Senior Restricted badminton tournament serves up weekend of thrillers

Isle of Man Badminton Association's 2026 Senior Restricted tournament was held at the Roundhouse in Braddan recently.

The Elevate Business Transformation-sponsored competition delivered a weekend packed with high-quality badminton across open singles, women’s singles, open doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Overall, no fewer than 60 matches were completed and several very intense finals produced deserving champions.

The open singles competition was dominated by the tournament’s top two seeds, who progressed unbeaten through their respective groups before meeting in the final.

Alexander Buck comfortably topped Group A, recording victories over Davin Tasker and Juan Domingo, before overcoming a resilient challenge from emerging talent Tommy Cheng in the group decider.

The opening game of that match proved one of the closest, with Buck eventually prevailing 22-20.

Meanwhile, Tobey Cheng eased through Group B without dropping a game, defeating both Samarnath Sen and Baillie Watterson.

With the top two in each half progressing, the semi-finals saw Buck defeat Watterson 21-15, 21-17, while Cheng delivered a commanding 21-10, 21-11 win over Tommy Cheng to set up an exciting final.

The championship match lived up to expectations. After taking the first game 21-15, Tobey Cheng survived a determined fightback from Buck before edging a thrilling second game 26-24 to secure the Open Singles title.

The women’s singles event developed into a battle between top seed Kitty Thomas and Charlotte Watson who was back on court after a season out with injury.

Thomas opened with victories over Watson and Kelly Domingo before defeating second seed Abigayil Mellor to finish the competition undefeated. Watson also recorded important victories over Mellor and Domingo to take the silver medal.

The open doubles competition produced one of the strongest fields of the tournament.

Top seeds Alexander Buck and Tobey Cheng dominated Group A, defeating both Lok Cheung and Tommy Cheng, before overcoming Baillie Watterson and Ben Kneale.

Seeded pair Matthew Nicholson and Steven Quayle were equally impressive in Group B, while James Strickett and Ryan Courtie emerged from Group C.

The knockout rounds produced several exciting matches. Watterson and Kneale progressed to the semi-finals after overcoming Ian Rusiana and Ben Clague.

They then met Nicholson and Quayle in the semi-final who took that match 21-11 21-19 to reach the last stage, while Buck and Cheng defeated Strickett and Courtie to book their place in the final.

The final proved to be one of the matches of the tournament and was watched by an enthusiastic gallery.

Nicholson and Quayle took the opening game 21-15 before Buck and Cheng levelled the match 21-16. The deciding game went down to the wire, with Nicholson and Quayle eventually securing a dramatic 22-20 victory and the 2026 open doubles title.

The women’s doubles competition also produced some thrilling play during the group stage.

Top seeds Kitty Thomas and Philippa Li progressed through Group A, comfortably winning both their matches.

Second seeds Charlotte Watson and Emma Nicholson then topped Group B after holding their nerve against fierce challenges from both Abigayil Mellor and Jessica Thornton plus Annelise Mellor who partnered promising junior player Kelly Cheung, with both matches needing a deciding game.

In the championship match, Thomas and Li proved too strong, winning 21-15, 21-7 to complete an unbeaten tournament and claim the women’s doubles crown.

In the mixed doubles event, top seeds Philippa Li and Tobey Cheng advanced comfortably through the group stage and quarter-finals, while second seeds Emma Nicholson and Matthew Nicholson also progressed in straight games.

One of the standout partnerships on the day was Kitty Thomas and Baillie Watterson. After progressing from Group D, they defeated Annelise Mellor and Tommy Cheng before upsetting top seeds Li and Cheng in a thrilling three-game semi-final.

In the other half of the draw, Charlotte Watson and Alexander Buck produced a solid performance also defeating their higher-seeded opponents Emma and Matthew Nicholson to reach the final.

The championship match was very exciting to watch and closely-contested throughout but Watson and Buck held their nerve in the key moments to overcome Thomas and Watterson, winning both games 21-19 to secure the mixed doubles title.

Isle of Man Badminton Association wish to thank Steven Quayle from Elevate Business Transformation who sponsored the tournament and presented the winners medals and trophies.

A huge thanks also goes to umpires Caroline and David who did a sterling job as always over the weekend, and finally tournament photographer Dave Bell from DK Photography for capturing all the dramatic action.

The first junior badminton competition of the new season is set to to take place later this month.

Entries are now open for the island under-17 tournament, which will take place on Saturday, October 17 at The Roundhouse in Braddan.

Starting at midday and finishing no later than 8pm, the tournament is for players born January 1, 2010 or later.

Entries can be made online at https://www.iombadminton.com/ and cost £14 for one event, £28 for two and £36 for three.

Entries close on Sunday, October 11 and won’t be accepted until payment has been made.

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