England have named a nine-strong squad as their men’s and women’s teams prepare to go head-to-head with the continent’s best teams at the European Championships in October.
The men’s squad features Liam Pitchford, Tom Jarvis, Sam Waker, Paul Drinkhall and Connor Green – the first four are no strangers to this competition but it will be a first team Euros for Green, who made his Championships debut at the individual event last year.
The women’s squad will be led by Tin-Tin Ho, with Tianer Yu, Jasmin Wong and Ella Pashley also on duty.
It is the same quartet which performed so well at the qualifying tournament in January, when England booked their place with a 100% record.
Ho, of course, has extensive Championships experience, while Wong made her major debut at the Europeans two years ago.
The draw for the event has already been made, with the men due to face fourth seeds Portugal and Greece in Group D and the women up against hosts and seventh seeds Croatia and Italy in Group G.
The competition is in Zadar, Croatia, from 12-19 October and the team will be supported by Director of Performance Development Gavin Evans, John Murphy and Carlo Agnello from the coaching team, and physio Justin Lucas-Hill.
Evans said: “Good luck to the team heading out to Croatia for the European Championships.
There’s a good mix of youth and experience in both the men’s and women’s teams.
“There’s a real tough group coming up for both teams, and we’ll give it our all and fight for every point.
“The teams have been preparing hard. We’ve got a great prep camp coming up in Sheffield at our Elite Training Centre and we’ll do everything we can to come back with come great performances under our belt.”
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