Trebert wins a test of stamina and the glory

HANGING around the walls of the Rohais Badminton Hall's bar area are a few dozen team photographs, records of successful squads down many years. Guernsey has a rich history in the sport, rightly celebrated and remembered by the pictures.

Last night - and it was just half-an-hour before midnight by the time the last trophy had been picked up - it was as if those images had come alive.

Standing at the window directly opposite court four and looking up, you could see the picture of the first Guernsey county squad, from 1984.

Kneeling, front row, second from the right is a fresh-face, grinning Wendy Luxton.

Dropping your gaze through the glass, there she was again, 20 years on, married now, different hairstyle and too tired to grin as broadly, but still collecting titles and trophies.

Wendy Trebert had an evening to remember, or perhaps forget. The three courts in use each had five time slots. She played in every one of them - five finals in one night, from 7pm til 11pm.

Three victories were chalked up, and only in the last, the mixed doubles with Keith Enevoldsen against Quentin Petit and Lisa Hayward, did she start to look tired. A few errors crept into her game, purely from being drained.

'I'm not too bad from my eyes downwards; but from there upwards I am shattered, and I know I'll be stiff as anything tomorrow,' she said while stretching out her calf muscles.

'We could have done with having the finals the other way around and having that one earlier. We might have had a better chance playing the vets' final last. Still, that's the price for getting old.'

Partner Keith Enevoldsen was just as shattered.

He'd had four finals, including a stamina-sapping three gamer with John Stuart against Petit and Chris Dragun at the start of proceedings, and another thriller with Chris Le Tissier in the vets' doubles against the Stuarts, John and Dave.

'That has been more than enough effort for one lifetime,' he said, dripping with perspiration.

'I didn't feel too bad, but there was just that bit of tiredness that made a difference. Those shots I was playing down the line weren't quite right and were going out.

'But take nothing away from Quentin and Lisa, they played very well.

It was a finals night without many of the usual suspects: Elena Johnson and Paul Le Tocq are in the UK at university and with the Wales squad respectively; Darren Le Tissier, Glenn Macfarlane and Sarah Garbutt are sidelined with knee cartilage, knee ligament and back injuries respectively; Kevin Le Moigne is travelling in Australia.

The honours boards show that just one of last year's winners was even taking part this time - Trebert, who partnered Johnson to victory in 2003.

So there were new names to be etched onto the silverware.

Petit collected his first men's singles, though not the way he would have wanted.

Opponent Jake Mann was not even able to step onto court, shin splints robbing him of a debut appearance in the senior men's final and forcing him to concede a walkover.

'It was a shame; it's not the best way to win a title,' said Petit. 'And I have been working so hard for this. But you can only beat who is out there in front of you,' he said.

Trebert survived a scare in her first final, the singles against Suzanne Dragun. The younger player had match point in the second before Trebert pulled the match around to win in three games.

'I was under a bit of pressure to win something,' she said later. 'Emily won the juniors last week so I had a lot to live up to.'

Emily, her daughter, took the under-13 honours aged just 10 - she was born in the year that Trebert last won the singles title. The trophy Emily collected will now have her name added - her mother's is already on it.

There were first wins in the women's doubles for Kathy Stuart and Hayward. Stuart revealed her foolproof plan for coping with too many finals in the same evening.

'It's easy: get yourself a young partner - like Lisa - to do all the running for you. All you have to do is stand in the middle of the court and delegate,' she said.

Possibly the most-keenly-fought final was the veteran men's doubles. Chris Le Tissier and Enevoldsen overcame a spirited challenge from John and Dave Stuart. There was nothing half-hearted from any man.

This quartet knew each other's games so well and while able to exchange laughs between points, they battled like crazy through every rally.

The successful pair both appear on the closed tournament winners' boards - Le Tissier took the title in 1979, Enevoldsen a year later. Some 25 years on, they were still playing top-class badminton.

While the success of the older generation has asked questions of the thirtysomethings who should have edged them aside by now, there was no doubting the ability of the veterans.

Several spectators mentioned those who were missing from the tournament. But their absence should in no way lessen the achievement of this year's winners, especially those who played just about four hours' solid.