Enter the Senior Nationals qualifying tournament and open up a pathway to meeting one of England’s leading players!

That was exactly what happened to Ben Piggott last year when, having won the qualifying tournament, he ended up on the showcourt against England No 1 Liam Pitchford.

The 20-year-old from Stockton-on-Tees is in the field again this time and he thoroughly recommends anyone else to have a crack at qualifying for the Nationals ‘proper’.

This year, the qualifiers are on the opening day of the Nationals – Friday 20 March at David Ross Sports Village in Nottingham. It is an open tournament, meaning any eligible players can enter the Men’s Singles or Women’s Singles.

They will go head-to-head to be one of 24 players in each gender who will progress to the main draw on Saturday, where the top eight invited players will be waiting in the Round of 32.

All entrants must have more than 200 Senior ranking points, or be dummied with more than 200 points, as of the entry deadline of 11.59pm on Wednesday 18 February.

Entries are on a first come, first served basis, with the exception of the top 50 Senior Men and top 32 Senior Women, who have protected spaces – but must still enter before the deadline.

Any eligible player can also enter the doubles categories, with up to 16 pairs in each category, and priority going to pairings with the highest combined ranking points.

Ben said: “Obviously, the reason you enter the qualifiers is to get to the Nationals, but it also turns into a good day with a lot of different matches, different styles.

“Last year was my first year in Sheffield (at university and practising at the Elite Training Centre) and I was training well and feeling I was playing well. I won my group and got rewarded with the match against Pitch, which was a surprise at the time but a good experience.

“Playing him was strange in a way. When I was younger, I was watching him and Paul and Sam from afar, but last year because I’d been in Sheffield, I’d seen him around more and more – so it wasn’t as nerve-wracking as it might seem.

“It was stranger at the start of the match, shaking his hand, than it was actually playing him, but a cool experience.

“You have to go out there and enjoy it, even though it was a tough match and I lost 4-0. I was able to go back to Sheffield and figure out where I was exploited by him so I could work on that and get better.”

Ben says what the Nationals means to him has changed as he has got older and moved up the rankings – he is currently at No 12.

“When I was younger it was exciting but I wasn’t really meant to achieve a lot, but as I got older it’s become somewhere I want to play well and get further,” he said.

“It’s the whole event – I really enjoy the doubles because we don’t play a lot of doubles in England, so it’s cool to do that.

“And I like the way it’s set up with the showcourts, it’s always very professional.”