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The lights will be even brighter on the Road Course when the third edition of the sport’s most lucrative tournament, the Barbados Road Open, kicks off on July 28 at Bellfield in St. Michael, offering more than $100,000 in prize money.
Launching the Games at the offices of the Ministry of Youth Sports and Community Development, Minister Charles Griffith beamed with pride as he listed a number of innovations that he believes will enhance the atmosphere of this year’s Games on and off the field while moving Barbadian homegrown sport towards its ultimate goal of entering the Olympic Games.
“We as a government are working hard to develop road tennis and I believe we have done a lot to help our local sport reach the level we want,” he said.
“From the moment I assumed the role of Sports Minister, I have been calling on the private sector to get involved and help grow our sport. I would like to thank our Platinum Sponsor, The Nation Publishing Company, who are participating for the second time, and Silver Sponsor, Bajan Pure, who will be keeping players, officials and fans hydrated through their products.
“While the government has played a major role in promoting road tennis, we recognise the need for non-governmental organisations to drive the sport forward. We have therefore established three directors to facilitate international bodies to oversee the growth of the sport across the globe,” said Griffith. The Minister noted the semi-finals and finals were once again held at the Wildey Garfield Sports Centre gymnasium, the use of line technology and the innovation of a website created specifically for the tournament, as well as the locally developed road tennis scoring software called COURTSIDE.
Attendees at the event included defending champion Mark “Venom” Griffith, who will be looking to win his third straight title, and Sheldene Walrond, who is looking to win his second title, as well as Shakeem Nurse, a two-time finalist.
The winners will each receive $20,000, with the losing finalists receiving $15,000 and the losing semifinalists receiving $5,000. All losing quarterfinalists will receive $2,000, and the eight losing contestants will receive $1,000.
Currently, 110 players have joined the battle, of which 67 male players are ready and 43 female players hope to get gym tickets.
Initially, the tournament will be held at Bellfield, the Deighton “Pa” Roach Tennis Centre in Bush Hall, Diamond Point in St Peter’s and Garr Hill in St John’s before travelling to other venues across the country. Neil Corbin of NPure Filtration said his company was pleased to help Road Tennis achieve its national, regional and international goals.
Paulette Jones, Group Head of Advertising at National Publishing Ltd, spoke to the audience about the company’s purpose which dates back more than 50 years, which is based on sport and health and is upheld through print and online platforms and the support of dedicated journalists, photographers and photojournalists. (KB)
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