2024 IBTA Blind Tennis World Championships: preview, schedule & draw
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The Paralympics may be behind us, but the 2024 international disability tennis calendar is by no means over as we turn our attention to visually impaired (VI) tennis for the 2024 IBTA Blind Tennis World Championships.
After Great Britain’s success on home soil at the 2023 IBSA World Games, where the hosts won 11 of a possible 33 medals on offer, the seven-strong squad are set to vie for medals between the 25-29 September on the Adriatic Sea coast in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.
The format of VI tennis varies based on the set sight categories that the players compete within. Depending on a player’s category they may have up to three bounces of the ball before they return it back to their opponent. In the B1 category, for those having the greatest degree of sight loss or no sight, three bounces of the ball are allowed, and players typically wear eye masks. B2, B3, B4 and B5 categories are contested by players with different degrees of partial sight, with B2 players allowed three bounces, B3 players allowed two bounces and B4 and B5 players allowed one bounce of the ball.
Preview
The British team will have participants competing in all classifications, ranking from no light perception in either eye in the B1 category to B4/5, which requires a good level of partial sight, up to roughly 25% of normal vision.
Naqi Rizvi, who is ranked world No.1 in the men’s B1 category, will represent Great Britain for only the second time at international level after receiving his British citizenship earlier this year.
Since his move to the UK in 2015, and his introduction to VI tennis in the years to follow, Rizvi has dominated both domestically and internationally, earning his place at the top of the rankings after victories at the IBSA World Games in Birmingham and the European Open Championships in Krakow, Poland, before winning successive Play Your Way to Wimbledon titles.
Meanwhile, Yvette Priestley, who has been selected to contest in the B1 women’s category, will rejoin the squad after her success at SW19 in August.
The Warwickshire-born talent’s international appearance comes after a stellar winning-streak, having won nine in ten competitions, and sustaining a win-loss record of 25-3 across the 2024 season.
Helen Potter, who won the B3 draw at last year’s Play Your Way to Wimbledon National Finals, will now bid to add international success in the same category.
This will mark Potter’s maiden appearance representing her country, while B4 star Ewan Hayward is also set to join in making his debut in Italy.
In between competitions, this year Hayward – alongside compatriots Tracy Compton and Minerva Ainsworth - introduced the British No.1, and the 2024 US Open semi-finalist, Jack Draper to VI tennis before taking to court with comedians Adam Hills and Joel Dommett.
The standard-bearers of British VI tennis, Neil Balmforth (B3), Andrea Logan (B3), and renowned VI tennis advocate Rosie Pybus (B4) will also be competing following their success at the IBSA World Games in Birmingham last summer.
The LTA supports and hosts regional and national visually impaired tennis tournaments across the UK and our top players are supported to represent Great Britain at the IBTA World Championship.
How to get involved
Whether you want to play, volunteer, or simply support, find out more about disability tennis here:
