Liam Pitchford heads up England’s squad for the World Team Table Tennis Championships which will be the last major event before the Commonwealth Games squad is announced.
Newly crowned two-time English champion Pitchford is part of an eight-strong England squad with Andrew Baggaley, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker joining him on the men’s team.
Meanwhile Kelly Sibley and Joanna Drinkhall are joined on the women’s team by Hannah Hicks and 15-year-old Tin-Tin Ho for the World Championships, which run from April 28 to May 5.
The trip to Tokyo will be the last chance to impress at a major event prior to the Glasgow 2014 team being decided with the men’s and women’s teams hoping to secure promotion in the Far East.
Both are in the Second Division and are bidding to return to the Championships Division and the top tier of world table tennis for the first time since 1997 in Japan.
© Sportsbeat 2014