THE Sigma Jersey Squash Festival is going from strength to strength.

This year, the 26th annual tournament, was oversubscribed with 34 teams and around 200 visiting players plus partners and officials visiting the Island.

They had already turned away teams who wanted to come to play alongside the four Jersey sides and other players from all over the UK, said joint organiser Steve Law.

And some teams have already paid to play in next year’s event.

The festival lasts for three days with matches at Jersey Squash Club, Fort Regent, Les Quennevais, Victoria College and St John’s Recreation Ground – the organisers have been forced to trim the entry since the loss of courts at the Fort and the Lido leisure centre.

Law, whose co-organiser Sally Johnson has been involved with the festival for 22 years, said: ‘This year was a very good tournament.

We always try to attract a few professionals so we get some exhibition-type matches so that people have the chance to watch the best players – we’ve had the former world champion Ross Norman and David Evans who was the world No 3.

And this year we had half the Welsh national side including David.

‘Next year we’re hoping to have the Welsh side back and we’re asking the regional squads in England to send some of their aspiring young professionals.’ And it’s not just on the courts that the Jersey festival attracts the best – comedian Steve Womack travelled to be the special guest at the presentation dinner.

But Law stressed that the festival doesn’t aim to be elitist.

‘It’s also for club players – we have four divisions that cover the whole spectrum of standards – that’s why it’s survived so long,’ he said.