A young England team is relying on a spirit forged over many years of friendship as they prepare to take on the might of India on their home soil at the Commonwealth Championships.

The competition, from 27 July to 2 August, is being held at the same time as the slimmed-down Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, from which table tennis has been cut after being part of the programme since 2002.

The sport is set to be restored for the 2030 Games in Amdavad, India – but in the meantime, the Commonwealth Championships is back on the calendar and plugging the gap, with a strong field expected in Delhi, headed by the host nation.

It is the first time the Championships has been held since 2019 and England has selected a squad headed by Tin-Tin Ho and Connor Green, who both played in every England match at the London 2026 World Championships earlier this year.

Green is joined by Joe Hunter, Shayan Siraj and Ben Piggott, while Ho lines up with Jasmin Wong, Mari Baldwin and Anna Green for an event which includes both team and individual competitions.

Ho is looking forward to recreating the vibe from last year’s EUSA, European University Championships, with all of the squad having represented University of Nottingham.

“It’s nice to be back together,” said the England No 1. “I think we’ll bond quite well as normal. We’ve been in uni together for the last few years so there’ll be no problems in that sense and I think we’ll support each other for the team event and the singles.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Wong: “We’ve all grown up together, we played junior events together and we see each other around in training and competitions anyway. We’re all good friends and it’s going to be a good team spirit.”

India has selected a strong team for the event, with the likes of Australia, Nigeria and Singapore also likely to feature.

Ho said: “It’s what we want. We want these matches and I want these matches to continue working on my game and hopefully get some good results as well.

“It’s always a good experience going into India, it kind of gives you a different perspective on life as well because it’s a different culture. All in all it’ll be very good for us, even if it will be challenging.”

The squad has been preparing in Sheffield under the guidance of coach Carlo Agnello, who will travel with them to Delhi.

“Not everyone from this team has the chance to represent England in bigger competitions, so I think it’s a great opportunity and motivation to show what’s possible and that if you keep working, you always get chances to represent your country,” he said.

“I think we go there and fight for every point, every match, try to win and see how far we can we can get. I think if everything falls into place, we have some chances of reaching good results. But we just prepare as good as we can, and then try to perform as good as we can and see where we end up.”

Ho and Connor Green will be the highest ranked English players – and could get into the medal picture in the Mixed Doubles, having enjoyed a series of good results this year, including winning a historic first WTT title at WTT Feeder Dusseldorf in March.

“I just want to play as many big matches as I can,” said Green, “whether it’s a home one where people are for me or an away one where people against me, I think the atmosphere it creates is really good to play, and I think and that’s why you train – to try and perform in those moments.”

On the doubles, he added: “We never try and play with too many expectations. It’s still not that long that we’ve been playing together, and I think every time we play we just try and slowly improve on some of the things that we wanted to do better and try and combine as well as we can. Then hopefully the result takes care of itself.”

“It’s been great building with Connor,” added Ho. “I’m really enjoying working with him and it’s helping my singles as well.

“I think we approach every tournament believing in our abilities and like we don’t really put pressure on ourselves for a certain result. But obviously we believe we can do really well, which I think is shown in the previous results.”

The inclusion of Siraj sees him featuring in a England shirt for the first time in several years – though he has been a regular presence at the Elite Training Centre in Sheffield until quite recently.

“I’ve been living in London since November so haven’t seen the team for a while,” explained the Yorkshireman. “I’m pretty grateful to be playing because I took a little bit of a step back from the sport since moving down and starting a full-time job – though I’m still involved, still playing a league in France.

“Luckily it kind of came at a good time for me when I’m in between different jobs and had a bit more time to practise.

“It was a lot more focusing on getting as much table time, but also getting in the best shape I can and making sure my mindset was in a good place as well.

“Ben, Connor and Joe – a I’ve known them since they were under-12 or under-11 and I was a Cadet, so I know them pretty well and I’m looking forward to the team event. Hopefully we can push each other and do the best we can.”