The road to glory has been mapped out with the draw for the knockout stage of the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

With qualifying starting on Friday, all the competitors in that stage now know who they will – or could – face in the last 32 and how the draw will progress from there all the way to Finals Day on Sunday, when the champions will be crowned.

Two-time champion Tom Jarvis is the top seed in the Men’s Singles and will play the winner of Group 9 at the top of the draw – a great incentive for those in the group, headed by Umair Mauthoor and Mahmood Kelani.

Second seed Sam Walker, yet to win the title after five final appearances, has a ‘Hollywood’ tie if Group 7 goes to seeding – Josh Bennett is the top-ranked player in the group, fresh from his role in blockbuster movie Marty Supreme.

The top seed in qualifying, Chris Doran, could face Paralympic champion Will Bayley – who is second ranked in Group 11 and will have to get past England teenager Rohan Dani if he is to top the group. Doran’s nearest challenger, by ranking, is Matthew Daish.

Third seed David McBeath is in Walker’s half of the draw, and he awaits the winner of Group 17, headed by former Mixed Doubles champion Ismaila Akindiya.

Fourth seed Connor Green, in Jarvis’ half, will play the Group 10 winner, which would be Felix Thomis if it goes with ranking.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, the winners of Groups 6 and 13 will meet, which could mean an all-action encounter between former Under-21 national champions Shayan Siraj and newly crowned Under-17 champion Max Radiven.

There could also be a clash between England youngsters Isaac Kingham and Abraham Sellado, while three-time champion Andrew Baggaley is the prize for whoever tops Group 21, which would be Ryan Choong by ranking.

Paul Drinkhall’s withdrawal from the singles – he is still playing Men’s Doubles – means that one lucky loser will be drawn from all the group runners-up to go into the last 32, where they will meet Group 20 winner – that group is headed by Joe Sawyer.

The Women’s Singles draw is a lot less clear, as four players will go through from each of the six groups.

What we know for sure is that Tin-Tin Ho, chasing a record eighth title to surpass Table Tennis England President Jill Parker MBE, is in the same half of the draw as fourth seed Ella Pashley.

The leaves second seed Tianer Yu and third seed Sophie Earley in the bottom half.

Ho will play the third-placed competitor in Group 4, while Yu, who lost the final to Ho last year after leading 3-0, will face the player finishing fourth in the same group.

Earley has the fourth-placed athlete in Group 1 on her radar, while the draw paired Pashley with the runner-up in the same group.

Whatever happens, there will be some scintillating and no-holds-barred play as the qualifying field aims to reach the knockout stage. Follow it all on this website and our social media channels from 9am tomorrow!

And if you still haven’t got your tickets for the weekend’s play – well, what are you waiting for?

Draws in full