Seven players carry English hopes into the European Youth Championships, which get under way in Guimaraes, Portugal, tomorrow.
Tom Jarvis leads a quartet of Junior Boys, alongside Luke Savill, Matt Leete and Josh Bennett, the four having recently won the team event at the Slovak Youth Open, where Savill was also individual champion.
Denise Payet represents England in the Junior Girls, while the Cadet Girls contingent is Charlotte Bardsley and Megan Gidney. Mollie Patterson was also selected but has had to withdraw through injury after the deadline to name a replacement.
Ethan Walsh and Amirul Hussain were originally selected to compete in the Cadet Boys category, however a series of disciplinary issues resulted in Walsh being deselected. This meant that Table Tennis England were no longer able to field a Cadet Boys Team and after subsequent discussions with Hussain, he decided not to attend this year’s event and instead concentrate on training and preparing for next year.
Therefore, the decision was made to withdraw the Cadet Boys from this years’ championship. These events also unfolded after the entry deadline and as such no further replacements were possible.
The competition starts with team events, which run between July 14 and 18, with individual events following between July 19 and 23.
The team draw has been made, with England’s Junior Boys up against France, Poland and Slovenia in Group A of Level 1 – the higher of two levels in the competition.
In the Cadet Girls, England have been drawn against Germany, Czech Republic and Greece in Group D in Level 1.
Click here to watch a promotional video for the event.