to the tournament and this will be their inaugural sponsorship in the sport as well.
3G Sports will come in as the Official Ball sponsors for the event, with Head balls used in the tournament. Ceylinco Insurance Life has also come on board as a co-sponsor for the tournament.
Tournament director Ganendran Subramaniam thanked Ayendra Bandaranayake of SLTA for allowing the use of the SLTA clay courts free of charge. Dharaka Ellawala is the Tournament Referee.
