World championship medallists Fabrice Higgins, Thomas Mellor and Peter Millar head six Brits selected by the Tennis Foundation, in partnership with the UK Sports Association, to represent Great Britain at the Inas Global Games, for elite athletes with learning disability, in Guayaquil, Ecuador on 20th to 27th September.
The six players are:
Fabrice Higgins (Chorley, Lancashire)
Thomas Mellor (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire)
Peter Millar (Birkenhead, Wirral)
Shain Lewis (Builth Wells, Powys)
Dominic Iannotti (Prestwick, Scotland)
Dawn Taylor (Ferndown, Dorset)
Coaches: Karen Ross and Rob Cross
Higgins is unbeaten in men’s singles at the last two Inas World Tennis Championships in 2013 and 2014. He won a trio of gold medals at the 2013 World Championships in the Czech Republic, partnering Millar to the gold medal in the men’s doubles and Mellor to the gold medal for Great Britain in the team event
Mellor is a double World Championships silver medallist in men’s singles, having finished runner-up to Higgins in 2013 and again in France in 2014. Higgins and Mellor also won the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2014 World Championships.
Millar is the only one of the six players selected for Ecuador to have previously contested the Inas Global Games, which is held once every four years. Millar won the men’s consolation singles at the 2011 Inas Global Games in Italy, where he also narrowly missed out on a mixed doubles bronze medal.
Lewis earned a doubles fourth place finish and consolation singles bronze medallist at the 2013 Inas World Tennis Championships. The Welshman is an Athlete Representative and Millar also an Ambassador for the United Kingdom Sports Association My Sport, My Voce! project.
Iannotti and Taylor will make their debut at an Inas championships, having both excelled at the 11th National Learning Disability Tennis Event in Nottingham in 2014.
The Inas Global Games are part of a high performance elite pathway for players with learning disability. Players from Great Britain access the Inas pathway through the strong collaboration between the Tennis Foundation and the UK Sports Association (UKSA), the official Great Britain member of Inas.
Geraint Richards, the Tennis Foundation’s Head of Disability Player Performance said: “We are extremely proud of the achievements of our players at previous Inas Championships and to have had Great Britain players dominating at the last two World Championships bodes well for the Inas Global Games in Ecuador and beyond. We are also delighted that Dominic and Dawn are making their international debuts in Ecuador and this is testimony to the success of our performance pathway in partnership with UKSA.”
Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive at the UK Sports Association said: “We are thrilled that our work with the Tennis Foundation has enabled this talented team of players to represent Great Britain on the world stage. The Inas Global Games is a perfect example of sport at its best and demonstrates why the UK should fully embrace British athletes across the sports achieving in the wider performance landscape beyond just the Paralympic Games.
We are delighted that our My Sport, My Voice! Athlete Ambassador, Peter Millar and Athlete Rep, Shain Lewis have been selected to the Team. Both Peter and Shain are a credit to their sport, their families and My Sport, My Voice! It demonstrates that with the right support, athletes with learning disability can achieve whatever they want to in life, including competing at the very highest levels in performance sport.
We wish the whole team every success in Ecuador, we know they will do the nation proud.”
Share