A VETERAN turned gold medal-winning tennis star has now successfully turned his hand to cooking after winning a Masterchef-style competition.

Now in its second year since the first event in 2014, Swinton Park near Masham once again hosted the final of the competition in aid of Help for Heroes.

Phoenix House recovery centre in Catterick Garrison encouraged Alex Krol, a Royal Marines veteran who is supported by the centre, to take part.

Mr Krol was paralysed from the chest down after a motorbike accident in 2004 caused severe spinal injuries and ended his military career - but after using sport as part of his recovery won gold at this year’s Invictus Games in doubles wheelchair tennis.

He and the other competitors spent a training day with a Michelin star chef, learning how to cook their restaurant’s signature game dish. They then came together for a Masterchef-style cook-off, when they had to reproduce the dish on their own and in just two hours.

Mr Krol’s combination of pigeon, chick pea dahl, broccoli puree, mini bread-crumbed haggis, marinated stem broccoli and fig jam impressed the two judges, Richard Townsend of Gourmet Game and Steve Bulmer of Swinton Park Cookery School, who said he had demonstrated particular skill with both flavour and texture that set him apart from the other competitors.

Mr Krol said a lot of the techniques he uses playing tennis came in useful for cooking too. “It sounds daft but it’s all about visualization and regarding each stage as a chapter of a book – that’s how I approach tennis too.

“There was a lot of elements going on in my dish so I had to concentrate really hard but I knew, if I could pull it off on the day, it would be alright.

“Thanks to the training I was given by Richard Allen, the executive chef at Rockcliffe Hall near Darlington, I now have the confidence to push myself in the kitchen and try new things.”

Melanie Dickinson, interim centre manager at Phoenix House, said the aim of Help for Heroes was to inspire, enable and support individuals to lead active, independent and fulfilling lives through many forms of support.

“Vocational visits also play a vital role in this but Swinton Park has generously taken this to another level completely. Its competition gives the participants an experience they never forget,” she said.

“Whether or not they use it as a fantastic step up into a potential new career, they will all have a renewed confidence about trying new things which they can apply to many other aspects of life on ‘civvy street’.”