Tom Jarvis and Tin-Tin Ho are preparing to test themselves on the top stage at the World Youth Championships in South Africa.

The pair will play singles and doubles competitions at the tournament, which starts in Cape Town on Saturday and which features the top 96 boy and 96 girls juniors in the world.

Both will start in the group stages in the singles, with Ho seeded to be No 1 and Jarvis No 2 in their four-strong groups when the draw is made.

Although as the only English competitors they cannot play in their respective boys’ or girls’ doubles, they are both in the mixed.

Ho will partner Tomas Polansky of the Czech Republic, with whom she won silver at the European Youth Championships in July. The pair will be seeded 13th as they aim for more success together.

Jarvis, who turns 17 the day before the competition begins, will partner Bruna Takahashi of Brazil – they are the 29th seeds.

The competition begins with mixed doubles early rounds on Saturday, with the singles events starting on Sunday. The competition finishes on Wednesday December 7.