Some of the top-ranked young athletes in the country are heading to the Blackpool Junior 4* this weekend as they seek to earn that all-important invitation to the age group Nationals.

The Junior 4* tournaments around the country offer a route to the National Championships for the Cadet and Junior cohort.

Win the boys’ open or girls’ category in either age group, and – provided you are qualified English – you will bag an automatic spot at the Nationals.

But even if you don’t lift the trophy, every step you take through the competition earns points on the leaderboards, which offer another route into the Nationals.

With 4* tournaments having been held at Cleveland and Cliffedale Chandlers, a total of eight young athletes have already secured their places:

	Cleveland Junior 4*	Cliffedale Chandlers Junior 4*
Cadet Girls	Hannah Saunders	Charlotte Wong
Cadet Boys’ Open	Dimitar Dimitrov	Kai Lun Chow
Junior Girls	Ella Pashley	Soraya Rahmani-Walentynska
Junior Boys’ Open	Zac Greenhough	Harry Tomlinson

Among those vying to join them in the Under-15 age group for the Cadet & Under-17 Nationals in March are Sinan Surensoy, who is top seed in the Boys’ Open category, followed by Zihan Lin. Among those also in the field are Sai Prasanna Kumar, who competed at ITTF World Hopes Week last month.

Saunders and Wong are the top two seeds in the Under-15 Girls, with Sakinah Damji, Mindy Gao and Phoebe O’Brien among those also trying to secure their Nationals spot.

In the Juniors – those Nationals are in April alongside the Under-21 age group – Saunders is again top seed, ahead of Catherine Lv, who will be playing her first 4* of the season. She recently helped England win team gold at the European School Games. Brooke Morris and Millie Noble are also highly ranked.

In the boys’ open, Abraham Sellado (pictured top of page) is the top seed as he appears at his first 4* of the season, with Rohan Dani, Greenhough and Surensoy also highly ranked.

There are also Under-17 and Under-13 competitions in Blackpool. Click here to see the schedule and full group draws.

Also on the road to the Nationals, the Cambridge Junior 4* takes place next month, though entries have now closed.

Entries are open for the Joola Plymouth Junior 4* on the weekend of 16-17 January. Click here to enter.