England’s women have been given a tough task at the European Team Championships, having been drawn in the same group as champions Germany.

England, ranked 70th in the world, are in Group A alongside Germany and Austria for the competition in Malmo, Sweden, in September.

Germany, ranked third in the world, are the reigning champions, having defeated hosts Romania in the final in 2021. They can call on the likes of world No 9 Ying Han – who beat Tin-Tin Ho at the recent World Championships – and world No 14 Nina Mittelham.

Meanwhile, Austria, ranked 19th, can boast the player who was No 1 in Europe on the May ranking list – Sofia Polcanova – as well as Ho’s long-time doubles partner, Karoline Mischek.

Polcanova won both the singles and doubles titles in the individual European Championships in Munich last year, beating Mittelham in the singles final.

In the men’s draw, England were placed in Group G against Romania and Norway. England, ranked No 14 in the world, are the top seeds in the group. Romania are ranked 23rd and Norway 119th.

The Championships get under way on September 10.