Le Tocq favourite to claim his ninth crown on the run

Although Le Tocq has not been an ever-present at the Closed Championships since his first win, he has won the event the last eight times he has appeared.

This time around, he faces either Chris Dragun or Jon White in the quarter-finals, with the seedings suggesting he will again meet young Jordan Trebert in the final.

With Le Tocq having already confirmed he will not be playing at next summer's NatWest Island Games, the 32-year-old admits it is time for the youngsters to emerge as genuine stars.

'In terms of the quality on show these days, I would suggest that it is of a similar level to the past, but it is much broader now in that there are a good few of them,' he said.

'There are a few of these youngsters, both male and female, who have the abilities and the talent to push on and be winning gold medals in Island Games and going beyond that.

'But to do that, they have to put in the hours and really want to make it to the top, which is what I was determined to do from the age of 16 and I put every spare hour into it.'

There could well be a youthful element challenging in the women's singles, too, as in the absence of the island's best player Elena Johnson, it means a No. 2 seeding for teenager Chloe Le Tissier.

The action all begins at the Rohais Badminton Halls on Monday evening with the early rounds of the singles events, before the various doubles events get into full swing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

• More in today's Guernsey Press.