Knight was first spotted by this newspaper playing in a garden shed in Wandsworth in the summer of 2002 along with three young friends from council estates in London. The boys would travel to the shed - owned by a well-wisher - after school and honed their techniques under the guidance of Gideon Ashison, a former part-time library assistant and an inspirational coach.

“It was obvious that Darius had a special talent,” Ashison said. “The problem is that we could not afford decent facilities so the shed was the only option. The boys used to spend afternoons and school holidays there, with precious little room to swing their rackets. But they had incredible desire to learn and improve.”