A talented young racket sports player will receive his toughest test yet when he competes in the European Team and Individual Racketlon Championships in Vienna.
Since he started playing when he was six-years-old, Ross Wilson from Lowestoft has become an accomplished competitor in table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis.
Now aged 15, Ross has been playing racketlon for the last four years and, after recent success in national and international tournaments throughout the UK, he has been selected to represent Great Britain.
Having originated in Scandinavia, Racketlon is not a new sport as such but rather a sequence of the four racket sports in which Ross specialises.
One set - first to 21 points - is played across each sport and the player with the most points in total wins the match.
At the end of August, Ross will travel to Austria to take on some of the continent's hottest racketlon property.
'It's daunting but really exciting,' said Ross, who is ranked number six in the world.
'Having won tournaments and earned ranking points, it feels like hard work has finally paid off.
'My favourite is squash because it's just more fun than the others, but I love the overall battle of racketlon.'
Ross' achievements are even more remarkable given the funding difficulties he faces.
As with an increasing number of sports, all competitors are entirely self-funded. The story will be no different for the European Championships, where Ross' family will have to pay for kit, equipment, travel, accommodation and entry fees.
'There's just no funding and people don't know the facilities are there so no one plays,' said Andy Wilson, Ross' father.
'In Lowestoft there's no other young squash players at all - Ross is the youngest in the local leagues by 15 years.
'He's received generous sponsorship from Chris Harrod of Harrod Sports and we're still looking for funding opportunities but none have arisen.'
Despite the challenges, Ross' coach Gareth Bowker is optimistic about the youngster's prospects.
'He's a natural racket player and his hand-eye coordination is phenomenal, which makes a coach's job super easy,' he said.
'Racketlon will continue to grow and Ross can be a real ambassador for the sport.'
Ross will be competing in Vienna from August 25 to 26.
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