Duo preparing for European challenge

Tim Gould and Mitchell James, from the Moreton Bay Region, are in a nine-strong Australian tennis team selected for the Virtus European Summer Games later this month.

James and Gould, pictured above, will start a three-day training camp on the Gold Coast this week before flying to Krakow, Poland next week for the games on July 16-24.

Gould, from North Lakes, is world ranked one in PWII (People With Intellectual Impairment) Division Two and will compete in the Singles.

James, from Burpengary East, is world ranked eight in the PWII Division One Singles, one in Men’s Doubles, two in Mixed Doubles. He will be playing in all three events at the Games.

Training hard

Both players won titles in NSW PWII Open in May and will have their world rankings on the line at the second edition of the European Summer Games.

Gould has been “working hard” in training - on and off the court – and will aim to do the best he can to retain top spot in his world division.

The 30-year-old warmed-up for the Games by winning the Queensland Championship for Division II2 at the weekend.

James was runner-up in the same state titles at the weekend and will join the Australian tennis team training camp this week ready to “train hard”.

The 28-year-old admits he knows little about his likely opponents in Poland, but is determined to enjoy every game he plays in.

Team line-ups

James and Gould will be joined by former world number one Archie Graham, Damian Phillips and seventeen-year-old debutant Luke Barker in the men’s team.

The women’s team is ex-world number one Kelly Wren, Carla Lenarduzzi, Breanna Tunny and debutant Andriana Petrakis.

The competition, hosted by the International Organisation of Sport for people with a Disability (IOSD), is the first of its kind to be played since the COVID-19 pandemic forced international competition to be cancelled.

The European Summer Games are the precursor to the Virtus Global Games 2023, which will be in held in Vichy, France from June 4-10, 2023.

Australia won the last tournament when it was held in Brisbane in 2019.