Britons dominate tennis and cricket at Global Games – Brits in action Day 6
Tennis – GB dominates tennis finals
The men’s and women’s singles II1 titles were contested at the Pat Rafter Arena on Friday 18th October with Great Britain taking all but one of the golds on offer.
British teammates Dominic Iannotti and Fabrice Higgins – the Worlds silver medallist – faced-off in a tightly contested men’s singles final.
The match featured a series of long rallies but it was Iannotti who has the edge. He was able to hold his nerve during the defining moments of the match, winning 7-5, 6-4.
“It was a very close match,” Iannotti said. “It is very tough to play against one of your best mates and teammates, doubles teammate on the big stage – the Pat Rafter Arena. I’m happy with the way I played. I think the biggest thing was that I was aggressive on the court and I played to my strengths.”
In the bronze medal match Australia’s world champion Archie Graham took a strong win 6-1, 6-2 over Great Britain’s Oliver Beadle.
In the women’s 16-year-old Anna McBride went up against Belgium’s Hanne Lavreyson in a replay of the final from the 2018 World Championships.
It was once again McBride who emerged the victor securing another gold for Great Britain. Lavreyson was battling a wrist injury and did not seem to have many answers in the first set, losing 6-0.
In the second McBride capitalised on her opponent’s Achilles heel, knowing Lavreyson could not play her forehand, and won 6-1.
Summary of Results
Mens singles
Gold – Dominic Iannotti
Dominic Iannotti bt Fabrice Higgins 7-5, 6-4
Silver – Fabrice Higgins
Womens singles
Gold – Anna McBride (GB) beat 1st seed Hanne Lavreusen from Belgium 6-0, 6-2
Mens doubles
Silver – Dominic Iannotti and Fabrice Higgins
Dominic Iannotti and Fabrice Higgins lost in the final to Archie Graham and Michell James (Australia) 5-7, 6-2 7-10 mtb
Mixed doubles
Gold – Anna McBride and Dominic Iannotti
Anna McBride and Dominic Iannotti beat Michell James and Kelly Wren from Australia 6-2. 6-2
Mens team event winners (based on best singles positions in nominated teams)
Winners Dominic Iannotti and Fabrice Higgins (GB)
Full tennis results here
(Original tennis story by Mitchell Kidd)
Cricket – England complete series whitewash of Australia
England’s team wrapped up an IT20 series whitewash of Australia to win gold at the Inas Global Games and return home with eight wins from eight matches on the tour.
Devon batsman Dan Bowser was once again the star of the show, hitting his fifth score of 60 or more in seven appearances to guide England to 190/4.
Bowser’s 64 from 35 balls took him to an aggregate of 499 runs for the tour at a remarkable average of 99.8 and the left-hander was named player of the series for the Global Games IT20s. Tayler Young and Dan Levey scored 45 and 42 respectively to help drive England to their unassailable total.
Ronnie Jackson, having shone with the bat throughout the tour, showed he’s a danger with the ball as well, taking two for 21 from his four overs. Kieran McKinney also took two wickets, conceding just 12 runs from his allotted overs, one fewer than Alex Jervis who finished with figures of two for 13.
Australia were restricted to 89/9 from their 20 overs, giving England the win by 101 runs.
Ian Martin, ECB’s Head of Disability Cricket, said: “I couldn’t be prouder of all the players and staff who’ve achieved this fantastic result.”
“Australia is a tough place to play cricket as a touring England side and these boys have excelled in challenging conditions to win all eight matches on the tour.”
“They’re an inspiration to us all and our hope is that the quality of cricket on show at the INAS Global Games will inspire more nations to back Learning Disability cricket and make this a truly international tournament next time round.”
Full cricket results here
Athletics – Injury leads to disappointment on final day
In the final day of competition, British athletes Sam Fernando and Declan Manning were both in action.
Fernando kicked off the days event with a solid performance in the straight final 5000m, finishing 4th in a time of 16:05.13 behind Rachid Boutasghount (France) in 15:54.98.
Declan Manning was throwing well in the shot with about 2 throws remaining when he had to withdraw from competition with a knee injury. A disappointing end for Manning on the final day of athletics competition in an otherwise strong Championship programme for him in Brisbane.
Commenting after the withdrawal, coach Kevin Manning said “Not the ending we had hoped for but Declan’s day will come another day in the shot”.
Full athletics results here
Cycling – Track Cycling makes its debut
Although no competition on day 6 for the British ladies, both are keen to finish preparations for the final day of competition and track cycling event.
Track cycling is including the Inas Championship programme for the first time and is hosted at the Anna Meares Velodrome.
You can watch the live results from the event here
____________________________
The Global Games concludes on 19th October with a Closing Ceremony hosted at the Queensland State Netball Centre, Mains Road, Nathan QLD, Australia. More information on the Closing Ceremony can be found here.
The Inas Global Games is host to almost 1000 elite athletes with intellectual impairment from across 47 countries worldwide competing in fierce competition, concluding on 19th October.
You can follow all the action by following the UK Sports Association on twitter and facebook and show your support using hashtags #BritsDownUnder and #Brisbane 2019.
The UK Sports Association is the official Great Britain member of Inas. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) manage the England Squad (learning disability), with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) managing the Tennis team, with both entries to Inas events facilitated through a collaboration with the UK Sports Association.