When Liam Pitchford sunk world number one Xu Xin in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open in March 2020, he could scarcely have comprehended the coming cataclysm that would turn his career and the entire sporting world upside down.
Within two weeks of a win that threatened the Chinese hegemony over Olympic table tennis medals, the Tokyo Games had been postponed and swathes of the planet plunged into pandemic lockdowns that rendered international competition effectively obsolete.
