The sponsorship cheque is being handed over by Head of Operations, Edinborough Products (Pvt) Ltd Mushthak Musadik (second from right) to the President of Sri Lanka Squash Suren Kohombange (third from left). (from left) The Secretary of SLS Eranga Alwis, Vice President of SLS Group Captain Eranda Geeganage, Strategic Advisor of Edinborough Products (Pvt) Ltd Nandana Wickramage and Vice President of SLS Rohantha Peris are also in the picture. Picture by Ranjith Asanka.
The Edinborough Junior and Open Doubles Squash Tournaments 2022 conducted by Sri Lanka Squash (SLS) will be held at Army Squash Complex, Engineer Park, Mattegoda and Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) from March 26 to April 3.
Around 200 players in both genders will feature at Junior Tournament under 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 age group categories. The Junior event will begin on March 26 and it will comprise 188 matches.
All top ranked men and women are expected to take part in the Open Doubles Tournament which comprises Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Around 75 players will vie in total of 40 matches in the Open Doubles event and it will take place on March 31. The final matches of both Junior and Open Doubles will be held at the Army Squash Complex, Mattegoda on April 3 at 4 pm, followed by the award ceremony. The Sri Lanka’s leading food manufacturing company Edinborough Products (Pvt) Ltd coming forward to sponsor the tournament to promote the sport in Sri Lanka especially among the youths.
The Managing Director of Edinborough Products (Pvt) Ltd R.P.M. Zalmy says “We at Edinborough came forward to support the sport at junior level as we believe that any developing sport need to be supported at the very junior levels. Also, this particular sport is still not very popular in the country. Therefore, not many brands would want to support considering the low level of publicity as against the cost. Edinborough is proud to be partner with “Edinborough Junior and Open Doubles Squash Tournaments.”
Sri Lanka Squash is on a major drive promoting uplifting the sport with its players making inroads in the PSA (Professional Squash Association) leagues and also the sport been actively promoted at junior level in the regional areas with pathway programs.
SLS has taken various steps to develop the sport by providing dedicated coaches and Pakistani National Coach Rehman Gul currently assigned for high performance training. Also they boost infrastructure facilities for game development by creating squash courts in Kurunegala, Galle, Kandy and Jaffna districts.