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 Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 21 Jul 2004 |
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| 09 Aug 2004 - Marshall Thomas | |
| 2004 Athens Paralympic Games Tennis Event - Preview |
The biggest Paralympic Tennis Event yet will get underway on 19 September, beginning eight days of intense competition at the Olympic Tennis Centre, located in part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in the northern suburb of Athens, Maroussi.
A total of 112 players will contest six events in Athens, the fourth Paralympic Games at which wheelchair tennis has been a full medal sport, with Quad Singles and Doubles events making their Paralympic debut as part of the programme alongside the Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles. It will also be the second Paralympic Games to have Championship Series 1 status on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour and the first to welcome players supported by the ITF Silver Fund, with players from Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Indonesia set to take part.
The Olympic Tennis Centre at Marousi consists of 16 courts in total, with Centre Court having a seating capacity of 8,000 people and Courts No 1 and Court No 2 seating 4,000 and 2,000 respectively. Meanwhile, seven of the outside courts can each seat 200 people.
The Paralympic Village will be established in a selected area of the Olympic Village complex, which is situated at Lekanes in the Municipality of Acharnes, at a distance 14.5km from the Olympic Tennis Centre
Within the Paralympic Village area, 4000 athletes and 2000 team officials will be accommodated, along with one thousand technical officials, who will be based in a part of the Village away from the athletes. Among the technical officials for Athens are ITF Wheelchair Tennis Manager Ellen De Lange, who is once again Technical Delegate for the Paralympic Tennis Event and Mark Bullock, ITF Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer, the Assistant Technical Delegate.
MEN
Since wheelchair tennis became a full medal sport at the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992, players from three different countries have won the three Men's Singles Gold medals to date - Randy Snow (USA), Ricky Molier (NED) and David Hall (AUS).
Of those three, Hall has been on the podium twice in singles competition, taking bronze in Atlanta in 1996 before delighting his home crowd with Gold in Sydney four years ago. The Australian shares the distinction of having won two Paralympic Men's Singles medals with Kai Schrameyer (GER) and Stephen Welch (USA), the two players with whom he shared the podium in Sydney, and all three players are likely to be among the front runners for the major honours once again.
Schrameyer is one of three players currently ranked inside the world's top 10 who have played in all three Paralympic Games to date, the other two being Martin Legner (AUT) and Jayant Mistry (GBR), who are both are also set to be in the hunt again. Meanwhile, after leading Japan to win Asia's first Invacare World Team Cup in 2003, Satoshi Saida and Shingo Kunieda will be strong contenders to win Asia's first Paralympic tennis medal in either Singles or Doubles events.
As the Paralympic Games only come around every four years, the Sydney games in 2000 were Robin Ammerlaan's (NED) first experience of Paralympic competition. On that occasion he was a Men's Doubles Gold medallist with compatriot Ricky Molier, but fell to Hall in a close Singles quarterfinal. While the Dutch will again be in strong contention for a place on the Doubles podium again, Ammerlaan continues to duel with Hall at the top of the world rankings. And, while a Paralympic Games Singles medal remains one of the sport's few top prizes to have yet eluded the Dutchman, that might not be for too much longer.
WOMEN
After three Paralympic Games, the Netherlands stand alone at the top of the wheelchair tennis medal table with eight Gold medals, three Silvers and three Bronzes. All but three of these medals have come in the Women's Singles and Doubles events, with Regina Isecke (GER), bronze medallist in Barcelona in 1992, being the only player to have prevented a Dutch clean sweep of Women's Singles medals in three Paralympics.
The Dutch had five of the six top world ranked women at the 12th April cut-off date for performances to count towards direct qualification for Athens, so competition for places in the Dutch Women's team has again been fierce. However, the one player to stand out is Sydney champion Esther Vergeer, who is again likely to start warm favourite in Athens. Vergeer is likely to be joined by compatriot Maaike Smit, the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic champion and Sydney Bronze medallist, in the quest to become the first player to win two Paralympic Games Women's Singles Gold medals. Janet McMorran (GBR) is also on course to make history in Athens as she is set to become the only women's player to have contested all four Paralympics since 1992.
Smit and Vergeer are also the reigning Women's Doubles Gold medallists, and the biggest challenge to a fourth consecutive Dutch Gold medal in the event could again come from the Southern Hemisphere. Daniela Di Toro and Branka Pupovac brought Australia their first Women's Paralympic Tennis medal when they finished runners-up to Smit and Vergeer in Sydney, but Japan, Korea and Thailand are likely to contending for medals this time, while France and Great Britain should be amongst the other strongest European challengers.
Di Toro's Women's Doubles Silver in Sydney was her first Paralympic medal in two Games. However, come Athens she might still be the only player to have beaten Vergeer in singles competition since Sydney and is sure to be among the favourites to get on the Women's Singles podium this time. Meanwhile, Sakhorn Khanthasit (THA), Chiyoko Ohmae (JPN) and Mie Yaosa (JPN) are also likely to be in the hunt for Asia's first Paralympic Tennis medal.
QUADS
History will be made in the Athens Paralympic Tennis Event as the inaugural Paralympic Quad Singles and Doubles champions are crowned, with a mixed sex podium in either event being a distinct possibility.
In the three Paralympics to date at which tennis has been a full medal sport, only five countries have shared in the medals in the Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles events - the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Germany and France.
The Paralympic debut of Quad Singles and Doubles events in Athens certainly adds to the number of nations with strong chances of joining these five on the medal table, with Great Britain, Canada and Israel possibly among the chief contenders.
Peter Norfolk and Mark Eccleston provide Great Britain with major ammunition, while David Wagner and Nick Taylor are likely to spearhead a strong United States challenge. Meanwhile, Bas Van Erp presents the Dutch with a possibility of still more Paralympic medals.
Sarah Hunter (CAN) and Shraga Weinberg (ISR) should also be in the hunt to get their nations on the podium.
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