Entries are open for the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships Qualifying Tournament and a chance to earn the right to take on the best players in the country.

The tournament takes place on the weekend of January 7-8 at the David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham, which is also the venue for the Nationals ‘proper’.

Any players who are eligible to represent England and who are Compete Plus members of Table Tennis England can enter the qualifying tournament.

Click here to download the tournament reference document and regulations.

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

Click here to enter

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.
Players who are ranked in the top 16 in the 22/04 rankings list, published on December 7, will automatically qualify for an invitation to the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships and therefore will be ineligible for the qualifying competition.

Anyone who has entered and is in the top 16 rankings list published on December 7 will be refunded fully.

Seedings for the qualifying tournament will also be based on the 22/04 rankings list published on December 7. The draw will be published on Tuesday January 3, 2023.

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.

There, they will join the top 16 players in the national rankings, plus two wildcards, meaning they could have the chance to face England’s top players, including potentially Commonwealth Games gold medallists Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall, or Tokyo Olympian Tin-Tin Ho.

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.