Isle of Man Badminton Association’s Open Tournament took place at the National Sports Centre last weekend.

There was an excellent entry and all the events were played in a round-robin format.

The women’s singles competition was split into three groups, with defending champion Leah Brennan (Fencibles) winning the first group and qualifying automatically for the final.

The second group was won by Kitty Thomas (Fencibles), although she was pushed hard by Emma Nicholson (Apollo Blinds Vikings) in their match before winning 20-22, 21-17, 21-11.

The third group was won by Charlotte Watson (Apollo Blinds Vikings) which meant that she played Thomas in the semi-final.

Watson beat Thomas 21-11, 21-13, but in the final Brennan won 21-14, 21-11.

The men’s singles was also split into three groups, with defending champion Tobey Cheng (Fencibles) winning his group and qualifying automatically for the final.

The second group was won by Matthew Gawne (Apollo Blinds Vikings) group despite being pushed hard by Chris Nicholson (Apollo Blinds Vikings) in their group match, winning 21-16, 9-21, 21-18. The third group was won by Alex Buck (Apollo Blinds Vikings).

In the semi-final, Buck beat Gawne 21-11, 21-17 before Cheng won the first game of the final 21-8, but Buck fought back and took the next two games 21-14, 21-16 to record his first singles open title.

The women’s doubles were split into two groups and the Fencibles duo of Philippa Li and Mia Kirk won group A after a good battle with Kitty Thomas and Leah Brennan in their game.

Group B was won by Emma Nicholson and Charlotte Watson who were taken to three by Kayleigh Callow and Annelise Mellor (both Castletown) before winning 14-21, 22-20, 21-11. The final was also a very tight affair which went to three games before Li and Kirk came through 19-21, 21-15, 21-19.

The men’s were split into four groups, with Matthew Nicholson (Apollo Blinds Vikings) and Tobey Cheng winning group A and Neil Harding and Benjy Li (Fencibles) topping group B, although they were taken to three games against Tommy Cheng and Cyril Rusiana.

Group C was won by Juan Domingo and Baillie Watterson (Apollo Blinds Castletown) who were pushed hard by Juan Corrin and Matt Riley (both Fencibles) before winning 25-23 in the third game.

Group D was won by Ryan Courtie (Apollo Blinds Vikings) and Ben Kneale (Castletown).

The first semi-final saw Nicholson and Cheng beat Watterson and Domingo 21-9, 21-9, while in the second semi Harding and Li beat Courtie and Kneale 21-15, 21-16.

Nicholson and Cheng won the first game of the final 26-24 but Harding and Li came back to win the second 21-15, only for Nicholson and Cheng to win the third 21-12.

Likewise, the mixed doubles was also split into four groups with Matthew Nicholson and Mia Kirk winning group A, while Baillie Watterson and Philippa Li topped group B.

Group C was won by Tobey Cheng and Kitty Thomas, although they were pushed hard against Steve Quayle and Annelise Mellor (Castletown) before winning 21-18, 16-21, 21-17.

Alex Buck and Emma Nicholson won group D, with Arthur Young and Abigail Mellor (both Castletown) going to three games in all of their three matches, winning one and losing two.

M. Nicholson and Kirk beat Cheng and Thomas in the first semi-final 21-14, 22-24, 21-14, while Buck and E. Nicholson won the second semi 21-15, 21-17 against Watterson and Philippa Li.

The final was a very tight game, with Buck and E. Nicholson winning 22-20, 13-21, 21-18.

Many thanks go to the umpires Caroline, David and John, and also to all the staff at the NSC who allowed the event to carry on and finish the mixed competition after the allotted time (the event overran as a result of the excellent entry).