Mr Daovone Phachanthavong (centre), Mr James Keothavong (seventh left), government officials and Lao tennis players gather at the Chao Anouvong tennis courts in Vientiane on Saturday.

Lao Tennis Federation welcomes top UK umpire

President of the Lao Tennis Federation, Mr Daovone Phachanthavong, and his staff on Saturday welcomed a visit by one of the United Kingdom’s leading professional tennis umpires, Mr James Keothavong.
Mr James recently officiated at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London and has umpired at numerous other international tennis tournaments.
Mr Daovone, Mr James and the Director General of the Elite Sports Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr Sengphone Phonamath, discussed the development of the Lao national tennis team and the team’s bronze medal success at the South-East Asia (SEA) Games in Vietnam in May.
The federation and the ministry presented souvenirs to Mr James, who watched the Lao tennis team training at the Chao Anouvong courts in Vientiane.
The federation plans to improve the courts and hopes to organise a national tennis tournament later this year. Mr Daovone said he was honoured to welcome Mr James to Vientiane, while Mr James said he had enjoyed welcoming Lao visitors to the UK in past years. His sister, Anne Keothavong, is a retired British tennis player. During her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the ITF Women’s Circuit, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48.
James and Anne’s parents were born in Laos but emigrated to the UK in the 1970s.

ByTimes Reporters
(Latest Update July 25, 2022)