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Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014: our sports writers choose their top picks for the year ahead

Our sports writers choose their hottest prospects for the forthcoming year, including a sprinter who can give Usain Bolt a hurry-up and a pace bowler to frighten the Aussies

Friday 03 January 2014 02:50 GMT

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

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1/12In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Football : Patrick Roberts (right)

It is early days for Patrick Roberts, who only turns 17 in February. Nevertheless, the winger from Fulham’s academy finds himself one of the hottest properties in junior football at a time when his club’s future is in flux and opportunities could present themselves over the next 12 months. Fulham’s record of bringing players through from their academy has not been good but the recruitment of Huw Jennings, who pioneered the great Southampton talent production line, is starting to yield results. The club are currently top of the Premier League Under-21 table but it is on developing players like Roberts, a local boy born in Kingston-upon-Thames, that they will ultimately be judged. Roberts is a left-footed winger who is deployed on the right and likes to cut in and shoot on his stronger foot. He has fantastic close control and a terrific turn of pace. Slight of stature but capable of leaving defenders in his wake, there is something of the old-school traditional winger about him. His goal for England Under-17s against Armenia in October is worth a look on YouTube. Sam Wallace

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Skeleton: Lizzy Yarnold

“Petrifying” was how Lizzy Yarnold described her first experience of a skeleton course. It clearly appeals to the former heptathlete as in the space of four years she has gone from novice to potential medallist at next month’s Winter Olympics. If there is a British tradition when it comes the Games it’s the women’s skeleton, and the 25-year-old has what it takes to win a fourth successive medal in Sochi. Recruited on a talent-spotting day, she has been on the podium in all four World Cup races this season and leads the rankings – from compatriot Shelley Rudman, who won silver in 2006 and is the world champion. It’s a sport of slim margins but either could succeed Amy Williams, gold-winner in Vancouver, with Yarnold the form pick right now. Robin Scott-Elliot

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Rugby Union: Anthony Watson (left)

When well-heeled Bath ripped their way through the London Irish squad like a plague of locust-like shoppers hitting the sales, it was difficult to know which of their many purchases would prove the best value for money. While Jonathan Joseph has shown flashes of England form in midfield and Matt Garvey is invaluable as a back-row juggernaut, Anthony Watson promises riches beyond measure. So much so that the uncapped teenage full-back is already on Stuart Lancaster’s list of investments ahead of the home World Cup in 2015. Lancaster sees Watson, who played a year young in England’s triumphant Under-20s World Cup team, as a wing and you can see why: at 6ft 2in and the best part of 15st, he has plenty of size to go with his straight-line speed and elusive running skills in broken field. The road from Ashford to Twickenham via the Georgian city in the West Country may well be paved with gold. Chris Hewett

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Football: Jonathan Williams (right)

Lesser players than Crystal Palace’s Jonathan Williams might wonder where the future lies under new manager Tony Pulis because the 20-year-old does not conform to the Pulis brand of football. But he will find plenty of opportunities elsewhere. Williams’ energy, control and fleetness of foot led Pulis’s predecessor Ian Holloway to make comparisons with David Silva. He is marginally shorter than Silva at 5ft 5in, though he has answered the questions raised by his relatively small stature by delivering a big workload. Two-footed, with a preference for his left, he has a bull-like ability to burst out of tight situations, and it was this which led the late Gary Speed to call him up for Wales, where they like to call him Joniesta, in tribute to Spain’s Andres Iniesta. An early-season ankle injury curtailed his maiden Premier League campaign at Palace, where he was named young player of the year last season. A probable new contract for him will include the buy-out clause which will offer Palace greater protection. Ian Herbert

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Golf: Brooks Koepka

Here’s what Open champion Phil Mickelson thought of Koepka’s power hitting and deft touch on the greens after a practice round at Muirfield: “He’s a really talented player. His ball-striking is extremely solid, he’s a wonderful putter.” What else is there, Phil? Were Koepka left-handed, Mickelson might have been talking about a younger version of himself. Part of the trend of young Americans seeking to establish credentials in Europe, the 23-year-old from Florida turned pro in June 2012. Three months later he claimed his first win on the European Challenge Tour. Three more victories early last year earned him his full European Tour card. In his first PGA Tour start last October, Koepka led the Frys.com Open by four shots with 12 to play before falling away down the stretch. Forget the collapse. It was the stuff that came before that has the golf world purring. Kevin Garside

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Athletics: Delano Williams

British male sprinting in 2013 was all about James Dasaolu and Adam Gemili but that pace duo has the makings of becoming a trio next season with the arrival of Delano Williams. Born in Turks and Caicos Islands, he runs in British colours thanks to his passport, but he has yet to make his mark on the global senior ranks following a blistering junior career. The 20-year-old ran with Gemili in the 200m heats at the World Championships in Moscow last year but was over half-a-second slower and not as convincing as the youth form he showed in March when he became the first non-Jamaican to win their boys’ and girls’ championships. His time of 20.27 was just two thousandths of a second behind the championship record set by Usain Bolt. It was enough for Bolt to invite him to train with him from October this year. Training with the fastest man on the planet can only help Williams’ cause, and Bolt is already tipping him to be “a great”. Matt Majendie

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Boxing: Paul Butler

Paul Butler has won a British title, knocked out the losers, shared the ring with tough survivors in long fights and in 2014 he will be part of British boxing’s continued renaissance. The super-flyweight is now unbeaten in 14 fights and ready to move up one level for risky fights in a division where there are very few weak links; there is also a chance that he will gain three pounds and fight Stuey Hall for the Darlington man’s IBF bantamweight title. “I’m ready now to fight the best, take the hard fights and win a world title,” said Butler, who is one of 50 British contenders with unbeaten records. “The world champions at super-flyweight are all quality – it will not be easy.” Butler, 25, is just one of about 30 young boxers who are moving closer to the top of the British listings after brilliant amateur careers at both club and international level; he will beat all the other young British fighters and be the first contender to win a world title. Steve Bunce

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Football: Saido Berahino

Whoever becomes the new West Bromwich Albion manager will inherit that most precious of football assets: a natural goalscorer. Saido Berahino came to Britain aged 10, an asylum-seeker like Mo Farah and Fabrice Muamba. Originally from Burundi, in central Africa, Berahino has flourished in his adopted country, aided by a gift for goals that led Albion to sign him up within a year of his arriving in the UK. He has since scored for several England age-group teams, on various loan moves, and six times in 16 outings – mostly as a sub – for Albion. At 20, he is ready to make an impact in the Premier League and could break into the full England squad in time for the World Cup. Roy Hodgson intends to take some young players for the experience and Berahino, already nicknamed “Defoe” after the Tottenham poacher, could pinch the latter’s spot as an impact substitute with youth on his side. Glenn Moore

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Cricket: Tymal Mills

There was a point early on England’s tour of Australia when Ian Bell, then still ranked in the world’s top 10 batsmen, turned round and asked: “Why isn’t this bloke playing?” Mills had just bowled him with a fast, swinging ball so the reaction was perhaps understandable. But if it’s good enough for Bell, it may be good enough for others among the world’s best. Mills is fast and left-arm, a combination sought after by coaches worldwide (look at Mitchell Johnson). He is raw, wayward, did not play cricket until he was 14, and seven years later is still finding his way in the game with Essex after a spell as a journalism student. But fast bowlers of his pace rise suddenly. He was impressive throughout his spell with England as a net bowler, is well-liked and well-disposed. Still with only 18 first-class matches behind him, this could be the year he bursts through. Stephen Brenkley

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Tennis: Vasek Pospisil

Canadian tennis has rarely had it so good. Milos Raonic became the first of his countrymen to reach the world’s top 10 last summer, Eugenie Bouchard was named the newcomer of the year on the women’s tour and now Vasek Pospisil is emerging as a major talent. Pospisil climbed 93 places in the rankings in 2013 to No 32, with Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet among his notable victims. The 23-year-old from British Columbia, whose parents emigrated to Canada from the former Czechoslovakia, has a big game to match his 6ft 4in frame, including a booming forehand that can trouble the best. He made particularly good progress after moving to Canada’s new national training centre in Montreal in 2010. Raonic and Pospisil have quickly made the Canadians a force to be reckoned with in the Davis Cup. They reached the semi-finals last year, which equalled their best ever result. Paul Newman

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Football: Nabil Bentaleb

Every change of regime brings winners as well as losers and few players will benefit as much from recent events at Tottenham Hotspur as Nabil Bentaleb. The French midfielder knows Tim Sherwood well, having worked with him in Spurs’ under-21s, and it is already clear how much the new head coach trusts the 19-year-old. Bentaleb made his debut on 22 December, thrown into the hectic battle of a Premier League away game. Spurs were drawing 1-1 with Southampton with 40 minutes left, and Sherwood put Bentaleb on ahead of more senior midfielders. “I don’t know a lot of these new players,” he explained, “but I know I can trust the kid, he’s ready to play.” He is right. Bentaleb is a very impressive player already; strong, canny, clever, with brilliant feet and a burst of pace. The longer Sherwood stays in charge, the more of him we will see. Jack Pitt-Brooke

In Pictures: Young guns set to shoot to stardom in 2014

Rugby League: Matty Russell

At 20, Matty Russell has already had an interesting start to his career. It stands to get more interesting still in 2014. After a handful of games for Wigan and more on loan at Hull, Russell backed himself by signing with the Gold Coast Titans. He could not break into first grade at the NRL club, but made up for it when he was called up for the World Cup by Scotland – he was born in Irvine, before being brought up in Wigan. He had an outstanding tournament, scoring four tries in four games. For the coming season, he has been snapped up by Warrington, who have given him the No 1 jersey worn with such distinction by Brett Hodgson. Russell has a long way to go to match Hodgson’s achievements, but his elusive running could prove to be a feature of the Super League season. Dave Hadfield

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