Great Britain aiming high as 2025 Deaflympics get underway
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A strong Great Britain tennis team is heading to Tokyo ahead of the 2025 Deaflympics Games, with some inspirational athletes set to take to the court.
Tokyo 2025 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Summer Deaflympics, with the first event taking place in 1924 in Paris.
DeaflympicsGB athletes are competing in seven sports, including athletics, football, golf, swimming, cycling, shooting and tennis.
In total, the Deaflympics will feature 21 different sports, with badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, handball, judo, karate, mountain bike, orienteering, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball and wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman) also included.
The Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics will take place between 15-26 November, with approximately 3,000 athletes set to take part.
Leading the charge for the Great Britain team will be reigning and eight-time men’s singles National champion Esah Hayat, who is set to take part in his second Deaflympics after he made his debut in Samsun, Turkey, in 2017.
Hayat has been one of the shining stars of deaf tennis in Britain and he is eager to build on the success he has already achieved in the sport.
“Tennis is an individual sport, so I actually think it's one of the best sports for deaf people to play, since the communication barriers many deaf people face aren't as big an issue,” he said.
“Reaching my full potential in tennis is down to a variety of factors, both within and out of my control. I like to think of reaching potential as a matter of having the right mindset, before anything. Only I can control my attitude towards tennis, and so I always try to be as committed as I can to improving.
“I would like to get more medals, including doubles medals with the other GB team members, and to continue doing my country proud.”
Hayat will be joined in Tokyo by his doubles partner Lewis Fletcher, who was the 2012 men’s singles National champion and former world men’s doubles silver medallist alongside Hayat. This will be his fourth Deaflympics, having previously competed in Taipei in 2009, Sofia in 2013 and Samsun in 2017.
“International success has come later in my career,” said Fletcher. “A lot of it is due to finding a good partnership in doubles. Obviously, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel I could achieve the top three. l just keep my feet on the ground and enjoy the moment as it comes.
“I’ve seen and experienced a lot since my first Deaflympics. I wish I had taken a stand in playing doubles from day one and put all my energy and focus into that.
“I am a lot stronger as a player now. I think it's important to know yourself as a person before being a player. You need to have internal confidence and back yourself. In my younger years, you don’t always know your true self, but I feel I know myself more now.”
The highly experienced 13-time men’s singles National champion Peter Willcox will represent the DeaflympicsGB Team for the third time, after the Surrey player made his Deaflympics debut in Melbourne in 2005 and was then selected again for 2013 Games in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Gloucestershire’s Charlie Denton will also be wearing British colours in Tokyo, after the five-time U18 National singles champion, who was a nominee for Young Deaf Sports Personality of the Year in 2023, was selected to make his Deaflympics debut this year in Tokyo.
“I’ve always been encouraged to go for things and not hold back,” said Denton, talking to the Stroud News and Journal.
“Thanks to my family and early support to learn to listen and talk with auditory verbal therapy, I’ve had the confidence to push myself and show what’s possible.
“I’ll be heading to Tokyo with the GB Deaflympics tennis team, it’s honestly so exciting and I’m so proud to represent my country.”
The four players selected to the DeaflympicsGB Tennis Team are travelling to Tokyo along with Sophie Hall, the LTA’s Competitions Support Manager, and Catherine Graham, the LTA’s National Deaf Coach. Graham is herself a former Deaflympics athlete, having competed at the event on five occasions, winning mixed doubles gold in 2009.
Follow along with daily results and highlights from the 2025 Tokyo Deaflympics.
