England's Liam Pitchford beats world number nine Vladimir Samsonov
- Published
England & Great Britain's Liam Pitchford is ranked 269 in the world
England's Liam Pitchford enjoyed the best win of his career as he beat world number nine Vladimir Samsonov at the European Table Tennis Championships.
Pitchford, ranked 260 places below Samsonov, stunned the Belarusian 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-7 in the team event in Poland.
However, England's men could not build on that result, losing 3-1 to Belarus and 3-0 to both Russia and Hungary.
England's women won all three ties in their group.
Along with 19-year-old Pitchford, England's men's team consists of national champion Paul Drinkhall and Daniel Reed.
With none of the players currently ranked within the world's top 100, they struggled to make their mark on the team event's top Championship division.
Three losses from three ties leaves them bottom of Group H and fighting relegation to the Challenge division in Monday's contest against the Czech Republic.
The women's team, including Kelly Sibley, England's leading woman Joanna Parker and Emily Bates, beat Azerbaijan 3-0, Italy 3-1 and Finland 3-0 to top Group G.
Currently competing in the lower Challenge division, the squad will be playing for promotion to the top league in their next tie against Greece on Monday.
Wales also had a disappointing run in the team event, the women losing their first two ties in the Challenge division against Sweden (0-3) and Estonia (1-3) before ending on a high with a 3-2 victory against Switzerland.
But the men's team struggled to chalk up any wins as they fell to Belgium (0-3), Finland (1-3) and Turkey (0-3) to also finish bottom of Group H in the Challenge league.
While this tournament does not count towards 2012 Olympic qualification, it provides English and Welsh players the opportunity to improve their rankings and chances of selection for Great Britain at next year's Games.
The singles and doubles stages of the European Championships begin on Wednesday at 0900 BST.