Isle of Man Badminton Association’s annual open tournament took place at the NSC over the weekend, attracting a good entry.

All the events were played in a round-robin format. The singles events were played on Saturday and in the women’s there were two groups.

Leah Brennan (Fencibles) won group A from Jessica Thornton (Fencibles).

Group B was won by Annelise Mellor (Athol Park Guest House Castletown) from Charlotte Watson (Apollo Blinds Vikings). Brennan won the final 21-13 22-20 to successfully defend her title.

The men’s singles had four groups, with defending champion Alex Buck (Apollo Blinds Vikings) winning Group A; and Matthew Gawne (Apollo Blinds Vikings) beating Martin Cheung (Fencibles) in three games to win Group B.

Group C was won by 2022 runner-up Tobey Cheng (Fencibles), and Group D was secured by Steve Quayle (Apollo Blinds Vikings).

The semi-finals saw Buck beating Gawne 21-15 21-16 and Cheng defeat Quayle 21-12 21-19.

In a tight final Cheng reversed the result from last year, winning 21-15 21-18.

The women’s doubles consisted of two groups with Philippa Li and Mia Kirk (both Fencibles) winning Group A from Sarah Corlett (Kella Farms Sulby) and Joyce Hall (Align 4 Life Selborne).

Annelise and Leah Brennan won Group B, with Kayleigh Callow (Athol Park Guest House Castletown) and Charlotte Watson finishing runners-up.

The final was another very tight game with Brennan and Mellor winning 21-17 23-21.

The men’s doubles was also split into two groups with Matthew Nicholson (Apollo Blinds Vikings) and Tobey Cheng winning Group A from Baillie Watterson and Ben Kneale (both Athol Park Guest House Castletown), while Group B was won by Alex Buck and Neil Harding (Apollo Blinds Vikings) from Martin Cheung and Steve Quayle. The final was won by Nicholson and Cheng 21-15 21-13.

Mixed doubles formed the final event of the day, divided into four groups. Group A was won by Matthew Nicholson and Mia Kirk, with Group B secured by Martin Cheung and Annelise Mellor. Group C winners were Tobey Cheng and Philippa Li, with Group D being won by Alex Buck and Leah Brennan.

The first semi-final saw Nicholson and Kirk beating Cheung and Mellor 21-11 21-10, while the second saw Cheng and Li beating Buck and Brennan 22-20 21-17.

In the final, Nicholson/Kirk won the first game 21-11 but Cheng/Li came back to win the second 21-12. The deciding game saw Nicholson/Kirk go ahead early on, maintaining the lead to win 21-16.

l The presentations were performed by umpires Caroline Whitehead and David Craig who did an excellent job all weekend. Many thanks to them and the NSC staff for the venue.davy craine