“That shot was purely instinctive” – Table Tennis ace Pitchford

Credit ITTF

The speed of a table tennis match can mesmerise even casual fans.

England’s highest ranked player, Liam Pitchford, hit the headlines last month for his outrageous behind-the-back trick shots during two crucial ITTF World Austrian Open encounters, with the video going viral on social media.

He shared his thoughts on a crucial 12 months ahead for Table Tennis England and Team GB and his reaction to becoming an online sensation.

“It was definitely fun to see the video go viral especially on some big sites, not just in the UK but worldwide, and get not just myself but table tennis a bit of coverage, and hopefully it made people realise it's not an easy sport and takes a lot of skill.

“Playing the shot is purely instinctive. I used to try it in practice and was told I should get into position properly and play a backhand, but recently it’s been working more and more.

“It’s just a reaction really and in those two clips the ball happened to land in the perfect place, and I hit a perfect shot.

“I’ll just try and keep having fun playing the game and if that means playing shots out of the ordinary and boosting my profile then that’s great.

“I think table tennis needs something changing so that it can help reach a wider audience and I’m all for finding a way to do that!”

Pitchford, England’s highest ranked player and world number 22, was part of the Team GB squad that reached the quarter-finals at Rio 2016 but now they have just one chance to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at next month’s World Qualification Event in Portugal.

Despite being ranked as the eleventh best men’s table tennis team in the world, there is no guarantee of a place for Great Britain in Tokyo.

“It's not going to be easy to qualify as a team. We were able to qualify for Rio due to our ranking, but when you only get one shot and it’s Olympic qualification on the line then there are definitely some nerves there,” he added.

“If we qualify then we also secure two singles places in Tokyo and that is something that all of us want.”

Pitchford enjoyed great individual success at the World Cup, winning all three of his group stage singles matches to help England defeat the host nation and world number two ranked side, Japan. After a difficult year in 2019, it was exactly what Pitchford needed.

“I’d been having a few issues and made some small changes to my game and lost a bit of confidence. I was tweaking a few parts of my game heading into the competition, particularly my short game and around the net, and just wanted to relax and play my game.

“After the first set in my opening match everything seemed to click, and it was a big confidence boost for me and the team.”

Pitchford has enjoyed some of his best results in team events, with England winning bronze at the World Championships in 2016 and another third-placed finish at the 2018 Team World Cup.

His singles ranking should ensure that he will compete at Tokyo even if the team fail to come through next month’s qualification event, but Pitchford believes there is something extra special about competing together for your country.

“We’ve proved that we might not have the best players on paper or by ranking, but when we get together as a team, we seem to perform at a higher level than is expected.

“We’ve got great team cohesion and all trust each other and fight for each other. A lot of teams have big names and the best players in the world, but they don’t have the same togetherness and as a young team, I see no reason why we can’t keep competing in the coming years.”

For now, Pitchford’s sole focus is on next month’s qualification event and he is not looking ahead to what 2020 could hold.

“Competing at London 2012 as a 19-year-old was a great experience, but I was probably a bit young and didn’t really deserve my place based on my ranking.

“To be there with the biggest sports stars from Team GB really gave me the hunger to push on and qualify on merit for Rio.

“Reaching the quarter-finals of the team event was a superb effort and had we played anyone other than China (the world number one side and reigning Olympic Champions) we could’ve gone even further.”

Few people can say they have competed in three Olympic Games at the age of 27, but Pitchford will be hoping he can safely secure his Tokyo spot in the knowledge that he could well be approaching his peak come next summer.