The draw has been released for the 54th English Senior National Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield (1-3rd March 2013).
We analyse the contenders across the three days of competition including links to last year’s videos for a little of reminder of what’s in store.
Remember, to buy tickets for this year’s Championships contact Vanda Jones at [email protected]
Men’s Singles
Last year saw Paul Drinkhall win his fourth Men’s Singles title with a resounding 4-1 victory over Liam Pitchford. The pair are top seeds again for the competition with Andrew Baggaley third and Danny Reed fourth.
The quarter-finals are set to be explosive once again with potential match-ups between Drinkhall and David McBeath, Reed and Chris Doran, Baggaley and Gavin Evans and Pitchford against Darius Knight.
However, watch out also for some of the dark horses who may cause a few upsets. In particular, the in-form junior Sam Walker and the rejuvenated Mike O’Driscoll ,who returns to the nationals after impressive recent grand prix performances.
Women’s Singles
Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley remain the firm favourites for the Women’s Singles competition, but the real question remains whether anyone can break their stranglehold on the event.
In 2012 Sibley secured her third title with a five-game victory over Parker in a classic case of attack versus defence.
Potential contenders for the title, outside of the top two, could come in the form of third seed Hannah Hicks, fourth seed Karina Le Fevre or fifth seed Emma Vickers.
There is also the potential for an interesting quarter-final between Sibley and Tin-Tin Ho should the cadet get that far. Last year she was beaten by Yolanda King (now sixth seed) in a classic seven game encounter.
Men’s Doubles
Danny Reed will be hunting for his third consecutive Men’s Doubles title as he retains his successful partner from last year, the left-handed Darius Knight.
After beating the top seeds Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the final last time out, they might have to do the same with the English numbers 1 and 2 pairing up once more in Sheffield.
Outsiders might come in the form of grand prix pairing Gavin Evans and David McBeath who have honed their technique together over the course of the season – taking advantage of the new grand prix format.
Women’s Doubles
It’s hard to look past the duo of Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley for the Women’s Doubles title after securing their fourth title in the last five years with a 3-1 win over Emily Bates and Lauren Spink in the 2012 final.
Second seeds Karina Le Fevre and Emma Vickers look likely to be their closest challengers while the Cleveland pairing of juniors Chloe Whyte and Jess Dawson could make their way to the final.
Mixed Doubles
The Mixed Doubles event last year was another to have a surprise winner after Darius Knight and Kelly Sibley beat Chris Doran and Hannah Hicks to earn their second mixed doubles title.
However, that was only after Doran and Hicks had beaten the top seeds, and four-times champions, Paul Drinkhall and Joanna Parker in the semi-finals.
With the announcement of their engagement earlier this year, Drinkhall and Parker will have extra pressure on their shoulders to start the partnership on the front foot and reclaim their crown.
Men’s Under 21s
Gavin Evans was the surprise winner of last year’s under 21s and starts as favourite this year after Liam Pitchford’s decision not to enter.
It was Evans’ victory over Pitchford in the semi-final that opened up the door for him to take the title in a competent four-game victory over David McBeath in the final.
McBeath will hope for better this year as the second seed while Sean Cullen and Richard Andrews will desire at least a semi-final finish. Sam Walker can hardly be classed as an outsider after his recent form, but after being drawn as the sixth seed he’ll have to work hard if he is to win the title.
Women’s Under 21s
Last season Emma Vickers won her third Women’s Under 21s title, but has now moved out of the age group, leaving the field open for a brand new winner.
With no previous champions in the line-up it could be a chance for one of the top seeds to claim their first. Karina Le Fevre, Yolanda King, Chloe Whyte and Tressa Armitage are those seeded in the draw, but the dangerous Tin-Tin Ho could cause real problems for any one of them in the later stages.
Veteran Men’s Singles
Lorestas Trumpauskas will be searching for his third consecutive victory in the Veteran Men’s Singles but will face much tougher opposition this year with former champion Abdul Wuraola and the in-form Mike O’Driscoll back to challenge him this year.
Veteran Men’s Doubles
The Veteran Men’s Doubles is a truly open competition this year with last year’s finalists both not entering the competition in 2013.
That leaves the possibility of a brand new pair of champions, which will be decided between the quartet of, Jimmy Walsh and Costas Papantoniou, Mike O’Driscoll and Paul Beck, Jojo Senorin and Chris Beckley and finally, Stephen Horsfield and Andrew Horsfield.
* there will be no Veteran Women’s Singles due to insufficient entries
To see the full draw, click the link below: