Great Britain’s Dominic Iannotti and 14-year-old Anna McBride stormed to the mixed doubles title with a straight sets victory at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Tennis World Championships in Paris, France, on Friday (20 July).

Iannotti and McBride claimed a straight sets victory (6-0, 6-0) over Australia’s Mitchell James and Carla Lenarduzzi on an overcast day which included some rain on the clay courts.

Showing some great plays for her young age, McBride proved too much to handle in her first major international final.

“I thought it went really well, it was very close and it was quite good. It was a good experience to be in a final and play for GB [Great Britain],” she said.

Iannotti commented: “I know the scoreline doesn’t seem it but it was a close match. I really enjoyed being part of the final, win or lose. Thanks to everyone that watched – all of the support has been fantastic.”

Iannotti will also play for the men’s doubles title with Fabrice Higgins on Saturday (20 July) after their semi-final win over Australia’s Joshua Holloway and Mitchell James today. They will face Australians Archie Graham and Damien Phillips.

“For my double finals, I will keep the momentum going, keep trying to work together as a team,” Iannotti said. “We’ve played Archie and Damien before last year in the final in Bolton [2017 World Championships] so we know how they play, how we can be stronger and try and beat them. Again it’ll be a very close match tomorrow, conditions will play a big part. Like today I’m really looking forward to it.”

Men’s singles finals decided

Australia’s world No.1 Graham will take on Great Britain’s Fabrice Higgins in the men’s singles final on Saturday.

Graham took on fellow countryman James in the semi-final and beat him 2-0 (4-0, 4-0).

Graham said: “I thought it was really cool. Having played Mitch [Mitchell James] so many time times I know his game inside out, I just used my tactics. We always have a great game, me and Mitch, we always push each other and it brings out the best in us.

Of his tie for gold with Higgins, Graham continued: “It’s going to be a tough one. That’ll be our fourth meeting and it’s going to be another tough one tomorrow and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Higgins played Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky, the world No.2, in a close game to advance to the final against Graham.

The British player lost the first set 4-0 but came back to level the score in the second in a 5-4 thriller. He then won the tie break.

Higgins said: “It was a really strange match. I didn’t play my best tennis but it was one of those matches where I still found a way to win. I lost the first set and then I won two tie breaks back-to-back so I just kind of ground it out and had to change my game style. Hopefully I can improve from this match and do a better performance in the final.

“I believe in my ability, so even though I lost it I knew I could still win it. And even If I was four or 3-0 down I still knew I could win it. I just needed to change a few things, I just play my own game, improve on my game which I managed to do.”

Results from the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling and Tennis World Championships are available here. High resolution pictures can be downloaded here.

As well as cycling and tennis, athletics, basketball, cycling, hockey, table tennis, swimming and petanque are all being contested until 22 July. The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Summer Games are organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe.

Ecuador’s Erik Javier Sarango Tufino emerged triumphant from a gritty men’s road race at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Cycling World Championships in Paris, France, on Tuesday (17 July).

Having picked up silver in the time trial 24 hours before, Sarango Tufino (01:59:22) faced down Belgium’s defending champion Lars de Jong for gold.

A highly tactical race saw the peloton stick together for most of the 60km course. However with a few laps to go, the Ecuadorian and de Jong made their move off the front.

They spent the final stages swapping positions and there was little to separate the pair, even going into the final lap.

The crowds were treated to a blistering race to the line before Sanrago Tufino finally put just a few metres between him and de Jong to take his first world title and leave the Belgian with silver.

“It feels really good. I am really happy. This is for my family, my coach, my friends in Ecuador, for the country,” Sarango Tufino said, going on to describe the race as “really hard”.

There was also a close fight for the final podium spot. The Netherlands Joannathan Duinkerke gave everything he had to beat France’s 2016 world champion Jeremy Texeira Pereira to the bronze.

In the women’s Great Britain’s defending champion Kiera Byland added the road race gold to her time trial world title from Monday.

It was another close race right until the final two laps. Byland described how she won her second gold in two days with a technique normally used in track cycling – rushing a gap:

“One plan was for me to attack on the last lap, but I thought that would be too predictable as that’s what I did last time [at the 2017 World Championships].

“The second plan was that with two laps to go, there’s a bit of incline, so I decided to attack there because I knew that’s where riders don’t really like it, they tend to slow down a lot. So if I can attack there, then they won’t be expecting it

“I tried that technique [rushing a gap] and then when I was ahead, I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me at that point and then I carried on and I time-trialled it like I did yesterday. It was really, really difficult. Each rider was doing different techniques so you had to concentrate and be aware of what other riders around you were doing.”

Of winning her second gold, Byland continued:

“I’m really excited to be able to do that. I knew it was going to be challenging because we’ve got some really strong riders here that we always use different techniques to see if we can try and win with it. So it’s really exciting for me.”

Russia’s Irina Nikitina claimed silver and France’s Aurelie Minodier took bronze.

Cyclists will now have a day off before closing competition on Thursday (19 July) with the team time trial.

2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships

Paris is also playing host to the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships. Round robin matches for the singles and doubles continued on Tuesday.

The world no.1 pairing of Fabrice Higgins and Dominic Iannotti of Great Britain took on the Czech Republic’s Josef Hus and Jakub Jerhot in the men’s doubles, winning 6-0.

The top women’s seeds were also in action – Australia’s Carla Lenarduzzi and Kelly Wren beat France’s Elise Delvas and Nina Mathis 6-1.

Wren partnered with men’s double’s world champion Archie Graham in the mixed doubles, dispatching Poland’s Oskar Kosecki and Kamila Grzebinska 6-0.

Graham and Wren went onto triumph over French duo Benjamin Coulier and Delvas 6-3 to secure a place in the semi-final.

They will now face Ianotti and partner Anna McBride for a place in the final. Australia’s Mitchell James and Lenarduzzi will play Belgium’s women’s singles world champion Hanne Lavreyson and Jochen Fens.

Lavreyson and Graham also won their respective women’s and men’s singles matches on Tuesday.

Results from the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling and Tennis World Championships are available here. High resolution pictures can be downloaded here.

As well as cycling and tennis, athletics, basketball, cycling, hockey, table tennis, swimming and petanque are all being contested until 22 July. The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Summer Games are organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe.

Great Britain’s Kiera Byland is preparing to defend her road race and time trial titles at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Cycling World Championships in Paris, France, from 14-22 July.

The 20-year-old shocked the field in 2017 when she claimed double gold on her debut in Assen, the Netherlands.

Now Byland is heading to Paris with more training and confidence than ever before.

“To be honest, I would like to win. But I am just going to try my best. If I do my best and I win, I win. If I come second, I come second. If I come third, I come third. But I’m just going to try my best,” she said.

“Every rider says they would like to win, that’s the ultimate aim. But a personal best also.”

When Byland set out on the time trial – the opening event – last year she did so having never raced on an open road. The rider had only ever seen it done on television.

But with the support of her father, who she trains with, the youngster even surprised herself:

“It was very good, but it was nerve-wracking because there were cars on there, different surfaces to what we’re used too – they had cobbles as well! It was nice, even though there were side winds and obviously you could puncture as well.

“There were new riders that I hadn’t raced against before and obviously they have different techniques that I had to adapt too. It was just a really exciting and positive introduction.

“And everyone was really excited because I was new, they’d never seen me race before. And I think that added to the excitement as well – that you have new riders coming in.”

Having started cycling when she was 12 following a taster session at the Manchester Velodrome, Byland explained why she took up sport.

“The reason I do sport is because at school, I never used to have very many friends at all. So I used to make my friends though my sport. So it was good because they were interested in the sport itself and so was I.”

Now a fully fledged member of the cycling community, Byland trains five days a week as well as on the roads with her father. Her kit is provided by British Cycling and she does weekly core stability training and physiotherapy at the University of Bolton’s Elite Athlete Programme.

Paris bound

Byland also has a coach who she says inspires her to improve and win over the likes of France’s Aurelie Minodier, the former world champion who she beat to the line in Assen.

Byland will face Minodier again in Paris. Time will tell if she can repeat her incredible performance, but she is looking forward to wearing the British jersey:

“I’m really excited to go and compete and hopefully I’ll do well,” she said. “I wish other competitors the best as well. I’m really excited to represent my country.”

The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Cycling World Championships will take place as part of the World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Summer Games. Eight other sports are on the programme, including tennis which will also be a World Championships.

By Mariam Khan | for World Intellectual Impairment Sport

Belgium’s defending women’s singles champion Hanne Lavreysen has revealed that she still sees Australia’s Kelly Wren as a major rival before the pair meet again in Paris, France, for the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships Games.

The competition will also double as the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Tennis World Championships between 14-22 July.

The passionate tennis star won gold at the last World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships in Bolton, Great Britain, retaining her title over Wren. She also bagged two silver medals in the doubles with partners Lies Gielis and Jochen Fens.

“I think every player will perform at their level best, so everybody could be a real challenge! Last year and the year before, Kelly was the most difficult player to win from in the singles,” Lavreysen said. “In the doubles, it was very exciting to play against Archie [Graham, from Australia], because he is also the reigning world champion and plays very well.

“I am training very hard so hopefully my own level will be good enough to win again in the singles. The other team members of the Belgium team are also training hard, and they are a real team.”

Lavreysen has played tennis since the age of three with her brother. However, she could not train in a group, because her epilepsy was not under control. It was at the age of nine she finally started training with other children.

The club where she trains is a very important part of Lavreysen’s life. She feels her confidence level has increased playing the sport, especially since she combines able-bodied competitions with tournaments for people with an intellectual impairment on national, and international level.

Lavreysen points out the benefits: “It is superb that I get to visit and play in different countries; competing against players from the other side of the world is a great opportunity, as is promoting sports for people with mental disability.”

About the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships Games

The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships Games, organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe, will feature the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis and Cycling World Championships. Seven other regional competitions will take place in other sports

By Gaurav Mokhasi | for World Intellectual Impairment Sport

Two years since she made her Paralympic debut aged only 18 at Rio 2016, France’s Gloria Agblemagnon is raring to go again.

Fresh out of a gruelling training session where she is preparing for the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships Games on home soil in Paris from 14-22 July, Agblemagnon spoke of her aspirations and the road ahead.

“I’m determined to do well in Paris next month”, the 20-year-old said. “I’m going for three medals, hoping to throw over 45m each in the discus and hammer events and over 13m in the shotput.”

Having already claimed gold in the hammer and discus at the 2017 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Athletics Championship and in shotput at the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Indoor Athletics Championships, Agblemagnon’s chances look good.

The Frenchwoman first discovered she had a talent for the three events when she was 13. “I was better at throwing than other track & field events”, she recalled. “I started with hammer and got into discus and shotput slightly later. By the time I was 15, I had realised this wasn’t just a hobby for me. I wanted to pursue this seriously. I knew I could win medals internationally, but would have to train very hard.”

And train hard she does. She follows a strict weight training regimen guided by her coach, Maxime Bauchet. However Agblemagnon laughs when talking about her diet, saying it is not something she worries about. She puts her dedication on the training ground down to her experience at Rio 2016. “I wasn’t training enough before Rio. It was after that unique experience that I realised the value of training – how much harder I’d have to work to compete at that level.”

Improving on Rio 2016

The Paralympics were a defining moment, not just from a sporting perspective but also a psychological one for Agblemagnon: “I didn’t realise the scale of the event in the beginning – how big everything would be. But as the days went by, I started getting really stressed. It was difficult.”

Having matured since then, Agblemagnon is determined to set the record straight at the Paralympics in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. “I want to win a medal in shotput at Tokyo. But the biggest dream and motivator for me is to win the gold at home in Paris 2024.”

It is not all fierce competition and training for Agblemagnon though. In fact, one of the main reasons she took up sports is because it helps her maintain balance in her personal life. “Playing these sports gives me great pleasure. It helps me relax. My days become less stressful after I spend time out on the field. I love watching the discus as it flies away through the air. It calms me. I like beating my personal records, sure. But I also like learning about the technical aspects of the sports I play, be it the styles of throwing or how I can improve my rotation. Shotput has become my favourite sport now because of how much time I’ve spent training for it and learning about it.”

Agblemagnon will be in action at the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships Games, organised by World Intellectual Impairment Sport Europe, in Paris from 14-22 July. She will also compete at the 2019 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games in Brisbane, Australia – the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Translation provided by Maxime Bauchet