SLTA pumps in lot of money, the players now must deliver the goods - Subramaniam
 

by Lal Gunesekera

Sri Lankan tennis players will have to show more dedication and commitment if they have any ideas of reaching the top. The Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) has been spending a lot of money on them, but they are not showing any interest. Now, players play to obtain their bio data to get scholarships into universities in the USA. It's o'kay, but they must return and not only play for the country, but win their matches.

This was the candid opinion made by SLTA's dynamic President, Suresh Subramaniam, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer. He has held the reigns of the SLTA since 2002 and have enticed sponsorships worth over Rs. 15 million. He said that development has been done, and that it's time for the players to deliver the goods and it is high time for them to produce them.

Subramaniam, who is also the Secretary-General of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), has got all the support from this body. With the important Davis Cup round the corner, three players (Rohan de Silva, Harshana Godamanne and Amrith Rupasinghe) are already in Thailand undergoing training . In fact, the latter had to be forced into playing, as he is scheduled to leave for USA soon for higher studies. Two players (Franklyn Emmanual and Oshada Wijemanne) made themselves unavailable.

Now, the SLTA, are pumping in a lot of money into the outstations. They are targetting 10 clay courts at a cost of Rs. 50,000/= to Rs. 75,000/= each in Galle, Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Matale, Negombo and Ratnapura and from September, six hard courts at a cost of Rs. 3 million are to be constructed at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Greenpath. The SLTA has found sponsors for four courts and are looking out for four more. These courts will be on a 10-year branding.

Subramaniam further disclosed that Tom Dominic, a top notch coach from Switzerland, who coached Roger Federer before he turned professional, is to be signed on for a three-year period with another assistant to help him. Dominic was in Colombo earlier this month with the Davis Cup team and Sri Lanka's juniors for two weeks.

Development work has been done for the past five years and now its time to show results by winning said Subramaniam, who is trying his utmost to change the attitude of our players. Three players (Dodamanna, Michael Siyaguna and Shanka Athukorale) have promised that they will be playing full time tennis.

He also said that a top coach from Japan (he has already learned the Sinhala language) is arriving on July 15 on two-year assignment with the SLTA for their outstation programme.

He thanked South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) for increasing their sponsorship of Wheelchair Tennis from Rs. 1 million to Rs. 3 million. The wheelchair tennis players are now on the World Group after this game was introduced only four years ago in Sri Lanka. They train daily (except on weekends) and are dedicated and committed.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has also recognised the achievements of the SLTA and its Wheelchair Tennis programme by appointing Major Shiran Abeysekera as a Committee member of ITF Wheelchair Tennis body.

Subramaniam also said that an International Wheelchair Tennis Tournament is to be staged in Colombo in March next year (2007) with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) too offering a US Dollars 1 million tournament to be staged in Sri Lanka next year with two players in a field of 32 being in the top 10 WTA rankings. India's Mahesh Bhupathy is assisting the SLTA in this venture and Martina Hingis and Russia's Anastasia Miskina too expected to compete in Colombo.

He said that this WTA event will be confirmed during the French Open when he meets both the ITF and ATF Presidents in Paris and discuss various matters pertaining to this tournament in Paris. Subramaniam is scheduled to leave for Paris today (Sunday)