In the third running of the NSM and SPF Tournament held at the Guernsey Padel Club, a host of top UK players travelled to the island to compete for the £4,000 prize fund, with five members of the GB Team heading straight to the Bailiwick on the back of their success qualifying for the European Cup Finals last week.
Additionally, a number of players ranked inside the top 15 of the men’s and women’s LTA rankings travelled to compete at Longcamps.
The three-day event saw eight categories catering for everyone from under-14s to over-60s.
The men’s event was filled with a host of interesting pairings with top GB players choosing to partner with young, up-and-coming players from both Guernsey and the UK.
This led to some fascinating quarter-finals.
In the first of them, British No 2 Sam Jones partnered Guernsey’s Luke Gomes and took on George Weller (LTA No 11) and Liam De La Mare, the UK’s top ranked junior. In a tight match with lots of momentum swings, Weller and De La Mare eventually triumphed 1-6, 6-3, 10-7.
Next, Sarnian Cameron Gomes was partnered with Cameron Dollimore (LTA No 8) and faced Olly Cull, who was playing with GB Team member Jaime Lobo. In another tight match Cull and Lobo prevailed 2-6, 7-6 (4), 10-4.
In the third quarter final, Theo Garton (LTA No 5) and Oliver Hayday (LTA Under 18 No 3) were beaten by Ethan Bardo (LTA No 9) and Ben Philips (LTA Under 18 No 2), 6-2, 6-4.
In the semi-finals Cull and Lobo posted a surprise victory over tournament favourites Rafa Vega and Louie Harris, 0-6, 6-4, 10-7 to set up a final against Bardo and Phillips, who defeated De La Mare and Weller in the second semi final.
The final was contested in front of a large home crowd as Cull and Lobo took a relatively straightforward win 6-4, 6-4 to lift the trophy.
‘It’s been amazing to play with Jaime this week and pick up my first LTA Grade One title – to be able to do that at my home club in Guernsey in front of all my friends made it even more special,’ Cull said.
‘We have a great community here at the club and the support we received throughout the weekend, especially in the final, was amazing.’
In the women’s tournament Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose, the British No 1 and 2 respectively, proved too strong for all-comers, sweeping through the draw for the loss of just two games and winning a one-sided final against Sophie Cousins and Angela Wood 6-0, 6-0.
‘It’s always great to win an LTA Grade 1 event,’ Gibson said.
‘Catherine and I won this tournament two years ago when I was quite new to padel and its been amazing to come back to Guernsey and win the title again this year.
‘The club here is great and the tournament has such a friendly feel with lots of us being hosted by local families and it gives us a real chance to experience the island.’
In the men’s O50s event, top seeds from the UK, Adrian Ezra and Romain Luquet, defeated the second seeds of Nick Baglin and John Dunseath, 6-4, 6-2.
In the women’s 40-plus tournament, top local vet Chantelle De La Mare paired up with Sophie Cousins to beat Sasha Kazantseva and Steph Stuart 6-1, 6-1.
Luquet picked up his second trophy of the weekend playing with Gareth Nicol in the men’s 40-plus, beating Nick Baglin and John Dunseath 7-6, 6-3.
On Friday, the tournament had opened with the now popular Legends 60-plus event which allows men’s, women’s or mixed pairs to enter the draw, with local racket-sport stalwarts Ian Robinson and Andy Privett winning the title 6-1, 6-2.
The two junior events featured a large number of local children who displayed some amazing consistency with several rallies lasting over three minutes.
The U14 event was won by Sam Colclough and Daniel Martin who defeated Alex Hutchinson and Hamish McLellan 4-1, 1-4, 10-3 and the U18 event was won by Rupert Leslie and Josh Neville who topped their group.
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