Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall win again at European Table Tennis Championships

Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall continued their fine start at the European Table Tennis Championships in Herning on Thursday, with a tense victory over French pair Adrien Mattenet and Emmanuel Lebesson.

In the fifth and final set, the English duo remained calm to earn a 14-12 victory, adding to their previous group stage victories over opponents from Finland and Slovakia respectively.

However, it was not so good for others in doubles action, with Daniel Reed and Darius Knight beaten in straight sets by Danes Kasper Sternberg and Jonathan Groth.

Andrew Baggaley and his Portuguese partner Andre Silva also lost to Russia's Mikhail Paykov and Alexey Liventsov.

It was better news in the singles competition though for both Reed and Knight.

Reed won two out of two against Linor Citaku and Patrick Franziska respectively, whilst Knight saw off Iceland's Magnus Magnusson in four sets before losing in five to Pet Gerell of Sweden.

Also in action and with wins in the singles event were Pitchford, beating Estonia's Vallot Vainula and France's Quentin Robinot, Baggaley, who was a five-set victor over Konrad Kulpa of Poland, as well as Scot Gavin Rumgay who beat Kosova's Ylli Prestreshi in straight sets.

Meanwhile in the women's singles competition, England's Joanna Parker beat Israel's Nicole Trosman in straight sets. Kelly Sibley won through over another Israeli, Natali Ruvman, who retired.

There was also a defeat for Sibley, against Magdalena Szczerkowska of Poland, as well as England team-mate Tin Tin Ho, Welsh trio Angharad and Megan Phillips and Charlotte Carey, and Scotland's Corinna Whitaker and Lynda Flaws.