POOL: TWO Trowbridge cuemen have been selected to represent England at this weekend's World 8-Ball Pool Championships in Yorkshire.

Stephen Borlase and Mike Eddy, who play for the Dursley Arms pub in Trowbridge, are in an 11-man squad hoping to wrestle the crown from reigning champions Scotland. The competition, which is organised by the European and UK Pool Federation, will be held over 14 days at the Leisure World complex in Bridlington.

Borlase and Eddy will represent England's second-string B1 squad in the team event and will both compete in the individual event.

Borlase, 33, is the current Wiltshire captain and is hoping to improve on his semi-final appearance at the European Championships on the Isle of Wight in November.

The Warminster-based salesman has won 59 of his 67 matches since his 2004 debut and hopes a solid performance in Bridlington will propel him into the elite A squad. "You have to win at least 50 per cent of your international matches to keep your place in the team," he said.

"I know the selectors have been looking at putting me in the A squad with the professional players, so with a few more wins this week I should not be too far away." In the team event, each player plays only one frame before handing onto a team-mate, making it difficult to establish any real rhythm.

Borlase said: "It's hard to keep your concentration but you just have to go with the flow. If you make a mistake at this level then somebody will punish you. There are no second chances in international pool."

Team-mate Eddy, 27, has been an integral part of the England squad for the past four years. He has a 62 per cent win ratio in international matches and last year qualified for the quarter-finals of World Championship in the singles event.

He said: "To get to the last eight out of the 360 players who started the competition was great. In the end I lost to the defending champion from France. "I've won all 18 of my games in the Trowbridge League this year, so I feel in good form going into the championships. But the international stage is a different challenge altogether."

Should Eddy and Borlase progress to the latter stages of the singles competition they will be subject to the glare of a world-wide audience. This year's competition will be televised by Sky Sports and Eddy knows it will be tough to keep his focus.

He said: "It's hard enough to concentrate when you're playing Scotland in a major final, but the TV cameras will bring added pressure.

"I'm really looking forward to it though and it's nice that Stephen will be there as well. For two years I was the only Wiltshire player involved so it's great to have somebody from the same pub," he said.