Every tournament is a test that verifies playing technique, concentration, reaction speed, physical endurance and emotional control. Polish blind tennis players had another opportunity on April 11, 2026 to see which of these areas needs more work and how regular training translates into tournament performance.

Players training under the auspices of the Widzimy Inaczej Foundation tested their skills at the Blind Tennis Tournament “Sokole Oko” (Eagle Eye) in Chorzów. Matches were played at the courts of Starochorzowskie Centrum Sportu Sokół from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The event brought together 37 players competing in different categories depending on their degree of visual impairment.

New category B1+ – a breakthrough in Polish blind tennis

This year’s “Sokole Oko” tournament introduced a new feature – category B1+, intermediate between B1 and B2. It brought together players who use a white cane in daily life but retain some residual vision.

“I believe this solution gives more opportunities to people who, due to very poor vision, have no chance of equal competition in the B2 category. We dream of this category becoming permanent and applying to international competitions, European and World Championships as well,” said Robert Zarzecki, President of the Widzimy Inaczej Foundation.

Blind Tennis Referee – the app that changed how the tournament was run

The “Sokole Oko” tournament was the first real-world test of our own application – Blind Tennis Referee. It is a tool designed specifically for blind tennis referees: it allows scoring matches in real time, collecting statistics, and sending live results to the platform at score.vestmedia.pl.

Referees ran matches using the app on their phones, and results appeared in real time on an online scoreboard – visible both at the courts and for fans following the tournament remotely. The system ran on four courts simultaneously, tracking the progress of matches throughout the entire day.

What can Blind Tennis Referee do?

• Real-time match scoring by the referee
• Automatic live result streaming to score.vestmedia.pl
• Support for multiple courts simultaneously
• Match history and tournament statistics
• Support for all categories (B1, B1+, B2, B3, B4)
• Future roadmap: global player database, rankings, player profiles, full tournament history and points system

The app is available in beta on Google Play. Our goal is for the system to become a comprehensive tool for the entire blind tennis community – one unified database of players, tournaments, results and statistics on a global scale.

We invite tournaments to test the app!

The system is still in beta but already works under real tournament conditions. We are looking for blind tennis tournament organizers who would like to test it and help us develop it. Our goal is to build a platform that:

• Works at every blind tennis tournament – in Poland and abroad
• Collects results and statistics from all matches played
• Builds a global player database with profiles, rankings and game history
• Lets fans follow live results from anywhere in the world
• Is complementary to systems used by IBTA and national federations

If you organize a blind tennis tournament and want to test the app – get in touch with us. We’d love to join and help run the event!

Tournament results – who stood on the podium?

B1 Women

1. Magdalena Kokot-Rybińska (ATNiS Gdynia)
2. Marta Woźniak (ATNiS Pabianice)
3. Marta Jędrzejczyk (ATNiS Warszawa)

B1 Men

1. Sławomir Tolak-Ciszewski (ATNiS Lublin)
2. Piotr Malicki (ATNiS Warszawa)
3. Paweł Ejzenberg (ATNiS Pabianice)

B1+ (special category)

1. Martyna Swatowska (ATNiS Gdynia)
2. Bernadeta Kozioł (ATNiS Chorzów)
3. Jerzy Janas (ATNiS Dąbrowa Górnicza)

B2 Men

1. Marian Wywiórski (ATNiS Warszawa)
2. Michał Orchowski (ATNiS Warszawa)
3. Mariusz Kowalski (ATNiS Toruń)

B3 Men

1. Michał Stypa (ATNiS Chorzów)
2. Damian Hortecki (ATNiS Wrocław)
3. Zbigniew Haftka (ATNiS Warszawa)

B4 Men

1. Jarosław Skarżyński (ATNiS Warszawa)
2. Mateusz Balwierz (ATNiS Wrocław)
3. Dmytro Skasyrskyy (ATNiS Warszawa)

B2–B4 Women

1. Katarzyna Pietruszyńska (ATNiS Chorzów)
2. Oliwia Marciniak (ATNiS Bydgoszcz)
3. Katarzyna Lis (ATNiS Dąbrowa Górnicza)

Organization and partners

The “Sokole Oko” tournament was organized by the Widzimy Inaczej Foundation for the fourth time. The event was supervised by Paweł Chobot, head coach of the Polish national blind tennis team.

Partners of the event included: the City of Chorzów and FUCHS OIL PL. Prizes were funded by the Gramy do Końca Foundation thanks to the support of Górnośląskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów S.A., and catering was once again provided by Pizzeria Pod Drewnianym Bocianem Chorzów.

We thank all partners, sponsors, organizers, referees, coaches and volunteers. Congratulations to the winners and all 37 participants – it is wonderful to see such exciting and friendly competition!