And there’s a new name on the ladies’ trophy in the shape of new girl on the block Adele Capp, who helped make it a clean sweep for the Crapauds as they took all four titles at the Jersey Squash Club.
Afterwards 42-year-old Hickling – who last won it in 1999 – was delighted to have his name on the cup once more.
‘Of course I’m thrilled ,’ he said.
‘I might be 42 but I’m still in tip-top shape!’ Both Hickling and Tupper – almost half his opponent’s age at 23 – had come through tough semi-final clashes.
Hickling beat livewire John Wood 3-0 after a scare when he went 5-1 down in the second game, while Tupper came out on top in his clash with Guernsey No 1 Lawrence Graham.
In the final the lightning-fast Tupper, recently back from university, was pitted against a more experienced man who had hit a rich vein of form.
Hickling took a blistering first game 9-6 but Tupper came out fighting in the second and quickly moved to 3-0 as the pace began to tell on Hickling.
But he opted to play for attacking winners and the change in tactics paid dividends and he took the second 9-5.
Then, in the third, he he hit a purple patch to claim the title.
Said Hickling: ‘It was a very good game – Guy is fast and accurate but I like to take the game to the young guys to try and control the rallies.
I rely a lot on disguise and pride myself on reading the game – and that only comes with experience.’ The women’s final was disputed between Capp, a newcomer to Jersey squash, and Rowena Hockey who has been hovering around the higher echelons of the game for the last few seasons.
Hockey started brilliantly to take the first two games 9-6, 9-2.
But then Capp found her touch and range as she fought back to 2-2 before clinching it in the fifth.
