The final entry of 106 individual competitors for this week’s 100th Easter Open – now also known as the Senior Silver and Master Bronze – is up there with the tournament’s all-time highs and over double that of last year.
This figure includes an impressive count of 70 visitors, who will each be eligible for £50 cashback courtesy of the event's Tourism Management Board funding.
Guernsey Badminton Association president John Cook is ‘absolutely buzzing’ to be hosting an event with so many entries.
‘To get 106 people playing in the tournament in Guernsey and 70 who are coming from off-island is a really big achievement and we are beyond excited as a planning committee as to what’s going to happen,’ he said.
‘Those that are playing are very happy to pit their wits against players outside their normal sphere of players.’
Back-to-back men’s singles champion Alex Tapp returns but will be up against a strong visiting field that includes young Anthony Peverell, who may well be assigned top seed.
The doubles will be open but Paul Le Tocq and Ove Svejstrup look like a force to be reckoned with off the back of competing at last year’s World Senior Championships in Thailand.
Women’s singles and doubles champion Cara Collins returns to defend her titles, but she will take on elevated local interest this year, having moved to the island recently.
Medha Vallapureddy acted as Guernsey’s water carrier at Orkney 2025 aged just 14 and so provides a compelling entry whose ranking may not tell the full story.
‘She’s going to be playing against players that are up to four grades higher than her,’ Cook said.
‘She had to work very hard before the tournament to qualify – she needed a certain ranking.
‘It’s going to be very interesting to see how she gets on.’
Speaking as part of a large organising committee, the GBA president added: ‘There’s a real desire to make it all work.
‘The biggest challenge is making sure all our games go to schedule.’
Badminton Europe regulations would limit an eight court-venue like Guernsey to 120 players, which they were not far short of achieving.
But being near capacity is a relatively nice headache for organisers to have and, while making the most of this event’s milestone significance, they will be hoping to carry the momentum into the future.
‘Next year with marketing a little bit earlier, even though it’s not an anniversary event, we’re hoping we can achieve maybe the same number again,’ Cook added.
‘We will turn our attention to next year to try to repeat that success.
‘We want to boost the numbers we get at the Junior Open Tournament, which happens a few weeks before the Easter Open.’
This year’s competition at Rohais Badminton Halls starts on Thursday and runs until Saturday’s finals.
