Teenage wheelchair tennis star Phil Cochrane flew the flag for Wales in the Wheelchair Tennis Israel Open in Tel Aviv, finishing runner-up in the doubles.
Allocated the late starting slots each day, the 14-year-old from Cwmbran found himself on court into the small hours throughout the tournament.
On semi-finals day, he and doubles partner Ade Adepitan (of Paralympic basketball and television presenting fame) finished the last match at 1.45am.
The pair went on to finish runners-up in their first tournament together.
In the singles, Phil picked up useful ranking points in the men's second draw, progressing through the early rounds untroubled, before losing in three sets to the eventual winner who had previously held a top-40 singles ranking worldwide.
"Phil’s achievements so far have been remarkable," said Peter Hybart, chief executive of Tennis Wales. "This was another fantastic performance, which shows what a talent Phil has."
Phil is hoping to break into the men's top 200 by the end of the year and will fly to Italyin early June to represent GB Juniors for players up to 18 years in the wheelchair equivalent of the Davis Cup.
The team is captained by Cardiff’s Geraint Richards, who coached GB to the landmark first triumph at the same event last year in Sweden.
Phil is coached by Becca Strelzyn from Newport Tennis Centre and is ranked seventh in the world among junior boys and 266 in the world men’s rankings.
Last year he was voted disability player of the year in the inaugural Tennis Wales Awards.
Information on all aspects of tennis in Wales is available from Tennis Wales on 029 20 463335 or www.tenniswales.org.uk
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Notes to editors:
Tennis Wales is the national governing body for tennis in Wales, and forms part of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the governing body for the sport in Great Britain.
Membership of tennis clubs in Wales has grown by 40% in the last six years to almost 12,000.
Wales now hosts some 200 tennis tournaments annually – a figure which has doubled in the last three years.
Wales has 115 licensed professional coaches, double the number of five years ago.
For more information on tennis in Wales, visit www.tenniswales.org.uk
Further information:
Julie Williams
Area Development Officer S.E. Wales,
Tennis Wales
julie.williams@TennisWales.org.uk
029 20 468332
Peter Hybart
Chief executive, Tennis Wales
peter.hybart@TennisWales.org.uk
029 20 463335
Andrew Weltch
07890 288302
www.tenniswales.org.uk
