The Field

With game time fast approaching (10:00 AM, 10/10/10) it seemed opportune to scout some of the opposing rosters.  Being the premier junior event of 2010, very few of the teams can be taken lightly.  Certainly, though, some are far more dangerous than others.  Roster personnel can be found here.

So, who should you look out for?

Certainly two teams that jump off the page are France and Israel.

France - Headlined by Thomas Bessis -- perhaps inarguably the most successful junior in the world over the past year having won this year's Vanderbilt and finished 4th in the prestigious Cavendish Invitational Pairs -- this team appears to be deadly.  Nicolas Lhuissier finished 3rd in the World Junior Paris in 2009 and Cristophe Grosset is a former European Junior Champion and fresh off a 2nd place finish at the recent FISU championships.  He'll partner rising French youngster and FISU teammate, Cedric Lorenzini.

Israel - By far the most experienced team in the field, Israel sports 43 years combined junior-team membership between 6 players.  Mostly comprised of the 2006 FISU championship team, Israel finished 2nd in the last European Junior Team Championships.  Top to bottom, hardly a weak link.

Wild Cards - The rest of the field contains some very good players, but also some all stars, Junior status aside.  Andy Hung's Aussie squad can be counted on to win a match at any time, as can former-European-Open-Champion Espen Lindqvist's Norwegians.

The next month will probably draw out quite stressfully as Jason and I prepare and try to get to a level where we could possibly defeat all these teams.  Hopefully I'll feel much more calm once the action starts like in prior years.  I received word from Captain Kevin Wilson yesterday that Jason and I will likely be in for our first match vs. USA2, a team that may boast the best partnership in the tournament of Owen Lien-Zach Brescoll.  It helps to know when our campaign will start... but only slightly.