PAUL DRINKHALL will head to Birmingham this summer looking to add to his medal haul from previous Commonwealth Games.

The Loftus table tennis star will compete in his fifth Commonwealths in August after he was confirmed on the England squad for the event, which is being staged on home soil.

Drinkhall first appeared at the Games in Melbourne in 2006, and has previously won gold medals in the mixed doubles with wife Jo at Glasgow 2014 and men’s doubles alongside Liam Pitchford on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018.

He will have the chance to defend the men’s doubles with Pitchford in Birmingham, and will also go for gold in team and singles events this time out, with the team looking to improve on their bronze-medal winning performance from four years ago.

“The first target was to get selected,” said Drinkhall. “Now, it’s about focusing on trying to get in the best shape possible to go there and win medals.

“I think I can win everything I’m competing in – that’s the goal, and if I go for anything less than that I’d be doing myself a disservice, really.

“I think it’s genuinely possible to win everything I’ll be playing in, but obviously a lot of other good players, pairs and teams will be thinking similar things. I just need to try to go day by day and do the best I can.”

Now 32, Drinkhall is edging towards the latter stages of his career, and there has to be a chance that this year’s appearance will be his last at a Commonwealth Games.

Very few athletes in any sport get to compete in five successive major games, but while Drinkhall is understandably delighted to still be a key part of the England team, he has not yet reached the stage where he is looking back and reflecting on the extent of his achievements.

“I don’t really think about that yet,” he said. “I think it’s more something you think about when you stop playing.

“Right now, I’m just trying to think about the next one and getting the best results I can. I’m in the position where I could be fighting for the medals and that’s more on my mind. I’m sure when I look back in years to come, things like that will mean more.”

Drinkhall is relishing the prospect of competing in front of a home crowd, and is especially looking forward to being able to play in front of his family, including children Dougie and Bonnie.

“Hopefully, my parents and Jo and the kids will be there at some point,” he added. “The kids haven’t watched me play that much, especially the last couple of years, with Covid and me being injured for the last Nationals, so they were quite young when they last saw me compete. It will be exciting to have them in the crowd.”