The Sri Lanka Tennis Association hosted a press conference at the Galadari Hotel to announce a sponsorship deal with Colombo International Container Terminals Ltd (CICT) for the association’s pivotal wheel chair tennis programme.
The event which was held on the 8th of June 2015 commenced at 5.30 pm and was attended by a host of dignitaries from the association and the sponsoring company. Namely Mr. Iqbal Bin Issack (President, SLTA), Mr. Nelson Liu (CEO, CICT), Mr. Tissa Wickramasinghe (General Manager, Marketing and Commercial, CICT), Mrs. Catriona Jayasundera (Assistant General Manager, Marketing and Commercial, CICT), Mr. Manjula Karaliyadde (Genral Manager, Human Resources and Administration, CICT), Mr. Pradeep Goonesekera (General Secretary, SLTA), Mr. P.S. Kumara (Vice President, SLTA) and Col. Shiran Abeysekera (Secretary, Wheel Chair Tennis).
The president of the SLTA Mr. Iqbal Bin Issack who delivered the welcome address extended his gratitude towards CICT for stepping forward to fund wheel chair tennis in the country. He also stated the following. ‘Sri Lanka is now ranked number 4 in Asia and is in the top 15 in the world which is a phenomenal achievement considering the fact that our players do not have adequate international exposure due to the lack of funds’. ‘With CICT’s monumental initiative to act as the principal sponsor we sincerely believe that the sport will grow from strength to strength and I believe we will undoubtedly be able to break into the top 10 in the world over the course of a year’ he reiterated.
Mr. Tissa Wickramasinghe addressed the gathering on behalf of CICT and had the following words to say. ‘We as a company have a high degree of respect for the wheel chair tennis players for the courage and determination they show in order to play such a sport which is what led to us making the decision to sponsor the sport’. He also mentioned that the company through its sponsorship aims to develop the sport further by enabling those from all over the country to have access to wheel chair tennis. He also stressed on the fact that the tennis association has been given targets that they must meet in order to uphold the mutual objectives of the sponsorship, which if met will ensure that CICT will continue to serve as principal sponsors over a long term horizon.
The event came to a close with the handing over of the sponsorship cheque from the CEO of CICT Mr. Nelson Liu to Mr. Iqbal Bin Issack. by Lelum M.
