Aishah presents a souvenir to the representative of defending champion Miri Tg Lobang team.
BINTULU: It is about time for the BDA Tennis Championship to spread it wings in making the tournament even bigger and grander with the participation of players from Peninsular Malaysia, Brunei and other neighbouring countries.
Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) general manager Datu Mohidin Ishak said it will be a good challenge especially for the organising committee to think of something new towards their preparation for the next edition.
He was speaking during the welcoming dinner for all the 12 participating teams of the 10th BDA Tennis Championship 2014 at ParkCity Everly Hotel on Wednesday. His text of speech was read by BDA secretary Siti Aishah Othman.
The annual tournament officially kicked off yesterday and will end on June 22.
Mohidin also welcomed all the participating teams for this year’s edition and congratulated them for their strong support and commitment for the past 10 years.
“Tennis is an annual event of BDA, without fail you have given motivation to us, never at one time you fail to give the support and we need the spirit,” he said adding that BDA will continue to organise activities that can foster rapport among the local community.
At the same time, he also touched a little bit on the Bintulu Tennis Centre project which is still ongoing.
“Maybe we can scout for new talent among the younger generation, rather than loafing around, it will be much better for them to participate in tennis and I would like to extend our gratitude to Bintulu Division Lawn Tennis Association (BDLTA) for their contribution and support to this sport.
“We also thanked the Lea Sport Centre, every year they have given such a good support to us in terms of sponsorship,” he said.
Apart from tennis, he said there is a wider range of sports organised by BDA namely golf, badminton, gudi, kite flying and many others.
Also present at the dinner were BDLTA president Sulaiman Sahari and organising chairman Ahmad Ghazi Ariffin.
The tournament was organised by BDA in collaboration with BDLTA and among the participating teams are ABF 7, BDA-MAX, BDLTA, Bintulu Juniors, Dalat, Kastam Sibu, Sarawak Bumiputera Lawn Tennis Association (PTBS), Miri-Tg Lobang, Mukah DLTA, Miri Greensports, Kuching Greensports and Miri Bumiputera Lawn Tennis Association (PBT Miri).