There will be some new names on the trophies when the final national champions of the season are crowned at the Mark Bates Ltd Junior & U21 National Championships this weekend.

With Connor Green at the World Championships in Doha, he will not get the chance to complete a hat-trick of Under-21 Men’s Singles titles, having won the last two editions.

Allied to the withdrawals of Ben Piggott and Louis Price, who were the top two seeds, the category is wide open.

Larry Trumpauskas becomes the de facto top seed, followed by last season’s runner-up, Felix Thomis – and there are plenty of others who are capable of seizing the day.

The corresponding women’s event is no less competitive, though last year’s U21 champion Tianer Yu, who was top seed, has withdrawn, so there will again be a new champion.

Last year’s runner-up Ella Pashley is seeded fourth, behind Mari Baldwin and Sophie Earley, the latter making her first appearance at this age group having been injured last season.

All except Baldwin will have the chance to go for a double as they are also among the top seeds in the Junior Girls’ Singles, where defending champion Anna Green, who beat Yu 15-13 in the decider in last year’s final, completes the top quartet.

Connor Green will also miss out on the chance of a hat-trick in the Junior Boys’ Singles, where Cadet and Under-17 National champion Abraham Sellado heads the seedings, followed by 2022 Junior champion Trumpauskas, Isaac Kingham and Max Radiven.

As well as singles, there are gender-specific doubles in both age groups, plus Mixed Doubles in the Under-21s.

This is the first staging of the two age groups at the same event, with the Under-21s having moved out of the Senior Nationals. The Under-21 events are on Saturday and the Juniors on Sunday.

The competition gets under way at Arena Sports Kettering at 9am on Saturday, and we will be streaming the pick of the action live on TTE.TV.

Check out the programme below for all the draws, and keep an eye on our website and social media channels for the latest news.

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