Ghana Wheelchair Tennis Coordinator, Henry K. N. Larbi, has held a series of “successful and fruitful” meetings with Suzie Toyn, International Tennis Federation (ITF) Wheelchair Technical Coordinator, and Alistar Williams, Head of Wheelchair Tennis & Live scoring.
The meeting on the sidelines of the just-ended Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games was part of plans to re-position Ghana Wheelchair Tennis development through implementation of West Africa regional development programs and tournament opportunities for Ghana as preparation for France 2024 Paralympic Games.
Despite Ghana’s absence on the courts in Tokyo, the hard-working coordinator of Ghana Wheelchair Tennis Mr. Henry Larbi who was recently appointed to serve on the Confederation of Africa Tennis (CAT) Wheelchair Tennis Commission, is using his influence to woo officials from ITF to look at Ghana as a fertile ground to grow and develop the sport in Africa starting from Sierra Leone.
Mr. Larbi who is part of the leadership of team Ghana at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is optimistic the meetings will influence the ITF to help plan and execute some of the continent’s flagship wheelchair tennis development projects and competitions.
This year’s Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event lasted for nine days from Friday 27 August to Saturday 4 September 2021. It featured 104 players nominated by 31 nations. All draws were played as knockouts in the Men’s singles, Women’s singles, and Quad singles.
There were the Men’s doubles, Women’s doubles, and Quad doubles as well. It is the hope of Mr. Larbi that Ghana will benefit immensely from the ITF and wheelchair tennis athletes in the 16 regions of the country will be the ultimate beneficiaries.
The ITF Wheelchair Department officers advised Ghana Wheelchair Tennis to participate in the upcoming ITF Sanctioned 2021 Abuja Wheelchair Tennis Open in November 2021. ITF has pledged to provide resources to Ghana to host the first-ever African Region Wheelchair Tournament at the upcoming 2023 All African Paralympic Games to be held in Ghana, which serves as the Paralympic Games qualifiers in Asia and South America.
