England Select Young Squad For European Junior Championships In Belgium

England is pinning its hopes on a young squad to retrieve the European Junior U19 Team Championship title which the nation lost to Germany last year after a 21-year reign. All but one of the five-player mixed squad named today by England Squash are aged 17.

The 2007 European Junior U19 Team Championship takes place in Herentals and Brussels in Belgium from 5-8 April, following the Individual Championships from 31 March to 3 April.

The England squad features:

Victoria Bell, 17, from Carlisle, Cumbria - the reigning British Junior U17 National and Irish Junior U19 Open champion, and former England U17 & U15 international

Victoria Lust, 17, from Maulden in Bedfordshire - the British Junior U19 National champion; a former U17 and U13 champion; and a former England U15 international

Joe Lee, 17, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey - a British Junior U19 Nationals finalist and former U17 champion in his fourth successive year as an England junior international

Oliver Pett, 18, from Billingshurst in Sussex - a former British Junior U15 finalist and former England U15 international

Adrian Waller, 17, from Enfield in Middlesex - the reigning British Junior U19 National champion and also a former U17, U15 and U13 champion, who is also marking his fourth successive year as an England junior international

The England party will also be boosted by further players who will compete in the Individual competition, including:

Kimberley Hay, 15, from Gosforth in Newcastle-upon-Tyne - a former British U15 & U13 champion

Sarah-Jane Perry, 16, from Kenilworth in Warwickshire - the British Junior U19 Nationals runner-up who is making her European championships debut

Tom Pashley, 18, from Ringmer in Sussex - a former British U15 champion.

"Competition in this event increases each year as squash develops throughout Europe - but we feel we have a strong squad which can reclaim the trophy," said Team Manager Annette Pilling.