England men have been moved up to eighth seeds for the ITTF Team World Cup, meaning they are certain to face a mouthwatering tie against either Japan or China on Thursday evening.
Simon Gauzy’s withdrawal from the French squad today because of injury means the seedings have been reorganised.
France, originally seeded seventh, drop to ninth, elevating England from ninth to eighth. That puts them in the second group of seeds and, according to the draw protocol, in line to play one of the top two seeds on Thursday night. Their second match will be on the Friday morning session.
Their opponents will be confirmed when the draw takes place at 3pm today.
Tickets are still available for the Thursday evening session – click here to buy tickets.