High Wycombe tennis player Barnaby Smith can barely contain his excitement at the prospect of carrying the Olympic Torch.
Barnaby, 13, who was Britain’s top player at the under 12 age group last year, has recently been given the green light to carry the torch through Stoke Mandeville on Monday July 9.
Initially, Barnaby was a little nervous, but those feelings are long gone and he can’t wait to get his hands on the torch.
“It was a big surprise at first and I was a bit nervous as I’m pretty clumsy and thought I might drop it,” he said. “But now I’m over the shock I’m really looking forward to carrying the torch.
“I’m really excited because my grandparents and friends will be watching me too!”
Barnaby, who is an AEGON FutureStars which means he his recognised by the LTA as one of the top junior players for his age group across the country, started playing tennis at the age of four after watching his brothers and sisters in action – he instantly wanted to become a professional player.
After learning his trade at Halton Tennis Centre, Barnaby has gone on to represent Bucks County and then the East of England.
Barnaby won the 10U AEGON Junior National Championships in 2009 and played number one for Great Britain in the Summer Cup in 2011 reaching the final out of 32 European nations, beating Holland, Belarus, Serbia, Ukraine and Italy before losing to Russia.
He has designs on competing for Team GB at the 2020 or 2024 Olympics, wherever they will be.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Laura Lord
LTA Senior Media Manager
laura.lord@lta.org.uk
020 8487 7193 / 07779 001601