Last week, Guernseymen Paul Le Tocq and Ove Svejstrup set off to Thailand to represent ENGLAND and compete in the BWF World Senior Championships 2025, facing some of the best Masters players in the world – including, in their draw, two former Olympic gold medallists: Hendra SETIAWAN and Tony GUNAWAN!
Sunday saw the tournament get underway, with Paul and Ove getting off to a great start in the Round of 64, beating the Indian pairing JAMES / NAVANEETHAKRISHNAN – 21-17, 21-15. Later that day Paul and his XD 40 partner Ulla Pedersen had their first match, however this was a tough one, losing in 3 sets – 14-21, 21-11, 15-21 to Hong Kong China pairing NG Chor Kwan / FUNG Ying. As this tournament was a straight knockout, this meant that Paul was unfortunately out of the XD 40 event.
This wasn’t all bad though as now Paul could focus on the MS 40 and the MD 40 with his partner Ove for the coming days.
On Tuesday, Paul played his Round of 64 match in the MS 40 category. He claimed the first set 21-18 and, after the interval, found his rhythm to dominate the second 21-9, defeating Indonesian player Hendra JOSEPH in straight sets. Paul and Ove had their second doubles match in the Round of 32 later that day, against Singapore pairing WU Runxiang / YAP Chun Wei. Le Tocq and Svejstrup were too strong for the Singapore pairing and claimed themselves another strong win 21-13, 21-6, moving them onwards to the Round of 16.
The following day Paul stepped back onto the court for his Round of 32 MS 40 match, this time against the Thai player Krid CHUAYNARONG, playing on home soil. Unfortunately Paul just missed out on grabbing the first set and Krid capitalised on this momentum, resulting in Paul losing the match 19-21, 15-21.
Thursday saw Paul and Ove return to court together in the Round of 16, with a quarter final spot up for grabs. The ENGLAND pairing were up against a well-renowned Polish pairing of Michal LOGOSZ and Przemyslaw WACHA. The Guernseymen gave it their best shot, but unfortunately fell short, losing 10-21, 12-21. This loss marked the end of the road for their World Championship title quest.
However, this is an AMAZING achievement for Paul and Ove to reach the last 16 pairings WORLDWIDE in their category, and we hugely congratulate both Paul and Ove for their achievement on getting this far in the World Championships.
A special mention must also go to Andrew Aspinal, who has worked very closely with Guernsey Badminton and our Island Games squad over the past year. Andrew also reached the Round of 16 with his MD 40 partner, the Round of 32 in XD 40, and Round of 32 in MS 40.
Well done!