According to team manager Pablo Giacopelli, it was ‘an unbelievable finish,’ coming as it did after his side had saved four match points on their way to victory.
Playing against a side which, last year, had knocked them out in the semi-finals, they were never expected to win – and nearly didn’t.
Underdogs in the final, they had also been underdogs in the semis, on Saturday, when they had beaten the David Lloyd Rangers Park club 4-1 with only James Smith losing, in three sets, before the Jersey side’s first pairs team on court took that vital fourth point.
However, an ecstatic Giacopelli wasn’t thinking about the previous day’s competition last night when he said: ‘At the end of the day, it went down to the final tie-break.
Before then, Rhys Hanger had won his first tie-break 10-7; Naim Lalji then lost his tie-break 10-6, so it was all down to the doubles.
‘In that Alex Miotto and James Smith were 9-5 down before they saved four match points in an unbelievable finish.
It was a nightmare watching – I’ve set my heart on this for the last five years.
To win 13-11 and to become national champions is unprecedented – we’ve set a new benchmark and I feel both proud and humble.
‘They beat us last year in the semis, so this was pay-back time.
‘But this was a massive, massive achievement, I’m so pleased for everyone connected with the club, from the players to everyone else who’s made this happen.
No Jersey side has ever been this far before.’ In the final, Michael Ouvarov lost to their No 1 seed; Naim Lalji won at No 2; Rhys Hanger won at No 3; James Smith lost at No 4.
Nick MacDonald and Hanger lost their No 1 doubles contest while Miotto and Smith won at No 2 after those pulsating, final moments of a nerve-jangling shoot-out.
