Gauri Duhan is the only returning defending champion at the Butterfly ESTTA Individual Championships in Wolverhampton on Saturday.
The Hull youngster will represent Humberside in the Under-16 Girls’ event – and also returning are the three other semi-finalists from last year.
Runner-up Charlotte Bardsley (Worcs) will be looking to go one better and the two bronze medallists, Bhavika Mistry (Northants) and Chloe Lingard (Lincs) will also be in action.
There will be one other 2016 champion in attendance, but Naphong Boonyaprapa (Notts) will not be defending his Under-11 Boys’ crown as he has moved up to the Under-13 age group. The player he beat in the U11 final last year, Rhys Davies (Merseyside), will also be in the U13 field this time around.
Around 350 players will be in action on the day, with boys’ and girls’ competitions at under-11, under-13, under-16 and under-19 levels.
Last year’s runner-up Letitia McMullan (Hampshire) will be among the favourites in the top age group for the girls, while Josh Bennett (East Sussex) and James Hobson (West Yorkshire) are among the favourites in the corresponding boys’ event.
Two semi-finalists from last year return in the U16 Boys – Samuel Kwan (Cleveland) and Naphat Boonyaprapa (Notts) – but Cadet national champion Harry Dai (Humberside) is likely to start as favourite, while the U13 Girls’ event features last season’s Under-12 National Cup winner Scarlett O’Neil (Kent).
The Under-11 competitions throw up the possibility of twins winning the two gold medals – Notts duo Connor and Anna Green.