Dan Pennington Bridges, who trains at the wheelchair tennis group at Pershore Tennis Centre as well as at Bewdley Tennis Club, has had a very successful summer in his wheelchair tennis career.

Dan plays is currently studying for a psychology degree at Worcester University but travels across Worcestershire to Pershore and Bewdley for his coaching.

In July, Dan was a runner up in the  quad singles and winner of the quad doubles at the Futures Event at the British Wheelchair Open in Nottingham.  In August, Dan competed in the Vilnius Open in Lithuania and reached the semi finals in the quad singles.  The quad doubles was a nail-biting final where they were one set down and teetering on the brink of losing the title in the second set but both players pulled it out of the bag winning the next 6 games to equalise and win the tie-break to become quad doubles champions.

Sue, Dan's Mum, explains:

"Dan was born with a rare genetic condition that affect 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."

Sue continues: "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."

Steve Bauer, Pershore Tennis Centre’s Head Coach, 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.”

Dan is looking for Worcestershire companies who might like to help him on his wheelchair journey as he is self-funded and would welcome any financial support towards his dream of competing in the paralympics. Please contact Pershore Tennis Centre if you'd like to help.

NB The ‘Open’ Class is for athletes with permanent impairment of one or both legs, but with normal arm function and the Quad class is for athletes with additional restrictions in the playing arm, which limits the ability to handle the racquet and manoeuvre the wheelchair."

As seen in The Evesham Observer.