The long wait is over as the first national table tennis event for 15 months finally takes place this weekend, which will be live streamed (subject to change) on the Table Tennis England Facebook page from 11am on Saturday 19th.

The Junior National Cup at Kingsway Leisure Centre in Widnes, the temporary home of Halton TTC, brings together the top Junior (under-19) players in a round-robin format.

There are 12 boys and 12 girls competing under covid protocols – 10 invited on the basis of the July 2020 rankings and two wildcards in each category.

Mollie Patterson and Louis Price are the respective top seeds in the girls’ and boys’ competitions and Patterson will be aiming to win the trophy for a second time, having lifted it with a 100% record in 2018. She finished third in the last edition of the tournament in 2019.

Jasmin Wong and Mari Baldwin, the second and third seeds, both featured at the event two years ago, as did Gemma Kerr, while Lois Perryman was in the field in 2018. The two wildcards in the girls’ competition are Scarlett Anders and Anna Green.

Joe Cope, seeded second, could complete a full set of medals, having taken bronze in 2018 and silver in 2019. The other returning players from the last edition are Amirul Hussain, Josh Weatherby and Maxim Stevens – the latter a wildcard alongside Connor Green.

The programme for the event, including the schedule, can be downloaded below.

No spectators will be allowed, while social distancing and venue capacity means that invited competitors are restricted to one accompanying adult in the venue, be that a coach, parent or friend.

As rankings have been suspended since March 2020, ranking points will not be awarded at the event.

Table Tennis England Head of Competitions and Events, Neil Rogers, said: “We are hugely excited that the Junior National Cup 2021 will be the first Table Tennis England national event for over 15 months.

“It will delivered prior to the lifting of lockdown, which of course presents its own challenges – for us, for the venue, and for the participants. We are therefore extremely grateful to Karen and Ken Tonge and Halton TTC for hosting, to referee Dave Goulden and the other technical officials for supporting, to event director Carol Miles for organising.

“We wish all competitors an enjoyable and successful return to play!”

Live streaming schedule for Sunday 20th (subject to change):

0930: Joe Cope v Robert Pelc

0930: Mollie Patterson v Lois Perryman

1015: Joshua Weatherby v Oliver Cornish

1015: Millie Rogove v Gemma Kerr

1100: Amirul Hussain v Oliver Cornish

1100: Mari Baldwin v Erin Green

1145: Louis Price v Amirul Hussain

1145: Amy Marriott v Anna Green

1300: Rhys Davies v Connor Green

1300: Millie Rogove v Scarlet Anders

1345: Ben Piggott v Robert Pelc

1345: Erin Green v Lois Perryman

1430: David Gofton v Connor Green

1430: Mollie Patterson v Jasmin Wong

1515: Louis Price v Joe Cope

1515: Millie Rogove v Samadhi Udamulla

 

Live streaming schedule for Saturday 19th (subject to change):

1100: Louis Price v Connor Green

1100: Mollie Patterson v Anna Green

1145: Oliver Cornish v David Gofton

1145: Millie Rogove v Amy Marriott

1230: Amirul Hussain v Benjamin Piggott

1230: Mari Baldwin v Samadhi Udamulla

1345: Rhys Davies v Oliver Cornish

1345: Jasmin Wong v Erin Green

1430: Maxim Stevens v Connor Green

1430: Samadhi Udamulla v Scarlet Anders

1515: Rhys Davies v Joshua Weatherby

1515: Mari Baldwin v Millie Rogove

1600: Joe Cope v Joshua Weatherby

1600: Mollie Patterson v Gemma Kerr

1645: Robert Pelc v Connor Green

1645: Amy Marriott v Lois Perryman

1730: Joshua Weatherby v Maxim Stevens

1730: Anaya Patel v Scarlet Anders