Four youngsters who performed well at the Qualifying Tournament have received wildcard places at the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships – and four Paralympic medallists will compete in the para categories.

Eva Eccles (pictured above – photo by Michael Loveder) and Brooke Morris have received a Women’s Singles wildcard, while Leo Nguyen and Kacper Piwowar get a Men’s Singles place.

It takes the field for each competition up to the maximum 32 players – though things may still change if anyone who has qualified or been invited opts not to take up their place. If that happens, athletes who finished 15th and below in the Qualifiers will be invited in finishing order.

Morris, 15, was particularly unlucky at the Qualifiers as, having qualified in second place in her group with five wins out of six, she was unable to travel back to Nottingham for the second day of competition because of heavy overnight snow.

Meanwhile Eccles, also 15, finished in 19th position and lost only three matches all weekend, including to Table Tennis England Director Sally Hughes in the crucial first round of progressive knockout matches.

Both Piwowar and Nguyen qualified from their groups at the expense of higher-ranked players, Piwowar beating Lorestas Trumpauskas and Nguyen defeating James Hamblett.

In the progressive knockouts, 15-year-old Nguyen finished 24th, with four of his five matches going to a deciding game, while 14-year-old Piwowar ended up in 26th place.

Both will be joining siblings at the Nationals – Piwowar’s older brother Jakub qualified in ninth place, while Nguyen’s younger sister Alyssa went through in fifth position.

In the para categories, Paris 2024 Paralympic doubles bronze medallist Billy Shilton is among the six athletes put forward by British Para Table Tennis for the Para 6-10 (standing) category.

He will be joined by three-time Paralympic medallist Aaron McKibbin, Shae Thakker, Max Flint, Theo Bishop and Jaiden Caldeira.

In the Para 2-5 (wheelchair) category, Tokyo 202 Paralympic medallists Jack Hunter-Spivey and Megan Shackleton are joined by Simon Heaps, Chris Ryan, Romain Simon and Oye Jemiyo.

The Mark Bates Ltd National Championships are from 21-23 March at the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham.

Tickets are currently on sale to Table Tennis England members only – if you are a member, please check your email inbox for details – and will go on general sale on Wednesday this week.