RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series- The Shrewsbury Club

The Shrewsbury Club hosted a fun-filled competitive weekend of wheelchair tennis for players of all ages and abilities. It was the seventh round of the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series, supported by the Tennis Foundation. The popular tournament attracted a record entry of more than 40 players from all over the United Kingdom, many of which will return to The Shrewsbury Club for the Series’ Finals in December.

Scott Smith completes hat-trick

Scott Smith made it a hat-trick of men’s singles titles over the weekend at Shrewsbury Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, the latest event in the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series, while once again partnering John Lambert to win the men’s doubles.

Glen Gent began his bid for a second National Series title of 2017 with a 6-4, 6-7(4), (10-8) victory over Invictus Games medallist Alex Krol in the men’s singles, but Gent’s challenge came to an end against Smith, who reached the final for the loss of just five games. Meanwhile, with Asif Abbasi having come through a tough opening match against Mehboob Hussain, Abbasi’s bid for his third straight RMA Sport National Series title ended against Smith, who took the final 6-1, 6-2.

Having beaten Lambert in his opening men’s singles matches, Smith partnered Lambert to retain the men’s doubles title following a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win over Alex Drake and Krol in the final.

Caroline MacDonald and Val Fisher set up an all-women’s semi-final in the second draw singles, MacDonald prevailing 4-1, 4-1 to make the final. The other second draw singles semi-final was an all-male contest as Mark Fowler earned a confident win over James Brady. But with MacDonald and Fowler having booked their places in the final with successive straight sets wins, the title decider was not so straightforward and MacDonald eventually took the victory after a match tie-break, winning 4-0 2-4 (12-10) in a thrilling finale.

MacDonald and Fisher bowed out of the second draw doubles after another match tie-break in their first round match against David Cabrera and Craig Nicholson. Despite going on to reach the final of the event, Cabrera and Nicholson eventually bowed to the greater experience of Fowler and Keith Whiley, who gained a 4-2, 5-4(3) victory.

Tabitha Fung emerged victorious in the novice singles after remaining unbeaten in her four matches over two days of round-robin competition against Nick King and Nicolette Erevik.

All three players played each other twice with Fung coming from a set down to beat King in a deciding match tie-break in their first match, while Erevik came back from losing her first match to King to also beat him in a deciding match tie-break on the second day of novice singles competition.

Fung added the novice doubles title after partnering Tracey Proudlock to defeat Erevik and King 4-1, 5-3.

Inaugural event for juniors

Eight young players lined up for the junior singles, which began with an exciting conclusion to first round contest between Diarmuid Murphy and Megan Bradley. Bradley progressed in straight sets after two tie-breaks, earning a victory that meant that it was girls against boys in both semi-finals.

Ultimately, Dahnon Ward won his semi-final against Bradley 4-2, 4-0, while Alex Chaston built on winning a first set tie-break against Abbie Breakwell to take their semi-final 5-4(4), 4-0. But the junior singles title was to be decided in a match tie-break and it was Chaston, who made his World Team Cup debut for Great Britain earlier this year, who took the major honours after prevailing 4-2, 0-4, (12-10).

There was another deciding match tie-break in the junior doubles final and this time Ward came out on top as he partnered Zak Corbishley to edge out Bradley and Breakwell 4-2, 3-5, (11-9) in another exciting contest.

The next RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series tournament is at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on 2-3 September, with the National Championships and National Series Finals seeing the sport make a return to The Shrewsbury Club in December.

 

“Having the juniors involved for the first time was a very welcome addition and the whole event was an excellent precursor to the National Finals in December.”        – Bob Kerr, Chairman of Tennis Shropshire

 

Register for the next event in the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series by selecting the following link:

Register Here!

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2017 Mainhatten Cup Wheelchair Dance Sport Competition

The last major competition in Europe before the 2017 World Para Dance Sport Championships attracted more than 90 athletes from 17 countries, including dancers from Cape Verde, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA, to the Mainhatten Cup, in Frankfurt, Germany.

Para Dance Sport competitors, Gary Lyness and Paula Moulton represented Great Britain along with four members of Strictly Wheels Club: Lloyd Harris, Goz Ugochukwu, Oscar Gimenez and Patricia Fernandez. This was the Strictly Wheels Debutantes first international competition, so it was a nervous outing for the pairs, even with UK National titles under their belts.

The weekend of dancing kicked off with WPDS Freestyle Singles and Combi events.

Following re-classification back into Class 2, Paula and Gary took to the floor in the Combi Freestyle 2 event against eight couples. They danced an extended version of their popular routine from their Britain’s Got Talent audition.

The judges this time were not as fearsome as Simon Cowell, but still as appreciative of the routine with the couple placing fourth overall. The current European Champions clinched the event from Poland, Marek Zaborowski and Kasia Bloch, who have dominated Combi Freestyle the last year with their compelling contemporary routine.

“We’re so proud of our dancers in their first major competition, they danced well and most importantly enjoyed themselves on the dance floor. They’re now feeling inspired to push on and keep dancing and compete more for Great Britain”.

– Paula Moulton, Strictly Wheels

All the Debutante couples danced on Saturday afternoon. Competing both for Great Britain and against each other, Lloyd and Goz, Oscar and Patricia took to the floor for the Debutante Combi 1 event. After a nervous first round, they soon settled down and danced a great final with beaming smiles that warmed the audience watching.

Current UK Champions, Lloyd and Goz took Bronze losing narrowly to Germany and Austria. Oscar and Patricia finished closely behind in fourth place.

A quick partner swap and Oscar and Goz were in the Debutante Duo 1 final, dancing so well they were in a tie for 1st place against the strong Austrian team who just clinched the Gold on points leaving GB with Silver Medal.

Sunday was the day for Conventional Singles and Latin. Poland’s Kasia Bloch continued her flurry of Golds taking the Single Ladies 2 title against a strong field of over ten dancers.

Gary and Paula danced for Team GB in the Latin Combi 2 event with eight couples on the floor. They danced confidently through the first round and heat and were extremely pleased to make the final placing sixth. Top spots went again to the Polish couple of Marek and Kasia with bronze to one of the home couples from Germany, Stefan and Vanessa.

Gary said “We weren’t sure if we would make the final given the strong competition, especially from the Asian region. Winning over couples from Hong Kong and Japan to make the final is a great result for us. We have a new trainer this year, Accursio Romeo, so we have new choreography which is always a challenge, so we’re really pleased to get this result early on. We now start the hard work with Accursio to hone technique and presentation in preparation for the World Championships in Belgium in October”.

Full results from the 2017 Mainhatten Cup can be found on the World Para Dance Sport website.

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Tennis Foundation Partners with RMA Sport

RMA Sport has a new partner, the Tennis Foundation! Together, we have designed a cost-effective grass-roots tennis wheelchair for both youth and adults. If you buy via the Tennis Foundation you can receive a 10% discount (for more information please email info@tennisfoundation.org.uk).

We believe this new chair is a ground-breaking development in making wheelchair tennis more accessible. Read more about the launch of the new chair.

We are also delighted to have RMA Sport on board as our sponsor for the National Wheelchair Tennis Series in 2017, together we are looking at how we can encourage more players to get involved in tennis and compete as there is an option for everyone to play – from complete beginner upwards. Please see event details below.

RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series is for wheelchair tennis players of all abilities across Great Britain. The series of events is an excellent platform for players to socialise and compete.

There are a couple of ways to participate in the series, for players new to competition there is a Novice division. This category fosters a fun, supportive way to play competitively for the first time. Through the Main draw, players can gain points at each tournament according to their finishing position. Awards for the top-ranked male and female players in both Singles and Doubles will take place at the end of the year.

Every player competing in an event throughout the year will be eligible to enter the Finals Weekend, 8-10 December 2017. This weekend runs alongside the Wheelchair Nationals and is a celebration of wheelchair tennis in the United Kingdom. It is a fun, social weekend with activities and an annual awards dinner.

Future Dates & Locations

15-16 July: Liverpool Tennis Centre, Liverpool

11-12 August: The Shrewsbury Club, Shrewsbury

2-3 September: Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Stratford

22-24 September: Belfast Indoor Tennis Centre, Belfast

7-8 October: Scotstoun Tennis Centre, Glasgow

8-10 December: The Shrewsbury Club, Shrewsbury

Tabitha Fung, wheelchair tennis player.

I started playing wheelchair tennis in the autumn of 2015. When tournaments started in spring 2016, with the encouragement from my tennis club where I train in Birmingham, and the support of the Tennis Foundation, I very quickly became addicted to competing in the National Wheelchair Tennis Series tournaments. Now in my second year of tournaments, my game has improved vastly; I have already won medals and awards. The Tennis Foundation are encouraging me to stretch my wings further this year by joining the main draw rather than stay in novice. I have tried this a couple of times and I’m reassured to know that if there is a particularly strong main draw, I am supported in dropping back to B draw (if there is one) or novice.

As a new player I remember how nervous I was at my first tournament but everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I encourage new players to enter the tournaments, take a push outside your comfort zone, it’s amazing match experience and you get to meet a seriously amazing group of people who you will very quickly call friends.

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Gosling Sports Park Hosts RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series

Asif Abbasi won the main draw singles at Gosling Sports Park’s RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series tournament over the weekend. In doing so, Abbasi denied Mark Langeveld a third title of 2017. He also denied Phillip Fielding a first title.

Abbasi had already been successful this year, winning the second draw singles at the Warwick National Series event.  On that occasion Langeveld won his second main draw title of the year, beating Fielding in the final. But, with all three players in the one draw in Welwyn Garden City, Abbasi demonstrated a noticeable progression.

Drawn to play Langeveld in his opening match, Abbasi advanced 6-4, 6-4. He then beat Geoff Ellis 6-2, 6-4 in their semi-final.

Nicole Benjamin and Tracey Proudlock at the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series- Gosling Sports Park Photo credit: Tracey Proudlock

Nicole Benjamin & Tracey Proudlock at the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series- Gosling Sports Park. Image: @TraceyProudlock

Fielding made comfortable progress to his third final of the year, defeating Gary Cox 6-1, 6-1 in the semis. However, he ultimately left with runners-up honours once again as Abbasi secured the title 7-6(8), 6-3.

With six players contesting the B Division singles, the event began in two round-robin groups. Alex de Stryca played and won the same number of games in both his matches. He earned a 4-0, 5-3 win over Sophie Barnett and a 5-3, 4-0 win over Nick King, therefore topping the group.

Tracey Proudlock and Nicole Benjamin vied for supremacy in the other group. It came down to a deciding match tie-break, Proudlock just havnig the edge and emerging the winner 2-4, 4-2, (10-5).

Another match tie-break decided the B Division title. However, this time Proudlock was on the other end of the result as de Stryca prevailed 3-5, 4-1, (10-5).

Benjamin and Tabitha Fung claimed the B Division play-offs for third and fifth places.

With Paralympian Marc McCarroll having recently called time on elite level competition, the former British No.1 paired up with Fielding for the doubles. The duo proved dominant throughout. They won all five of their matches 6-0. Aside from their loss to McCarroll and Fielding, Gary Cox and Geoff Ellis dominated their remaining matches. They finished as runners-up after three 6-1 wins.

The next RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series event takes place at Liverpool Tennis Centre on 15-16 July 2017.

register to compete!

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Ben Johnson-Rolfe won the main draw singles title at Taunton Wheelchair Tennis Tournament over the weekend. The 18-year-old was among the latest players to add their names to the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series roll of honour.

A finalist in Loughborough at the first National Series event of 2017, Johnson-Rolfe bowed at the Warwick and Grantham tournaments in the quarter-finals. On both occasions, he lost out to Philip Fielding, but Johnson-Rolfe turned the tables on top seed Fielding in Taunton, edging their semi-final 6-3, 3-6, (10-6).

With Punga having beaten second seed Steve Compton in the quarter-finals, the sequence of close finishes continued in the final. Johnson-Rolfe claims another highly competitive contest 7-6, 1-6, (10-6) for his best result of 2017 so far.

Fielding and Punga joined Johnson-Rolfe and Crompton in reaching the main draw doubles final with relative ease. However, this time it was Fielding and Punga that came out on top. They gained the all-important breaks of serve to win 7-5, 6-4.

Making her tournament debut in a borrowed tennis chair, Fay Dutfield-Horton, won the novice singles title. Dutfield-Horton said of the win: “As an Empowerment Coach, this win has given me the confidence in my own development as a player as well as supporting other to achieve their goals.”

Four of the six matches in the first two rounds ended in 6-0 victories. Kevin Lewis earned back-to-back 6-0 wins as he booked his place in the final. Meanwhile, Dutfield-Horton also won her semi-final against Tabitha Fung without dropping a game. However, the final proved to be an entirely different contest, Dutfield-Horton eventually emerging as the victor 7-5, 7-6(4).

Alexander de Styrcea and Fung took the honours in the novice doubles, winning both their matches in straight sets. That included a 6-0, 6-0 win over runners-up Wendy Tighe and William Johnson.

Fay Dutfield-Horton, winner of the Novice Singles.

“As an Empowerment Coach, this win has given me the confidence in my own development as a player as well as supporting others to achieve their goals.”

With Johnson-Rolfe, who represented Great Britain at the 2016 World Team Cup, winning the main draw singles, the junior singles in Taunton went to another player to recently making his international debut for his country. Fourteen-year-old Alex Chaston collected a 4-0 win, three 4-1 wins and a 4-2 victory to remain unbeaten in his five round-robin contests.

The next RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series event takes place at Gosling Sports Park on 17-18 June 2017.

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Future dates and locations: 2017 RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series

10-11 June: Taunton Tennis Club, Taunton
17-18 June: Gosling Sports Park, Welwyn Garden City
15-16 July: Liverpool Tennis Centre, Liverpool
11-12 August: The Shrewsbury Club, Shrewsbury
2-3 September: Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Stratford
22-24 September: Belfast Indoor Tennis Centre, Belfast
7-8 October: Scotstoun Tennis Centre, Glasgow
8-10 December: The Shrewsbury Club, Shrewsbury

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It is a Silver Medal for dancing couple Gary Lyness and Paula Moulton of Strictly Wheels!

The para dance team joined more than 150 dancers from ten countries at The Netherlands for the Dutch Open and Cuijk Para Dance Sport Championship 2017, the first competition of the World Championships season.

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2017 Cuijk Para Dance Sport Championship

Cuijk is the largest wheelchair dance competition in the world, now having carried out its 29th year. Competitors of all levels from Debutante to Amateur and Para Dance Sport gather together for two full days of dancing in Holland. With the increasing popularity of the new Singles and Freestyle events, this year’s competition spanned three days to include these categories.

Singles and Freestyle

Representing Great Britain, Paula Moulton took to the floor in the Single Ladies 1 event, dancing five dances with grace, enthusiasm and strength to take 4th place behind Ukraine and Poland’s best.

Friday afternoon also saw the Single Men battling it out on the floor with a welcome return from Ukraine’s Ivan Sivak stealing the Gold from Poland’s Pawel Karpinski with some spectacular moves.

Pictured above: Gary Lyness & Paula Moulton.

“It was such a wonderful feeling to be out on the dancefloor competing again after the winter months, especially now with my new chair! I am turning faster and have more controlled movement- it’s brilliant!” -Paula Moutlon

Pictured above: Gary Lyness & Paula Moutlon. 

“This was our first competition of 2017 and the first time competing at the IPC level at this competition, so it was a challenging event. We have some new choreography, and it’s sometimes difficult to gauge how this plays out on the competition floor once you get other dancers on there. You might turn around and suddenly have 3-4 other dancers in your path, so have to think on your feet (or wheels!).” -Gary Lyness

The Freestyle event had equally exceptional performances from the reigning European Champions in both Ladies Single Freestyle 2 and Combi Freestyle 2 with Olena Chynka’s performance to Bjork “It’s Oh So Quiet” taking Gold. The Combi Freestyle 2 Gold went to a powerful, contemporary dance by Poland’s Marek Zaborowski and Kasia Bloch.

Latin and Standard

Saturday and Sunday the Latin and Ballroom events experienced considerable numbers for the Debutantes and Amateur level. Dancers danced their way through heats and finals to make their mark on the adjudicators.

Great Britain’s Latin Combi couple made their appearance on Sunday afternoon in the World Para Dance Sport Finals. Gary and Paula from Strictly Wheels club, having been reclassified danced in Latin Combi 1 for the first time. The pair danced confidently to win the Silver Medal for Great Britain. Finland’s Timo Pyykkonen and Tuuli Harju, won Gold with their cha cha.

Next on the Competition Calendar

Now, Gary and Paula are looking forward to their upcoming competitions in June. The first weekend, 2-3 June 2017, Gary and Paula will be in Denmark at the Danish Open Wheelchair Dance Competition competing in Select Latin, Ladies Singles, Senior Latin and Freestyle Combi. Then, the pair will represent Great Britain at the World Para Dance Sport Mainhatten Cup in Germany a couple of weeks later.

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Mark Langeveld and Caroline MacDonald took the men’s and women’s singles titles as 42 players, including 16 in the junior singles, lined up for the first RMA SPORT National Wheelchair Tennis Series tournament of 2017 in Loughborough over the weekend.

Second seed Langeveld, winner of last year’s National Series event at London’s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, worked his way through the bottom half of the men’s singles draw with relative ease, winning all of his matches in straight sets.

Philip Field joined the top three seeded players in the semi-finals after beating fourth seed Nick King 6-0, 6-0. Whereas Langeveld ended Field’s progress 6-2, 6-1, the other semi-final proved to be much closer as Ben Johnson-Rolfe defeated top seed Geoff Ellis 6-2, 3-6, (10-8). Johnson-Rolfe went on to take Langeveld to a deciding match tie-break, too, but Langeveld ultimately had the final ay to win 4-6, 6-2, (10-4).

The two men’s singles finalists also joined forces to win the men’s doubles, Johnson-Rolfe and Langeveld taking the final against Ellis and Jeff Youell 6-4, 6-0.

Deena Webster secured the most notable of the first round win in the women’s singles, beating second seed Debbie Brazier 6-3, 3-6, (11-9). But Webster could go no further than the semi-finals as MacDonald moved through to the final 6-1, 6-2. Meanwhile, Helen Bond maintained her hopes of joining Langeveld in also following up on victory at Lee Valley last November. However, having reached the final in straight set, Bond lost out to MacDonald 6-2, 6-3.

Bond also reached the women’s doubles final, partnering Brazier. However, that title proved elusive, too, as Suzanne Edwards and Jessica Webb completed a 6-1, 2-6, (10-5) victory after yet another deciding match tie-break.

Nine players set out in pursuit of victory in the Novice singles, beginning their challenges in three round-robin pools of three players. Alexander De Styrcea and Nick Smith both claimed crucial deciding match tie-breaks in one of their early round-robin pools as they joined Sarah Tilman in advancing to a final selection of three players.

After winning her first two round-robin matches in straight sets, Tilman went on to defeat Smith 6-2, 6-1 and De Styrcea 7-5, 6-2 to win the Novice singles title. Tilman also added the Novice doubles title after teaming up with Tabitha Fung to secure a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes to beat Matt Hickling and Paul McDerby 1-6, 7-6(5), (11-9).

Lilly Folland won a marathon deciding match tie-break against Lewis Evans 15-13 as the junior singles got underway, while Abbie Breakwell beat Megan Bradley 4-0, 4-0 in the quarter-finals, in a rematch of last year’s National School Games girls’ singles final. Breakwell went on to reach the final after dropping just three games throughout her first three matches. With Alex Chaston making his way to the final in the bottom half of the draw after ending Folland’s progress in the quarter-finals, he was the only player to deny Breakwell and then went on to win the junior singles final 4-1, 4-0.

Chaston again got the better of Breakwell in the junior doubles when he partnered Lewis Evans to edge out Bradley and Breakwell 3-5, 4-2, (10-4) in the semi-finals. That set up an all-boys final, but this time Chaston and Evans were unable to complete victory as Joshua Johns and Dahnon Ward snatched a second set tie-break and then the deciding match tie-break to prevail 3-5, 5-4(5), (10-7).

3-time Paralympian David Phillipson visited the tournament to inspire the players and present the prizes.

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New to playing wheelchair tennis, Abbie Breakwell is already one to watch! The 14-year-old is new to the game, making her competitive debut just last year.

Abbie finished the 2016 season undefeated, holding the titles of National School Games Singles and Doubles Champion, National Junior Girls Single and Doubles Champion and the National Green Ball Doubles Champion. What an outstanding start!

Coached by Martyn Whait, top National Coach for Great Britain, Abbie trains at Loughborough University, Nottingham Tennis Centre, and the Grantham Tennis Club. In 2017, Abbie aims to develop her game further and gain from the experiences of being in contention.

So far this year, Abbie has become the first champion of the Paul Singleton Junior Cup and came runner-up in the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series Junior Singles, and was a Semi-Finalist in the Junior Doubles.

Today, we would like to recognise this aspiring athlete by wishing her a Happy 14th Birthday! Aim high, Abbie!

To learn more about wheelchair tennis across the United Kingdom, please visit the Tennis Foundation.

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With the Tennis Foundation, our team of engineers and technicians have created a wheelchair for tennis designed to adapt as the athlete develops. With adjustable components supported by a steel frame, the design is both economical and functional.

Available in both youth and adult sizes, there are two classifications for the chair, each with two sizes and distinguishable by colour. The seat widths for the youth sizes are 12″ and 14″ while the adult sizes fit widths of 15″ and 17.” Both the youth and adult sizes can hold up to 15 stone, or 95 kilograms.

The adaptable components of the wheelchair include a footplate that is adjustable in height, foot angle and leg position (front to back) under the chair. The backrest has removable tube pins to allow for height adjustment. Velcro strapping facilitates adjustments of the seat sling and backrest. And, the anti-tip wheel length can also be altered to suit the player. Additionally, 24″ quick-release rear wheels come with the chair (25″ for the adult size) as a standard feature.

Our objective is to manufacture high-performance sports equipment so that more people can experience the benefits of sport. Therefore, we are delighted to expand our product offerings to include wheelchair tennis! And, even more so, to be working with the Tennis Foundation! To further our commitment to the wheelchair tennis, we are sponsoring a national series for the 2017 season. Please see the dates and locations for the RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series 2017. 

RMA Sport National Wheelchair Tennis Series 2017

Made in Great Britain, engineered for sport!

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