The No 2 seed, now living locally in Old Windsor, did not even drop a game en route to the final but the final itself, against top seed Bryan Kwan, was altogether different. Kwan won the first game 13-11 in the first of three consecutive games decided at deuce. Gunn hit back to level 14-12 only for Kwan to get ahead once more with an identical score.
Gunn levelled with 11-9 in the fourth game and went on to clinch the title with a few more points to spare 11-7 in the fifth. An epic final that concluded a good day’s play for the 42 competitors. Gunn, nowadays, is a rare exponent of the old-fashioned hard bat and so his win was a triumph for technical ability over technology.
After winning Group 2, Gunn’s route to the final was hardly hindered as he swept away the challenges of Joe Britwell, Rory Scott and then, in the semi-final, fourth seed Anthony Corbin.
Kwan’s progress was almost as impressive as only Joshua Nashed, in the quarter-final, took a single game. The top seed won Group 1 and then beat Leslie Samuels, Nashed and, in his semi-final, the third seed Ho Yin Lee.
The results in the preliminary round group stage went primarily to form. The only player highest ranked in his group who did come unstuck was Nashed when he lost 3-1 to Jaroslaw Klamut. Both players went on to reach the quarter-finals at which point Klamut fell victim to Anthony Corbin.
Three local Cippenham members, who all play in the Maidenhead League, made it through the group stage to take their places in the main event. However, all three lost their first match in the knockout stage: tournament organiser Paul Baker to Thomas Lewis, Simon Vine to Jon Cheung and Hari Vennapusa to Dimitry Khakhamov.
The consolation event, open to those players who finished between fourth and sixth places in their preliminary group, was won by Miroslav Danadzhiev when he beat another tournament regular, Dean Rose, in the final.
The event was organised by Paul Baker and marked the debut, as referee, of newly qualified Sue Hayes.