Bermudian squash will be venturing into uncharted territory later this week as the senior national team head for Europe to compete at the World Team Championships in Vienna, Austria.

Although Bermuda established itself as the leading squash nation in the Caribbean over the summer, this will be the first time that the Island has ever sent a team to compete at a senior world championship. And as the smallest participating nation by quite some margin, the going is expected to be tough.

On the positive side, few other local sports teams have dominated the Caribbean region to the same extent as the national squash squad. Bermuda romped to victory in the Caribbean Championships in Barbados this August without conceding a match in the team event, while two of the team, Gary Plumstead and Nick Kyme, contested the final of the individual draw.

Despite a thriving junior programme however, arguably the strongest national squad in the history of the sport in this country, and the prospect of hosting one of the largest tournaments on the professional tour as of next year, Bermudian squash is still dwarfed by other squash playing nations in terms of facilities and financial resources.

But Bermuda's Director of Squash, Ross Triffitt, is convinced that even if his team struggle to compete against the likes of Australia, England and Egypt, the young Bermudians Nick Kyme, James Stout and Sam Stevens, will not be the whipping boys of the competition.

"We are not for a second pretending that we are likely to win the whole thing," he said.

"But we have a talented group who are definitely capable of competing with and beating some of the teams at the lower levels.

"There are 30 teams entered this year and there are a bunch of countries far larger than us, like Japan, Slovenia, Hungary, Russia, Korea and Hong Kong which we nevertheless have a good chance against. If we get placed somewhere around 25th, that will be an absolutely astonishing achievement for a programme of our size."

Triffitt said he was in no way concerned about the ability of his young charges to handle the pressure associated with playing on the biggest stage.

"All three of them have played at the junior World Championships and have been exposed to that sort of environment before. Nick has even played the world number one (Peter Nicol) on an all-glass court live on BBC television during the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. They have all been blooded for this competition and will cope well with its extra demands," he said.

In the first pool stages which begin on Monday, Bermuda have been drawn against Egypt, Finland and Hong Kong. The top two finishers in each pool then go through to a knockout draw for the title, while the bottom two feed into a succession of play-off matches which will determine each team's final ranking.

Bermuda's squash chief believes that the tournament will mark a watershed in the fledgling professional careers of Kyme and Stout.

"If they both get some wins under their belt in this tournament it will do their confidence a world of good and give their games the kickstart they often need," he said.

"Nick has had a tough time in the couple of tournaments he has played so far on tour but the big difference at this tournament is that he will not be travelling by himself but will have the support of the team and a coach. His level of play, even just by training thoroughly in Bermuda, is improving rapidly and he will benefit enormously from playing six matches in a short space of time against the best in the world."

"As for James," he continued, "he has had the best build-up any local player could possibly hope for over in Belgium, training with the World and British Open champion Dave Palmer and his coach. He's been preparing well for the tournament, training every day and playing matches in the very competitive league competitions they have in Europe. Having a hitting partner like the world champion is not exactly bad for your game!"

The team's third member is also the oldest, 22-year-old Stevens. The Durham University graduate, who juggles both squash and cricket, has been plagued by injury for most of his squash-playing life. Nevertheless, he has remained free of niggles for the last six months and Triffitt believes he will be a threat at number three in the order.

"Sam is a tremendous sportsman who has competed at a very high level in more than one sport," he said.

"He is used to playing in pressure situations and usually responds well. Everybody was very impressed, given that the amount of squash he has played has been restricted, with his performances down in the Caribbean where only he and Gary Plumstead did not concede a single game during the team competition.

"He has started to look somewhere near his old self recently and I think we can rely upon him to perform well once the tournament is underway."

The World Team Championships run from October 19 to 25.