The draw for the group stage of the Mark Bates Ltd U10-13 Nationals has been released.

Six defending champions are returning to the event, which is on the weekend of 18-19 April at Kettering Arena – the Saturday will see the Under-11 and Under-13 categories and Sunday the Under-10 and Under-12 events.

Hattie Xiao is the defending champion in the Under-10 Girls’ Singles and is also top seed. In the Under-11s, she is second seed behind Swara Mahabhashyam.

Bethany Yang is top seed in the Under-12 Girls’ Singles, ahead of Cindy Xiao, who won the Under-11s last year and now steps up.

Last year’s U12 champion Amber Lemmon is the top seed in the Under-13 Girls’ Singles, ahead of Serene Rahmani-Walentynska.

In the boys’ competitions, last year’s champion Stefan Wierszyllowski will defend the Under-10 Boys’ Singles as top seed, and he is also top seed in the Under-11s.

Top seed in the Under-12s is last year’s U11 champion Saisuriya Prasanna Kumar, while last year’s Under-12 champion Dimitar Dimitrov, fresh from winning gold at the WTT Youth Contender Panagyurishte last month, is top seed in the Under-13s Boys’ Singles and will be aiming to add the Under-13 title to the Cadet crown he took at the Mark Bates Ltd Cadet & Under-17 Nationals.

There are singles competitions for boys and girls in all four age groups, plus boys’ and girls’ doubles at U12 and U13.

See the group draws below. Singles and doubles knockout draws will be released in the next few days.