Chesterfield's Liam Pitchford to compete in first international tournament since COVID-19 outbreak

Liam Pitchford is ready for a long-awaited return to action.

The England No 1, who was world-ranked 15 when the rankings were frozen in April, is in the field for the Liebherr Men’s World Cup and the ITTF Finals in China in November.

The events, alongside the Uncle Pop Women’s World Cup, comprise the ITTF’s #RESTART programme of events to relaunch the international calendar.

They will all be held in China, with the men’s and women’s world cups relocating from Bangkok and Dusseldorf respectively, and will be held in a bio-secure environment which will see athletes arrive ahead of schedule in order to undertake a period of quarantine and then remain in that competitive ‘bubble’ throughout the tournament.

Pitchford admits he had to think about the potential downsides of that, but the chance to earn ranking points and take on the world’s best players ultimately was too good to miss.

“It’s a good thing to get table tennis back restarted,” he said. “There have been a lot of other sports coming back recently, like the US Open tennis, and golf’s been back for a while, so table tennis needs to restart.

“It’s obviously going to be a long stretch of time to be out there, with the quarantine at the start and staying in one bubble. But I understand they want to take care of the players and officials.

“I had to have a long think and decide what’s best for me. I spoke to Gavin (coach Gavin Evans) and Simon (Director of Sport Simon Mills) and also my sponsor Victas, because it’s a good opportunity for them too.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to gain ranking points but not just that, it’s a good opportunity to get 10 days’ practising with the best players in the world before the tournaments, and also to get back to competing at the level we’re normally competing at.

“I’ve been practising well in Germany with some quality partners, including Ovtcharov, Duda and Assar, and I felt good, so that’s a positive and it’s about trying to keep that quality level when I get out there.”

Having not played in either event last season, Liam is in a win-win situation in terms of ranking points – whatever the outcome of the tournaments, he will add to his tally.