The Ghana Wheelchair Tennis Federation (GWTF), in collaboration with the Ghana Tennis Federation, has organised a one-day National Wheelchair Tennis Juniors Training for professional and beginner wheelchair tennis players.

The training, with support from the International Tennis Federation (ITF), aimed to identify new talent and to select players for the GWTF team ahead of an international competition later in October in South Africa.

Over 60 para-athletes from Accra, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Tamale, and Kumasi took part in this year’s programme.

In an interview with the GNA Sports, Coach Yahya Macauley said today’s attendance was very impressive as compared to the previous years.

He said, “Today’s event shows that the future of wheelchair tennis in Ghana is bright; the athletes are very young, aged six and above.”

“I hope that in five years to come we will have top-ranked wheelchair tennis stars in the world.”

Coach Yahya said the event was also used to introduce a new sport called adaptive tennis.

He thanked the coaches and the organisers for a successful event. “I want to use this opportunity to thank all the coaches from the other regions who have given us their players; they did a very good job in terms of the players’ selections.”

He also called on government and non-governmental organisations for support.

Bridget Nartey, Ghana’s number one female wheelchair tennis player, applauded the organisers for this year’s competition.

She said the attendance was encouraging, and some of the children were very happy playing the game for the first time.

Nartey called on persons with disabilities to join the sport: “I urge all disabled persons to find an active parasport they can do for themselves and the country.”

“If anyone thinks there is no hope for persons with disabilities, that is not true; there is still hope. Encourage yourself to learn one of the sports, like wheelchair tennis, Para-powerlifting, para-badminton, etc.”