There is not much opportunity for relaxation for five of the England squad from the Commonwealth Games as they head straight to Munich for the European Championships.

Liam Pitchford, Sam Walker, Tom Jarvis, Tin-Tin Ho and Charlotte Bardsley are all in action in Germany in the Championships, which get under way on Saturday.

It is the individual events this year, so all five will compete in their respective singles events and in the doubles.

Jarvis & Walker are in the Men’s Doubles, while Pitchford partners Denmark’s Jonathan Groth. The pair are pictured above at last year’s World Championships, where Pitchford beat Groth in the singles.

In the Women’s Doubles, Ho lines up with Karoline Mischek, with whom she won European under-21 gold in 2019. Pitchford & Ho also compete together in the Mixed Doubles, as they did in Birmingham.

Pitchford extended his Commonwealth Games record to 11 medals overall with three more podium visits in Birmingham, including retaining the Men’s Doubles title with Paul Drinkhall, who has elected to miss the Europeans.

He also won a landmark silver in the men’s Singles – the best performance by an English athlete in that event in Games history.

Pitchford, who is ninth seed in the singles in Munich, said: “Obviously, going straight from a massive event like the Commonwealths into another big event is difficult.

“We’ve not got much time to chill out and reflect on how the Commonwealth Games was, but it’s another tournament to get some matches and hopefully get some good results.

“For me, it was towards the end of the singles event I started to feel really good and gained some confidence and hopefully I can just keep taking that forward into Munich – that’s the aim.”

The change of partner in the Men’s Doubles will mean some adjustments in style will need to be made, but Groth is no stranger to success at this level, or alongside Pitchford.

As a pair, they reached the last 16 of the World Championships in 2019, while Groth won the Europeans alongside Patrick Franziska of Germany in 2016.

“I know how good a doubles player he is – he’s won the Europeans before, and we’ve played together before and we got to the last 16 of the World Championships,” said Pitchford. “I’m used to playing with a right-hander, but hopefully we’ll gel.”

Success at these championships has eluded Pitchford and his England colleagues and he added: “We’ve been close on a few occasions, but it’s never quite materialised.

“The doubles and singles events were good in Birmingham. I got to a level I needed to be and gave myself a chance.

“I just need to go out there and fight like I did at the end of the Commonwealths.”

In the draws held on Thursday night, four of the five England players discovered their opponents in the singles qualifying stage. Pitchford is seeded straight into the main draw.

In the Men’s Singles, Walker is in Group 4 against Abdullah Yigenler of Turkey and Marko Jevtovic of Serbia. Jarvis playes in Group 7 against Eric Glod (Luxembourg) and Andrei Putuntica of Macedonia.

The Women’s Singles sees Bardsley in Group 6 alongside Nicole Arlia of Italy and Estonia’s Reelica Hanson. Ho is in Group 11 with Anna Wegrzyn of Poland and Sanne De Hoop of the Nertherlands.

Ho & Mischek are ninth seeds and go through to the main draw of the Women’s Doubles, while Walker & Jarvis are seeded into the main draw of the Men’s Doubles. Pitchford & Groth have a bye in the first qualifying round.

In the Mixed Doubles, Pitchford & Ho are into the main draw as 16th seeds, while Jarvis & Bardsley have a bye in the first qualifying round.