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Isle of Man's Ben Li aiming to cash in following sabbatical

Mon, 02 Apr 2018

Isle of Man's Benjamin Li will hope his decision to take a sabbatical from his day job in the financial sector pays dividends at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

LI, an investment consultant in London, took four months off work to join younger sister Jessica LI at Bath University to make use of its specialist training facilities as they prepared for their mixed doubles campaign.

"There are not too many sports where men and women can compete together, so this is a great opportunity. It will be very special when we step onto the court," said Benjamin.

"There are other mixed pairs who have played together a lot longer than we have and, to prepare for an event like this, takes a lot of time and dedication."

Benjamin's first experience at the Commonwealth Games came at Glasgow 2014, and he will show his sister the ropes ahead of her tournament debut at GC2018.

"It is great to draw on some of the experience from my brother," Jessica said.

"We haven't been playing doubles for that long, but we know each other well enough to know what to expect on the court."

The men's and women's singles competition begins at the Carrara Sports and Leisure on Tuesday 10 April.

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