28/06/13
Great Britain finished the 5th INAS World Tennis Championships with a haul of three gold medals and a silver medal after victories in the men's singles and doubles finals on Friday's fifth and last day of competition in Rakovnik near the Czech Republic capital Prague.
It is the first time that British players have won medals at a tennis championships organised by INAS, the international federation for para-athletes with an intellectual disability, and Lancashire's Fabrice Higgins ends the even as a triple world champion after winning gold in the men's singles, men's doubles and the Team event.
With Chorley's Higgins and Cheltenham's Thomas Mellor having set up an historic all-British men's singles final earlier in the week, their wait to decide the gold and silver medals ended in a 6-1, 6-0 victory for Higgins, who has been a singles gold medallist in each of the Tennis Foundation's last two National Learning Disability Tennis Events in Nottingham.
Higgins made another piece of history earlier in the week in his men's singles semi-final after becoming the first player to ever beat the Czech Republic's Ondrej Sedlisky in singles competition at an INAS event.
Mellor added his silver medal in the men's singles to the gold medal he won alongside Higgins earlier in the week when they beat Australia's leading players in both the semi-finals and final of the Team event.
Higgins claimed his third gold medal of the World Championships with another victory over Australian opposition when he partnered Birkenhead's Peter Millar to beat Joshua Holloway and Mitchel James 7-5, 6-1 in the men's doubles final.
Millar gained more success in the men's consolation singles after beating Italy's Antonio Catalano 6-4, 6-1. It was Millar's second consolation singles win in an INAS event in three years after he also won the men's consolation at the INAS Global Games in Italy in 2011. Millar was also presented with a gold medal for his efforts, while fellow Brit Shain Lewis was presented with a bronze medal for finishing third in the consolation singles.
Mellor and Lewis came close to another medal in the men's doubles, but were beaten 6-1 in the bronze medal play-off by Australia's Damien Phillips and Zvi Schweitzer.
27/06/13
Great Britain won its first gold medal on the fourth day of play at the INAS World Tennis Championships after Fabrice Higgins and Thomas Mellor beat Australia's leading players in both the semi-finals and final of the Team event.
Higgins and Mellor won both singles rubbers in the semi-finals against Damien Phillips and Joshua Holloway and went on to also win both singles rubbers in the final against Mitchell James and Svi Schweitzer.
Earlier in the week Higgins and Mellor had ensured gold and silver medals for Great Britain in the men's singles after coming through their semi-finals with relative eased. The two Brits will go head-to-head in Friday's final.
Another medal is guaranteed in the men's doubles, with Higgins going into Friday's last day of competition with a chance of ending the event with three gold medals.
Higgins and Peter Millar beat Schweitzer and Phillips 6-3 in their men's doubles semi-final and they will now go on to play James and Hoilloway for the gold medal after the Australian duo beating Britain's other doubles pairing Shain Lewis and Mellor 6-2.
Millar also goes into the final day of competition aiming to win the men's consolation singles. Milar, the winner of the consolation singles at the INAS Global Games in 2011, defeated the Czech Republic's Jakob Jerhot 6-1 in his semi-final. Millar will play Italy's Antonio Catalano in the consolation final after Cattalano beat Lewis 6-3.
However, Lewis ended his competition on a winning note, claiming third place in the consolation singles after a 6-3 win over Jerhot.
26/06/13
Ahead of meeting each other in the singles final, Fabrice Higgins and Thomas Mellor put a Great Britain team through to the semi-finals of the Team event on the third day of the INAS World Tennis Championships.
Higgins and Mellor defeated Poland's Piotr Tomaszewski and Kamil Moravski in both of their singles matches for a 2-0 win to advance to the semi-finals.
However, despite taking Australia's Joshua Holloway and Mitchel James to a deciding doubles match after splitting their respective singles matches, Shain Lewis and Peter Millar bowed out of the Team event as Holloway and James progressed.
25/06/13
Great Britain players are guaranteed at least a full house of gold, silver and bronze medals after the first two days of singles and doubles play at the 5th INAS World Tennis Championships.
Monday's first day of play saw all four Brits complete their round-robin singles group matches, with the top two players in each group going forward to Tuesday's knockout matches to bid for medals.
Fabrice Higgins qualified for the main draw quarter-finals after finishing top of his group, having won his three round-robin matches for the loss of just one game. Meanwhile, Thomas Mellor went through to the quarter-finals after finishing runner-up in his group, his only loss in his round-robin matches coming against the Czech Republic's top seed and 2011 INAS Global Games champion Ondrej Sedlisky.
Meanwhile, Peter Millar won one of his four group matches and went forward to join Shain Lewis in the consolation singles.
The second day's play started with Higgins easing past the Czech Republic's Josef Hus 6-1 in his quarter-final, while Mellor also dropped just one game to Australia's Mitchel James as both Brits advance to different semi-finals.
Higgins went on to make history in his semi-final, becoming the first player to beat Sedlisky in singles competition at an INAS tennis event as he moved into the final 6-0. Mellor beat his second successive Australian opponent in the other semi-final, beating Zvi Schweitzer 6-3.
With Great Britain now guaranteed gold and silver medals, Higgins and Mellor will meet in the first all-British final at an INAS tennis championships on Wednesday.
Lewis and Millar have also progressed to Wednesday's latter stage of the consolation singles after winning both of their matches on the second day.
Lewis recorded a 6-4 win over Poland's Kamil Moravski in his first consolation match before defeating Italy's Carlo Brignoni 6-4 in the last eight. Millar, who is now bidding to follow up his win in the consolation singles at the INAS Global Games in 2011, also beat Polish opposition when overcoming Piotr Tomazsewski 6-3. Millar went on to beat Australia's Joshua Holloway 6-1 and will join Lewis in Wednesday's semi-finals.
The second day's play also included the start of the doubles, with Higgins and Peter Millar beating Italy's Brignoni and Antonio Catalano 6-0. Mellor and Lewis defeated Jiri Humhal and Hus 6-3. With both British partnerships advancing, Great Britain is now certain of a doubles medal on Wednesday's third day of play in the Czech Republic.
20/06/13
Four British players will contest the men's singles and doubles and team event at the 5th INAS World Tennis Championships in Rakovnik, organised by the Czech Sport Association for Intellectually Disabled.
After remaining unbeaten in the Tennis Foundation's National Learning Disability Tennis Event in Nottingham for the last two years, Chorley's Fabrice Higgins makes his Great Britain debut at an INAS event.
Higgins won the men's Group 1 singles in Nottingham in 2011 and 2012, both times finishing just ahead of Cheltenham's Thomas Mellor, who has also been selected.
Mellor also makes his international debut in Rakovnik, and will be joined by Shain Lewis and Peter Millar.
Millar, also a multi-gold medallist at the Tennis Foundation's National Learning Disability Tennis Event, won the men's consolation singles at 3rd INAS Global Games in Italy in 2011, when he also narrowly missed out on a medal in the mixed doubles. The Birkenhead player was also a double gold medallist at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai in 2007.
Lewis was among the players selected for the 2011 Special Olympic World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, where the Welshman from Builth Wells won a bronze medallist in both the men's singles and men's doubles.
Lewis and Mellor were silver medallists together in the Group 1 men's doubles at the Tennis Foundation's National Learning Disability Tennis Event in 2011 and won the gold medal in 2012.
Five days of competition start on Monday, with the Team Event, which will be followed by singles and doubles later in the week. Experienced learning disability tennis coach Lesley Whitehead and Dave Hardman, the Tennis Foundation's Disability Development Manager will accompany the four-strong squad of Great Britain players to the Czech Republic.