England dug deep to defeat fourth seeds Portugal to get their European Championships campaign off to a superb start.

Tom Jarvis, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker (pictured above) all won once to leave Portugal’s Joao Geraldo empty-handed despite a gutsy double.

The match also answered (at least based on this sample size) the question of whether left-handers or right-handers are best, England’s righties sinking a trio of Portuguese southpaws.

Geraldo (WR 109) made a blistering start in the first match, going on the attack from the off and winning the first 11-4.

Walker (WR 182) started to counter-attack to good effect in the second, keeping pace with his opponent before saving a game point and then levelling up the match, 12-10.

That pattern of attack and counter-attack continued in the third, Geraldo leading 5-1 but taking his timeout as Walker closed to 7-6 behind. It was nicely poised at 9-9 but it was Geraldo who took the next two.

Walker’s timeout came at 5-2 down in the fourth and he worked his way back to 6-6 with some clever positional play. But he could never get a lead and Geraldo saw it out 11-9.

Jarvis was up against 17-year-old Tiago Abiodun and, for the first time in these championships in either men’s or women’s competition, the England player was higher-ranked than their opponent.

It went as expected, Jarvis occasionally trailing by a point or two but always with a measure of control and on top at the end of games as he closed out a 3-0 win, with every scoreline 11-8.

Drinkhall (WR 382) versus Joao Monteiro (WR 221) saw a big gap on paper but perhaps not reflecting the players’ true levels.

Monteiro took the first 12-10 and led the second 3-0, at which point Drinkhall took his timeout. Whatever was said, from that moment on, the Englishman was on fire – and at times unplayable. He raced through from 4-6 to 11-6 to level the match, and powered through 11-4 in the third.

The fourth was a bit closer and Monteiro was behind 6-5 when he took his timeout. But Drinkhall was not to be stopped. He brought up match points with a dead net cord – though his brilliant play merited a little reward. He took his second chance as Monteiro’s receive went into the net, and England led 2-1.

Match four turned into quite a battle as Geraldo took on Jarvis. After only four points of the match, Geraldo was complaining about the Jarvis serve, and the referee was called.

That came to nothing, though Jarvis was warned later in the game and would go on to have one fault called in the third.

Jarvis won the first 12-10 having saved a game point, but Geraldo hit back to take the second. Jarvis moved back in front, having to contend with a lengthy debate about a wet ball when he went 9-6 up – he ended up winning the replayed point too.

The match arguably turned on the Portuguese timeout in the fourth, taken when 6-5 down. Geraldo won five successive points from then to turn the game around.

Jarvis led the decider 5-2 at the turn-around, took his timeout at 5-4 and trailed 5-7. He worked his way back to 8-8 but Geraldo, bristling with aggression, won the next three points to level the match at 2-2.

And so it came down to Walker versus Abiodun and the Englishman started like a train, leading 8-1 and finally winning the first 11-7 as the youngster clawed back.

Abiodun kept the momentum going, leading 9-6 and then closing it out 11-9 in the second, having taken his timeout at 9-8.

But Walker took charge from 3-3 in the third, opening up a three point gap which he maintained as the players exchanged points to 9-6, and then clinching the game 11-7.

The pattern repeated in the fourth, from 3-3 to 6-3 and then on to 9-6. And two points later it was all over as the England bench leapt to their feet in celebration.

England now play Greece – who lost 3-1 to Portugal yesterday, in the final group match at 9am UK time tomorrow.

On Sunday, England’s women were defeated 3-0 by seventh seeds and host nation Croatia.

With every Croatia player ranked significantly higher than their English counterparts, it was always a tall order for England to get anything out of the match.

However, Tin-Tin Ho raised hopes of striking an early blow as she took the first game 11-8 against world No 72 Lea Rakovac, fighting back from 6-3 down.

The next two games followed an almost identical pattern as Rakovac forced an early lead and maintained it to the finish line as she got her nose in front.

Ho (WR 247) took her timeout at 1-4 in the fourth but it was to no avail as Rakovac brought up six match points and, although Ho saved two, the Croatian completed her 3-1 victory.

Tianer Yu (WR 290) started a little nervously against Hana Arapovic (WR 111) in match two and lost the first four points. She fought back and at 4-6, could have got into the game – only for her opponent to win the next five points.

The second was tight throughout and Yu was the first to bring up a game point at 10-9. However, the chance could not be taken and Arapovic ruthlessly took her own first chance.

Yu led the third 6-0 but was forced to take her timeout as Arapovic fought back to 6-3. The Croatian led 8-7 and then 10-8. Yu saved the first match point but not the second.

Jasmin Wong (WR 806) had the double challenge of facing a player much higher than her and a defender – Ivana Malobabic (WR 118).

Wong started positively and led 5-2 but again England’s opponent ruthlessly exposed the gap in class as Malobabic reeled off eight points in a row and went on to win the first 11-7.

Thereafter it was a bit of a procession as a frustrated Wong could only win six points across the remaining two games and England’s fate was sealed.

Their remaining match in Group G is against Italy, the ninth-ranked team, at noon on Tuesday UK time.

Wales began their campaign with a 3-0 defeat to top seeds Romania in Group A, despite Anna Hursey almost turning around her match against Andreea Dragoman, who eventually won 3-2 (12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9). Adina Diaconu bear Charlotte Carey in four in the opening match and Elizabeta Samara completed victory with a 3-0 win over Danielle Kelly.

Coach Carlo Agnello and Tin-Tin Ho and England bench

Results

Women’s Group G
Croatia 3 England 0
Lea Rakovac bt Tin-Tin Ho 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6)
Hana Arapovic bt Tianer Yu 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-9)
Ivana Malobabic bt Jasmin Wong 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-2)

Men’s Group D
England 3 Portugal 2
Joao Geraldo bt Sam Walker 3-1 (11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9)
Tom Jarvis bt Tiago Abiodun 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)
Paul Drinkhall bt Joao Monteiro 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7)
Geraldo bt Jarvis 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Jarvis bt Adiodun 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6)