Police say a 52-year-old man requires facial surgery after he was beaten with his own racket on a Duncan tennis court over the weekend.

The man was playing tennis at Centennial Park around 7 p.m. Saturday night when he got into a verbal altercation with a group of four young men and women, RCMP said.

Things turned nasty and the man was first hit with an unidentified object that did significant damage to his own face.

He was then beaten with his own tennis racket, suffering severe injuries to his face, head and torso.

Police said a passerby in the area found the man on the court crying for help following the assault.

He was taken to hospital and required surgery for his facial injuries.

Police say they’re looking for four people including a six-foot tall man with mousy brown hair, a six-foot tall man with blond hair, a shorter woman with brown hair and another unidentified woman.

All of the attackers are described as white and in their late teens to early 20s, and the nature of their relationship to one another is unknown.

The victim is cooperating with investigators, according to North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Krista Hobday.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 250-748-5522 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.