The first Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) will take place tonight at the SuperClubs Breezes. This year's class includes Roger Smith, Kim O'Kelly, Leo Rolle, John Antonios, Georgio Balducci, Sterling Cook, Jean Wiberg, Sandra Miller, Kit Spencer, Barry Farrington, Edith Powell, Vicky Knowles and Lady Edith Turnquest.
The induction ceremony is one of several events that will be highlighted during the week of live tennis action that will take place at the National Tennis Centre. The Bahamas Women's Tennis Open swings into action today, and top female players from around the world are expected to take part in the championships, which have a $100,000 purse.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. Ty Olander, organizer for the Bahamas Women's Open said he is delighted that the executive committee members of the BLTA have partnered with the open to have this first ever Hall of Fame. Olander believes that the time is perfect because the world would take notice, and The Bahamas would take center stage.
The draw for The Bahamas Women's Open was released late yesterday. Players are expected to compete in singles and doubles over the next week. Olander said: "These players who are coming are from 30 countries from around the world. Players will be in town starting Thursday.
All of the officials will be in town [Thursday] and Friday. We have some 33 officials, referees and linesman that are coming from Canada, United States and the Caribbean. "What has been the challenge, which most persons do not understand, is this Bahamas Women's Open is a major tournament this is the highest tier level of the ITF (International Tennis Federation).
Once we move up from here we go to the WTA (World Tennis Federation), which is the high echelon of all the tennis," said Olander. "We have to get top labels and officials. The gold, bronze and silver referees are the only ones qualified to partake in the tournament. As a result of that we had to get the ITF involved and they had to contact all of their officials to come here."
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