Puma Energy trims tennis sponsorship

Puma Energy Malawi Open Lawn Tennis Championships has returned with a trimmed sponsorship from last year’s K8 million to K5 million.

Nevertheless, Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi (Ltam) general secretary Christopher Kachale said on Tuesday the K3 million deficit will not prevent the competition from being organised between October 14 and 18 at Malawi National Tennis Centre (Country Club Limbe) in Blantyre.

“Most companies are experiencing economic challenges in the country and it is not easy to get sponsorship. K5 million will be enough for our contest and we are grateful to Puma Energy Malawi for the support,” he said.

Following the cut in sponsorship, winners’ prizes have also been trimmed. Men’s singles champion will receive K350 000 while winners in the women’s category will get K300 000, among others.

This is the fifth year that the petroleum company is bankrolling the annual competition, which attracts top players from other African countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to Kachale, local players will be required to pay K2 000 entry fee while foreigners will pay about K8 000 ($15).

During last year’s contest, dominance of foreign players continued to poke fun at the poor performance of local stars as Kenyan siblings Ishmael and Shufa Changawa emerged victors in both singles and mixed doubles finals.n