Z. Sarafanovicius, Executive Director of ASHBURN International, (in the background, on the left) and T. Augucevicius, BS/2 Deputy Director, congratulate the winners of the mens doubles Raimondas Kvedaras (on the left) and Eigintas Vedrickas from SEB bank

The idea of organizing a tournament for bankers from the Baltic States emerged in Spring and was implemented in half a year: on November 16–17, the fifth bankers' tennis tournament Baltic Banks Tennis Cup took place in Vilnius SEB arena, which has evolved from the Bank Tennis Racket tournament.

64 players from 10 banks and financial institutions operating in Baltic States demonstrated excellent playing skills from the first minutes of the tournament, and proved that they are not only the experts in finance, but are also able to master a tennis racket remarkably well. Men competed in three subgroups: the winner of the first subgroup was Gintaras Petrauskas from DNB bank, and the winners of the other two subgroups were the guests from Latvia – Maris Silitis and Stanislavs Rabinovičs. Daiva Uosytė, a representative of Danske Bank, and Audronė Narkauskienė from SEB bank showed their superiority in women's groups.

Perhaps the biggest intrigue of the tournament was the men's doubles competition. This time the final was played between the Latvian and Lithuanian SEB banks. The representatives of SEB bank Lithuania – the President and Chairman of the Board Raimondas Kvedaras and a member of Credit Committee Eigintas Vedrickas – have been unbeatable for three consecutive years. After a thrusting match, victory was rejoiced by the Lithuanians.

In the total rankings, a joint team of Danske Bank collected 48 points and won the first place. SEB bank representatives from Latvia came in second with 41 points. Their colleagues from the Lithuanian SEB bank lagged behind with just three points.

"It's nice that Bank Tennis Racket has grown into the Baltic States' tournament. Our team used to be one of the prize-winners in previous tournaments, but this year we finally outran really strong teams and came in first. We played with full force and great energy, and our efforts have paid off", cheerfully states Gintautas Galvanauskas, General Director of Danske Bank.  

As a tradition, the major sponsor of the bankers' tennis tournament was JSC “Penkių kontinentų bankinės technologijos” (BS/2) – a company that has been operating in the banking technology market for more than 20 years. According to Tomas Augucevičius, Deputy Director of the company, such events are a great opportunity to spend time with the customers in an informal environment.

"We are very happy to organize and sponsor events for our customers. It is especially nice that the tournament has expanded, and colleagues from other Baltic States' banks joined us. We hope that the tournament will continue to grow and attract more bankers from the neighbouring countries, who like tennis", states T. Augucevičius.

At the award ceremony, sponsors and organizers presented prizes to the best players; participants and guests of the event spent good time and parted until the next Baltic Banks Tennis Cup tournament, which is planned to be held in Riga.

Baltic Banks Tennis Cup 2013 tournament rankings:

1 place: Danske Bank, 48 points;

2 place: SEB bank Latvia, 41 points;

3 place: SEB bank Lithuania, 38 points;

4 place: DNB bank Lithuania, 30 points;

5 place: Swedbank Latvia, 10 points;

6 place: Western Union, 9 points;

7–8 places: Orion Securities, 5 points;

7–8 places: Finasta bank, 5 points;

9 place: DNB bank Latvia, 4 points;

10 place: Nordea Bank Lithuania, 1 point.

Video (LT)