By Jack Miller

New Cross student Craig Worman may have had an inconsistent year, but the fencing starlet insists the sky is the limit this year.

The 19-year-old, currently studying Politics at Goldsmiths University, is gearing up for a tilt at a World Cup medal in Basel later this month – where a good result could see him selected for the Great Britain epee squad travelling to the World Championships later this year.

Worman suffered disappointing individual results at the Junior European Championships but believes his partnership with new coach David Keszler can instigate a successful run.

“I chose to come to university in London especially to make sure I got better quality training,” said Worman, who is supported by SSE’s Next Generation scheme.

“Starting out with a new coach for the domestic season was really challenging, but I got a bronze at the London Invitational which showed my tactics and new skills are working.

“There are good things to come, and if I can get to the last 16 in Basel that would qualify me for the World Championships.

“We’ve been fourth two years in a row at the Worlds, so we are really hungry for a medal.”

Worman is now sixth in the British under-23 rankings, with a top-four spot required for World Championship selection.

Having learned some harsh lessons in 2015 he is determined not to make the same mistakes again this year.

He added: “To be honest I was a bit cocky and the individual results were not representative of where I am.

“I learnt a lot of lessons and did a lot of growing up. The most important thing is learning tactics and getting used to different scenarios in high-pressure situations.

“Olympic champions are not always the top juniors in fencing, and both the Commonwealths and the Europeans were a big learning curve in terms of not getting ahead of myself and taking things one hit at a time.”

SSE’s Next Generation programme partners with SportsAid to provide financial support and training to the sports stars of the future. For more information follow @SSENextGen on Twitter.