BLM returns to lawn tenis sponsorship

Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM) has returned to lawn tennis sponsorship, six years after they stopped bankrolling the national junior championships.

BLM had been funding the junior championships between 2004 and 2008 and it is credited for exposing lawn tennis whizkid Chisomo Lumeta, who on scholarship at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Training Centre in Morocco.

According to Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi (Ltam) president Francis Mwansa, the sponsorship package of the competition, which will start in July, will be revealed during a press briefing to be organised soon.

“What I can confirm now is that BLM has made a comeback to tennis sponsorship. They would like to use the sport to sensitise the youth between the age ranges of 10 and 25 about their general behavior, especially the dangers of early marriages and promiscuity,” said Mwansa. n

Mwansa told The Nation yesterday that unlike before when the contest involved the junior players, the event will, this time around, be a nationwide competition that involves both junior and senior categories.

He, however, said they are currently finalising the sponsorship agreement with BLM by drafting the concept of how the competition would manage to succeed in achieving the organisation’s goals.

BLM has become a third organization to sponsor tennis after Puma Energy and Nedbank. Puma sponsors Malawi Open and Junior Championships while Nedbank provided Lumeta with an individual K3million two-year sponsorship.