He may have just missed out on the main draw for the World Squash Championship but Redbridge’s Richie Fallows insists he isn’t far off being able to rub shoulders with the sport’s best.

Currently ranked 162 in the world, the 18-year-old overcame world number 106 Rafael Alarcon to leave him one win away from the main draw for the World Championship in Manchester.

Standing in his way was fellow Englishman Jaymie Haycocks, and despite being ranked 100 places below his opponent, Fallows took the match the distance before falling 11-5 in the deciding set.

Despite the disappointment, it still proved quite an achievement for Fallows, a former Redbridge College pupil, who was competing in the qualifying stages for the first time in his young career.

Fallows, who finished third at the World Junior Championships in July, followed it up with second at the British Junior Championships, also in Manchester, and admits his season is shaping up nicely.

"It was really good to be around that level of players at the worlds and get a marker of where I am and knowing I am capable of getting near them and matching them," he said.

"The guys are so much older than me with a lot more experience. It was just good being around the qualifiers, the atmosphere was great and it is quite a big step up for me.

"I beat one of the longest serving players on the tour, Alarcon from Brazil, in his last match before he retires and then against Jaymie, I started a bit slowly but then got going.

"I should really have won the game, he came back to take it in the fifth set, but I was so close to winning.

"Getting to the main draw alone would have got me just over £1000 which for me, just starting out on the circuit is a lot of money.

"It would also be a big boost for my ranking points but I still got 75 from the qualifiers when normally I average 25."

Having finished with his studies at college in the summer, Fallows is determined to make his breakthrough in the sport and has opted to train full-time.

And, while competitions appear to be coming thick and fast at present, Fallows admits he will be cutting back ahead of a big outing at the turn of the year.

"There are events coming up but I have enough points in the juniors and I am pretty far ahead so I will just be doing a lot of training," he added.

"There’s the British Junior Open coming up in January where I will be ranked third or fourth, so it’s just about building towards that. I’m looking forward to it and seeing what I can do there."

Lloyds Bank Local Heroes, in partnership with Sports Aid, has supported 1000 of Britain’s most talented developing athletes. As part of Lloyds Bank’s commitment to helping future sports starts prosper, the programme has continued in 2013. 

Follow future stars at  www.lloydsbank.com/localheroes