Official draws published for Mark Bates Ltd Cadet and Under-17 Nationals

Table Tennis England published the official draws for the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet & Under-17 Nationals on 26 February 2026, after conducting the draw process in the week commencing 23 February 2026. The published draws list seedings, confirmed entrants and the early-round pairings that will determine matchups for the weekend at the David Ross Sports Village, University of Nottingham.

The national championships run Saturday 7 March and Sunday 8 March 2026, with Under-17 events scheduled to start at 9:00am on Saturday and Cadet events starting at 9:00am on Sunday. The venue is the David Ross Sports Village, Beeston Lane, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, where organisers have allocated play across 16 Butterfly Europa 25 tables (blue).

Entry to the event closed at midnight on Wednesday 11 February 2026. Invites were based on the 25/05 snapshot ranking list published 14 January 2026, while seedings used the 25/06 snapshot ranking list published 11 February 2026. The championships carry a Table Tennis England ranking weighting of x 2.0, so results will have a measurable effect on national rankings for cadet and Under-17 players.

Match conditions and equipment are specified in the event reference documentation: play will use Butterfly R40+ 3 plastic balls (white), nets and posts will be Butterfly, and a minimum court size of 10m x 5m is required. Scoring machines will be used for all matches. Organisers reserve the right to alter playing times or table allocations for any match, and entrants who are absent when scheduled to play are liable to disqualification.

Racket and clothing rules are included in the published event information. One side of rackets may be pink, violet, green, blue or the normal bright red while the other side must remain black, and all rackets must conform to ITTF regulations; racket testing may be carried out at random. The event document requires competitors to display their name printed onto the back of their clothing, though the published excerpt of that rule cuts off mid-sentence and the full wording is not reproduced with the draws.

The tournament referee retains the authority to cancel any event with fewer than eight entries, to hold qualifying competitions or to merge events if necessary. No entries will be accepted after the draw, except in exceptional circumstances where Table Tennis England may invite additional wildcards to fill vacant group gaps.

A Facebook post from Table Tennis England points readers to the event preview link to find the full draw. Tournament administration is led by Tournament Director Mark Pinder; contact details listed in the event document are mark.pinder@tabletennisengland.co.uk and 01908 208871. With draws published and seedings set, attention now turns to final preparations ahead of play on 7 and 8 March at Nottingham.