TEESSIDE table tennis ace Paul Drinkhall, pictured, believes he can go on to win a World Junior Championships title after claiming three of the biggest wins of his career in Austria.
The Loftus 18-year-old is set to soar up the world rankings having reached the last 16 of a Pro Tour event for the first time, beating a trio of top-100-rated seniors at the Austrian Open.
British No 1 Drinkhall felt his displays in Salzburg showed he now has the mental strength to match his ability as he targets victory at the World Championships - his last junior event - in Madrid next month.
After winning a hat-trick of titles at the European Championships in Italy this summer, he sees no reason why he cannot add world honours.
Drinkhall said: "I've won three European titles this year, so why not win a world title? I'll be going there hoping to win it and although there is always some Chinese player who you have never heard of that emerges, I'm confident I can beat whoever it is."
He added: "Before, my game was up there with the top players, but my head let me down when I really needed it.
"I would lose concentration in winning positions, but with every match I play it's getting better and better.
"It's important because I think the mental part of the game is more than half the battle in top-level table tennis."
Drinkhall's Austrian Open success included a five-set win over Indian No 1 and former Commonwealth champion Sharath Kamal Achanta and an epic seven-set defeat of Russian's world number 36 Alexei Smirnov.
He was eventually beaten by Patrick Baum of Germany after being part of an England team including Ormesby's Danny Reed, which lost 3-2 to Slovakia in the first round.
Drinkhall's World Championship build-up continued this week with three games for his German club side Julich, currently third in the Bundesliga.
He has a Pro Tour event in Germany at the end of the month before the World Junior Championships from December 6-13.
"I'm feeling good going into tournaments at the moment and playing well and it's probably through the matches in Germany," he said.
Drinkhall has also been playing some less serious table tennis lately.
He appears on the Paul O'Grady show on Channel 4 tomorrow, playing a game of doubles with the chat show host, guest Paris Hilton and doubles partner Darius Knight.
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