Friday marked the kickoff of the ‘I&M Bank (Rwanda) Plc. Inter-Club Tennis tournament.’ The inaugural edition of the competition officially opened by I&M Bank CEO, Benjamin Mutimura at Cercle Sportif de Kigali on Friday, July 19 and will run until Sunday, July 28 a ceremony attended by The Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF) president. ALSO READ: I&M Bank Rwanda launches ‘Ryoshya Iwawe’ retail campaign The competition attracted four clubs namely Nyarutarama Tennis Club, Ecology Tennis Club, Kigali Combined and Cercle Sportif de Kigali. Matches will be held at various venues, including Cercle Sportif de Kigali, IPRC Kigali, Nyarutarama Tennis Club and La Palisse Nyamata courts. The latter will host the finals on July 28. The tournament features both men’s and women’s categories in singles and doubles and an extra mixed doubles in the professional category. Launching the tournament, I&M Bank Rwanda Head of Business Banking Christian Abijuru explained that sponsoring sports is part of the bank’s ambitious commitments to give back to the community and connect with its customers. “Today we joined the tennis community in this tournament. One of our many goals is the wellbeing of people and, through different ways, including sports, this is a great opportunity to meet our clients, remind them of our services, and attract new customers,” Abijuru said. Explaining I&M Bank’s choice to sponsor tennis, he said, “We support various sports disciplines, but we identified tennis as one of our main channels to reach our clients. It’s also a fast-growing sport in Rwanda, and we want to play a role in its development.” Charles Haba, the organizer of the Inter-Club Tennis Tournament, commended I&M Bank for their support and trust. “We thank the I&M Bank management for this initiative to invest in sports, especially tennis. This couldn’t have been possible without their support and dedication,” Haba said. “We expect a very good and competitive tournament in every category, as we have the best local players participating,” he added. Rwanda Tennis Federation (RTF) Secretary General Donath Rutagemwa also thanked the organizers and promised that the federation would support the tournament to become an annual event as the federation continues push to help young talents excel in tennis.
