Chojnowski comes into the Championships, which are due to start on Friday (September 28) and last until October 5, as the in-form player across all classifications this year, sitting at the top of the rankings list and the Paralympic class 10 gold medal winner will be looking to make it back-to-back European titles in Lignano following his 2011 victory in Split.

Ahlquist has also managed to build on her success in the women's class three competition in London last year, by adding titles at the Slovenian Open, a double gold in the Bayreuth Open in Germany as well as Masters Open success in Lignano already.

The Swede arrives in Italy as the defending champion but is under no illusions that it will be tough to hold on to her title.

"It's a new year and a new Championship that everyone has been preparing for," she told the IPC.

"The competition is holding very high standards and you have to work hard all the time to keep that high level."

France's Thu Kamkasomphou also arrives in Lignano as world number one in the women's class eight competition and the Beijing 2008 champion will be looking to go one better than her silver at ExCel in London.

Russia's Olga Gorshkaleva is the top ranked player in the class nine category

Olga Gorshkaleva of Russia is the highest ranked player in the women's class nine and the world number three looks to be the one to beat with the top two players in the world, China's Lina Lei and Meili Liu, who took gold and bronze at London 2012 respectively, ineligible for these Championships.

Britain's Will Bayley makes up the five athletes on the IPC's list and the Paralympic silver medallist dusted himself down after losing in a tense final in London last year to Jochen Wollmert of Germany, to go on and put in some impressive performances this season.

The 25-year-old has taken top honours at the Italian and Slovenian Opens as well as a bronze at the Slovakian Open in May, leaving him sitting just behind the Ukraine's world number one Maxym Nikolenko in the class 7 category world rankings.

The ITTF Para-Table Tennis European Championships in Lignano run from (today) September 28 to October 5.

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