Changes are being made to the original proposals for Tiered Open tournaments which will make it easier and more cost-effective for clubs, leagues and counties to deliver open tournaments across a range of levels. These changes have been designed to enable more events on the calendar with more opportunities for players to access open tournaments at a level suitable for them.
What are Tiered Open Tournaments?
The Tiered Open Tournaments are the bread and butter of tournament play for the sport, delivered by the table tennis community and regulated by Table Tennis England. They are designed to provide a tiered approach in standard to enable players to play others at the right level, creating competitive matches and with each level being of a higher standard. It’s also where Table Tennis England members can earn ranking points. These tournaments underpin the sport, and this is the final phase of the Competition Review to be implemented and will be introduced from the 2025/26 season.
What were the changes originally proposed for Tiered Open Tournaments?
The Tiered Open Tournament structure (comprising primarily of 1*/ 2*/ 4* events) was originally proposed to include the following new aspects:
- Three new levels at a Local, Zonal and National level, beginning in season 2025/26
- Each of these levels would have a defined number of events at each level approved
- These events would happen in a periodised calendar which would be approved in a specific window and delivered at a set time
- Create automatic qualification and leaderboard for Senior National Championships from the Senior Open Tournaments.
What will we now be doing around Tiered Open Tournaments?
A round of member consultation was undertaken in December and January. Players, coaches, officials and tournament organisers were all consulted, along with Table Tennis England members. The result of this consultation has been approved by the Competition Committee and Board and it was agreed:
- To remove the periodisation of the calendar and re-introduce an open process for tournament applications which means there is now no restriction on the number of tournaments that can be delivered during a season.
- To enable tournament applications to be made in advance for all published calendar periods and not limit them to the windows of approval as originally proposed.
- That the naming conventions will be further considered and consulted upon – the 1*/Local; 2*/Zonal; and 4*/National designations will be changed before the new season starts on 1 August 2025.
- Qualification for the Senior National Championships in 2026 will not be decided by the Senior National Opens in 25/26 season. This may be considered for future years but not for the Senior National Championships in 2026.
- There will be three levels of tournament play, moving away from the current five levels (Development, 1*, 2*, 3* and 4*).
As a result, the Tired Open Tournaments will now look like this:
In summary this is what’s changed from the original Tired Open Tournament proposals:
| The original proposal | What has changed | What this means to someone wanting to deliver an Open tournament |
| Open tournaments were limited in number at each level as follows: Local – c10 designated event dates per year, depending on age-group; up to 10 events concurrent per event date Zonal – c5 specified event dates per year, depending on age-group; up to 5 events concurrent per event date National – Up to 3 specified event dates per year, depending on age-group; events to standalone in the calendar | There will no longer be any designated event dates or a limit on the number of events at each level. Each application for an Open Tournament at each level will be decided on its own merit. Table Tennis England will still work with organisers and counties to ensure we don’t have events of a similar nature clashing with each other, as already happens now. | Organisers won’t be restricted in the number of tournaments that can be delivered. If an organiser wants to deliver an Open tournament, then as long as the regulations are met and there isn’t a local clash then this should be fine to deliver. |
| These events would happen in a periodised calendar which would be approved in a specific window and delivered at a set time | There will be no date limitations on when Open tournaments can be delivered, other than some which are already protected (e.g. a Senior 4* wouldn’t happen on the same weekend as Senior Nationals). | Organisers just apply to deliver as they do now, when they are ready to make the application. |
| Three new levels named Local, Zonal and National to come into effect from 25/26 season | There will remain three levels as proposed (as opposed to the five levels currently) but the names of these will change as the structure of Open tournaments is no longer being done on a geographical basis. New names will be developed for the start of the new season in 25/26. | This won’t impact on Organisers other than when applying to deliver a tournament they would use the new names. In the meantime, if an organiser wants to apply for a tournament, they can use the existing 1* / 2* / 4* names. |
Why are Tiered Open Tournaments now easier for clubs, leagues and counties to deliver and how did we do it?
Alongside this, regulations for the physical environment and officiating requirements for Senior 4* Open events have already been relaxed to help make these events easier and more cost-effective to run for hosts and to enter by participants. The Cleveland Senior 4* Open is taking place in May 2025 and the Nottingham Senior 4* Open in June 2025. Both will feel similar to the previous Grands Prix format, and will have prize money available. There are also Senior 4* Opens confirmed in Sussex in September 2025, Cleveland in 2026 and talks under way to deliver an additional three more Senior 4* Opens in the 25/26 season.
Based on the outcome of the consultations, Competition Committee and Board have also agreed a similar relaxation for all 1* and 2* events, and for 4* events at other age categories. There are some significant changes with the primary purpose of making it easier and more cost-effective for clubs, leagues and counties to deliver Open tournaments, thus providing more playing opportunities for players of all levels.
These will be adopted into the Regulations for season 2025/26, alongside publication of new and detailed supporting documentation. Further information on specific changes to Regulations will be published in the next few days.
For more background about the Competition Review, please click here.
Neil Rogers, Head of Competition and Events said: “This additional member consultation and feedback has helped refine and finesse the original proposals to help ensure the new developments best meet the needs of the table tennis community – we are grateful to all those who have engaged with this process, and look forward to launching the final piece of the Competition Review jigsaw.”
New to competitions? Join now and enter!
If you have been thinking about trying competitive table tennis, now is the time to take the plunge, with reduced membership prices for the rest of the 2024/25 season, making it easier and more affordable to enter official competitions.
For 1* competitions, you need a Compete membership, which costs just £8 for Under-19 and £15 for Senior (was £11/£22) for the rest of this season (Please note, it will not be possible to buy 2024/25 memberships after mid-July, when renewals open for the 2025/26 season).
