Three English competitors are taking on the best young players on the continent at the European Under-21 Championships in Belarus, which start tomorrow.

New men’s Under-21 champion Helshan Weerasinghe, the man he beat in the final at the PG Mutual National – Tom Jarvis – and Luke Savill, will get their campaigns under way in Minsk. Jarvis is ranked 15th of the 56 players there, Savill 34th and Weerasinghe 52nd.

Jarvis will be hoping to perform at least as well as the inaugural edition of the event last year, when he reached the quarter-finals of the singles. On the way, he beat Tomas Polansky of the Czech Republic 4-2 in the last 16 – Polansky is the top seed at this year’s tournament.

Jarvis said:

You always go to a tournament looking to play your best. I got to the quarter-finals last year so I’ll try to go further than that, but I’m just going to have to play who’s put in front of me.

Jarvis & Weerasinghe reached the quarter-finals of the doubles last time, but they will not play together this time. Instead, Weerasinghe will partner Savill – the pair are ranked 23rd – while Jarvis and Swedish partner Simon Berglund are ranked 12th.