Eleven Paris Olympians, a clutch of national champions, top-50 world-ranked players – and the cream of English talent to take them all on. That’s what the WTT Feeder Manchester promises!
England’s No 1 and seven-time National champion Liam Pitchford is likely to be second seed as he seeks his first WTT title in front of home crowd.
With just a few weeks to go, tickets are selling fast for the event from 24-27 April, especially for the Sunday, when the titles will be decided.
Click below to book your place to cheer on England’s finest. Last year, two British pairs reached doubles finals – can the home favourites hit the top of the podium this year?
Who else has entered?
As well as Liam, all of England’s top male and female players are in the entry list for Manchester. Fellow seven-time National Champion Paul Drinkhall is among them, along with this year’s Men’s Singles silver medallist David McBeath.
Tom Jarvis and Andrew Baggaley, who both reached the semi-finals at the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships last weekend, will also be there, as will Sam Walker and Connor Green.
On the women’s side, seven-time national champion Tin-Tin Ho leads an English contingent which also includes silver medallist Tianer Yu and bronze medallists Sophie Earley and Jasmin Wong. Wales’ Anna Hursey, who reached the Women’s Doubles final with Ho at WTT Feeder Manchester 2024, also returns.
Of the overseas players, Singapore’s Zeng Jian, currently No 60 in the world, is no stranger to these shores, having won four medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, including Women’s Doubles gold.
The highest-ranked player in the Women’s Singles is Dina Meshref of Egypt (WR 33), who has won the African Championships in every possible event – singles, doubles, mixed and team.
Hursey, Meshref and Zeng all competed at the Paris Olympic Games last year, as did Feeder Manchester entrants Arantxa Cossio of Mexico, Italian duo Giorgia Piccolin and Debora Vivarelli and Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte. Vivarelli was a bronze medallist in Manchester last year.
On the men’s side, the top seed is set to be Finn Luu of Australia, who along with Pitchford, Joao Geraldo of Portugal and Peter Hribar of Slovenia also competed in Paris.
Iulian Chririta of Romania is likely to also be in contention for medals, along with a clutch of players ranked between 100 and 200 in the world.
Among the national champions competing – apart from Pitchford and Ho – are top Italian duo Piccolin and John Oyebode, Geraldo, De Nutte and Rachel Moret (Switzerland).
There are also intriguing entries from India and Japan, while France will have a clutch of young players in attendance. Among the other nations represented on the entry list are Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Argentina and Barbados.
