Melbourne, Australia, 11 July 2023 | tennis.com.au
Australia’s top Blind and Low Vision (BLV) tennis players have been selected for the upcoming IBSA World Games in Great Britain.
The 2023 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games is the largest high-level international event for athletes with a visual impairment. The event runs in Birmingham from 18-27 August, with tennis featuring on the schedule for the first time.
Australia’s 11-person team will be the largest tennis team at the IBSA World Games, and will mark the first time Tennis Australia has supported a BLV team at an international event.
The IBSA World Games return this year after a seven-year hiatus due to COVID-19 interruptions to the four-yearly event schedule. More than 1250 competitors from 70 nations will play across sports such as tennis, goalball, judo, cricket and more.
BLV tennis is played with an adapted foam ball that can be heard rattling across the court. The courts are also smaller, with lines on the court raised to mark certain boundaries.
There are four classifications in the BLV tennis pathway. These are:
- B1 – Visual acuity poorer than LogMAR 2.60
- B2 – Visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 1.50 to 2.60 (inclusive)
- B3 – Visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 1.0 to 1.40 (inclusive) OR visual fields less than 10 degrees diameter and visual acuity better than 0.5 (B4)
- B4 – Visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 0.5 to 0.9 (inclusive) OR visual fields less than 40 degrees diameter and visual acuity better than 0.5.
| IBSA World Games 2023 Australian team |
||
| State | Australian ranking | |
| Men | ||
| Mark Haskett | SA | B2 singles – No.1 B2 open doubles – No.1 B3 men’s singles – No.4 B3 open doubles – No.17 |
| Mick Leigh | NSW | B3 men’s singles – No.1 B3 open doubles – No.2 B4 open singles – No.3 B4 open doubles – No.1 |
| Ross Patterson | Vic | B4 open singles – No.1 B4 open doubles – No.3 |
| Arato Katsuda-Green | NSW | B4 open singles – No.1 B4 open doubles – No.3 Junior singles – No.1 |
| Adam Fayad | Vic | B3 open doubles – No.1 |
| Ricky Segura | SA | B3 open doubles – No.10 |
| Women | ||
| Courtney Webeck | NSW | B2 singles – No.1 B2 open doubles – No.2 B3 open doubles – No.6 |
| Courtney Lewis | SA | B2 singles – No.2 B2 open doubles – No.2 B3 open doubles – No.8 |
| Grace Hobbs | NSW | B4 open singles – No.6 B4 open doubles –… |
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