REIGNING champion Martin Lowe has been installed as top seed for the defence of his York & District Table Tennis Closed Championships singles title.

The event, which will be held on Saturday and Sunday at the York RI gym in Queen Street, will feature 56 players.

Five-times winner and current men’s singles champion Lowe, of Coneysthorpe, heads the list of entries.

Lowe will also be gunning for the men’s doubles title in tandem with Ashley Hodgson, plus the veterans’ singles, where he is also seeded number one.

There will be a total of 18 trophies on offer, with other categories ranging from junior singles to super-veterans’ singles.

Youngster James Rule, of Coneysthorpe, will be looking for triple success as he enters the junior, cadet and men’s singles competitions.

There will also be plenty of doubles action on offer for the crowd with four different doubles events, with Marion Broadbent and Jon Wooldridge seeded to successfully defend their mixed doubles title.

The championships, run by the York & District Table Tennis Association, are sponsored by GMB.

Competition seedings

Men’s singles (36 entries): 1 Martin Lowe, 2 Filip Wojtkowiak, 3 Ashley Hodgson, 4 Aidan Rantfler, 5 Jon Wooldridge, 6 Chris Londesborough, 7 Richard Crowther, 8 James Rule.

Men’s doubles (16): 1 Ashley Hodgson and Martin Lowe, 2 Richard Crowther and Jon Wooldridge, 3 John Farmery and Graham Hatfield, 4 John Hughes and Filip Wojtkowiak.

Ladies singles (2): 1 Jane Cohen.

Ladies doubles (2): 1 Anne Barnard and Jane Cohen.

Mixed doubles (4): 1 Marion Broadbent and Jon Wooldridge, 2 Jane Cohen and Jeff Cohen.

Cadet singles (7): 1 James Rule, 2 Ethan Lowe.

Junior singles (8): 1 James Rule, 2 Jake McCarthy.

Veterans’ singles (25): 1 Martin Lowe, 2 Ashley Hodgson, 3 Jon Wooldridge, 4 Chris Londesborough, 5 Richard Crowther, 6 John Hughes, 7 Graham Hatfield, 8 John Farmery.

Veterans’ doubles (11): 1 Richard Crowther and Jon Wooldridge, 2 John Farmery and Graham Hatfield, 3 Mick Kenyon and Alfie Potter, 4 Mark Blackburn and John Hughes.

Super-veterans’ singles (11): 1 John Hughes, 2 John Farmery, 3 Jo Suchecki, 4 Ady McClaren.

Div 1 singles (12): 1 Filip Wojtkowiak, 2 Aidan Rantfler, 3 Jon Wooldridge.

Div 2 singles (11): 1 Jonathan Chabry, 2 Jeff Cohen, 3 Richard McCarthy.

Div 3 singles (8): 1 Bob Young, 2 Robert Farmery.

Div 4 singles (5): 1 Trevor Percival, 2 Terry Ruane.

Hard bat singles (25): 1 John Hughes, 2 Jon Wooldridge, 3 Graham Hatfield, 4 Charles Allenby, 5 Filip Wojtkowiak, 6 Richard Crowther, 7 John Farmery, 8 Mark Blackburn.

Hard bat doubles: No seedings. Entries on the day.

Restricted singles (19): No seedings.

Junior doubles: No seedings – entries on day.