Liam Pitchford has been ruled out of the European Championships and WTT Star Contender London with a hip injury which requires surgery.
The England No 1 has been managing an injury to his right hip since before the Paris Olympics last year, but it has worsened in recent weeks and an MRI scan has confirmed action is now needed to fix the problem.
Liam will see Professor Damian Griffin, one of the world’s leading hip specialists, for keyhole surgery in the coming weeks, with a period of managed recovery and rehabilitation then required with the strength and conditioning and physio team at the Elite Training Centre in Sheffield.
The aim is for the four-time Olympian to be fully fit and firing ahead of the 2026 World Team Championships in London.
England will not select a replacement for the European Championships in Croatia next month, with Tom Jarvis, Paul Drinkhall, Sam Walker and Connor Green ready to represent the Leopards.
Director of Performance Development, Gavin Evans, said: “It’s obviously massively disappointing for Liam and for England.
“We’ll give him all the support he needs on and off the table to recover from this and turn it into a positive of getting him moving better and acting as a springboard to the Worlds in London and on to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“Liam’s only 32 and there’s plenty of top-level table tennis left in him.
“In terms of the European Championships, the rest of the squad are heading to a prep camp in Madrid in a few days and then coming back to Sheffield immediately before we leave for Croatia. We’re confident we can put in a good performance at the competition.”
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