Team GB have a mouthwatering match against France in the Olympic team event – effectively a rematch of England’s epic World Championship quarter-final earlier this year.

Today’s draw in Rio paired the two European rivals together, with the winners set to face Nigeria or China in the last eight.

The draw brings back memories of the amazing quarter-final in Kuala Lumpur in March, which England won 3-2 to secure the bronze medal.

The same three English players – Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker will carry the hopes of Team GB on this occasion.

Meanwhile, Drinkhall and Pitchford can see their possible paths through the singles tournament after today’s draw, but both must wait to discover who their first opponent will be.

Drinkhall will play the winner of a preliminary round tie between Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic and Australia’s Yan Xin in the first round, while Pitchford is most likely to face Czech Lubomir Jancarik in the second round.

The draw process saw the top 16 seeds placed straight into the third round, followed by seeds 17-32 – including Pitchford – placed into the second round.

Drinkhall was seeded into the first round and, finally, the preliminary round was drawn and both players could begin to map their possible path through the competition.

The first round will be played on Saturday, with Drinkhall due to be in action at 11.45pm UK time. Pitchford will play at 2pm UK time on Sunday.

The singles competitions last a total of six days, ending with the men’s singles medal matches on Thursday August 11. The team competition gets under way on Friday August 12.

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