Blind tennis is tennis for the visually-impaired.

It's played using racquets that are smaller than standard tennis ones, with soundballs — sponge balls that come with bells inside them — so you can hear it coming at you when it bounces.

Line markings on the court are tactile, and players are sorted into three tiers based on the extent of their blindness — depending on the severity, they are allowed up to three ball bounces before sending it back to the other player.

The Soundball Club in Singapore was founded six years ago, in August 2011.

Back then, they had only one player and one volunteer coach.

Today, they have 30 visually impaired players, supported by about 80 volunteer coaches, and they come together to train three times a week.

The game is definitely not easy — downright impossible, probably, for the average person trying it. But as one of the players, Chris, puts it, "It's just persistence. You just have to have patience and and do it again and again."

This week, however, is a special one for them.

The blind and partially-sighted players who have been training for years are representing Singapore in the world's first international blind tennis tournament, which is currently taking place in Spain. They are playing against more than 80 players from 16 other countries.

Two of them have just made it to the semi-finals, and are hoping to win a medal for Singapore in final matches played today (May 11).

They aim to join the 2024 Paralympics, where blind tennis will debut as an official sport. We wish them all the best in achieving amazing things for themselves and for Singapore :)

To hear our athletes' stories, watch the video below:

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Top photo collage: Screenshots from video

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