Top table tennis players thrill big crowd in Crawley

The K2 was the setting as England beat Serbia 3-0 but were defeated by the same scoreline by a strong French team in two European Team Championships qualifiers last Thursday and Friday.

England started with a comfortable victory over Serbia as three-time Olympian Paul Drinkhall got the first point on the board with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 12-10) victory over Bence Bognar. National champion Tom Jarvis then defeated Aleksa Gacev 3-1 (11-3, 11-1, 9-11, 11-6).

The third match was a walkover as Serbia’s Milos Djukic had to pull out with an arm injury after only six points against Sam Walker.

As the match ended early, spectators were treated to an exhibition between Walker and Drinkhall, before two young fans were randomly selected from the crowd to join a doubles match with the England aces.

The second match against France was always likely to be tougher as their players were ranked higher than England’s in every match and France are ranked the third best team in Europe, while England are seventh.

The first tie in front of more than 700 vocal supporters was a thriller as Can Akkuzu edged past Drinkhall 3-2 (14-12, 11-13, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8), and the second was equally high quality as 16-year-old wonderkid Felix Lebrun came from behind to defeat Jarvis 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7).

David McBeath came into the England side for the match and he pushed Jules Rolland all the way before going down 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 15-13).

However, by finishing second in their qualifying group, England will qualify direct for the Championships in Sweden in September, without having to go through a play-off.

England Performance Director Gavin Evans said: “The crowd were amazing throughout and it was a superb venue to play at.

“It was a good win against Serbia and France was a good match. I couldn’t ask much more from the lads and I hope the spectators enjoyed it.”

If you would like to check out the action, it is available free of charge on TTE.TV (registration required).