Mark Bates U10-13 Nationals draws released, six defending champions return

Six defending champions have returned to the Mark Bates Ltd U10-13 Nationals draw, and that alone turns the singles group stage into more than a routine spring fixture. Table Tennis England has released the first map of the competition at Kettering Arena, where the Under-11 and Under-13 events will be played on Saturday, 18 April, before the Under-10 and Under-12 categories follow on Sunday, 19 April.

For families and coaches, the draw matters because it shows where the pressure points already sit. The Nationals closed entries at 11.59pm on Wednesday 25 March, and with boys’ and girls’ singles across all four age groups plus doubles at Under-12 and Under-13, the event gives players a wider pathway than a simple one-title weekend. Since the competition was expanded in the 2023/24 season into a broader open Under-10, Under-11, Under-12 and Under-13 format, ranking is no longer a barrier to entry, although top-ranked players still receive protected places.

The girls’ fields look especially sharp at the top end. Hattie Xiao returns as defending Under-10 champion and top seed, but she is also seeded second in Under-11 behind Swara Mahabhashyam, which makes her one of the most closely watched players in the event. Bethany Yang leads the Under-12 Girls’ Singles, with Cindy Xiao, last year’s Under-11 champion, moving up an age group behind her. Amber Lemmon, who already owns the Under-12 crown, is the top seed in Under-13 and arrives with the strongest recent record in the field after a four-gold weekend in 2025.

On the boys’ side, Stefan Wierszyllowski is the player to beat in both Under-10 and Under-11, a rare double top-seed status that immediately marks him out as the central figure in the younger age groups. Saisuriya Prasanna Kumar steps into Under-12 as top seed after winning Under-11 last year, while Dimitar Dimitrov leads the Under-13 draw fresh from gold at the WTT Youth Contender in Panagyurishte on 30 March and with a Cadet & Under-17 Nationals title already on his record.

The numbers behind the event explain why it carries so much weight in English junior table tennis. The 2025 Nationals featured 12 titles across four age groups, and Table Tennis England has described the competition as the flagship tournament for its youngest aspiring athletes. It has been held in some form every season since 1968-69, and for the players chasing those six returning champions, Kettering now looks like the first real proving ground of the spring.