The Dutch wheelchair tennis players wrapped up two gold and three silver medals at the Beijing Olympics, and they said it is on the country's supportive efforts that all the credits should be registered.
The Dutch players took three of four berths in the women's singles before their 1-2 finish on Sunday while the women's doubles also saw them take the gold and silver medals after a thrilling final on Monday.
In the men's singles, the Dutch athletes also compiled three of four semifinalists with the second seed Robin Ammerlaan taking a silver after losing to Japan's top seed Shingo Kunieda in Monday's final.
Ammerlaan, two-time Paralympic gold medal winner at Athens (singles) and Sydney (doubles), said the Dutch players do well because they have a long history of tennis and the tennis federation is functioning well.
"We are pretty involved in our national tennis federation. That has meant that we've had pretty good body behind us," he said.
"I think it is also because tennis is the second biggest sport in the Netherlands. Even in small villages, there are at least two clubs. In the town where I lived, there are six to eight clubs. Tennis is a pretty big sport.
"If you have an accident or whatever, you have already played tennis before. That makes it easier to go on in the wheelchair," he added.
It seems that the female players of the Netherlands are finding easier access to the world fame than their male peers, taking the top four berths on the world rankings recently.
Current world number one and five-time Paralympic gold medallist Esther Vergeer, who defended her singles title while lost the doubles at Beijing, hails the good work the tennis federation has done in pushing wheelchair tennis.
"We are such a small country that the facilities in Holland are very good. As soon as you have a disability you get a sports chair so you can play sports."
"And we can all train with each other, so we train with the men and also with the girls. I think that is how we keep the level up."
Vergeer, who extended her unbeaten streak to an awe-inspiring 349 matches, a string that dates back 5 and 1/2 years, did mention the welfare they enjoy on the national squad.
"The national federation for tennis is the same federation for wheelchair tennis, so we are treated as equal. The Dutch National Olympic Committee also treats the disabled athletes the same as the able bodied athletes so I think it is a combination of those things," added Vergeer, the greatest wheelchair tennis star of all-time, who took away the Laureus Disability trophy in 2007 and 2008.
Jiske Griffioen, Vergeer's doubles partner and world fourth-ranked player, agrees that the sport is well- organised in the Netherlands.
"This is a disabled sport but we train under the national tennis federation like the able-bodied athletes."
And she said training with the large Dutch team is an advantage. "It's an individual sport but you need your team."
Maikel Scheffers, the men's singles bronze medalist at Beijing, praised the Dutch teamwork.
"We've got an awesome coach, but also our whole organisational team is very good. We as players just have to do tennis. The team organises everything else for us. We can just relax and play the game."
(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2008)