England face a rematch with Sweden after the draw for the World Team Championships in Chengdu, China, put them in the same group.

Sweden beat England in the quarter-finals of the last edition of the Worlds, on their home turf in Halmstad in 2018 – there was no competition in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Since then, Sweden have strengthened and their formidable squad, featuring four top-40 players, includes Truls Moregard (pictured above), who was silver medallist at the individual Worlds last year.

As well as fifth seeds Sweden, England’s trio of Liam Pitchford, Sam Walker and David McBeath will face Australia and Poland in the four-team Group 5.

England call-up for McBeath

England beat Poland in the last 16 on their way to that dramatic bronze medal at the 2016 Worlds in Kuala Lumpur.

The Championships start on Friday – England are first on against Poland at 9am UK time on table 5.

The match with Sweden is on Saturday at 6am UK time on Table 1. There is then a long wait to play Australia at noon on Tuesday, on table 3.

Head to the WTT website for live streaming details – streaming is also available on the WTT YouTube channel.