Sai Prasanna Kumar and Isabella Xiao Xu booked their places at World Hopes Week after winning the respective boys’ and girls’ England Hopes Challenge.

The competition was run on the National Cup format, with all 10 competitors in each category playing each other across the weekend at Draycott TTC.

Prasanna Kumar had the perfect weekend, winning all nine matches to finish top of the boy’s table, while Xiao Xu and Cindy Xiao each won eight of their nine matches – Xiao Xu finishing top by virtue of winning their head-to-head match.

With the fields selected on the basis of rankings, with two wildcards added in each category, competition was fierce as the aspiring athletes aimed to seal their places at the World Hopes Week and Challenge in Sheffield next month.

Prasanna Kumar held off the challenges of Leo Shahmurov and Lusio Wen to take the title – though his toughest match proved to be in round eight against Jonti Barnes, who came from 2-0 down to force a decider before Prasanna Kumar sealed it 3-2 (11-2, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5).

Against his closest rivals, the champion beat Shahmurov 3-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9) in round six and Wen 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3) in the following round.

Shahmurov took second place with eight wins out of nine, including a 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-9) win over Wen in round five – the only other defeat for third-placed Wen.

Jacob Dennison and Jayden Xuan Chen each won five matches, with Dennison’s 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10) victory in their meeting seeing him claim fourth place.

There were plenty of five-game matches, starting in the opening round, where Chen beat Barnes 11-7 in the fifth. Wen was an 11-8 in-the-fifth victor over Liam Higgins in the second round, and Shahmurov came from 2-1 down to beat Daniel Pavia in round three.

The closest finish saw Chen come from 2-0 down to defeat Stefan Wierszyłłowski 3-2 (5-11, 13-15, 11-8, 11-5, 15-13) in round five. In the same round, Ignacy Wierszyłłowski beat Barnes 13-11 in the decider.

Chen had more close matches in rounds six and seven, first defeating Pavia 3-2 (11-7, 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9), then losing out to Shahmurov 3-2 (12-10, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5).

Stefan Wierszyłłowski won twice in five – 11-1, 7-11, 11-5, 11-13, 11-8 against Higgins in round eight and 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 13-11 against Barnes in the final round.

Ignacy Wierszyłłowski beat Higgins in five in the final round, meaning all 10 of the players won at least one match.

Final positions: 1 Sai Prasanna Kumar, 2 Leo Shahmurov, 3 Lusio Wen, 4 Jacob Dennison, 5 Jayden Xuan Chen, 6 Daniel Pavia, 7 Stefan Wierszyłłowski, 8 Jonti Barnes, 9 Liam Higgins, 10 Ignacy Wierszyłłowski.

The top three in the girls’ competition all had unbeaten first days, though Isabella Xiao Xu was taken the distance by Akira Gabriella Bennatraj before winning 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-2).

Bethany Yang’s 100% record fell in round six, as she was defeated 3-1 (11-8, 11-2, 5-11, 11-7) by Sakinah Damji.

Xiao Xu then ended the perfect record of Cindy Xiao, seeing off a comeback with a 3-2 (12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 13-11) in round seven.

Yang then kept her hopes alive by recording a 3-0 (7, 8, 8) win over Xiao Xu in round 8, meaning it all hinged on the final round. Xiao Xu had to win her final match to seal top spot, with Xiao and Yang meeting and ready to take top spot if Xiao Xu slipped up.

In the event, Xiao Xu beat Evie Fountain 3-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-7) to confirm top place, while Xiao overcame Yang 3-1 (11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9) to take second, with Yang in third. Xiao conceded only six games all weekend – the best record across both categories – but that defeat to Xiao Xu proved pivotal.

Mila Gao ended in fourth place, ahead of Damji by virtue of defeating her 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6) in round three.

In fact, Gao was involved in four of the six matches which went to a decider – and she won them all. Two of them saw her come from 2-0 down, beating Hattie Xiao 3-2 (8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5) in round two and Fountain 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-11) in round eight.

The final five-set triumph came against her sister Mila in round nine, by a 3-2 (11-7, 11-2, 10-12, 5-11, 11-2) scoreline.

Final positions: 1 Isabella Xiao Xu, 2 Cindy Xiao, 3 Bethany Yang, 4 Mindy Gao, 5 Sakinah Damji, 6 Evie Fountain, 7 Hattie Xiao, 8 Mila Gao, 9 Akira Gabriella Bennatraj, 10 Navya Pathak.

The two champions secure England’s wildcard spots into the ITTF World Hopes Week and Challenge from 12-18 October. 

The English Institute of Sport (EIS) Sheffield is hosting the week for the second successive year, following a hugely successful event in 2025. It means that once again the GB performance pathway will host the best young players from five continents, as well as a cohort of elite coaches.

Up to 20 boys and 20 girls, born in 2014 or later, will undertake a week of intensive training and international collaboration, ending in the Challenge competition on the final two days.