The event, also known as the Butterfly Michael Hawkesworth Championships, is due take place at the Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham on Saturday and Sunday (March 15 and 16) and will provide Britain's top stars with the opportunity to fine tune their form ahead of the start of the international season.

The Championships will also see some of the rising stars of the sport talking part but it is the big names on show that look set to dominate proceedings.

Welshman Davies comes into the tournament off the back of a great year which saw him rise to the top of the pile in International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings for 2013 thanks to his European title win in the class one competition in Lignano, Italy.

The 29-year-old defeated his great friend and teammate Paul Davies in that final, but Paul is currently out of action due to injury so it looks like Rob's biggest threat will come from fellow Welshman Tom Matthews.

Matthews will be competing in the class one-two category and is currently part of the Great Britain Pathway Squad based at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield,  and will be looking to build on his silver medal at last year's US Open.

"It will be good to get back to competitions," said former rugby player Davies, who is the defending British champion.

"I've done a lot of training through the winter but haven't played a lot of matches so it will be good to get the focus back on playing and get into the routine again of pre-match warm ups and so on.

"The nationals are important and will be a good test.

"I've been training with Tom and it is good for me to be pushed so we'll see how it goes."

London 2012 silver medal winner Will Bayley will be one of the big names competing in Grantham next weekend ©Getty Images



London 2012 silver medal winner Bayley, Daybell and Aaron McKibbin will be looking to defend titles in Grantham also.

Bayley lost out to McKibbin in the men's open Championship class six-10 last year but claimed a win in the class six-seven National Championship, while Londoner McKibbin also added the class eight National Championship crown.

"It was nice winning the National Championships last year," said 22-year-old McKibbin.

"It's good match preparation and it's good for the confidence to win a competition like that before the start of the international season.

"Training has gone well for me this winter and I feel I have made a lot of improvements in my technique and my mental approach."

Daybell took the class nine-10 title last year while two-time Paralympian Wetherill will be looking to make up for losing out to rival Bayley in the class six-seven decider 12 months ago.

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