Paralympics: McCarroll and Lapthorne safely through

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.[phone][/phone]

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.