England Leopards are heading to the European Championships buoyed by a cash bonus from Butterfly.

Table Tennis England’s Official Clothing Supplier has provided €5,000 to help with the squad’s preparation for the championships, which begin in Budapest on October 18.

The investment is a reward for England men’s brilliant bronze medal-winning performance at the World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur in March.

It will be used to fund a pre-event training camp in Denmark, plus pay for a physiotherapist to travel with the squad to Budapest and keep them in peak condition during the event. The training camp features the top Swedish players, plus Denmark’s Jonathan Groth and Russia’s Alexander Shibaev among others.

The investment has been welcomed by the players – Paul Drinkhall, speaking from the Denmark camp, said:

“It’s good to get the recognition and we need camps like this, so it’s great to get any help.”

Simon Mills, Head of Talent & Performance at Table Tennis England, said:

“This investment recognises the strides we have made in competing on the world stage and will be used to help us continue that progress.

“We saw at the Worlds just how important full-time physiotherapy support can be during an event, while pre-tournament training camps with top-class sparring partners help us to ensure our athletes are as well prepared and sharp as possible.

“We’re very grateful for Butterfly’s generous investment and looking forward to our next challenge in the international arena.”

Speaking as the official Butterfly representative in the UK, Alan Ransome OBE said:

“We are delighted with the much improved England Men’s results in the World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur in reaching the semi-finals.

“We are encouraged further by the strong performance from the players in Rio. We hope to see more good results in the European Individual Championship, and pleased that our contribution will have helped towards achieving this.”