Marc McCarroll and Andy Lapthorne both came through their wheelchair tennis first-round matches at the Paralympics on Friday.
Eastcote’s Lapthorne, the fourth seed in the quad singles, defeated 55-year-old Italian Alberto Corradi, a man 30 years his senior and the oldest competitor in the Games.
A former wheelchair basketball player, Corradi only took up wheelchair tennis at the age of 37 but even at his current age is still ranked 13th in the world.
Even so, Lapthorne needed just over an hour to win 6-2 6-3, and book a meeting against either Heath Davidson or Bryan Barten.
Ickenham-based McCarroll also defeated a veteran Italian, 42-year-old Fabian Mazzei.
McCarroll, who at world number 19 is ranked 14 places above his opponent, came through 7-5 6-3, and will now face second seed Joachim Gerard of Belgium in the next round.
Meanwhile, Ealing’s Gaz Choudhry scored 14 points as Great Britain’s wheelchair basketball side secured an 84-60 win over Iran.
However there was disappointment for Richmond-based Mo Jomni, who failed to qualify from his heat in the T53 100m.
This post was last modified on 09/09/2016