Paul Drinkhall jets out to Azerbaijan for Top 16 test

The English No 1 from Loftus has received a late call-up for the Top 16 event, which gets underway tomorrow.

Germany’s Timo Boll has withdrawn from the contest, meaning Drinkhall has been promoted from first reserve and will take his place in Baku for the three-day contest.

The 16 players will be drawn into groups of four, with the top two advancing to the knockout stages.

The field is headed by Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Marcos Freitas, of Portugal.

But that won’t faze Drinkhall, having beaten both in his run to the final of the Russian Open in November.

That performance sealed his place in December’s ITTF Grand Finals, where the 24-year-old became the first Englishman to compete since 1996. But it didn’t go to plan for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, exiting in the first round.

However, speaking to The Gazette after his elimination, Drinkhall remained upbeat and is hoping to achieve even bigger things in 2015.

"I just feel better in myself in general on the table at the moment,” Drinkhall said.

"After years of pushing the best players in the world close, I’m now beating them, and people are going to be slightly afraid when they get drawn against me now.

"It’s been a ridiculously packed year and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the year of my life on and off the table.”

Drinkhall shot up to a career-best world ranking of 45, helped England’s men win promotion at the World Team Championships and claimed Commonwealth Games mixed double gold with wife Jo, who is expecting their first child in May.