Gold for duo at European Games

Pictures above courtesy of Jason O'Brien, Tennis Australia

Tim Gould and Mitchell James were in golden form at the Virtus European Summer Games in Poland, with both standing on top of the medal podium.

Gould, from North Lakes, won the Men’s II (intellectual impairment) Division Two Singles title and retained his world number one ranking.

It was one of the highlights of Gould’s sporting career and came after three years without international competition due to COVID.

James, from Burpengary East, collected gold in the Men’s Doubles with Archie Graham and bronze in the Mixed Doubles with Adriana Petrakis and a Teams II Division One bronze medal with Damian Philips.

He said a number of competitors had improved since the last international competition and enjoyed the challenges of the championships.

James and Gould were part of a nine-person Australian team which topped the tennis medal tally with five gold, two silver and four bronze in Krakow last month.

Head coach Alison Scott was delighted with how well the team combined in Poland - and topped the medal tally with 11 (5 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze).

“To see our players have that opportunity to get up on the podium to receive a medal and to hear our national anthem five times and to sing it loud and proud, that is one of the highlights to mark what has been a very successful week,” she said.

Gould’s next target will be the Special Olympics National Games in Launceston on October 17-22

James and Gould are also aiming for the Virtus Global Games 2023, to be held in Vichy, France, on June 4-10.

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