Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis student-athlete Emily Hangstefer (’12) took home a Gold Medal in mixed doubles at the World Deaf Tennis Championships in Nottingham, England, Sunday. She also earned Silver Medals in singles and doubles at the event.
Teaming with her brother Daniel, the Hangstefers improved on the Silver they won as a pair at the 2013 games in Sofia, Bulgaria. This time, they were the No. 3 seed in the draw and defeated the Chinese Taipei team (6-1, 6-1) in the finals.
"We are very proud of Emily and her international tennis success,” stated UTC head coach Jeff Clark. “She has always had a passion for the sport, and it is neat to see her continuing to play at such a high level."
Hangstefer made the finals in singles, despite being unseeded. There she faced fourth seeded Beatriz Villamandos-Lorenzo (Spain) and quickly built a 2-0 lead in the first set. Hangstefer had a set point at 5-4 and also held a 3-0 led in the tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (5).
In the second set, Villamandos-Lorenzo built a commanding 5-0 lead and eventually went on to win the title (7-6 (5), 6-3).
Hangstefer teamed with Laura Chapman as they tried to defend their doubles gold from 2013. They lost to Chinese Taipei’s second seeded Chui-Mei Ho and Chia-Wen Lin (6-4, 6-4).
Hangstefer wasn’t the only former UTC student-athlete involved with the games. Her older sister and former Moc Katie Hangstefer Mancebo ('02) was the coach of the U.S. team.
More than 70 players from 20 countries took part in the Championships.