Thomas Venos will be back in his home province as he looks to continue his hold of the men’s division at the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Vancouver, BC.
The Anmore-native enters as the six-time reigning men’s singles titlist. The top-seeded Venos is placed in Group A, alongside Corin Parsons and Jean-Paul Mélo. Second seed Barry Henderson, last year’s runner-up, is in Group B with Kyle George Thompson and John Chen.
The remaining two groups feature four players, with the top two in each round robin qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Venos and Henderson will team up once again to defend their men’s doubles title. The top seeds received a bye into the semis, along with second seeds Mélo and Patrick Levis.
In women’s singles, defending champion and top seed Anne-Marie Dolinar is placed in Group A with Frances Miller and Marilyn Abbs. Natalia Lanucha, who is last year’s finalist, Vicki Lee Morton, and Anna Loduca make up Group B.
The six players in the singles draw then split into three teams for the women’s doubles round robin. Top of the group will be crowned champion.
Read also: Thomas Venos Talks Playing on Home Soil and Representing Canada
Shawn Douglas Courchesne will attempt to defend his quad singles title as the top seed first has to get out of Group A, which features Lachlan James Sandford, Zak Madell, and Erduan Solak. Former three-time reigning champion Mitch McIntrye is the favourite in Group B. The second seed is joined by Hisham Mohammad, Peter Isherwood, and Gregory Antoine.
Courchesne will also look to top the quad doubles group as he and Mohammad set out for a title defence. McIntrye and Sandford, as well as Isherwood and Madell, will try to dethrone the Ontarian pair.
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The competition gets underway on Thursday at the UBC Tennis Centre and will conclude on Sunday with the title matches.
Feature Photo: Geoff Robins
