Helshan Weerasinghe

Table Tennis England has announced the England team to travel to the European Youth Championships in Italy next month.

The Junior Boys’ team will comprise Helshan Weerasinghe, Danny Lawrence, Sam Mabey and Adam Harrison, while Tom Jarvis and Luke Savill will compete in the Cadet Boys’ section.

The six squad members will be the only players to travel to Italy with the new selection policy focusing on establishing a high performance standard required to be successful at an event of this stature. As a result, only athletes with top-eight potential were considered. Although his meant that no girls’ team was selected for the Championships this year, the long term plans remain in place to develop talent for success on an international stage.

Simon Mills, Head of Coaching & Performance at Table Tennis England, said: “We’re very excited about the players we are taking because we believe they are capable of performing at the highest level in Europe.

“While we have selected a small squad on this occasion, we are committed to helping talented young players to develop to reach this standard in the future and compete successfully for England on the European and world stage.”

The Championships take place in Riva Del Garda, Italy, from July 11th to 20th.

By Paul Stimpson (June 13th, 2014)