Team England athletes heading to India
2nd October 2008Team England will take an 80-strong team to India to compete at the third Commonwealth Youth Games, which get underway in the city of Pune later this month.
England athletes will compete in all nine of the sports on the Pune programme – athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. The 2008 Games run from 12th to 18th October.
The Commonwealth Youth Games have already proved a valuable first experience of an international multi-sports event for many young athletes.
Boxer James DeGale struck gold for Team England at the last Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo in Australia four years ago before winning bronze at the senior Commonwealths in Melbourne in 2006 and then Olympic gold in Beijing in August.
Gymnast Louis Smith also won gold on the pommel horse in Bendigo and then gold in Melbourne two years ago. This summer he became the first Briton to win an Olympic gymnasts medal for 80 years when he won bronze, again on the pommel horse, in Beijing.
The crop of young Team England athletes preparing for Pune are aiming to follow in their footsteps.
Among the Team England track and field team for Pune are 18-year-old Jordan McGrath from Birmingham, who was fourth in the 400m at last year’s World Youth Championships and seventh at this year’s World Junior Championships; 18-year-old pole vaulter Nick Cruchley from Stourbridge, who came fourth at last year’s World Youth Championships; and 17-year-old Northamptonshire sprinter Deji Tobais, 100m winner at the 2008 UK School Games in Bath.
Meanwhile Hull hammer thrower Pete Smith is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dave, who won gold for England at the senior Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, and brother Alex, who took gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo four years ago.
The 15-strong England swimming team features Jess Dickons, bronze medallist in the 200m butterfly at the 2008 World Short Course Championships, and Natalie Durant, a gold medallist in the 4x100m freestyle relay team at the 2006 European Junior Championships.
Ann Hogbin, Team England’s Chef de Mission in Pune, said: “The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games will enable young athletes to gain vital experience of competing on the international stage.
“We hope it will provide a valuable springboard for our young athletes, and particularly for those who are striving to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 or the London 2012 Olympics.
“I’d like to wish them all the very best of luck in Pune and I’m sure they will do us proud,” she added.
The young athletes competing in Pune will also have the opportunity to benefit from the experience of the Team England team officials. They include former swimmer Karen Pickering, a four-times Olympian, is Team England ambassador at the Games, while former hammer thrower Lorraine Shaw, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2002, is a member of the athletics coaching team and Rebecca Pantaney, a member of the England gold medal winning badminton team at the 1998 Games, is badminton team manager.
Team England finished first in the overall medals table at the first Commonwealth Youth Games, held in Edinburgh in 2000 with 36 golds, 41 silvers and 18 bronzes; and second to the host nation at the 2004 Games in Bendigo, Australia, with 41 golds, 31 silvers and 29 bronzes.
More than 1,300 athletes from 71 countries will compete at the Pune Games.
The full Team England team for the Pune Commonwealth Youth Games is:
Athletics
Format: name – event (date & place of birth/home)
Abdi Ahmed – 5000m (30.12.90, Hargeisa, Somalia/Sheffield)
Chris Baker - high jump (02.02.91, Norwich/Dereham, Norfolk)
Shaunagh Brown – discus & shot (15.03.90, London/Gillingham)
Niall Brooks – 800m (08.07.91, Stockport/Stockport
Lawrence Clarke – 110m hurdles (13.03.80, Lewisham/London)
Nick Cruchley – pole vault (01.01.90, Birmingham/Stourbridge)
Rachael Giwa – 200m (08.07.90, Barking/Ilford)
Curtis Griffith-Parker – discus & shot (27.09.90, Lewisham/Lewisham)
Abigail Haywood – pole vault (10.11.90, Huddersfield/Huddersfield)
Sophie Hitchon – hammer (11.07.91, Burnley/Burnley)
Simon Horsfield – 1500m (11.05.90, Manchester, Manchester)
Antonio Infantino – 200m (22.03.91, Welwyn Garden City/Hertford)
Abigail Irozuru – long jump (03.01.90, Crumpsall/Manchester)
Jade Ive – pole vault (22.01.92, Epsom/Epsom)
Katie Knowles – 3000m (06.06.90, Truro/ Truro)
Scott Johnson – high jump (02.10.90, Bedford/Bedford)
Jordan McGrath- 400m (03.03.90, Birmingham/Birmingham)
Emmanuel Okpokiri – 110m hurdles (20.04.91, England/Forest Gate)
Shelayna Oskan – 400m (20.01.90, Southwark)
Kelly Pagdin – javelin (17.10.90, Rotherham/ Rotherham)
Richard Peters – 1500m (18.02.90, Southmead/ Yate)
Matthew Smith – javelin (02.05.90, Exeter/ Exeter)
Pete Smith – hammer (20.07.90, Hull/Hull)
Rachel Stringer – 800m (28.02.91, Norwich/Norwich)
Andrew Sutcliffe – pole vault (10.07.91, Dukinfield/ Manchester)
Shaunna Thompson – 100m & 200m (08.04.92, Manchester/ Newton Heath)
Deji Tobais – 100m (31.10.91, London/ Rushden, Northants)
James Wilkinson – 5000m (13.07.90, Leeds/Leeds)
Benjamin Williams – triple jump (25.01.92, Stoke on Trent/Newcastle Under Lyme)
Badminton
Gary Fox – men’s doubles (11.04.90, Bolton/ Manchester)
Alyssa Lim – women’s doubles (23.01.91, Milton Keynes/Milton Keynes)
Richard Morris – men’s doubles (26.01.90, Sheffield/Sheffield)
Panuga Riou – women’s singles (13.03.92, Bangkok/Emsworth)
Kate Robertshaw – women’s doubles (13.09.90, Leeds/Leeds)
Benjamin Tier – men’s singles (13.02.91, Portsmouth/Havant)
Boxing
James Dickens – flyweight (12.04.91, Liverpool/Liverpool)
Kirk Garvery – middleweight (21.02.90, Lambeth/Clapham Common)
Daniel Phillips – lightweight (15.01.90, Middlesbrough/ Middlesbrough)
John Quigley – bantamweight (20.05.90, Liverpool/ Liverpool)
Thomas Stubbs – light flyweight (26.02.90, Munster/ Great Manchester)
Iain Weaver – featherweight (17.01.90, Dorchester/ Ferndown)
Shooting
Kristian Callaghan – 10m standard pistol (01.07.93, Reading/Midgham)
Chester Cobb – double trap (31.08.91, Aylesbury/Aylesbury)
Sheree Cox – 10m sport pistol, 50m rifle three positions, 50m rifle prone (16.07.90, Ashford/ Sunbury on Thames)
James Huckle – 10m rifle (17.09.90, Harlow/ Harlow)
Victoria Mullin – 10m sport pistol (22.04.90, Aldershot/ Woking)
Thomas Ward – clay pigeon trap (02.02.90, Pembury/ East Grinstead)
Rory Warlow – skeet (13.04.90, Plymouth/ Plymouth)
Swimming
Thomas Booth – 50m free,100m free, 200m free, 50m back, 4x100m free, 4x200m free, 4x100m med (21.03.91, Sutton-in-Ashfield/ Stockport)
Robert Cave – 50m breast, 100m breast, 200m breast & 4x100m med (17.10.90, London/ New Barnet)
Jessica Dickons – 50m fly, 100m fly, 200m fly, 200m ind med &
4x100m med rel (17.08.90, Stockton-on-Tees/ Stockton-on-Tees)
Natalie Durant – 50m free, 100m free, 100m back, 4x100m free, 4x200m free & 4x100m med (21.11.90, Hong Kong/Richmond)
Louisa Farrer-Fisher – 100m free, 200m free, 4x100m free, 4x200m free & 4x100m med (27.09.90, England/ Streatham)
Eleanor Faulkner – 4x100m free & 4x200m free (05.01.93, Sheffield/ Sheffield)
Rachael George – 50m free, 200m free, 4x100m free & 4x200m free (09.07.90, Stevenage/ Letchworth)
James Gibson – 200m breast, 4x100m free & 4x200m free (04.06.91, Bury/ Manchester)
David Gregory – 100m back, 200m back, 200m ind med & 4x100m med (10.09.92, Ascot/ Stoke on Trent)
Rikki Morris – 50m back, 100m back & 200m back (25.01.90, Nuneaton/ Nuneaton)
Katherine Venters – (27.09.91, Huddersfield/ Huddersfield)
Helena Thornton – (11.01.91, Nottingham/ Nottingham)
Daniel Vickers – (04.10.90, Stoke on Trent/ Stafford)
Daniel Waddingham – (16.07.90, Coventry/ Nuneaton)
Joshua Walsh – (31.08.91, Blackburn/Preston)
Table tennis
Gavin Evans – men’s singles & doubles (15.04.93, Ascot/ Nottingham)
Karina Lefevre – women’s singles & doubles (17.07.93, Stockton on Tees/ Thornaby)
Liam Pitchford – men’s singles & doubles (12.07.93, Chesterfield/ Chesterfield)
Natalie Slater – women’s singles & doubles (28.11.93, Newcastle under Lyme/ Stoke on Trent)
Tennis
Lewis Barnes (12.05.90, Bradford/ Birmingham)
Christopher Harrison (11.07.90, Doncaster/ Doncaster)
Lisa Whybourn (11.05.91, Huntingdon/ Cambridge)
Jade Windley (22.04.90, Boston/ Lincoln)
Weightlifting
Joshua Farghaly – 85kg (19.11.92, Manchester/ East Didsbury)
Jack Oliver – 69kg (04.01.91/Bexleyheath)
Benjamin Watson – 77kg (20.03.90, Oxford/ Didcot)
Hannah Powell – 48kg (12.12.92, Birmingham/ Birmingham)
Zoe Smith - 53kg (26.04.94, Greenwich/ Abbey Wood)
Wrestling
Ben Bellamy – 58kg (08.10.93, Chesterfield/ Derby)
Lawrence Carson – 63kg (06.08.92, Bolton/ Bolton)
Jack Longthorne – 42kg (22.08.93, Preston/ Bolton)
Christ Tshikeva – 69kg (22.03.92, London/ Tottenham)