The long wait is nearly over for Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker as they tune up for their return to competitive table tennis.

Action resumes in the French Pro A league this week, where both Paul and Sam ply their trade – Paul having joined the Jura Morez club this season and Sam part of the Hennebont squad. There is the possibility of them meeting head-to-head when their teams clash on Friday.

Meanwhile, Liam is preparing to head to China at the end of the month for the ITTF #Restart series and is in the field for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup and the ITTF Finals which start in November.

The world No 15 earned his spot on the back of some stellar performances in the spring, reaching the final of the Qatar Open just before lockdown and beating world No 1 Xu Xin in the semi-finals.

The top English trio have been training at the University of Nottingham and are raring to go – but also nervous about getting back into competition for the first time in months, as they explain in this video: