VALLEY TENNIS PRO GETS PARALYMPIC BID
Shaw to rep Canada overseas
Kelowna’s Rob Shaw is headed to Tokyo. The Canadian Paralympic Team officially added the wheelchair tennis player to the 2020 Paralympic Games team next month.
Shaw will be Canada’s sole representative in the sport of wheelchair tennis in Tokyo, having qualified through his world ranking of No. 9 in the quad category.
The 31-year-old will be making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo.
“These are the types of moments you dream of as an athlete; representing your country on the largest stage possible,” said Shaw, who lives in Kelowna, where he is completing his PhD in addition to training, but was born in North Bay, Ont.
“I can’t wait to test my skills against the best in the world and put all of this training into my performance. I know the Games will be unique because of Covid, but as a first time Paralympian I’m just focusing on competing.”
He captured a total of eight singles titles on the International Tennis Federation wheelchair tennis tour in 2019. That included a gold medal at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games, which was Shaw’s first multi-sport Games appearance.
Quad tennis made its Parapan Am debut in Lima and with the victory Shaw became the first Canadian tennis player, stand-up or wheelchair, to win a medal in singles at a multi-sport Games.
The quad draw in Tokyo, played on hard courts, will feature 16 athletes. Tennis is to kick off Aug. 28.
Shaw will be supported in Tokyo by team leader and coach Kai Schrameyer.
Wheelchair tennis has been part of the Paralympic program since Barcelona in 1992. The sport is played in singles and doubles competition in three different categories — men’s, women’s and quad.
The rules are identical to stand-up tennis with the exception that the ball is allowed to bounce two times before being returned over the net. Canada has not yet won a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis, with its best showing a fourth-place finish in quad doubles by Sarah Hunter and Brian McPhate at Athens 2004.