It was a third British National Championship title for Sarah-Jane Perry as she defended her crown from 2020, her first win coming 6 years ago, back in 2015.

Her opponent in the final was Georgina Kennedy. It was a tight match, with Kennedy taking the opening game 11-9. However, Perry began to show her experience which saw her claim more of the court in the longer rallies and dominate the longer points. She won the next 3 games fairly comfortably and  secured the title for the third time.

“I had to give myself a team talk every rally today. The one beforehand clearly didn’t give me a kick up the bum enough, she started like a rocket as you’d expect and she caught me out with so many short balls in that first game, where I hit ok shots but she was fearless in attacking it,” the now three-time champion said.

“She’s playing really well, I had to really force myself up the court today and it’s not something I’ve done amazingly well over my whole career but I know it’s better when I do. I felt a bit sluggish and a bit tired today but I knew I had to do that and I’m really pleased I managed to cover the short balls and get on the volley more.’

Perry went onto talk about a knee problem she had that almost saw her pull out of the tournament before it began but was thankful she was able to pull through and defend her crown.

Next up the Manchester Open and the British Open are coming her way and she will be looking to continue picking up trophies on home soil.