While talented English teenager Anthony Peverell secured his first men’s singles crown at the Senior Silver and Masters Bronze event, taking the place of back-to-back champion Alex Tapp, Cara Collins defended her title in the women’s equivalent and now as a local resident.
The girlfriend of serial Guernsey champion Tapp is a recent arrival to the island and underlined her exciting potential, adding further bling with victories in both the women’s and mixed doubles.
In her singles final, a Guernsey winner was guaranteed given that 15-year-old Medha Vallapureddy had lined up against her.
The current Guernsey champion and Orkney 2025 water-carrier had played out of her skin to eliminate several experienced opponents, not least her three-game victory over Anne Hubscher in the semi-final.
However, that came little over an hour before her final, meaning that she could be excused for some fatigue going up against a better-rested Collins.
Her best efforts could not stop Collins getting the job done in two games of 21-8, but the Bath University alumnus held plenty of praise for the young Sarnian.
‘Even just seeing her perform in this tournament, she’s really shown everyone what she’s capable of,’ the victor said.
‘I’m looking forward to working alongside her to help her grow as a singles player.
‘There’s some shots that I wasn’t expecting and she put me under a lot of pressure – the score doesn’t reflect the rallies, as she really pushed me.
‘So yeah, it was good.’
Collins had gone in top seed and not dropped a game throughout, including easing through the semi-final stage with a bye.
‘I felt quite a bit of pressure going in,’ she added.
‘Being the No 1 seed does put quite a bit of pressure behind your back, but it’s just being able to keep it under control but also making sure you enjoy it at the same time – and I have.
‘It’s been great. The people around, and the atmosphere here is so good, and the 100th … it’s so much bigger than last year.
‘For me, it’s nice, because a lot of people that I’ve played against in the UK, they’ve come over here.’
For Peverell, it was a case of third time lucky in the men’s singles.
Having visited twice previously, the 19-year-old entered in the elevated position of top seed and ran through the opposition without dropping a game.
That included eliminating veteran international Paul Le Tocq, the sole Sarnian to make it out the group stages of a visitor-rich field, 21-12, 21-16 in the quarter-finals.
He beat fellow England player Thomas Wood 21-16, 22-20 in a closer semi.
He then clinched the title after overcoming another rivalling England player, second seed Krish Mahbubani, 21-13, 21-10.
‘I feel really good. I’ve played a few times now and I’ve got close most of them, so it feels really good to actually get over the line this time.
‘I’ve played really well, to be fair, and first game I had quite a lot of nerves but I shook them off.’
He also gave the organisers a verbal pat on the back for this year’s bigger-and-better tournament.
‘They did a really good job and I feel as though it being the 100th, it’s really well organised this year.
‘It is every year, but they’ve done a great job on this one and I’ve really enjoyed it.’
The Goodes topped the men’s doubles at the expense of a Le Tocq and Peverell coalition.
The son of two Olympians, Harry Goode joined forces with cousin Finley to win a rollercoaster final 21-18, 22-24, 21-3.
Collins and Hubscher joined forces to win the women’s doubles from Games player Carys Batiste and partner Emily Carpenter, prevailing 21-14, 21-13.
Collins ultimately achieved the triple by winning the mixed doubles alongside Harry Goode.
They dominated Hubscher and Andrew Jones 21-7, 21-9 in the final.
They had seen off two strong Guernsey combinations – Tapp and Batiste, followed by David Trebert and Vallapureddy – in the two previous elimination rounds.
This followed the latter pairing upsetting top seeds Le Tocq and Jo Dix in a three-game thriller that ended 21-17, 21-17, 21-19.
