10:49am Thursday 30th October 2008
By Jamie Henderson
History will be made at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Roehampton this weekend when it hosts its first ever blind tennis tournament.
The event is being organised by Metro sports club for visually impaired people and is supported by The Tennis Foundation.
For some, blind tennis may sound impossible, but the sport is becoming increasingly popular with both visually impaired and sighted athletes and is a highly competitive sport.
Sound Ball Tennis originated in Japan in the 1980s, where the first national tournament took place in 1990.
Metro, a long established, voluntary, London-based sports club for visually impaired athletes has actively sought to promote and develop the sport since 2007.
“Last Year Odette Battarel from Croydon and Dave Samuels from Finchley were winners of the ladies and mens events," said Roy Smith, chairman of the Metro Sports Club.
"This year we have an increased field and both players will need to play at their best to defend their titles, with a number of new and up-and-coming players also bidding to take the silverware home.”
The one major rule difference between blind tennis and tennis is that players get either one, two or three bounces of the ball depending on their degree of visual impairment.
Players work out their position on court by touching tactile lines on the court.
Mini tennis rackets, which have shorter grips, are used by the players, while the ball is a mini tennis sponge ball that encases a table tennis ball with a bell inside it.
This allows the players to hear the ball and therefore judge its height, direction and speed, although as the ball has a sponge exterior it is entirely safe, should it hit the players' bodies The NTC is the Lawn Tennis Association's high performance training facility.
It was officially opened by the Queen in March last year and has 16 outdoor courts, six indoor courts, a gymnasium and sports science and medical facilities.
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