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NDB edge out HSBC to regain Tennis title
By Shamseer Jaleel
Even the frequent interruptions by the monsoon rains could not prevent the NDB from regaining the Mercantile Tennis title which they earlier won in 2001. The Bankers were given a tough time by the defending champions HSBC who became second in this event. In a competitive tournament NDB scored 174 points followed closely by HSBC with 155 points and the Sri Lankan Airlines came third with 31 points.

The Mercantile Tennis Championship has a history going back to 1940s with the presence of the British who were dominating. In 1980's interest was very low that the once popular event went off the calendar until it was revived in 2001 with NDB winning the title in the first two years. HSBC led by Davis Cup and former national player Arjun Fernando prevented a hat trick by winning the event in 2002.

The former national player speaking to Sunday Times told that The tournament was very interesting and wanted the organizers to consider a revision to the format. He further said that there should be divisions in the Women's event to ensure that national players and beginners will not clash. Concluding Arjun said that if this is done there will be more entries in this segment and it will be fair chance for all the entrants, good for the future of the Sri Lankan Tennis.

The tournament drew a huge 164 entries challenging 10 titles with NDB and HSBC fielding 55 and 43 Entries respectively. The awards ceremony will take place on 13 December at the SLTA .

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