The race to seal a qualifying spot for the Cadet and Junior age groups of the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships is gathering pace.

Two Cadet and Junior 4* events – Cleveland and Chandlers – have been held and the qualifying leaderboards have been updated on the event homepages.

The series of Cadet and Junior 4* events around the country are again providing a route to the Nationals, as they have since 2021. The Mark Bates Ltd Cadet & U17 Nationals is on the weekend of 8-9 March, while the Mark Bates Ltd Junior & U21 Nationals is on 17-18 May.

The third event in the series takes place at Cippenham at the weekend. Entries are now open for the fourth and fifth instalments of the series, in Cambridge and Plymouth.

Click here to enter the Cambridge Junior 4* (25-26 January)

Click here to enter the Plymouth Junior 4* (8-9 February)

The Plymouth 4* event will not form part of the Cadet qualification leaderboard, due to timings of invitations, but will comprise part of player eligibility having to take part in a minimum 2 x 4* events.

Invitations to the Nationals will be issued on the following basis:

1. All ranking, qualifying and leaderboard invitees to Mark Bates Ltd Cadet Nationals 2025 and Mark Bates Ltd Junior Nationals 2025 must participate in at least two 4* events, notwithstanding mitigating circumstances.

2. Invitations will be issued to eligible players in priority order (for each category):

• 20 from ranking list, noting point 1 above. These places will default to additional qualifiers if declined
• 2 wildcards. These places will default to additional qualifiers if declined or places are unfilled
• 10 qualifying from 4* events:

• All boys’ and girls’ Cadet (U15) and Junior (U19) 4* winners will receive an automatic invitation, noting point 1 above. These places will default to additional qualifiers if declined or places are unfilled
• The remaining invites will be invited contiguously from the 4* leaderboard, noting point 1 above
• Where players are tied on the 4* leader board, positions will be differentiated by ranking in the 24/05 ranking (Cadets) and 24/07 rankings (Juniors)

3. The ‘leaderboard’ will be established using the scoring system below, from main events only; no points (except those for entering) are available for consolation events

Points awarded as follows:

Enter: 1 point
Main QF: +1 point (2 total)
Main SF: +1 point (3 total)
Main R/up: +1 point (4 total)
Main Winner: +2 points (5 total; automatic qualification)

Cadet invitations will be based on the January 24/05 ranking run and seedings will be based on the February 24/06 ranking run.

Junior invitations will be based on the March 24