Larry Trumpauskas and Sienna Jetha won the respective men’s and women’s competitions at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships Qualifying Tournament.

On a day when 14 men and 14 women booked their places at the Nationals ‘proper’ in March, para star Aaron McKibbin earned a top-10 finish and Para GB team-mate Ash Facey will be first reserve, having finished in 15th.

Athletes who finished in 15th place downwards may still get into the Nationals in the event of anyone withdrawing, or as doubles partners for those who have secured their place, so there was plenty riding on every match on day two, with 32 players competing in each of the men’s and women’s singles at David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham.

Photos by Pawel Meryn

Click here to watch today’s live-stream matches on catch-up on TTE.TV

Click here to follow results for the women’s knockout stage
Click here to follow results for the men’s knockout stage

Enjoy some of the pick of today’s shots and rallies below – and look out for our Rewind show on TTE.TV later this week.

Women’s Singles

Sienna Jetha recovered from losing the first game to Erin Green as she hit back to win the battle for top spot 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7).

The final finishing order of the top 14, who qualify for the Nationals, was:

1 Sienna Jetha, 2 Erin Green, 3 Anaya Patel, 4 Millie Rogove, 5 Mabel Shute, 6 Bethany Ellis, 7 Rebecca Savage, 8 Rachael Iles, 9 Xiaoman Ji, 10 Sophie Ackred, 11 Naomi Coker, 12 Sally Hughes, 13 Saskia Key, 14 Mya Sultan

With day two comprising a progressive knockout system, meaning every position from 1 to 32 would be filled, the key matches were those for 13th to 16th positions, where the winners would qualifying and the losers would not – though they would then battle for the top two reserve positions.

They were both keenly contested, particularly the match which saw Saskia Key hit back from 2-1 down to beat Parrmis Ahsani 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5).

In the other match in that bracket, Mya Sultan saw off Luna Archard 3-1 (11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10).

Tokyo Paralympic medallist Megan Shackleton made it through to day two, meaning matches against her were played under the adaptive rules used when wheelchair and able-bodied players meet.

She had a cracking match against Sophie Ackred in the first round, which Ackred won 3-2 (11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8). Shackleton went on to win two matches on the day, including 14-12 in the fifth against Zoe Podmore, and ended in 26th position, losing her final match 11-9 in the fifth to Lisa Rinnhofer.

Green, who went on to finish second, almost lost her first match, eventually prevailing 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 12-14, 11-6, 11-5) against Ella Barnard.

Also in the first round, Key had to battle past Evie Pace 3-2 (11-6, 14-16, 11-4, 3-11, 11-6), while Rachael Iles, who went on to finish eighth, put in a tremendous comeback to defeat Brooke Morris 3-2 (5-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8).

Comeback of the round in the second round of matches belonged to Bethany Ellis, beating Sultan 3-2 (8-11, 11-13, 11-9, 14-12, 11-4), and Mia Lakhani recovered from losing the first game to love as she came out on top 3-2 (0-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4) against Pace. Rebecca Savage beat Sally Hughes 11-8 in the fifth – both went on to qualify.

The third round’s notable fightback was by Xiaoman Ji, whose 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-2) win over Ahsani rubber-stamped her qualification. In the non-qualifying positions, Morris beat Barnard 12-10 in the fifth, while Rinnhofer saw off the youngest player, Violet-Lily Marquis, 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 13-15, 11-9, 11-9) and Podmore won 12-10 in the fifth over Olivia Fletcher.

In the fourth round, Morris won 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 17-15, 11-13, 11-7) against Eva Eccles and Ji beat Hughes 11-9 in the fifth.

Ji also had a close one in the final round as she won 13-11 in the fifth against Ackred. Coker beat Table Tennis England Director Hughes 3-2 (15-13, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9).

Men’s Singles

Larry Trumpauskas beat Ben Piggott 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-7) to claim top spot, while the surprise package was Joe Sawyer, the France-based player finishing third with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 14-12) victory over Rohan Dani.

In the ‘jeopardy’ matches for 13th to 16th, Artur Veeck Caltabiano came all the way back to defeat Isaac Kingham 3-2 (4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9) and Bryan Kwan beat Ashley Facey 3-0 (14-12, 12-10, 11-7).

The final finishing order of qualifiers was:

1 Larry Trumpauskas, 2 Ben Piggott, 3 Joe Sawyer, 4 Rohan Dani, 5 Ralph Pattison, 6 Graeme Barella, 7 Nahom Asgedom, 8 Maxim Stevens, 9 Aaron McKibbin, 10 Jakub Piwowar, 11 Joseph Langham-Ferreira, 12 Shaquille Webb-Dixon, 13 Bryan Kwan, 14 Artur Veeck Caltabiano

Paralympian Ashley Facey ended up as first reserve but nearly lost his opening match of the day, eventually winning 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 14-16, 11-6) against Adam Jepson.

But the closest match of the first round saw both Kingham and Nathaniel Saunders save match points before Kingham won 3-2 (11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 17-15).

Jakub Piwowar won 12-10 in the fifth against Alim Hirji and Caltabiano staved off a comeback by Olle Maric-Murray to win 3-2 (11-2, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8) – he would go on to qualify.

Ralph Pattison faced a crisis in the second round but came through it, beating Kingham 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5), and Maxim Stevens beat Caltabiano 11-8 in the fifth.

Dani beat Graeme Barella 11-9 in the fifth in the third round, and Piggot had to dig deep to overcome Nahom Asgedom 3-2 (9-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-7).

Joseph Langham-Ferreira also came from 2-0 down to see off Bryan Kwan 3-2 (9-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6). In the non-qualifying brackets, Victor Guang Shi was an 11-9 in the fifth winner over Ronan Kelly and Hirji beat Dominic Sussex 11-7 in the decider.

Piggott advanced to the final with a 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-8) victory over Dani in the fourth round. Umair Mauthoor beat Krish Chotai 3-2 (13-11, 8-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-3) and there was a 3-2 (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5) victory for Israel Awolaja over Kieran Smith.

In the final round, Asgedom’s fine comeback saw him beat Stevens 3-2 (8-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5) and it was another five-setter for Caltabiano, who lost to Kwan 11-8, 14-12, 6-11, 12-14, 11-5.