The first BUCS table tennis competition under the Table Tennis England umbrella, it features a who’s who of talented young athletes.
Around 480 athletes will compete in singles and doubles at the University of Nottingham this coming weekend.
There are no fewer than 68 men’s singles groups, 65 of which consist of five participants and three of which consist of groups of four. They are led by last year’s top seed and silver medalist Ben Piggott, who represents Sheffield Hallam.
Three of the top four seeds are from Sheffield Hallam, with Toby Ellis and Felix Thomis the other two. The latter won bronze last year.
The exception in the top four is Xinliang Sun from Nottingham, the defending champion in the men’s singles.
Hanming Lin, Harry Doherty, James Hamblett and Jonathan Mooney, all from Nottingham, are among the top 10 seeds, as are Nottingham Trent duo Ally Cornish and Adam Dennison. There are far more than capable players lower down the rankings.
In women’s singles, defending champion Jiaqi Meng of Nottingham is the top seed, followed by teammates Sophie Earley and Mari Baldwin. The first non-Nottingham seed is Mollie Patterson, who won a bronze medal last year and represents neighboring Nottingham Trent.
Other Nottingham athletes in the top 10 include Jasmin Wong, Anna Green, Rachael Iles and Mabel Shute. The top 10 is completed by Patricia Ianau (University of East London) and Yat Sum Ma from Plymouth.
Piggott & Thomis were the only champions not representing the University of Nottingham last year and they are back to defend their title as top seeds, ahead of Nottingham duo Sun & Lin.
Meng won gold in the women’s doubles last year alongside Tin-Tin Ho, who is no longer eligible. Earley is Meng’s new partner and they are the best players ahead of teammates Baldwin & Wong.
Meng also won the Mixed last year, completing a personal clean sweep with Robert Pelc. Once again, her partner from last year doesn’t qualify and she teams up with Lin this time. Sun & Earley are the second seeds.
The doubles matches start tomorrow, the singles matches start on Saturday and Sunday.
Click here Visit the BUCS website for more information.
The event attracts more than 450 participants each year and is considered the largest annual table tennis tournament in Great Britain.
In September, Table Tennis England and British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) strengthened their ties by agreeing progress towards a Memorandum of Understanding to bring BUCS players under the TTE umbrella for the first time.
Table Tennis England will regulate the event to the same general requirements and broad rules as a Senior 4* tournament in terms of referees and physical environment. The event will be subject to Table Tennis England sanctions and suspensions, and will be eligible for national rankings, while also being able to interact with a wider cohort of players in higher education.
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