Table tennis

Stephen Horsfield, the eight times open singles champion has been allocated the number one seeding slot for the forthcoming Sheffield table tennis championships, sponsored by Redtooth.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Apr 2018, 14:29 BST
Updated 5th Apr 2018, 14:31 BST

This historical event heralds its 80th anniversary at the English Institute of Sport on Sunday with an entry of 70 competitors.

Record title holder Horsfield can expect strong challenges from the second seed, club mate Jack Gant, the 2016 champion and Redtooth’s Paralympian Will Bayley who is ranked third.

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Last year’s beaten finalist Simon Pugh (Stocksbridge) is seeded fourth and will meet Horsfield in the semi final should the seeds progress to their allotted positions.

The Crookes trio of Tim Denby, Pete Morgan and Jake Meikle make up the respective fifth, sixth and seventh seeding positions, with Ji Fu Tham (Abbeydale) occupying the remaining seeded place.

Hoping to take a fifth consecutive women’s crown is England’s number 29 Isobel Ashley (Abbeydale), who heads an under strength women’s draw followed by second seeded Zoe Cheesman (Stocksbridge).

Trevor Williams (Stocksbridge) the 1978 and 2005 Open champion makes a welcome return to the event and aficionados will look forward to viewing Trevor’s defensive artistry as he combines with Stephen Horsfield for a shot at the men’s double title.

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Simon Pugh and Jack Grant are favourites for the event while Tim Denby and Jake Meikle are seeded second.

The junior singles event has mouth watering potential with the defending champion Jake Cutts being seeded second, due to the emergence of Abbeydale’s “Jeff” Tham who receives top billing.

Danger also lurks for Cutts in the form of Zaigham Mohammed and Valentinas Riauba (NGH) who are seeded third and fourth respectively.

Seventies legend David Rayner (Vulcan) returns to defend his over 60s crown where Trevor Williams potentially lies in wait in the last four.

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Multiple veterans champion Bill Grant has the number one spot and Eddie Fogg is seeded fourth.

Simon Pugh heads the over 40s list followed in second place by the 2016 champion Stephen Horsfield.

Bill Grant is scheduled to meet Pugh in the semi finals whilst Andrew Horsfield may face his brother in the bottom half of the draw.

Play commences at 8:35.

Related topics:Trevor WilliamsSheffield