Vinny Keane wins double bronze at IBTA Euro Championships

Waterford tennis player Vinny Keane captured two bronze medals at the International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) European Championships in Poland.

“I was hoping to get one medal. I wasn't expecting to get two medals. That was a big shock to the system, in a good way,” Keane said in conversation with the Waterford News & Star.

“I hoped to do better in the singles. I was probably just two points away from getting to the final… Simon, my coach, was saying I did all I could. I followed the game plan perfectly, just the outcome didn't go exactly to plan.”

They were his first two medals at a European level. Keane paid tribute to his supporters in Waterford and across the nation, Lisa, his wife, “who brings me everywhere,” and his fellow players and coaching team at Tennis Ireland.

A singles specialist, Keane said a bronze in the doubles came as a bonus.

“Dana (Granowski) was my partner. She's a very good tennis player, but she was just very nervous. She wasn't playing her best at first, and I just said, ‘Look, we're just playing doubles for fun. So just relax and enjoy it.’ 

"So then she started playing better. We lost our first game to the eventual winners…They were from Luxembourg.

“We were playing the best Polish team. They're very, very good, but we somehow got through them and beat them.” 

He may have even played an instrumental role in the final without competing in it.

In the same way Andre Agassi scanned arch-rival Boris Becker’s body language and predicted his serve with deadly accuracy, Keane says he possesses a “black book” on his competitors and knows them “inside out.” He passed on the advice to the Luxembourgish duo.

“I just told them. This is how you defeat (their opponents). And they took my advice on board, and they eventually won. 

"So they might make me an honorary Luxembourg person.” 

Keane now looks ahead to defending his UK title in Sunderland in November. Ranked as the UK and Ireland number one, he places more weight on the methodical process of improvement over the mere collection of silverware.

“Winning the games is obviously a great thing to do, but I don't look at it as a goal. If I win a game or if I win a championship, it's like a bonus. It's from the hard work that we do in training and the extra things I learned,” he says.

“It's very hard to look at the outcome, because you're supposed to take one game at a time, or one point at a time.

“I've learned this the hard way. You look at a game and you say to yourself, ‘Oh, if I win this, I'll meet this person next and this person next,’ and you see yourself all the way to the final, but then you get knocked out in the first round, and you're like, ‘What happened there?’ 

“The mistake there is, you look too far ahead, so you have to take it one game at a time, and during the game, you take it one point at a time. So don't look to the future. Forget about what happened in the past. Just focus on the here and now.” 

Keane says one thing he hopes to do is inspire future generations.

“It's just you versus the opponents. That's the great thing about tennis. In singles, you're on your own. If you make a mistake, it's your fault. You can't blame anyone else but yourself.

“I'm just hoping my success will get people all over Waterford playing tennis.”