New balls please, from the Philippines

Keralanext.com ^ | 22-June-2003

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

MANILA: When champion Lleyton Hewitt or opponent Ivo Karlovic slams the first tennis ball at Wimbledon on Monday no-one will be watching more closely than Julius Manalo thousands of kilometres away in the Philippines.

Manalo, who manages Dunlop Slazenger's Philippine plant, which made the balls, knows that the workmanship of he and his staff will be on the line -- or, he hopes, just inside it.

And the possibility that some traditionalists in the crowd might choke on their strawberries knowing balls for the world's most prestigious tennis tournament were produced for the first time in 101 years outside England doesn't bother him in the least.

"Personally, I am very proud of the fact they have chosen to do the balls for the first time in the Philippines for two reasons," he told Reuters.

"I think it shows the confidence of the Dunlop group in the capability of our factory and the people working in it, and secondly it's a big opportunity for the country in light of the fact that we've seen many companies closing down or laying off people in the past three or four years."

Dunlop Slazenger shifted its ball-manufacturing operations in Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom to the Philippines over 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.

"We are the sole source for the group for tennis and squash balls and it is quite a significant market share that we have, so you can imagine if the confidence of the group was any less then they wouldn't have put all their eggs in one basket," Manalo said.

The Philippine operation is no stranger to producing balls for top tournaments. It has been supplying its fluorescent yellow rubber balls to the Australian Open since 1994.

But plant superintendent Danny Mercado admits he will be a bit more nervous than usual when the balls he helped produce for Wimbledon start rocketing over the net at over 200 kilometres per hour or more.

"The first match that they will be using the balls is the one that will gauge our product," he said.

Tennis in the Philippines is largely the preserve of the well-heeled in Manila and other big cities, with the country's sporting passions revolving 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 Pete Sampras 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.

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.

"Definitely we would like to see the sport grow and hopefully instead of just sending tennis balls to Wimbledon one day we can send one of our players there too."

[Willie Green]

Consumers suffer when there is lack of market competition.
This manufacturer is a prime candidate for anti-trust litigation.

[Prodigal Son]

Why and by whom?

[xm177e2]

Why and by whom?

Why? Because it's not an American company.