LOCAL lad Mark Eccleston may be confined to a wheelchair, but the 28-year-old has never let his disability come between him and his love of sport.

Two years ago Mark represented Great Britain at the Paralympics in Atlanta as a wheelchair rugby player.

And this weekend he was celebrating after teaming up with Roy Humphreys to win the Quad Open Division Doubles at the 1998 British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Nottingham.

Mark, 28, who comes from Clock Face, and his partner from Oswestry, beat Kevin Whalen of the United States and the Netherland's Bas Van Erp to claim the title, which was being contested at the British Championships for the first time on Sunday.

Mark, who had been beaten in the Quad Open Singles in the semi-finals, has risen to the World No 3 in the singles rankings, lost two sets to World No 1 Rick Draney from the States. And it was the third time in the last few weeks he has been beaten by the American.

Last month Mark lost to Draney in a third set tie-break at the Action World Team Cup in Barcelona and more recently the American won when the two met at the Dutch Open.

A delighted Mark, said: "I can't say that I am all that happy with how I played in the singles, because I had the chance to beat Draney and I let it go, but we did well in the doubles.

"I'm World Number 3 now and Draney is the only one of the top players I've not beaten yet. I know I'm capable of beating him."

Mark jetted off to the Swiss Open straight after leaving Nottingham. In Switzerland he will be aiming for his second major tournament victory this year, having won the Japan Open after beating the World Number 2, Brian Hanson of America.

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