WORCESTERSHIRE teenager Lewis Barnes is going for gold in the Commonwealth Youth Games this week.

The 18-year-old tennis player from Torton, near Hartlebury, competes in the men’s singles and the doubles with Doncaster’s Christopher Harrison in Pune, India.

Barnes is looking forward to the challenge and is aiming for gold or silver for Team England in his main event, which is the singles.

He said: “It’s very hot here but the people are really nice and the food is good, which is always a plus.

“The venue is great — it’s apparently sold out for every day of the tennis so it should be a really good experience. I’ve been to India twice before but I still can’t believe how hot it is here.

“India, New Zealand and Wales all have pretty good players. I’ve played against a few of them before and we’re pretty even really. I’m aiming for gold or silver but I’ve got to play well to get there obviously. I’m also playing doubles but singles is my main event.

“I don’t play a lot of doubles and don’t really train for doubles. It’s fun — you do a few things you wouldn’t do in singles — and my partner is good, so I don’t want to let him down.”

Barnes added: “I’m hoping to play a night match — I’ve trained under floodlights but never played a match before.

“The courts here are really nice — they’re new so the ball bounces really high and the air is really thin so the ball travels really quickly. I’m really enjoying it.”

Team England have an 80-strong team competing at the Games which run until Saturday.

They finished first in the overall medals table at the first Games in Edinburgh in 2000 with 36 golds and second at the 2004 Games in Bendigo, Australia.