THREE of Bermuda's best young squash players head off to Switzerland this weekend to compete in the World Junior Men's Championships.

This comes on the heels of a successful Bank of Bermuda Foundation Junior CASA (Caribbean) Squash Championships where the Bermuda team finished in second place to winners Guyana in the Boys Team Championship.

The trio going off to Zurich are Robbie Maycock, Micah Franklin, and Noah Browne.

They will be playing in individual competition first, and then in the three-man team championships.

Browne, who competed in the Under-15 division in Junior CASA, is likely to be one of the youngest competitors in the tournament and is likely to find the going tough.

Maycock is one of the best juniors Bermuda has ever produced and he is just coming off a fantastic showing at the CASA Championships having just won his fourth age group individual title.

He had previously won the Under-13, Under-15, and Under-17 divisions and his win in the Under-19 division in his last year as a junior places him at the top of the rankings of all Caribbean players competing in the World Juniors Men's Championships.

Players from the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands will also be competing in Zurich.

Although still a junior, Maycock is a very experienced competitor. He has played in international tournaments in England, Ireland, Wales, Sweden, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Guatemala, Peru and at the Professional Squash Association's World Team Championships in India, so he is acutely aware of the standard of players competing in Zurich.

When asked by the Mid-Ocean News about travelling to Zurich, Maycock said: "We are all very excited about this trip ¿ it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I must say, I have some insight into the standard of play because I've been playing in international tournaments for the past four years while I've been at school in England.

"These days the standard in Europe is very high, as it is in Asia, the Middle East, and in Australia and New Zealand ¿ everywhere. I have to be realistic and say that we're in a fairly small pool in the Caribbean and we are up against the best young players in the world. There are a couple of juniors who are ranked up in the top 50 on the professional circuit.

"It's going to be a real learning experience for Noah and Micah. I know it will open their eyes and be a huge inspiration. We'll be seeing the training techniques of the top players and we get to see their matches and see the incredible pace they play at, and their array of strokes.

"I've been drawn against an Irish player in the first round and I'll be giving it my all, and I know that Micah and Noah will be doing the same in their first matches. After the individuals we get to play in the team championships (in teams of three) so we get to play quite a few matches in the next two weeks. I think we'll all benefit from being exposed to the best in the world."

Franklin will be playing against an Italian while Browne will take on a Czechoslovakian in their first matches.

A record number of 163 players from 37 countries will be competing. The number one seed is Aami Atlas Khan of Pakistan who is a nephew of the legendary Jansher Khan.

The Bermuda team will be accompanied by national coach Denise Sommers.