PAUL DRINKHALL admits he needs to work on maintaining his focus after he suffered a disappointing exit in the men’s singles at the European Table Tennis Championships in Russia.

Despite being seeded 15th, Drinkhall, who is from Loftus, was beaten in the first match he played, at the last-64 stage, 4-2 by Lubomir Jancarik of the Czech Republic.

“I felt better than Jancarik but he just kept a steady level all the way through and it’s happened a few times now when I’ve lost games maybe because I’m not able to keep my focus long enough,” said Drinkhall.

“It’s something I’ve got to put right for the future. It’s one of the worst feelings, losing because of something like that. I’ve got to get fitter, but it happens sometimes when I’m in great shape and it’s quite tough knowing exactly how to work on that part of the game.

“I think I’ve got a lot better over the last year or two. I’ve just got to keep working hard and hopefully get it right for the majors, like the Worlds and hopefully Olympics if I get there.”

Things were a bit better in the doubles, where Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford won their last-32 clash against French duo Stephane Ouaiche and Tristan Flore 3-1.

They had a thrilling tie in the last 16 against Par Gerell and Jon Persson of Sweden, saving three match points but also missing four of their own as the Swedes took the deciding set 16-14 to inflict a 3-2 defeat on the English pair.

Drinkhall also reflected on a team competition which saw England finish 20th. A 17th-placed finish would have seen England win the second-tier Challenge Division, but a re-organisation of the event means they would not have earned promotion to the top-flight anyway.

As it was, 20th was good enough to put them in the pot of second seeds for the upcoming draw for the qualifying groups for the next championships.

“I think it’s disappointing,” said Drinkhall. “We came to try to win the category. Obviously, we didn’t do that. We found out the different system during the tournament and we’ve done pretty much as much as we could have as far as next year goes.”

Hutton Rudby’s Danny Reed, who featured in the final England team match – a 3-0 reverse to Italy – was forced to pull out of the singles and doubles because of illness.