Captain Sylvie Gruszczynski 'hates losing' and has made clear she will give her best to help her French side earn a medal at the Under-18 European Championship starting on Friday.

The talented 18-year-old talented point guard is currently in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava for the competition, which takes place from July 9 to 18.

“I always want to win and I hate losing, I am a very ambitious person,” Gruszczynski told PA International on Thursday.

After winning all their five challenge round matches to book their ticket to the final phase, Gruszczynski and co also won all their preparation matches in May and will start the tournament on Friday against Bulgaria.

They must also play Spain, Turkey, Slovakia and Israel before hopefully progressing to the quarter-finals, which begin on July 16.

“We arrived in Bratislava two days ago and things are going well, we are definitely ready to play,” she added.

“We had a tournament preparation before hand in France as well as two weeks of intensive physical training.

“We start the tournament with great confidence. We have progressed both in the defence and attack areas and we are very positive about the European Championships.

“The main objective, set up by our coach (Francis Gomez) is to reach the quarter finals and finish in the top four because it will allow us to qualify for the World championships.

“But of course we, the players, we are more ambitious and we would like a medal.

“This tournament is a new step in our careers, these championships are going to be more physical and more intensive than the ones we've featured in before.”

This summer could also well be a crucial time in Gruszczynski's career the former Centre Federal player will join US Valenciennes Olympic after the finals.

Valenciennes have won four consecutive French Pro A titles since 2001 and were also crowned European champions this year.

Gruszczynski was one of the six players recruited by the high-flying outfit alongside Spain's Isabel Sanchez, American Chantelle Anderson, Serbia-Montenegro's Boba Tuvic and Frenchwoman Lucienne Berthieu as well as Portuguese point guard Ticha Penicheiro, who will replace France international Audrey Sauret, who is out with a knee cruciate ligament injury, until the start of 2005.

“I try not to think too much about Valenciennes, I prefer to remain concentrated on the European title,” Gruszczynski added.

“I consider this tournament as a new achievement and a good preparation ahead of next year with Valenciennes where I hope to finish my training as a young player and gain a lot of  experience on the professional championship.”

Gruszczynski has recently emerged as one of the probable French stars of the future and admits she could not live without basketball.

“I started playing basketball very young, at the age of four,” she said.

“My brother was playing already but my passion for that sport came gradually. 

“I was also living in the north of France and used to go and watch matches of Valenciennes. My model was and still is Audrey Sauret.

“I actually have no idea what I would have done if not basketball. I simply cannot imagine my life without it.”