Duo to line up in top event

The local pair are set to take part in the Heritage Oil Open at K2, Crawley, on the weekend of July 5 and 6.

Last year King was runner-up in the band one women’s singles and will be looking to go one step further this year. She has also entered the women’s singles and under-21 women’s singles.

Venner will be pitching his talents against the likes of Dexter St Louis, who is the number one in Trinidad & Tobago, in the veteran singles. He is also in the men’s band one singles and men’s singles.

The 200-strong entry includes the English, Welsh and Irish Commonwealth teams in preparation for the Commonwealth Games being played in Glasgow later this summer.

The English team includes the top seed in the men’s event, Liam Pitchford, who is rated number four in the world at under-21 level and 56th overall, and Paul Drinkhall, who won the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour Spanish Open during April.

Other competitors include world number 86 Adam Pattantyus and 76th-ranked Petra Lovas from Hungary, plus Spanish world number 90 Galia Dvorak, all of whom competed in the 2012 Olympics.

The organisers are also delighted that Fangxian Yi, a former China national team player now ranked 44th in the world, will be making the trip from the Far East to play in the tournament.

The men’s and women’s Open events will take place on Saturday July 5 with the semi-finals and finals to be played at the BT Sport studio in London on Monday July 7.