NSW Champions of Sport - David Hall OAM

Join us as we celebrate the past winners of the NSW Sports Awards spanning over 20 years of sporting excellence and achievement – as we countdown to the inaugural NSW Champions of Sport, where, for the first time, the induction of new entrants into the NSW Hall of Champions will be combined with the NSW Sports Awards in one gala ceremony. 

In the lead up to the event, we will look back to our past crowned NSW Athlete of the Year and NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability winners as they share their great joys and triumphs as well as life post their ‘dream year’ with successes both on and off the field.

Sport: Wheelchair Tennis
NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability: 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005

David Hall has the distinction of being the only athlete in the history of the NSW Sports Awards to be a five-time winner of the NSW Athlete of the Year award (able-bodied or with a disability) with his successes coming in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2005.

His first year as the NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability coincided with his first US Open victory in 1995 where David won the final in dramatic style in a third set tie-break. David ended the year with the number one ranking, a ranking he held for eight of the next ten years.

David began playing wheelchair tennis at the age of 19, three years after being hit by a car which led to the amputation of his legs. He represented Australia at four Paralympic Games, with his first medals coming at the 1996 Atlanta games where he won silver in the doubles and bronze in the singles.

At his home games in Sydney (2000) David won a gold medal in the singles and a silver in the doubles – receiving an Order of Australia medal (OAM) for his medal haul in Sydney. At his last Paralympics in Athens (2004) he won a silver in the singles and a bronze in the doubles.

During his career David won a total of eight Australian Opens, seven British Opens, eight Japan Opens and eight US Opens as well as being named World Champion six times. He is regarded as the greatest Australian wheelchair tennis player of all time.

In 2009 David was inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions, looking back on this achievement he said;

“It’s an honour to be alongside some of NSW’s world class athletes. The achievements have all had their own significant meaning and none outrank each other but I do enjoy the memories from each accolade.”

He also reflected on the power of his sport, commenting;

“Tennis has given me comfort throughout my career, it began to open doors I never knew existed.”

In 2010, Hall’s accomplishments culminated in him being inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame – one of only six Paralympians to have been granted the honour to date. Most recently, he was inducted into the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2016 and in the same year was awarded the International Tennis Federation’s Brad Parks Award for his significant contribution to wheelchair tennis, following his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.

Now retired from the playing circuit, David currently holds a consultancy role with Tennis Australia, is a public speaker and co-authors his own blog instructing readers how to play wheelchair tennis.

The cream of NSW Sports stars from both past and present will be celebrated at the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony to be held at Rosehill Gardens on Monday 27 November 2017.

For more information on the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony and to secure your seat visit: www.sportnsw.com.au/2017ChampionsofSport