PARIS – Wheelchair tennis player Rob Shaw of North Bay, Ont. is Canada’s top medal hope at the Paralympic Games in racquet sports (wheelchair tennis, Para badminton, Para table tennis) and is entering the tournament with a hot hand.
Canada has one entry in each of the three racquet sports at the Games: Shaw, Yuka Chokyu of Vancouver in Para badminton and Peter Isherwood, also of Vancouver, in Para table tennis.
Shaw, currently ranked eighth in the world in quad singles, scored two tournament victories this summer including the Swiss Open in Geneva. It was his first ITF1 Series win, the top level for the sport, in his career. He defeated Francisco Cayulef of Chile in the final 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 on July 20.
It was Cayulef who beat Shaw for gold at the 2023 Parapan Am Games. Both titles were also on clay which is the surface for the Paralympic Games. Shaw has been very strong this season on clay with 11 wins and three losses.
“It felt good to put together eight solid matches in a row. It’s given me a bit more confidence going into Paris,” Shaw told CTV News Northern Ontario. Shaw made his Paralympic Games debut at the year-delayed Games in Tokyo three years ago. Those Games held during the pandemic did not provide the full athletic experience for Shaw.
‘’It’ll (Paris) be my first true Paralympic Games experience the way it’s supposed to be experienced.” Dutch players are ranked 1-2 in the world in quad singles with Sam Schroder at No. 1 followed by Niels Vink. Vink defeated his compatriot in the Wimbledon final last month. Shaw’s first round match is set for August 31 at Roland Garros Stadium.