The England squad for the European Youth Championships beginning in Croatia tomorrow has been reshaped due to a combination of positive covid tests and isolation requirements.
Joe Cope and Louis Price have had to withdraw from the boys’ squad and have been replaced by Naphong Boonyaprapa and Toby Ellis.
This is in line with the selection policy, under which the next eligible athletes needed to be selected from the losing quarter-finalists in the play-off competition from which the original squad was selected.
Amirul Hussain and Ben Piggott remain in the squad having completed a period of self-isolation. The England quartet will face Ukraine and Finland in Group H of the team competition, starting tomorrow.
On the girls’ side, Jasmin Wong and Amy Marriott have had to withdraw, but the news came too late to be able to select replacements and put them through the required covid protocols. Therefore, England have had to withdraw the Junior Girls’ Team event.
However, Mari Baldwin and Charlotte Bardsley will travel to Croatia for the Junior Girls’ singles and doubles events, which begin on July 21st.
The Cadet squad has also been affected but as the competitions in that age group do not start until July 27th, after the Juniors have finished, the situation will be reassessed at the beginning of next week following initial PCR testing.