- Title: PHILIPPINES: WIMBLEDON' S TENNIS BALLS ARE MADE IN DUNLOP SLAZENGER'S FACTORY
- Date: 19th June 2003
- Summary: MARIVELES, PHILIPPINES (JUNE 19, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. TENNIS BALL FACTORY WORKERS PLAYING TENNIS TO TEST BALLS 2. CLOSE-UP OF TENNIS BALL TO BE USED FOR WIMBLEDON 3. 'DUNLOP SLAZENGER' SIGN AT THE FACTORY 4. VARIOUS OF TENNIS BALLS BEING PACKED IN FACTORY 5. DUNLOP SLAZENGER FACTORY MANAGER JULIUS MANALO SHOWING PICTURES OF BALLS IN WIMBLEDON 6. VARIOUS OF TENNIS BALLS BEING PRODUCED IN FACTORY 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) FACTORY SUPERVISOR RAMIR RAMIREZ SAYING "The balls that we make are used for Wimbledon and we're proud of it" 8. VARIOUS OF BALLS BEING MARKED 'WIMBLEDON' 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FACTORY MANAGER JULIUS MANALO SAYING "The first match that they will be using the ball are the one that will gauge our product, whether they're really the best balls in the tennis" 10. VARIOUS OF TENNIS BALLS BEING PRODUCED IN FACTORY 11. GIANT WIMBLEDON TENNIS BALL Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th July 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MARIVELES, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Reuters ID: LVA9PBV5ZSFKHBIOEZM62KOACMJV
- Story Text: As the tennis at Wimbledon is beamed to millions of
television viewers around the world, no-one will be looking
closer at the flight of the balls than Julius Manalo in the
Philippines.
Manalo manages Dunlop Slazenger's Philippine plant at
Mariveles which made the balls.
His leadership and his staff's workmanship are on the
line, so to speak.
Some traditionalists in the crowd might choke on their
strawberries knowing that balls for the world's most
prestigious tennis tournament have been produced outside of
England for the first time in 101 years.
Dunlop Slazenger shifted its ball manufacturing operations
from Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom to the
Philippines during the past two years to cut costs as global
economic weakness bit into its business.
The closure of the Barnsley plant last year ended a
century-old tradition of producing the Wimbledon balls in
England.
Now the company's entire global output of tennis and
squash balls rolls out of its factory on the Bataan peninsula,
near Manila. Dunlop estimates the plant produces around 60
percent of all tennis balls sold worldwide and about 90
percent of squash balls.
"The balls that we make are used for Wimbledon and we're
proud of it," said Ramir Ramirez, a supervisor on the factory
floor.
But the Philippine employees are used to producing balls
for top tournaments. They have been supplying fluorescent
yellow balls for the Australian Open since 1994.
Factory manager Manalo said before Wimbledon started that
he would be a bit more nervous than usual when the balls he
helped produce started rocketing over the net at speeds above
200 kilometres per hour (125mph).
"The first match that they will be using the ball are the
one that will gauge our product, whether they're really the
best balls in the tennis," he said.
Tennis in the Philippines is largely the preserve of the
well-heeled in Manila and other big cities. The country's
sporting passions revolve more around basketball and nine-ball
pool.
Many Filipinos could rattle off career titles won by
basketball star Michael Jordan or nine-ball idol Efren Reyes,
but most would scratch their heads at the mention of Andre
Agassi or Serena Williams.
The highest a Filipino has reached in the sport's
international professional rankings is 170, achieved by Felix
Barrientos in the early 1990s.
Factory manager Manalo is not expecting an upsurge of top
tennis players in the Philippines any time soon, but he hopes
that news the country can produce world class balls might just
spark some interest in the game.
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