Sri Lanka Tennis Association

Sri Lanka Tennis Association
Sport	Tennis
Abbreviation	(SLTA)
Founded	1915; 109 years ago
Affiliation	International Tennis Federation
Regional affiliation	Sri Lanka
Location	Sri Lanka Tennis Association, Sir Marcus Fernando Road, Colombo
President	Maxwell De Silva
Secretary	Vipul Liyanage
Official website
	www.srilankatennis.org

Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) is a national governing body of tennis in Sri Lanka founded in 1915, which represents Sri Lanka on associations like the International Tennis Federation and the Asian Tennis Federation. Its main aim is to popularise tennis in all parts of Sri Lanka as a professional sport and to produce top tennis players from Sri Lanka.^[2]

History

Tennis in Sri Lanka was introduced during the British Rule with the founding of the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association in 1915. The CLTA was originally headquartered at the ‘Challet’ in Nuwara Eliya and was conducting the Nationals on clay courts located at where Hill Club now sits. CLTC held tournaments in Colombo too, especially at the Colombo Lawn Club.^[3] The Governor of Ceylon, Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers, was the first president of the association. From establishment of the association until 1946, there was a practice at the CLTA to have the Governor of Ceylon, as administrative head of the British colony, as its President.^[3] The first Sri Lankan to become CLTA president was Dr. C. H. Gunasekara in 1947 until 1949.^[3] It takes pride as being the oldest national tennis association in Asia.^[4]

List of Sri Lankan presidents

Included:^[3]

Dr. C. H. Gunasekara, (1947-1949)
T. E. de Silva, (1950-1954)
Lionel Fonseka (1955-1957)
V. A. Sugathadasa, (1958-1968)
M. T. Thiruchittampalam, (1969-1975)
K. T. E. de Silva ?
Janaka Bogollagama ?
D. L. Seneviratne, (1987-1990)
D. L. Seneviratne, (1991-2000)^[5]
Suresh Subramaniam, (2001-2006) ^[5]
Maxwell de Silva, (2009-2010)^[6]
Iqbal Bil Isaack, (2012-current)^[5]

List of governor presidents

Included:^[3]

Sir Robert Chalmers (1915-16)
Sir John Anderson (1916-19)
Sir William Henry Manning (1919-27)
Sir Herbert J. Stanley (1927-31)
Sir Graeme Thomson (1931-33)
Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs (1933-37)
Sir Andrew Caldecott (1937-42)
Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore (1945-46)

Tennis in Sri Lanka

Tennis as a sport has not garnered the popular support of the common folk in Sri Lanka, whose first love in sports is still cricket but SLTA is contributing all its resources to make tennis a popular game. They strive towards developing tennis as a professional sport, encouraging all citizens to play tennis for better health in life and to produce better world ranking tennis players from Sri Lanka.

Tournaments conducted by SLTA

Current

International

Include:^[7]

Sri Lanka Men's Futures F1
Sri Lanka Men's Futures F2
Sri Lanka Men's Futures F3
Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group III
ITF Junior Circuit Grade 5 Week 1 (U-18)
ITF Junior Circuit Grade 5 Week 2 (U-18)
ITF Junior Circuit Grade 5 Week 3 (U-18)
Sri Lanka Women's Futures F1
Sri Lanka Women's Futures F2
Sri Lanka Women's Futures F3
ATF Week 1 (U-14)
ATF Week 2 (U-14)

National

Include:^[7]

ACM Tennis School Tournament, Tamil Union Club, Colombo
All-Island Inter-School Cool Championship, SLTA, Colombo
Bandarawela Tennis Club Tournament, Bandarawela
Batticaloa Tennis Centre Tournament, Batticaloa
Colombo Championships,^[8] (1915-current)
CR and FC Tournament, CF & FC Club, Longdon Place
DTS Tournament, St. Thomas' College Club, Colombo
Inter-Schools Cool Divisional Qualifying Tournament
Jaffna Club Tournament, St. Patrick's College Tennis Club, Jaffna
Kalutara Tennis Centre Tournament, Kalutara
Kandy Garden Club Tournament, Kandy Garden Club, Kandy
Kurunegala Club Tournament, Kurunegala Tennis Club, Kurenagala
Moors Club Open Tournament, Moors Tennis Club, Colombo
Negombo Club Tournament, Negombo Tennis Club, Negombo, (1975-current)
Otters Club Tournament, Otters Tennis Club, Colombo, (1965-current)
Queen's Club Open Tournament, Queen's Club, Colombo, (1969-current)
SLTA Playing Section Tournament, SLTA, Colombo
SLTA Tournament, SLTA, Colombo
SSC Open Tournament, SSC Tennis Club, Colombo
Thurstan College Tournament, Thurstan, Colombo
Women's Club Tournament, Women's Club, Colombo
Tamil Union Club Open Tournament, Tamil Union, Colombo, (1972-current)

Former

Overseen by the SLTA have included:^[9]

Carlton Club Championships, Colombo, (1960–1964).
Ceylon Championships, Nuwara Eliya, (1886-1976), ^[10] later renamed Sri Lankan National Championships is still played today.
Ceylon Wimbledon Championships (1887–1890), Nuwara Eliya.
Colombo Otters Open (1964–1974).
Colombo tournament, Colombo (1963–1971).
Floodlight Open, (1963).
Fort Tennis Club Open, Fort, Colombo, (1964–1967).
Government Services Tennis Club Championships, Colombo, (1966-?)
Negombo Championships, Negombo, (1963–1974).
Sabaragamuwa Championships, Ratnapura, (1963–1969).
Taldua Open, Colombo, (1965).
Tamil Union Championships, Colombo, (1930–1969).
Tamil Union Open Championships (1970-1973)
UVA Championships, Badulla, (1967).
Up-Country Nationals, Bandarawela, (1955–1971).

List of approved SLTA tennis clubs

This is a list of major tennis clubs within Sri Lanka:

Bandarawela tennis club
Carlton Tennis club
Cathedral Tennis club
Chilow sports club
Colombo Gymkhana Club
Dehiwala /Mt.Lavinia Cosmopolitan Sports Club
Dickoya / Maskeliya cricket club
Galle Services Club
Govt. servants lawn tennis club
Govt. servants tennis club
Govt. Surveyors sports club
Hill Club
Kalutara lawn tennis club
Kandana club
Kandy Garden Club
K. C. Y. M. A. Tennis club
Rathnapura Tennis School
Matale District Tennis Club

References

^ ^a ^b "SLTA General Committee". Retrieved 2011-02-07.
^ "Objectives of SLTA". Retrieved 2011-02-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Silva, Revarta S. (16 July 2011). "Previewing Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals – Part 01: The Fascinating History of CLTA". island.lk. The Island Newspaper. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
^ "History of Tennis in Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c "History of SL's Tennis in Brief". www.island.lk. The Island Newspaper. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
^ "Maxwell back in SLTA fore". www.island.lk. The Island Newspaper. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Sunday Times - Tennis: SLTA releases event calendar for 2017". www.sundaytimes.lk. The Sunday Times Newspaper, Sri Lanka. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
^ Walpola, Thilina (6 June 2022). "107th Colombo Championships commences". Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^ Archives, Tennis. "Tournaments: Ceylon/Sri Lanka". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
^ Silva, Revata S. (16 July 2011). "The Island". island.lk. The Island Newspaper. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[srilankatenniscommittee-1] "SLTA General Committee". Retrieved 2011-02-07.

[srilankatennisaim-2] "Objectives of SLTA". Retrieved 2011-02-07.

[fasc-3] Silva, Revarta S. (16 July 2011). "Previewing Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals – Part 01: The Fascinating History of CLTA". island.lk. The Island Newspaper. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[asiaroom-4] "History of Tennis in Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on November 8, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[br-5] "History of SL's Tennis in Brief". www.island.lk. The Island Newspaper. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[6] "Maxwell back in SLTA fore". www.island.lk. The Island Newspaper. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[st-7] "Sunday Times - Tennis: SLTA releases event calendar for 2017". www.sundaytimes.lk. The Sunday Times Newspaper, Sri Lanka. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[8] Walpola, Thilina (6 June 2022). "107th Colombo Championships commences". Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

[9] Archives, Tennis. "Tournaments: Ceylon/Sri Lanka". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

[10] Silva, Revata S. (16 July 2011). "The Island". island.lk. The Island Newspaper. Retrieved 22 October 2017.

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