Satoshi Saida

Satoshi Saida (born March 26, 1972 in Mie) is a Japanese pioneering wheelchair tennis player and 2004 Summer Paralympics gold medalist (Men's doubles with Shingo Kunieda).

Saida, a big baseball enthusiast in his childhood, lost his left leg because of illness. At first, he used to play wheelchair basketball with his friends. At the age of fourteen, he had an opportunity to get to know wheelchair tennis with his basketball teammates at a seminar which took place in his hometown, and started this sport.

As a competitor, his first Paralympics was the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, USA. At the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, he got the eighth place. With Shingo Kunieda, he participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece, and won the men's doubles event. The two competed together again at the 2008 Beijing Games and took bronze in the doubles event. [cite web |title=Men's Doubles - Open Bronze Medal Match |publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad |year=2008 |url=http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRMP/ENG/INF/WT/C73B/WTM002102.pdf |accessdate=2008-09-25]

References

External links

* [http://www.itftennis.com/wheelchair/players/player.asp?player=50000306 ITF Player biography: SAIDA, Satoshi (JPN)]