It's mission Europe

GUERNSEY'S top junior players are taking on the best in Europe today. Competing at the European Youth Championships in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, the competition starts this morning and continues until Sunday 22 July.

The under-18 boys team of Garry Dodd, Scott Romeril and Adam Langlois have been drawn against The Netherlands, Cyprus and Azerbaijan.

The U15 boys pair of Oliver Langlois and Matthew Stubbington are up against Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Montenegro.

Meanwhile, Alice Loveridge and Paula Le Ber will compete in the U15 girls competition and they possibly have the strongest group as they face England, Luxembourg and Spain.

'They are very tough draws,' said the island's table tennis development officer Becks O'Keefe.

'These teams are used to playing in the European Youth Championships and it's our first time. It's going to be a new experience for our players.

'It's a very tough tournament.'

O'Keefe will look after the girls while Maurice James will manage the boys teams.

The Euros come on the back of last week's Island Games in Rhodes where the Guernsey table tennis had a fruitful time, in picking up the team silver.

Undoubtedly the star of the show was British Schools champion Loveridge, who on her 13th birthday last Friday won both the women's doubles gold with Kay Chivers and the singles gold.

Romeril, Dodd and Le Ber also picked up bronzes.

O'Keefe believes her juniors' success at the Games puts them in good stead for the Euros.

'It should do with the amount of medals we got,' she said. 'It was a good warm-up for our children.'

The Guernsey Table Tennis Association president Derek Webb says the trip to Slovakia is part of a long-term programme for the island's juniors.

'We just feel it's all part of the plan,' he said.

'We've done the Home Countries. Now we need to push our players and see what's achievable.

'It's going to be tough and it's another step in the right direction. It's an incentive for them to work hard to get away to these tournaments.'