The Deaflympics are now in full swing and GB look to be performing very well. Especially where tennis is concerned as all of our singles competitors are through to the third round.

Here is a summary of GB’s performances across the board so far:

Badminton

The British Badminton players enjoyed a full weekend of fixtures, with a mix of results coming from both the individual and doubles matches. 

Saturday saw both mixed doubles pairs defeated, as Dominic Caswell and Kirsty Allen let a 11-2 lead in the first set slip to eventually lose 2-1, before Lesley Holdsworth and Xander Hurley were beaten in straight sets.

However, both pairs were back on the court on Sunday, and redeemed themselves as Caswell and Allen won their match against Turkey before Holdsworth and Hurley showed their experience to win the deciding set against a strong Ukrainian pair.

Allen also enjoyed individual success as she overcame her opponent in 3 sets whilst her partner Caswell comfortably overcame his Turkish opponent.

Hurley was unable to replicate this success as he lost to the number two seed from China in straight sets.

As expected, team manager Andrea Hardwick was happier with Sunday’s performances. “Today the Badminton team played well and were more settled than the day before. Each player demonstrated their confidence, so good timing to build the momentum prior to the final group matches tomorrow".

Men’s 10m Air Rifle

Debutant Robert Lowe, found it difficult to get his rhythm and catch up with the leaders to qualify for the final.

In training he had been averaging 500+ points but only managed 376 points to take 17th out of 18 places.

Tennis

The British players dominated the court over the weekend, as only one result prevented a perfect weekend for our athletes.

Cathy Fletcher and Bethany Brookes were the sole competitors for GB on Saturday and beat their Indian opponents inside 2 sets (6:0, 6:2). Brookes was back in action again on Sunday and eased past her Greek opponent Kalogeropolou 6:0, 6:1.

The quality of the British players was again evident as both Peter Willcox and Lewis Fletcher progressed into the third round of the competition. Willcox matched Brookes’ 6:0, 6:1 score-line, whilst Fletcher beat his Japanese opponent Ashino 6:2, 6:3.

Willcox and Fletcher were then paired together to face Prasanth and Sekhar of India in the men’s doubles but failed to get the better of their opponents as they were beaten 6:4, 6:1. Although disappointed in the result, team GB’s coach Stuart Wilkinson was complimentary of the victors on this occasion. “Our men’s opponents in the doubles, India, have been the best I have seen so far, they are fast and very clever with their play”.

Cycling

After qualifying 8th from the 42 riders in Sofia, Tom Smith convincingly secured 5th place as he won the 5th to 8th 1000m sprint final by six bike lengths. Smith demonstrated his tactical prowess as a strong sprint from the rear of the pack with 420 metres remaining saw him cross the finish line first.

However, Tom found himself at the centre of controversy as Strande, representing Denmark, protested that Smith had prevented him from overtaking during qualifying. Fortunately the officials ruled in Tom’s favour and he can now focus his attentions to Wednesday’s individual road race.

Women’s Football

A disappointing 0-2 defeat against Russia in the British women’s first group game was compounded further as Donna Cross and Damaris Cooke were taken to hospital after suffering injuries.
Amongst the spectators was Chef de Mission Fiona Brookes, who acknowledged that the best team had won. “The girls were up for the job today and worked hard focusing on defensive play. The Russians proved to be the stronger side".

The women have a short time to regroup as they will have to perform considerably better if they are to get a result against the Germans on Tuesday. Cooke is hoping to be fit and available for that fixture although it is expected that Cross’ injury will rule her out of selection.