Mixed news for England at World Team Championships

ENGLISH table tennis officials have some serious thinking to do after a series of disappointing results at the World Team Championships in Moscow.

DISAPPOINTING: Paul Drinkhall was out of sorts at this week's World Team Championships in Moscow and will see his ranking slip (Getty Images)

The sport saw its lottery funding slashed after failing to qualify a single competitor to the Beijing Olympics - and the chances of making any impact at London 2012 look slimmer and slimmer on current evidence.

There were some positives with the youthful women's team recording wins over Austria, France and the Czech Republic to finish 21st overall, a ten place improvement on their ranking, which could still be enough to maintain their position in the sport's top tier of nations.

However, the men finished 38th - losing their final match to Vietnam.

British number one Paul Drinkhall has had a miserable week in Russia and will see his world ranking slip further while English champion Andrew Baggaley - in his first international appearance in four years - was equally disappointing, losing to a succession of lower ranked players.