Barbados Road Open Tennis Championships

The 2024 Barbados Road Tennis Open will be held for the third time on July 28 in Bellfield, with a total prize money of more than $100,000.

Defending male and female champions Mark “Venom” Griffith and Sheldene Walrond stood at the center of the tournament’s official media conference, held at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment headquarters at Haggart Hall in St. Michael, where Bajan Pure Purified Water was announced as the new presenting sponsor of the event.

Also in attendance were Minister of Youth Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith, National Sports Council Sports Director Neil Murrell, Nation Publishing Advertising Group Head Paulette Jones, NPure Water Filtration Inc. owner Neil Corbin, Riveting Inc.’s Nathan Agard and Barbados Road Open Chairman Shawn Burke.

Nation Publishing will be the platinum sponsor of the event for the second year in a row, and Jones drew an interesting comparison between Nation Publishing and the sport of road tennis.
“We believe our paths are similar as we both continue to impact the world with the qualities that are uniquely Barbadian. The Nation has the power to tell the story of Barbados and Barbadians in a way that only we can, and road tennis showcases the resilience, talent and creativity of Barbadians. When the Nation was founded over fifty years ago, sports and sports coverage were an important part of our ethos and that remains true today. We continue to invest heavily in sports and its coverage with well-trained and capable journalists, photographers and photojournalists,” said Jones.

This year’s tournament debuted several new features, including a new website www.roadtennisopen.comonline registration options, new line replay technology and the new road tennis scoring software COURTSIDE, which will allow for a dedicated road tennis player directory and tournament rankings.

This year’s tournament begins at Belfield and Bush Hall in St. Michael’s, followed by Gall Hill in St. John’s and Diamond Corner in St. Peter’s, from July 28 to August 10. Weekly schedules will be announced from August 11 to September 15, with tournaments taking place in communities across the country. The semifinals and finals will be held at Wildey Stadium from September 19 to 22.