Coke It Is For Our Dc Team

Sri Lanka’s Group Two Davis Cup campaign, its first in nine years, has been given a shot in the arm by multi-national giants, Coca Cola, signing up as team sponsor.
Under the sponsorship deal, worth Rs.750, 000, the five-member team will have to wear shirts bearing the Coca Cola logo during the March 5-7 Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in Colombo.

“We are obviously delighted that a corporate entity of the stature of Coca Cola has decided to back our Davis Cup team. The sponsorship market hasn’t been exactly easy picking ground, and tennis itself did little to attract potential sponsors, thanks to a year of unstable administration in 2008-09, a period in which we lost old sponsors and failed to find new ones,’’ said Angelo Patrick, Sri Lanka team manager. “The saving grace was our promotion to Group Two last year, after nine years. Now that we’ve succeeded in securing a big-name like Coca Cola, I am hopeful that other sponsors will decide to help us.’’

After competing nine years in Group 3 and 4 levels of  Davis Cup, life on the higher plains is going to be lot tougher for Sri Lanka. The SLTA, now under the newly installed Maxwell de Silva-led administration, are responding positively to the challenges ahead.

“I’ll be telling you fairytales if I say that we’re going to shoot for Group One’’ says President de Silva. “The aim now is to try and keep our place in Group Two – and not fall back to where we had been for nearly a decade. The key is in the preparations for the battles – and we’re doing all we can to raise the finances required to give the players the best preparation possible.’’

A budget of Rs.4-5m. is to be allotted to the three-month preparation, now underway. “Much of the budget will be spent on coaching and providing players overseas exposure. We are looking at the ITF events on the Indian calendar and will choose tournaments that coach and players think are appropriate,’’ said team manager Patrick.

“Also we will hire the services of two players from India to provide shadow-opposition to our players.’’

Coca Cola’s contribution, of course, will not pay all the bills. “It wasn’t our intention to ask for all-expenses sponsorship from Coke – that would be asking for the moon. When we approached them we had in our pocket a pledge of Rs.1.5m from the Sport Ministry as well as the US$ 20, 000 ITF grant we are entitled to as a Group Two competitor. Even with all that in the bag and Coke’s contribution, there would be a shortfall,’’ says Patrick, “so, our search for sponsors isn’t over.’’

With the final team (Harshana Godamanna, Rajiv Rajapakse, Dineshkanthan, Gayanga Weeraskera and Sanka Atukorale) selected and Ministry approval secured, and with the required finances as good as raised, clearly, the SLTA has shown honest intentions of preserving the country’s Group Two status. To realise that aim Godamanna and co. will have to win one of its two ties this year – v. New Zealand and later the winner or loser of the Pakistan v. Hong Kong encounter.  (TMKS)