London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event

London – GBR, August 20, 2012: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) today confirmed the full list of singles and doubles entries for the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event at Eton Manor on 1-8 September. A total of 112 players from 31 countries will compete at the venue for six gold medals, with singles and doubles competitions held in men’s, women’s and quad categories. The doubles teams comprise those players already contesting the singles events.

The men’s singles event will feature 64 players, women’s singles 32 players and quad singles 16 players. The quad event is open to both men and women. The doubles events feature 28 men’s teams, 11 women’s teams and six quad teams.

Singles entries were a combination of direct acceptances based on the ITF wheelchair world rankings of 21 May 2012, and Bipartite Commission Invitation places awarded by the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The winners of the 2010 Asian Para Games and the 2011 Para PanAm Games also received a direct entry.

Three-time Paralympic champion Esther Vergeer of Netherlands heads the women’s singles entries and will bid to extend her unbeaten Paralympic singles record. The 30-year-old will also attempt to win her third Paralympic doubles title with new partner Marjolein Buis, having won doubles gold in Sydney and Athens, and silver in Beijing.

Japan’s Shingo Kunieda will bid to defend his Paralympic men’s singles title in a field headed by world No. 1 Stephane Houdet of France. Houdet and Michael Jeremiasz are defending men’s doubles champions, with the line-up also including Athens winners Kunieda and Satoshi Saida.

In the quad category, Britain’s Peter Norfolk will look to win his third successive Paralympic title on home soil, while Americans Nick Taylor and David Wagner will attempt to win their third successive quad doubles title.

The draw for the 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event will take place on site at Eton Manor at 12:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Thursday 30 August.

Eton Manor is the only purpose-built Paralympic venue for London 2012. It features nine competition courts and four practice courts, with a total capacity of 10,500 spectators. There are three show courts, with Centre Court holding 5,000 spectators.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Following the most successful Olympic Tennis Event in history, I am confident that this year’s Paralympic Tennis Event will be an equally memorable competition, with the wonderful new facility at Eton Manor providing a great legacy for tennis in the UK. Wheelchair tennis is one of the fastest growing Paralympic sports, and we are looking forward to sell-out crowds and some fierce competition.”

MEN’S SINGLES ENTRY LIST

Argentina Gustavo Fernandez (PPA), Agustin Ledesma

Australia Adam Kellerman, Ben Weekes

Austria Martin Legner, Thomas Mossier

Belgium Mike Denayer (*), Joachim Gerard

Brazil Rafael Medeiros, Mauricio Pomme, Daniel Rodrigues, Carlos Santos

Canada Philippe Bedard (*), Joel Dembe

Chile Robinson Mendez, Diego Perez (*)

Colombia Elicier Oquendo

France Frederic Cattaneo, Stephane Houdet, Michael Jeremiasz, Nicolas Peifer

Great Britain Alex Jewitt, Marc McCarroll, David Phillipson, Gordon Reid

Hungary Laszlo Farkas

Iran Hossein Mamipour (*)

Iraq Mohammed Qasim Hamdan(*)

Italy Fabian Mazzei

Japan Shingo Kunieda (AP), Takuya Miki, Satoshi Saida, Takashi Sanada

Korea, Rep. Ha-Gel Lee, Sang-Ho Oh

Morocco Lhaj Boukartacha (*)

Netherlands Robin Ammerlaan, Tom Egberink, Maikel Scheffers, Ronald Vink

Nigeria Alex Adewale (*), Wasiu Yusuf (*)

Poland Albin Batycki (*), Kamil Fabisiak, Piotr Jaroszewski, Tadeusz Kruszelnicki

Slovak Republic David Chabrecek

South Africa Eliphas Maripa, Sydwell Mathonsi

Spain Daniel Caverzaschi, Francesc Tur

Sri Lanka Gamini Dissanayake (*), Upali Rajakaruna (*)

Sweden Stefan Olsson, Peter Vikstrom

Switzerland Yann Avanthey (*), Daniel Pellegrina

Thailand Suthi Khlongrua (*), Suwitchai Merngprom

USA Steve Baldwin (*), Jon Rydberg, Stephen Welch, Noah Yablong (*)

Zimbabwe Nyasha Mharakurwa (*)

WOMEN’S SINGLES ENTRY LIST

Australia Daniela di Toro, Janel Manns (*)

Austria Henriett Koosz (*)

Belgium Annick Sevenans

Brazil Natalia Mayara (*)

Chile Francisca Mardones (*), Maria-Antonieta Ortiz

Colombia Angelica Bernal (*), Johana Martinez

France Christine Schoenn

Germany Sabine Ellerbrock, Katharina Kruger

Great Britain Louise Hunt, Lucy Shuker, Jordanne Whiley

Italy Marianna Lauro

Japan Kanako Domori, Yui Kamiji, Yuko Okabe

Korea, Rep. Myung-Hee Hwang (*), Ju-Yeon Park

Netherlands Marjolein Buis, Jiske Griffioen, Aniek van Koot, Esther Vergeer

South Africa Kgothatso Montjane

Spain Elena Jacinto (*), Lola Ochoa

Thailand Sakhorn Khanthasit (AP), Ratana Techamaneewat (*)

USA Emmy Kaiser, Mackenzie Soldan (PPA)

QUAD SINGLES ENTRY LIST

Great Britain Jamie Burdekin, Andrew Lapthorne, Peter Norfolk

Israel Noam Gershony, Boaz Kramer, Shraga Weinberg

Italy Marco Innocenti, Giuseppe Polidori (*)

Japan Shota Kawano (*), Mitsuteru Moroishi (*)

South Africa Lucas Sithole

Sweden Anders Hard, Marcus Jonsson (*)

USA Bryan Barten, Nicholas Taylor, David Wagner

(*) Bipartite Commission Invitation place; (AP) Asian Para Games winner; (PPA) Para PanAm Games winner

MEN’S DOUBLES ENTRY LIST

Argentina Gustavo Fernandez/Agustin Ledesma

Australia Adam Kellerman/Ben Weekes

Austria Martin Legner/Thomas Mossier

Belgium Mike Denayer/Joachim Gerard

Brazil Rafael Medeiros/Daniel Rodrigues, Mauricio Pomme/Carlos Santos

Canada Philippe Bedard/Joel Dembe

Chile Robinson Mendez/Diego Perez

France Frederic Cattaneo/Nicolas Peifer, Stephane Houdet/Michael Jeremiasz,

Great Britain Alex Jewitt/David Phillipson, Marc McCarroll/Gordon Reid

Japan Shingo Kunieda/Satoshi Saida, Takuya Miki/Takashi Sanada

Korea, Rep. Ha-Gel Lee/Sang-Ho Oh

Netherlands Robin Ammerlaan/Ronald Vink, Tom Egberink/Maikel Scheffers,

Nigeria Alex Adewale/Wasiu Yusuf

Poland Albin Batycki/Kamil Fabisiak, Piotr Jaroszewski/Tadeusz Kruszelnicki

South Africa Eliphas Maripa/Sydwell Mathonsi

Spain Daniel Caverzaschi/Francesc Tur

Sri Lanka Gamini Dissanayake/Upali Rajakaruna

Sweden Stefan Olsson/Peter Vikstrom

Switzerland Yann Avanthey/Daniel Pellegrina

Thailand Suthi Khlongrua/Suwitchai Merngprom

USA Steve Baldwin/Noah Yablong, Jon Rydberg/Stephen Welch

WOMEN’S DOUBLES ENTRY LIST

Australia Daniela di Toro/Janel Manns

Chile Francisca Mardones/Maria-Antonieta Ortiz

Colombia Angelica Bernal/Johana Martinez

Germany Sabine Ellerbrock/Katharina Kruger

Great Britain Lucy Shuker/Jordanne Whiley

Japan Kanako Domori/Yui Kamiji

Korea, Rep. Myung-Hee Hwang/Ju-Yeon Park

Netherlands Marjolein Buis/Esther Vergeer, Jiske Griffioen/Aniek van Koot

Spain Elena Jacinto/Lola Ochoa

Thailand Sakhorn Khanthasit/Ratana Techamaneewat

USA Emmy Kaiser/Mackenzie Soldan

QUAD DOUBLES ENTRY LIST

Great Britain Andrew Lapthorne/Peter Norfolk

Israel Noam Gershony/Shraga Weinberg

Italy Marco Innocenti/Giuseppe Polidori

Japan Shota Kawano/Mitsuteru Moroishi

Sweden Anders Hard/Marcus Jonsson

USA Nicholas Taylor/David Wagner. —- ITF