Table Tennis: National Individual Championships 2026-27

BUCS Staff/Event Lead: Chris Lamb

Tournament Director: Dan Bullen (TO3)

Deputy Tournament Director: Debbie Oram

Referee: Matthew Pryke (NR)

Deputy Referee: Emily Knutsson (NR)

Umpire Manager: Margaret Welch (TO3)

Tournament Organising Committee:

Chris Lamb (BUCS Event Lead), Dan Bullen (TO3), Matthew Pryke (NR), Margaret Welch (TO3), Sandra Deaton

ENTRY OPENING DATE

Tuesday 22 September 2026

ENTRY CLOSING DATE

Tuesday 27^th October 2026 at 23:59 – Student / Competitor Deadline

(Students / Competitors must apply by this deadline)

Thursday 29^th October 2026 at 23:59 – Institution Administrator Deadline

(Institutional Administrators are given 48 hours after the student / competitor deadline to approve entries)

ENTRY COSTS

Singles Event – £55.00

(This includes a £2.75 fee per player to cover the administrative costs of this event becoming Table Tennis England regulated. Further details on the benefits can be found in the ‘TTE Regulated Event’ tab below.)

Doubles Event - £39.15

(Please note – If a player enters only the doubles event, a £2.75 fee will be added to the institutions entry fees payable post-event. If a player enters both singles and doubles, no additional fee is payable)

SINGLE ENTRY

This competition will NOT operate a staged entry process. As such, please ensure all entries are submitted through BUCS Play prior to the closing date listed above.

To apply for the competition all eligible competitors must follow these steps:

1. Competitor to apply to the event on BUCS Play (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
2. Institution administrator approves entry (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
3. BUCS approves/denies entry into competition and publishes confirmed entry list.

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

By participating in this event, you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility.

Each institution will be allowed 20 guaranteed entries into Men’s Open Singles and Women’s Singles, and 3 guaranteed entries into Men’s Open Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Each institution may also submit a ranked list of additional non-guaranteed entries per competition through BUCS Play. Non-guaranteed entries may be accepted for each competition following the entry closing date if the competition allows. Should the event reach capacity BUCS may need to restrict the number of entries per institution. Non-guaranteed entries will only be charged an entry fee if they are accepted into the competition.

When submitting singles entries on BUCS Play, non-guaranteed entries MUST be ranked in order of preference of entry before being submitted. Should BUCS need to restrict per this will be done equally across institutions.

All doubles entries MUST also be ranked in order and the same as their partner i.e., if a university has 2 women's doubles pairs, these must be ranked 1, 1 & 2, 2, in their correct pairings. Failure to rank players correctly causes issues with pre-event admin in terms of seeding & scheduling. If doubles players are not ranked by IA's they will not be included in the competition.

Consultation and seeding of entries accepted into the competition will be taken in tandem with the BUCS Table Tennis Sport Advisory Group (SAG). The seedings for this tournament will be decided by the TTE rankings at the time of entries closing (29^th October 2026).   

The following BUCS points and medals are available in Men’s Open Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Open Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

• 1st: 12 points and gold medal
• 2nd: 8 points and silver medal
• 3rd: 5 points (for both losing semi-finalists) and bronze medal.

There are no overall team points available due to the league and knockout programme also on offer for table tennis.

Full details can be found in Appendix 1.

The BUCS Table Tennis National Individual Championship is regulated by Table Tennis England (TTE). This means that all participants – from any country – can now gain TTE rating points for the BUCS Championships in the same way as any other national table tennis event, with technical officials at the event working to national governing body regulations and processes.

Competitors should also be aware that any sanctions handed out at the event (e.g. yellow cards) will also go on a player’s TTE record.

Table Tennis England invites all BUCS players to join as a member, and to compete in the TTE national competition programme. TTE membership benefits include table tennis news and updates, public liability insurance, personal accident insurance, and the chance to gain a national ranking/ rating. Details can be seen here: Membership - Table Tennis England. If you are a home counties or international player and are affiliated to your home nation, you are entitled to a free reciprocal membership from TTE. Please contact [email protected] or phone 01908 208860 to organise your Reciprocal or International Registration.

Competitor clothing must have at a minimum the competitor’s family name on the back of their shirt. As advised at last years event, there will be no facility to do this manually, and a £10 fine will be issued to any competitor who does not have their name on the back of their shirt. This is in line with Table Tennis events of a similar level across the UK.

Men Singles and Women Singles competitions are run using a group stage followed by a knockout stage. Group size will be 5 players, with those finishing 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in their group progressing to the championship knock out stage after the initial groups stage. There will be no Plate competition.

Men's Open Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles competitions are run using a group stage, with 3 pairs per group, and one pair progressing to the knockout stage per group.

The Doubles competition is scheduled to take place on Friday 27^th November, and the singles group stages on Saturday 28^th November, before the single’s knockout stages on Sunday 29^th November.

The hall and practice area will open for practice at 8:30am on Friday (Registration in the reception area of DRSV will start from 8:15am)

Friday: Mixed Doubles: 9:30am start, followed by Women’s Doubles (10:45am start), then Men’s Open Doubles (12pm start). All groups played to conclusion, followed by rotating knockout rounds (e.g. Mixed R1, followed by Women R1, followed by Men’s Open R1).

Saturday: Singles group stages: 9:00am start (Practice Hall opens 1 hour prior at 8am)

Sunday: 8:45am start (Practice Hall opens 1 hour prior at 7:45am)

Withdrawals must be made in writing by the athletic union or students’ union and e-mailed to the BUCS Event Team.

Withdrawals after the IA Approval closing date (Thursday 29 October 2026 at 23:59pm) will still be charged the entry fee.

Individuals who withdraw after 5pm on Tuesday 24th November 2026 or who fail to register on the morning of the event will still be charged their entry fee and incur an additional £50 fine.

You can find the BUCS Table Tennis regulations here.

BUCS Table Tennis will follow the TTE and ITTF regulations on any laws of the game.

Please also note the TTE Gender Eligibility Rules which came into effect for the 2026-27 season, and is being applied to this event as a TTE regulated competition.

Anyone wishing to take photos or video at this event must complete the BUCS Media Accreditation Form prior to the event. Once you have completed the form, please go to the BUCS Desk at the event to receive your media accreditation. 

BUCS reserves the right to prohibit photography equipment being used at a BUCS event. BUCS reserves the right to request that the individual ceases to take photographs, deletes any images and, if considered necessary, leaves the venue. 

If you wish to take photos or videos at this event, please contact the BUCS Event Lead.  

BUCS’ mission is to provide exceptional student sporting experiences that inspire, develop and unite.

Critical to our success is our commitment to always providing safe, friendly and enjoyable environments for all participants. Whether competing, coaching, officiating, volunteering, working or spectating at these events, the welfare of all is critical to our mission.

To find out more or report a concern, please click here.