British table tennis stars aim for Olympic qualification in Minsk

BySportsbeat

Published 21/06/2019 at 16:10 GMT

Sam Walker, Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford could become kings of the continent at the European Games – but the British table tennis duo also have the bigger picture in mind.

Eurosport

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The trio will be in action in Minsk, Belarus, in the second-ever iteration of the European Games and the gold medal-winning team will clinch qualification for the Toyko 2020 Olympics, as will as the three individual medallists.

Walker, Drinkhall and Pitchford were three-quarters of the England team that won Commonwealth Games bronze last year and all three have their sights set on securing a guaranteed route to the next Olympics before the month is out.

"It's probably been in most of our minds for the last few years because it’s the pinnacle of the sport," said 24-year-old Walker, who is attempting to make it to his second Olympics.

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"Trying to get to the Olympics is always on your mind but it's more of a motivator than anything else. It's not going to put too much pressure on us.

"It’s more just about motivating ourselves and getting ourselves ready. Hopefully, we'll do well."

Drinkhall, 29, added: "For me, I'd like to qualify for the Olympics next year as early as I can and the team event in Minsk is the first opportunity for that.

"This is a big event but that’s the main focus for me from this event."

Drinkhall and Pitchford teamed up to win doubles gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games with both aiming to appear at a third Olympics.

Pitchford will be in singles competition – as will Walker – while the Great Britain team are seeded fourth for the team event.

The 25-year-old is confident that he and his teammates will make a splash in Minsk.

"I think we've got a good chance. I'm the number four seed in singles and we're the number four seed in team [event], and it gives us a better draw, especially in the team," said Pitchford.

"We know, on our day, we can beat anybody. We’ve shown in the Team World Cup and World Championships before that we’re capable of beating any team we play.

"We know it’s going to be difficult. We'll just take one match at a time and hopefully, we can play well and get some wins."

The table tennis at the European Games gets under way on Saturday.

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