Australian Open: Hungarian Winner at a Special Event

Hungary’s Gábor Máthé has won men’s Deaf & Hard of Hearing (DHoH) exhibition event at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne. The 37-year-old player from Debrecen beat Marino Kegl 6:4, 6:2 of Slovakia in the final.

Ten players participated at the Deaf & Hard of Hearing tournament in two groups with round-robin matches deciding the finalists. Máthé won his group by defeating Prithvi Sekhar of India 6:4, 6:2 to make it to the final.

The Hungarian player was silver medalist at the Brazilian Deaflympics last year and is ranked second in the world deaf & hard hearing rankings.

The Australian Open is the first time this year where a three-day mini-tournament for deaf & hard hearing players has been organized as an exhibition event, with eight players invited to both the men's and women's fields.

“I think this is a great recognition for deaf sport and I hope that it will increase the recognition of deaf athletes not only at home but also internationally. At the moment the tournament is only an exhibition but I hope that soon it will become a permanent feature of GS competitions,” Gábor Máthé said.