Six of last year’s seven singles champions are aiming to get the winning feeling again at the Under-11-to-14 National Championships in Doncaster.

They include double champion Denise Payet (Mi), who took the under-12 and under-14 crowns last season and is top seed in both the U13 and U14 competitions this time around.

Kate Cheer (Sx), the U13 winner last year, is seeded two in the U14 event, while the under-11 champion Molly Hancock steps up to under-12 level, where fellow Staffordshire player Charlotte Bardsley is top seed.

On the boys’ side, under-14 champion Tom Jarvis is now ineligible for the event, so the No 1 seed is Harry Dai (Y) – last year’s under-12 champion. He is followed in the rankings by last year’s under-13 title-winner Alex Ramsden (Np).

Dai is also top seed in the under-13 section, while last year’s under-11 title-winner, Ethan Walsh (He), heads the under-12 seedings this year.

The top seeds in the under-11 singles are Jasmine Wong (Y) in the girls and Amirul Hussain (La) in the boys.

Of last year’s U14 doubles champions, only Payet remains as Zahna Hall, Jarvis and Luke Savill are all ineligible.

Payet will partner Cheer, and the top-seeded pair face Hancock and Nicole Scott (Ch) in the first round. Ramsden and James Smith (K) are the top-rated pair in the boys’ doubles.

The competition, on Saturday May 31 and Sunday June 1, is back at the Doncaster Dome for the first time since 2011, having been held in Wolverhampton in 2012 and Tipton last year.

Saturday’s action will see the U14 singles and doubles plus the U13 singles competitions, while the under-11s and under-12s will compete for their singles titles on the Sunday. Spectators are welcome and entry is free of charge.

The draw can be found in the online programme here

by Paul Stimpson (May 20 2014)