Table tennis: Yorkshire's Paul Drinkhall hoping World Championship success can top eventful month

The Teessider and his family – wife Jo and children Dougie and Bonnie – moved into a new home earlier this month, and will be at the wedding of Paul’s brother Bryn this weekend.

In between, Paul attended a training camp in Sweden this week alongside team-mates Liam Pitchford, Sam Walker and David McBeath plus the Swedish national team.

It has been a busy time, but Drinkhall is aiming to turn that to his advantage.

He said: “There’s quite a few important life things going on around preparation for the Worlds.

“That can actually help because it means I can focus when I’m in the training hall, but I’m not over-thinking the table tennis at other times, which I tend to do.

“I feel in a place where I can go there and play really well.”

The 27-year-old and team-mates Pitchford and Walker returned from last year’s Worlds with a bronze medal.

This year’s event features individual rather than team competition, meaning winning a medal is a much bigger ask for Drinkhall, currently ranked No 46 in the world.

He will not have to go through the qualifying rounds, however, and will be seeded straight into the main draw for the singles.

That bronze medal, coupled with reaching the last 16 of the Rio Olympics singles, gives Drinkhall a lot of belief that he can compete with the best, though he admits others countries are now more wary of him and the other English players.

“Obviously the Chinese players are the ones to beat but after that it’s quite open now,” he said. “There are a lot of good players and we are among them. It’s all to play for.

“I think me and Liam were on people’s radar but now we are more as a team and I think people look out for us a bit more.

“We have to go out there and do it though.”

As well as the singles, Drinkhall will also play in the doubles alongside Pitchford. The draw is on Saturday and the competition starts on Monday.