Gold Medal Winners: Former UTC tennis player Emily Hangstefer (right) and Laura Chapman won the Deaflympics women's doubles tennis title Friday in Sofia, Bulgaria
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Signal Mountain resident Emily Hangstefer has her gold medal.
The former UTC women's tennis player Emily Hangstefer and partner Laura Chapman defeated the No.2 seeded Chinese team of Chiu-Mei Ho and Hsiu-Hsiang Ho, 6-4 6-1 here today for the title.
Unseeded, the USA duo won all four of its matches in straight sets, including wins against the No.3 seeded team from Spain in the quarterfinals and the top-seeded German team in the semifinals before the finals victory.
This is the first tennis medal for the U.S. since the 1997 Copenhagen Deaflympics.
Emily Hangstefer ... lettered four years at UTC (2009-2012) ... 13-7 in singles as a senior in the spring of 2012 ... SoCon All-Freshman team in 2009.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net