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