This month’s rankings, published today, reveal the star names who will be automatically invited to the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

The top 16 senior men and senior women will all be invited to the flagship tournament, which is at the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham from March 24-26, 2023.

Top 16 Ranked Players

Those who are not in the top bracket still have the option of entering the Qualifying Tournament, with entries open for the next week – closing at midnight on December 14.

The Qualifying Tournament is at the same venue on the weekend of January 7-8, and 14 men and 14 women will qualify for the Nationals ‘proper’ – though more places may be available if any athletes in the top 16 decline their invitations. The Nationals field will be brought up to a full complement of 32 by the addition of two wildcards.

Any players who are eligible to represent England and who are Compete Plus members of Table Tennis England can enter the Qualifying Tournament. The reference document and regulations can be downloaded from the bottom of the page linked below.

Entry is online only via TT Memberships (Sport:80) and the closing date is December 14.

Entries will be accepted in order of receipt (time and date) up until the closing date or the competition is full. There will be a practical limit for entrants, and it may not be possible to accept all entries. This will be determined by when your entry is submitted/paid for. All entries should be considered provisional until confirmed, and any unsuccessful entries will be refunded.

Seedings for the qualifying tournament will also be based on the 22/04 rankings list published today. The draw will be published on Tuesday January 3, 2023.

What is the qualifying Tournament format?

The event will begin with group stages on the Saturday, comprising of groups of 6-8 players, subject to entries received, with 2 or 3 players from each group qualifying for the knockout stage on Sunday.

Progressive knockout matches on Sunday will be the last 32 players only and will be played to a final list, for example players losing in the last 16 will play out for places 9-16 and so on.

The top 14 finishers in both the men’s and women’s singles at the tournament will qualify for the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships at the same venue from Friday March 24 to Sunday March 26.

Tickets for the Mark Bates Ltd Senior Nationals, which will also feature under-21 and para classes, will go on sale early in the new year.

Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships Documentation

Additionally, we have published the documentation for the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships, which are from March 24-26, 2023.

Please note that rankings remain live until the end of the season, and published places in a given ranking list may change slightly following subsequent month’s ranking runs – for this reason, invitations are done on a fixed ‘snapshot’ basis, and will not themselves change if the live list changes retrospectively.

The reference document and regulations can be downloaded from the bottom of the page linked below.