$100 000 at stake in ‘the big one’

The road tennis courts will blaze even hotter and brighter when the third edition of the sport’s most lucrative tournament the Barbados Road Tennis Open, serves off on July 28 at Belfield, St Michael, with over $100 000 at stake.

In launching the competition at his Ministry of Youth Sports and Community Development office, a visibly proud Minister Charles Griffith outlined a number of innovations which he believes will enhance this year’s on and off court action while pushing Barbados indigenous sport towards the ultimate goal of Olympics inclusion.

“We are trying to grow road tennis as a Government and I believe we have done a lot to help our indigenous sport to reach the level that we want,”‘ he said.

“From the time that I became the minister of sports, I was asking the private sector to come on board to play their part in helping our sports to grow. want to thank our platinum sponsor, The Nation Publishing Company, who have returned for their second involvement, and silver sponsor Bajan Pure, who will keep the players, officials and fans well hydrated with their products.

“While Government has been playing a significant role in pushing road tennis, we recognise the need for non-government groups to go forward with the sport. Therefore, we have set up three directors to facilitate the development of an international body to oversee the worldwide growth of the sport,” said Griffith. The minister pointed to the record of the semi-finals and finals being contested indoors at the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sports Complex in Wildey once again, the use of line technology and the innovation of a website dedicated to the tournament and the local creation of a road tennis scoring software called COURTSIDE.

Attending the launch was the defending champion Mark “Venom” Griffith, who will be going after the three-peat, and Sheldene Walrond, who hopes to win her second title. Also in attendance was Shakeem Nurse, who appeared in the two previous finals.

The winners will pocket $20 000 each, with $15 000 going to the losing finalists and $5 000 to the losing semi-finalists. All losing quarter-finalists will earn $2 000, with the round of eight losing players taking home $1 000.

So far, 110 players have entered the battle, with 67 males gearing up and 43 females hoping to punch their tickets to the Gym.

Initially, the matches will be played at Belfield; the Deighton “Pa” Roach Tennis Facility in Bush Hall; Diamond Corner, St. Peter, and Gall Hill, St John before heading to other venues throughout the country. Neil Corbin of NPure Filtration expressed his company’s sense of satisfaction in helping road tennis to achieve its national, regional and international objectives.

Group Head of Advertising of the Nation Publishing Company Limited, Paulette Jones, reminded the audience of her company’s ethos, which was built on sports and health over 50 years ago and which has been maintained through print and online platforms fuelled by dedicated journalists, photographers and photojournalists. (KB)

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