Inas sanctioned 2015 Australian Tennis Championships begin
As the semi-finalists in this years Australian Open Tennis were being decided in Melbourne today, the competition for players with an intellectual disability got underway with 33 players competing for both singles and doubles titles.
For the second time, the event is sanctioned by Inas – the world governing body for sport for athletes with an intellectual disability – and runs in parallel to the Australian Open.
Kelly Wren will be looking to extend her undefeated run of games and her 18th consecutive title, while in the Men’s two-time champion Archie Graham will be looking for his third straight title. Both Graham and Kelly started well with wins in all games played today.
Tennis is a sport that is growing rapidly within the Inas programme with a number of sanctioned events complementing the annual World Championships. Later in 2015, the sport is one of nine to feature in the 4th Inas Global Games that take place in Ecuador.
Nick Parr, Executive Director of Inas explained “Until 2013, many of Inas’ tennis players had just one international opportunity each year, however by partnering with existing national championships such as this one organized by Tennis Australia, we have been able to increase the number of competitions which has lead to an increase in players”.
The 2015 event takes place at Melbourne Park and concludes on Saturday.
For live results visit the event website.
Professor Jan Burns (UK), Inas Head of Eligibility, today received an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for services to people with a learning disability.
Amaury Russo, Inas President was a guest this week at the Russian Paralympic Committee annual IX Return to Life Award Ceremony, honouring outstanding achievements of Russian athletes, coaches, medical and support staff as well as other contributes to the success of Russian National Team at the major international competitions in 2014.
