COLCHESTER’S England Junior Men High Performance Coach Lee Drew believes his squad are fully prepared for their World Championship, which starts at Eindhoven, Holland today (Sunday).
The draw is headed by Peru’s Diego Elias, the world no.43 who recently won the PanAm Games silver medal, but Drew is confident his squad of Merseysider Patrick Rooney, Yorkshire’s James Peach, Kent’s Bradley Masters, Hampshire’s Kyle Finch and Surrey’s Charlie Lee will acquit themselves well.
“The men’s draw looks exciting, as there is a large entry featuring some high-quality players,” said Drew. “The defending champion must go in as favourite, especially after his performance in the Pan American Games, but there is a lot of pressure associated with being favourite.
“The English boys have prepared well and are fighting fit and up for the challenge of the event. They all have the opportunity to progress through their initial matches if they perform to their capability.
“Patrick is the highest seeded English boy and is in good form, having won the recent Dutch Junior Open. He will be facing the winner of 16-year-old Indian Adithya Raghavan or home favourite Thijs Van Der Pluijm in his first match.
“Bradley has a Colombian opponent in the first round and has the incentive of facing 9/12 seed Mohammad Al Sarraj if he overcomes the first hurdle, a test he will certainly look forward to.
“Charlie goes into the event in good form, having performed well in the recent Chateau-Arnoux Open, and is up against a Qatari, Abdulwahab Khalid Al-Ishaq. He will be keen to progress so that he can challenge the 3/4 seed, Amr Arafa, in the next round.
“James is the second highest seeded English boy and has been training hard leading into the event and will want to perform well, building on the experience of having played in the World Championship last year.
“Kyle is coming off some strong performances at a competition in Wimbledon last week and will want to perform well in his first World Junior Championship.
“The World Championship is always an exciting event to travel to, as it features many unknown players and gives our players the chance to challenge themselves against opponents whom they may never have seen play before.”