by Francesca Bullock, Great Britain Para Table Tennis Team Press Officer

Fresh from taking gold in Australia, 22 year old Wilson will be defending the national titles he won last year in Men’s Singles Class 8 and the Men’s Singles Standing Open Class.

“Winning the Commonwealth title has filled me with pride and confidence. I’m sure it will be quite difficult to focus on another competition so soon after a Commonwealth Games but it is an important competition for us and hopefully I can produce my best.” Ross Wilson

Rob Davies, who won his third consecutive European Men’s Singles title last October, has only recently returned to training and is focused this year on the World Championships in October.

In Grantham, he will defend his Men’s Singles Class 1-2 title, an event in which he faces tough opposition from Great Britain team mate and fellow Welshman Tom Matthews. He pushed Rob Davies all the way in the final last year and is now ranked no.4 in the world in Men’s Class 1 after taking silver at the 2017 European Championships and winning gold in Italy last month.

“I’m looking forward to the Nationals and to see where I am at right now. It’s sure to be a good match or two against the other guys. Tom is improving every week and I’m looking forward to the challenge. After the Nationals I’ll focus on training and preparing for the Worlds at the end of the year.” Rob Davies

Meanwhile, Will Bayley is defending his Men’s Singles Class 7 title and is also aware of ever-increasing competition from young, up and coming British players.

“The Nationals is always a really great competition to play in and always produces some brilliant matches. Playing against your team mates and people you train with is difficult and it is going to be a tough challenge but I’m looking forward to it. Every year we have been playing, the level has got better and better and the young players are really coming up and pushing us in our matches and that is what we need to keep improving. It’s great to see.” Will Bayley

One of the most competitive events is likely to be the Men’s Singles Class 6 event which features the 2017 European Team gold medallists Paul Karabardak, David Wetherill and defending champion Martin Perry.

Also United States Open champion Jack Hunter-Spivey will defend his Wheelchair Open title against among others World team medallists Sue Gilroy and Megan Shackleton.