Ilkley’s Kyle Brassington hopes he has boosted his bid to compete in the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, later this year.

The Leeds Metropolitan University student, who was originally a reserve but replaced Stirling’s Joe Gill, represented Great Britain in the first qualifying tournament – the BNP Paribas ‘Master U’ International in Rouen, France – last month.

Brassington, who is a second-year sports performance course student, said: “The event was played on clay but indoors, which was a first for me.

“It isn’t my favourite surface, although I have had some good wins on it.

“On the first day, we beat China 6-1 and I won my singles and doubles. I defeated Chen 7-5, 7-5 and, partnering Richard Wire (Durham) (Bournemouth), we beat Li and Zhang 4-1, 4-0.

“We lost 6-1 to France in the semi-finals and I only played in the doubles, losing 4-5, 5-4, 1-0 to Piquion and Descloix.

“Great Britain then beat Germany in the third and fourth-place play-off and I played well to defeat a world-ranked player 6-2, 6-2.”

As for China, 23-year-old Brassington said: “I probably won’t hear until May or June as the team manager hasn’t been announced yet.”

Brassington, who is world-ranked 1400, is hoping to play a limited schedule this year when his studies permit.

“I will miss two tournaments in Britain this month but hope to play more often from March onwards, eventually playing abroad,” he explained.

“But I am helping out by coaching at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, which will fund my tournaments. I also hope to take a coaching course in the middle of the year.

“Then I want to play in both tournaments at my home club – the world-ranking tournament and the British Tour event, which has been upgraded from a Grade Two event to a Grade One event.”