The Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) recently announced three back-to-back international wheelchair tennis tournaments to be held in the country during the month of February.
With prize money allocations amounting to $ 3000, the tournaments are claimed to be among Sri Lanka’s sports tournaments with the highest allocations for prize money. The three tournaments will attract top-ranking wheelchair tennis men and women players from around the world, with players from South Korea, China, South Africa, Brazil, the US, and India expected to arrive in the island for the tournaments.
The local team is coached by Ignatius Vijayakanth and overlooked by Maj. Gen. Shiran Abeysekera. Top Sri Lankan players, including Asian paralympian bronze medallist Suresh Dharmasena and seven other Sri Lankan players, will compete in these tournaments, which will provide the opportunity to earn international ranking points for Sri Lankan players before the forthcoming World Cup in Japan and the Asian qualifying matches in Malaysia.
Wheelchair Tennis Association Chairman Maj. Gen. Shiran Abeysekera and SLTA President Iqbal Bin Isaac commenting on the tournament said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Wheelchair Tennis Championships with the highest-allocated prize money here in Sri Lanka, and are particularly proud that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) endorsed the Sri Lankan Open as a suitable venue. The SLTA is supporting this game for the differently-abled, particularly to uplift the great game of tennis. The Negombo Open and Colombo Open are part of the back-to-back tournaments with prize money of $ 3000, and we have been working around the clock to set the required facilities in place to provide the best hospitality. CICT is the main sponsor for the tournament in Sri Lanka and their tremendous support over the last five years has uplifted the game.”
Wheelchair tennis was introduced to the world in 1976 and is currently one of the most successful projects that the SLTA has initiated. With a vision to produce players within the world’s top 10, SLTA maintains a national pool and identifies and trains wheelchair tennis players as future trainers/coaches and officials while conducting periodical awareness programmes islandwide. The introduction of wheelchair tennis by the SLTA has made it one of the most popular sports events for the disabled in Sri Lanka and is mainly patronised by the military and differently-abled children. Annually, over 150 wheelchair tennis tournaments are held in the world under the supervision of the International Tennis Federation.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Tournament name
Date
Venue
Sri Lanka Open Wheelchair Tournament
5-8 February
SLTA
Negombo Open Wheelchair Tournament
10-13 February
Negombo Tennis Club
Colombo Open Wheelchair Tournament
15-18 February
Negombo Tennis Club