HARRY Jones believes English beach volleyball is starting to earn respect after he played his part in a landmark achievement at the Under-21 World Championships.

Bournemouth’s Jones and Bournemouth University student Issa Batrane made it through to the main competition in Lucerne, Switzerland – the first time an England men or women’s team had reached the pool stage through the qualification process.

Jones, 18, and Batrane, 20, earned their place after beating Greece 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-11) and although they lost 2-0 to Poland (21-14, 21-16), the duo were added to the main draw as lucky losers.

Up against reigning Youth Olympic champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Artem Yarzutkin of Russia, the duo lost 2-0 in their first pool game (21-12, 21-14).

And although further defeats to Argentina (21-10, 21-9) and China followed (21-18, 21-16), Jones felt England’s stock had risen.

He told the Daily Echo: “England has never qualified a team into the main draw before so it is a big thing and shows we have made progress.

“We are putting ourselves on the map and are getting to the stage where teams are starting to respect us because we are becoming more competitive. When you get the result you deserve it makes it worth it. To do it on the big stage makes it even better.”

Next up for Jones is the Under-20 European Championships which are due to take place in Turkey in mid-June.

The LeAF Studio student hopes to one day compete at the Olympics but insists gradual progression is the main goal on his mind.

He added: “For now there is the national tour and senior NEVZA events and from there it is about trying to progress to the senior World Tour and then the Olympics.

“The Olympics are a very distant goal and it’s about taking it step by step. The main goal for now has to be to compete on the World Tour.”