Kingham and Yu win Under-21 national singles titles in Nottingham

Isaac Kingham and Tianer Yu walked away as the headline names from the Mark Bates Ltd Junior & Under-21 National Championships in Nottingham, each turning a pressure-packed day at David Ross Sports Village into an Under-21 singles title and an early marker for the next tier of British table tennis.

Five national titles were decided across the opening day of the combined Junior and Under-21 weekend at the University of Nottingham, with the Under-21 events now staged separately from the Senior Nationals after moving out of that championship in 2025. The format still routes junior players through Cadet and Junior 4* events, a qualification system Table Tennis England has had in place since 2021, and it produced a draw that rewarded the players who could handle the sharpest moments.

Kingham’s path was the most revealing. He opened with a composed 3-1 win over Joseph Marlor, then met top seed Joe Hunter in a quarter-final that was far tighter than the final 3-0 scoreline suggests. Kingham edged the first end 23-21 before steadying himself with 11-8 and 11-7 wins to move through. He kept that control in the semi-finals and then had to dig deepest in the final against Abraham Sellado, where the match swung back and forth before Kingham finished 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6 to seal his maiden singles national title. It was the sort of victory that said as much about nerve as it did about talent, with Kingham showing he could absorb pressure and answer it point for point.

Yu’s title carried a different kind of weight. The women’s singles top seed arrived in Nottingham after climbing 41 places into the world top 250 in October 2025, a jump built on her European Championship form and wins over Georgia Piccolin and Gaia Monfardini in England’s 3-2 victory over Italy. That rise now has a domestic title beside it, strengthening the case that Yu is ready for more senior-level tests.

The doubles finals added more names to the weekend’s ledger. Max Radiven and Rachael Iles won the mixed title, Ella Pashley and Sienna Jetha took the women’s crown, and Joe Hunter partnered James Hamblett to the men’s title. Hunter had entered the singles as the pre-event top seed, with defending champion Larry Trumpauskas absent, while Pashley was seeded third in the women’s draw, leaving Nottingham with a clear sense that the next wave is already pressing forward.

Kingham, backed by England experience at two World Schools Championships and medals at European Youth and World Youth level, now has a national singles title to match his age-group pedigree. Yu’s win, combined with the depth shown across the weekend, makes Nottingham look less like a finish line than a preview of the contenders Britain will be talking about next.