Australia’s top tennis players with an intellectual impairment (PWII) have been announced for the upcoming prestigious Virtus Global Games in Vichy, France.
South Australia’s Andriana Petrakis has been named in the team, and will be joined by South Australian coach Lance Everett, for the tournament which will take place from 4-10 June 2023.
The Virtus Global Games are the world’s largest elite sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment, and only takes place every four years. Australia won the last tournament when it was held in Brisbane in 2019.
Petrakis will be joined by Australian II-1 Women’s Singles No.1 player Kelly Wren (NSW), along with Carla Lenarduzzi (Vic) and Breanna Tunny (Qld) in the women’s competition.
Australian II-1 Men’s Singles No.1 player Archie Graham (Qld) will be joined by Mitchell James (Qld), Luke Barker (Qld), Damian Phillips (NSW), Timothy Gould (Qld), Hunter Thompson (Qld) and Simon Ma (NSW) in the men’s competition.
“This year’s team is a big team, and we are really proud of that,” said Head Coach Alison Scott.
“We have been world champions since 2015, so we are very confident going overseas. The team is very well prepared and well trained, which is brilliant.
“It is the first year players in the II-3 category, which is players on the autism spectrum, have been able to compete in the games, and we are excited to take two players from this category overseas to compete.”
“We have been really looking forward to this moment, because we feel Australia is ahead of the game in the II-3 category. We have been really supporting players on the autism spectrum in Australia, so we are so excited to have this opportunity, and hopefully we can build on this and grow more competition from here.”
Australian II-1 Women’s Singles No. 3 player Tunny said “I’m thrilled. I’m so ecstatic to be travelling with my team overseas. We have all been through such a journey, and to be going overseas and representing who we are is just so overwhelming.”
There are three classifications in the PWII pathway, these are:
- II-1 Intellectual Disability
- II-2 Down syndrome
- II-3 Autism
Player’s rankings are as follows:
Australian team
Men
| Name | Suburb | Australian Ranking |
| Archie Graham | Newton, Qld | II-1 Singles – #1
II-1 Doubles – #2 |
| Mitchell James | Burpengary East, Qld | II-1 Singles – #1
II-1 Doubles – #1 |
| Luke Barker | Kedron, Qld | II-1 Singles – #5
II-1 Doubles – #4 |
| Damian Phillips | Coffs Harbour, NSW | II-1 Singles – #6
II-1 Doubles – #7 |
| Timothy Gould | North Lakes, Qld | II-2 Singles – #1
II-2 Doubles – #1 |
| Hunter Thompson | Bahrs Scrub, Qld | II-3 Singles – #1
II-3 Doubles – #2 |
| Simon Ma | Bella Vista, NSW | II-3 Singles – #2
II-3 Doubles – #2 |
Women
| Name | Suburb | Australian Ranking |
| Kelly Wren | Engadine, NSW | II-1 Singles – #1
II-1 Doubles – #2 |
| Carla Lenarduzzi | Camberwell, Vic | II-1 Singles – #4
II-1 Doubles – #1 |
| Breanna Tunny | Alexandra Hills, Qld | II-1 Singles – #3
II-1 Doubles – #8 |
| Andriana Petrakis | Allenby Gardens, SA | II-1 Singles – #2
II-1 Doubles – #3 |
Teams from more than 50 countries will compete in the Virtus Global Games across sports such as tennis, athletics, basketball, cycling, equestrian, futsal, handball, judo, karate, rowing, swimming, table tennis and taekwondo.
The Virtus Global Games tennis results can be found here.
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