Craig Bryant is delighted to be in England’s corner for the World Team Championships in Korea in March.

Bryant will coach the women’s squad of Tin-Tin Ho, Maria Tsaptsinos and Denise Payet in Busan from March 22-29.

It follows his playing retirement at the weekend, when he featured in his last match in the Belgian league for TTK Berlaar.

Bryant has been involved in high-level coaching before, most recently as part of the GB delegation at the World University Games in Naples last year, where one of his charges was England No 1 Ho.

He says he has been keen to move back into elite coaching and, while not looking too far ahead, hopes his work in Busan will lead to further opportunities.

“It’s something I’ve done before and it’s the most enjoyable part of the job and something I wanted to work back towards,” he said. “Hopefully this is the first step of something more regular.

“It’s a case of see how it goes, build the relationship with the players and build the rapport and confidence between each other.

“I have goals in mind but it’s not just me making the decisions and I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I just want to do the best job at the Worlds.”

At the previous World Team Championships in Sweden in 2018, England women finished in the 40th-44th bracket, having been edged out of a qualifying slot from their group on countback.

Bryant feels it is a good time to be working with a young squad to help them build on that finishing position.

“It seems like a good time, in terms of my career and stopping playing and also it’s a young team with many years to carry on competing – it’s how we unlock the potential,” he said.

“I’m not going to have too much contact with the players leading up to the Worlds, so it’s a case of finding out what they are doing, what their training is like and what difference I can make – what do they think is missing?

“Hopefully I can give them a bit of extra advice and motivation and some decisions at important times. It’s the top level and I’m excited to be a part of it.”