The Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) commenced their First Capital SSC Open Ranking Tennis Championship 2023 that started on Friday attracting over 700 entries for more than 25 events.
The championship is being contested by boys and girls as well as the vetarans over the age of 35, 45 and 55 and the prize money will be equal for both sexes in what is being touted as an “extremely player friendly environment” with live coverage.
“The SSC Open ranking championship was initially held in the 1980s and was revived in the late 1990s. We were able to provide many unique features at the SSC Open which continues to this day,” said Vasantha Wijesekera, the secretary of SSC.
Former Sri Lanka players in the mould of Arjun Fernando, Harshana Godamanne, Umesh Walloopillai, Jayendra Wijesekera, Rohan de Silva, Franklin Emmanuel and Sharmal Dissanayake are some of the top shelf exponents that have graced the SSC Open in past years making the event a Category One ranking tournament in the island.
Chairman of the Tennis House Committee of SSC Suriya Bibile said the tournament was unlike any other to test the prowess of young and budding players.
“This championship is a platform for our players not only to progress in their rankings but a very competitive tournament that brings out the best among the participating players. We are delighted to be in partnership with First Capital Holdings, our title partner,” said Bibile.
HEAD-3G Sports continue to be the official ball sponsor with Perera and Sons and Diesel & Motor Engineering also entering the fray as co-sponsors while Yeti is the official hydration partner.
Aruna Seneviratne and Chammika de Silva are the tournament directors while Mufaddal Hazari, an International Federation-qualified official is the tournament referee.
Similar to last year’s finals, the men’s and women’s singles finals will be streamed live opening space for Sri Lankans living in and outside the country to follow the matches online.
(Agra Ranasinghe is Media and PR Executive of SSC)