Paul Drinkhall is looking forward to passing on his knowledge and experience to the next generation when he makes a first foray into England squad coaching at the European Youth Championships.

Drinkhall will coach the Junior Boys’ line-up at the event in Czechia next month – in an event at which he had huge success in his Junior days.

He was Cadet Singles champion in 2004/05, and in 2007/08 won the gold medals in all three Junior individual events – Singles, Doubles and Mixed – and was unbeaten across the entire tournament.

He won another Junior Mixed Doubles in 2006/07 and also took golds in the team events at both levels during his career.

“It’s a long time ago that I was in the Juniors,” he said, “but I think the confidence the players can have knowing I’ve been in their shoes and done well, hopefully that can be worth something to them.

“Plus, over my career, I’ve got a lot of different experiences in different scenarios and moments and can share those with the players.

“I’m going to do a few days at training camps beforehand and try to get to know the players and their styles a bit more.

“Coaching is different to what I’m used to but I’m looking forward to being part of the team and hopefully helping the guys get the best out of their tournament.”

The opportunity arose as a result of training camps at the Elite Training Centre in Sheffield, where the senior players often work alongside the young squad players.

“It just came out of conversations with Gavin (Evans, Director of Performance Development), John (Murphy, Senior Pathway Coach) and the rest of the coaching team while I was at training camps,” said Drinkhall.

“We talked about me helping out the young players, which was something I’d done a bit of, with sparring and coaching, and is something I’m interested in doing.”

Drinkhall is still very much part of the playing set-up, but hinted that coaching may form part of his future.

He said: “It’s something that’s more of a one-off at the moment, but who knows what the future holds and what that looks like for me?

“It’s definitely something at some point I’d be interested in. I’ve had a lot of different experiences in my career and it would be a shame to not help the next generations.”