DAN Pennington-Bridges, who trains with Pershore Tennis Centre’s wheelchair tennis group, won the quad doubles title at the Vilnius Open in Lithuania.
Pennington-Bridges looked to be on the brink of defeat in the quad doubles final with partner Oliver Cox only for the pair to win six games on the spin and complete an extraordinary comeback after losing the first set.
He also reached the semi-finals in the singles competition after winning the quad doubles and finishing as runner-up in the singles at the British Wheelchair Open in Nottingham earlier this summer.
Penninton-Bridges’ mum, Sue, said: “Dan was born with a rare genetic condition that affects his bones, he is unable to walk without the aid of crutches.
“After a serious spinal fusion operation to correct scoliosis Dan turned to wheelchair tennis.
“His first competition was when he was 15 and he has gone from strength-to-strength training at the Wheelchair Tennis group at Pershore and with his coach at Bewdley.
“Dan was classified as a quad player by the International Tennis Federation when he was 18 – this means he has additional physical restrictions to his playing arm.
“He is currently ranked 74th in the world in the quad division.”
Pershore Tennis Centre’s head coach, Steve Bauer, says: “For Worcestershire to have a wheelchair tennis player competing internationally is brilliant.
“I am very proud of Dan’s achievement, which is so well deserved.”
Pennington-Bridges is currently studying for a psychology degree at Worcester University and is looking for Worcestershire companies to help him on his self-funded journey in wheelchair tennis.
He dreams of competing at the Paralympics and would welcome any financial support.
To support Pennington-Bridges, contact Pershore Tennis Centre at: www.pershoretennis.co.uk
Elsewhere, Pershore’s Naomie Tarver won the LTA National Series wheelchair singles title in Wrexham.
Tarver said: “I did qualifying on day one and did not drop a set, then went into the draw and again won in clear sets too.”
