Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall are on the hunt for a seventh men’s singles title, after both reaching the semi-finals at the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships 

Defending champion Tom Jarvis and last year’s beaten finalist Sam Walker also made it through to finals day. 

In the Women’s Singles, top four seeds Tin-Tin Ho, Denise Payet, Emily Bolton and Mollie Patterson will be back on Sunday to contest the medals.

The full day will be televised live on TTE.TV, with multi-camera set-up, instant replays and commentary.

Photos by Alan Man – see more on our Flickr page

Click here to see all results from the Championships

Women’s Singles

In the women’s singles quarter-finals, three of the matches were won in four straight games. 

U21 women’s singles champion Jasim Wong put up the best fight, losing 4-2 to second seed Denise Payet. After splitting the first four games, Payet raced away to the semi-final. Her high-toss serves causing particular problems. The final score: 12-14, 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7. 

She will face third seed Emily Bolton, who made light work of the left-handed Scarlett Anders, winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-5, 11-3.  

On the other side of the draw four-time women’s singles champion Tin-Tin Ho will play fourth seed Mollie Patterson. 

Ho beat Mari Baldwin in straight games, in a repeat of the 2020 final, Ho’s last title. The 24-year-old winning 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5. 

Patterson was in supreme form as she dismantled Anna Green to set up her match with Ho. She was striking the ball very cleanly on both sides, giving her 16-year-old opponent very few chances. The final score: 11-3, 11-2, 11-3, 11-8. 

In the first knockout round, all the seeded players made it through to the quarter-finals. Patterson found herself two games down to Anaya Patel, but managed to win the next four to win it 4-2. The final score: 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-1, 13-11. 

Wong also had to fight off the talented 13-year-old Sienna Jetha. Wong, who triumphed in the U21 women’s singles on Friday, won the match 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8.  

Ho’s quest to regain the title got off to a comfortable start, beating Mia Lakhani 11-2, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6. Payet also made it through with a 4-1 win over Megan Jones, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7.  

Men’s Singles

In the men’s singles, defending champion Jarvis found life tough at times against the U21 men’s champion Connor Green in the quarter-finals. 

The 16-year-old won a mammoth first game 17-15 and the second looked similar with Jarvis winning it 14-12. However, Jarvis then started to show his quality, taking the next two 11-2. Green fought back to win the fifth 11-8, but Jarvis sealed his place in the semi-finals, winning the sixth 11-7. 

He will play six-time champion Drinkhall, who easily dispatched Darius Knight 11-3, 11-4, 12-10, 11-4. 

The other semi-final will be played between Pitchford and Walker. Both had different challenges, but were able to show enough quality in the end. 

Walker faced David McBeath in a closely contested encounter. They split the first two games, with Walker winning the next two. The crowd were enthralled with some of the rallies, with fast top spins to defending away from the table. Walker won it 4-2, with the final score, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-9. 

Pitchford won in straight games over Chris Doran, but had a slight scare in the third. He won in 18-16, but slipped while trying to get the ball after it flicked the net. He was okay in the end, winning 11-6, 11-6, 18-16, 11-8. 

In the first knockout round, Green, who won the U21 title on Friday, beat eighth seed Josh Bennett in a professional display. The 16-year-old played with maturity beyond his years, winning 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10. 

Jarvis began the defence of his title with a solid 4-0 win over the tricky Felix Thomis. Walker also won in four games, against Gabriel Achampong. 

Pitchford and Drinkhall both won their opening matches in straight games, against Shaquille Webb-Dixon and Louis Price respecitvely. 

Knight, McBeath and Doran won their first round matches in four sets, Doran against Ismaila Akindiya, who won the mixed doubles earlier on Saturday.