Isle of Man Badminton Association’s open championships took place last weekend at the National Sports Centre in Douglas.
This was earlier than usual so that the players going to university could play, so it attracted an excellent entry.
The singles were held on Saturday evening and in the women’s semi-finals Leah Brennan (Fencibles) beat Annelise Mellor (Castletown Abbey) 20-22, 21-8, 21-8, while Kitty Thomas (Fencibles) beat Emma Nicholson (Vikings) 21-17, 21-11.
Brennan won the final 21-17, 21-17.
The plate competition was won by Charlotte Watson (Vikings).
The men’s semi-finals saw defending champion Tobey Cheng (Fencibles) defeat Fingal Watterson (Castletown Abbey) 21-9, 21-19 and Adam Colley (Marown) beat Alex Buck (Vikings) 21-10, 21-17.
In a very tight final, Cheng was pushed hard by Colley but held out to win 21-19, 24-22.
The plate competition was won by Martin Cheung (Fencibles).
The remaining events were played on Sunday and in the women’s doubles defending champions Phillipa Li and Mia Kirk (Fencibles) came out on top again with Emma Nicholson and Charlotte Watson (Vikings) finishing runners-up. It was played as a round-robin.
The men’s semi-finals saw Tobey Cheng and Matthew Nicholson (Vikings) beat Matthew Gawne and Sam Callow (Vikings) 21-12, 21-16 while brothers Baillie and Fingal Watterson (Castletown Abbey) beat Adam Colley and Benjy Li (Fencibles) 21-11, 21-15.
The final saw Nicholson and Cheng win 21-14, 23-21.
The plate was won by Joe Burrows (Fencibles) and Ryan Courtie (Vikings).
The concluding event of the day was the mixed and in the first semi-final Baillie Watterson and Philippa Li beat defending champions Tobey Cheng and Kitty Thomas 21-19, 21-15.
In the other semi-final Matthew Nicholson and Mia Kirk beat Alex Buck and sister Matthew’s sister Emma Nicholson 21-8, 21-10.
The final went to three games with Watterson and Li winning the first 21-19, but Nicholson and Kirk came back to win the next two 21-13, 21-11.
The trophies were presented at the end of the tournament by Sharon Nicholson, of the IoMBA.
l Thanks were given to the umpires (Caroline, David and John), also to the NSC for the facilities.