Pitchford laments Britain's failure to qualify for the Olympics

Pitchford led a squad into the qualifying tournament in Portugal, knowing it was their only chance of becoming one of the 16 nations to compete in the team event at the Tokyo Games.

However, after beating Argentina 3-0, they lost a crunch match against Croatia and then suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Hungary.

Pitchford said: “We can’t beat about the bush. It just wasn’t good enough from any of us.

“Maybe we put a bit too much pressure on ourselves against Croatia, and it didn’t work out.

“I felt in control of my singles match, but I let it slip. Croatia are a good team, and they were better than us on the day.

“It’s obviously disappointing not to get a team into the Olympics, but we can’t change it now.”

The setback means that the 26-year-old Pitchford’s only hope of appearing at a third successive Olympics now depends on him clinching a place in the singles tournament. The qualifying process starts in April.

He returns to European action next month when he takes part in the Top 16 event on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9.

He added: “That’s the beauty of sport. You soon get another chance to prove yourself. One week, you can have a ba d time, but the next week, you can play well.”