SAGT renews wheelchair tennis sponsorship

by Dinesh Weerawansa

SOUTH Asia Gateway Terminals has renewed its Rs.1 million sponsorship of wheelchair tennis for a second consecutive year, the SLTA announced.

This is SAGT's second sponsorship deal with the SLTA within a month. In March, the company confirmed a Rs.500,000-commitment towards SLTA's campaign to introduce wheelchair tennis among the civilian population, especially the youth.

SAGT began its involvement with wheelchair tennis in 2004, with CEO Maciek Kwiatkowski stating that the sponsorship was renewable in 2005 providing the 2004 progress report was found favourable.

"SAGT obviously are happy with the progress made by our wheelchair tennis committee and naturally the SLTA are delighted the company has extended their sponsorship into another year. The financial contribution will help intensify wheelchair tennis development an investments which otherwise would have to come from SLTA coffers, said SLTA CEO, Lionel Almeida. "So, thanks to SAGT, the SLTA's other programs can be continued without any cutbacks."

A better part of this year's one-million sponsorship will be diverted to wheelchair tennis committee's long term plan for the 2008 Para Olympics in Beijing. "We discovered our inadequacies at the last Olympics, which was our first. Our preparations for Athens had hardly been a year - and that was utterly insufficient. So, we are planning long-term for Beijing," said Almeida.

The national team are presently preparing for the Invacare World Championship to be held in Australia in June, after which they compete in the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore Open events.

"We have decided to make a long and thorough search for the players best suited for Beijing - and between now and 2008 we will be exposing all the promising candidates to international competitions," said SLTA wheelchair tennis committee secretary, Maj. Shiran Abeysekera.

Much of SAGT's Rs.1m. sponsorship of last year was also spent on Sri Lanka's national wheelchair tennis team's preparation for, and participation at, the Para Olympics in Athens. The nearly year-long Athens preparation included a series of competitions in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne, where Bertie Silva and J Manatunga, both soldiers, won medals.

The duo qualified to play in Athens, but against world class Olympic competition they were out of their depth.

On top of this month's Rs.1 million sponsorship towards development, SAGT last month came up with sponsorship-package of Rs.500,000 aimed at extending the player-base to the civilians, especially youth. Already, an active program has been started with a dozen inmates from the Sevana Lama Niwasa in Kotte. And next week an awareness program will be held in Sunny Village orphanage in Mulleriyawa, according to SLTA Wheelchair Tennis committee's Secretary, Maj. Shiran Abeysekera.