Teenager Charlotte Bardsley shone on her senior debut to inspire England women to a 3-0 victory over Greece at Medway Park on Tuesday night.

But, in a double-header of European Championships Stage 1 matches, England men were 3-1 defeated by Serbia.

With more than 300 spectators cheering them on, England started like a train on both tables as Tin-Tin Ho blitzed Aikaterini Toliou 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-6) to put the women 1-0 up and Tom Jarvis overcame Ivor Katic 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-5).

From there, the fortunes of the two England squads diverged. The women raced away to complete a 3-0 overall triumph in just over an hour, Maria Tsaptsinos beating Georgia Zavitsanou 3-1 (12-10, 11-4, 8-11, 11-3) and 16-year-old Bardsley sealing the match by defeating Konstantina Paridi 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-7).

By contrast, the men’s match lasted almost three hours as Serbia won three close tussles. First, Zsolt Peto came from 2-1 down to defeat Paul Drinkhall 3-2 (11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8), then the visitors took the lead as four-time European mixed doubles champion Aleksandar Karakasevic overcame Sam Walker 3-2 (10-12, 13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8).

The fourth match also went to a deciding set as Jarvis took on Peto. The 18-year-old Englishman seemed to have taken the initiative when he won the fourth game 11-0, but Peto came back to win 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 0-11, 11-9), to his and his team-mates’ delight.

The results mean England women won their group, while the men finished second. They now await the draw for the second stage of qualifying for the 2019 European Championships.