The duo – who both represented England at the Commonwealth Games and enter the competition as red hot favourites – were in inspired form as the boys North team and West Midlands girls both picked up back-to-back victories.

Drinkhall was the star of the North side collecting maximum points in the 6-1 win over Scotland before doing likewise in the 6-1 win over the South East. The second match included a showdown with second seed Darius Knight, but the 16-year-old from Cleveland was simply too hot to handle winning 11-8, 12-10, 11-1.

"I think we should win the team event as Daniel Reed is seeded three in England and David is four and I am ranked one so we have three of the top four," said Drinkhall. "Personally I feel good and have played quite a few tournaments around the UK and I feel if I play my game I should beat everyone here."

Sibley and co. were equally impressive crushing the North girls 6-1 before winning the battle of the Midlands with a narrow 4-3 win over the East. Another English team to impress were the east midlands boys with brothers Gavin, Bradley and Myles Evans helping secure successive 7-0 wins over the South West and Wales.

There was some home joy for the Scottish girls who enjoyed 5-2 wins over the East Midlands and the North. But there was disappointment for Northern Ireland, with the girls losing 6-1 to the South West before narrowly missing out against Wales and the boys suffering two 7-0 defeats.