BRD to boost local tennis

WITH corporate companies wary of investing big in sports disciplines in the country Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) have announced plans to start sponsoring at least one tennis tournament every year.Speaking to Times Sport on Monday, BRD Chief Executive Officer Jack Kayonga, a renowned sports fan, stated the reason why the bank wants to associate with the sport.“We have been sponsoring various sports federations like volleyball, basketball and golf and it is only logical that we extend that to tennis, with plans to include other sports in the future,” said Kayonga, himself one of the top golfers in the country.BRD sponsored the recent tennis Liberation Day tournament in which Jean Claude Gasigwa and Gisele Umumararungu emerged victorious in the men and women’s categories respectively.Once a popular sport in the country, tennis has slumped in recent years with the federation incurring debts of over US$6000 to the International Tennis Association but which has since been cleared by the Sports Ministry.The new Rwanda Tennis Federation chairman, Théoneste Karenzi, is on an ambitious programme to revamp the sport and has already introduced a ranking system to rate players according to their capability, something done elsewhere in the world.The first of such tournaments is slated for next month.