There was an air of inevitability about the sudden death finish to the Randall & Quilter Legends of Squash tournament final between David Palmer and Thierry Lincou.

In an effort to stoke up even more excitement for the sellout crowd, a twist to the final’s format was introduced with the first player to three games, rather than two, claiming the Legends trophy.

Should the final go to the fifth set then the match would be decided by a winner-takes-all point — which of course it did, with Palmer claiming the victory. Not that anyone inside the packed Bermuda Squash Racquets Association courts in Devonshire minded the alterations to Saturday’s final.

They would have happily watched Palmer and Lincou show off their full repertoire of intoxicating trick shots and outrageous skills, interjected with witty comments between both players, all evening.

In a gesture fitting of the fun-flavoured final, Palmer at one stage invited a young girl from the crowd to take his place on court and warm-up his new racket by playing a few rallies with a more than obliging Lincou.

Despite the jovial nature of the final, there was still plenty of competitive edge on display with the impish Lincou making the more powerful Palmer do the brunt of the running in the early stages, taking the first game 11-8.

Palmer, of Australia, fought back for the second game, 11-5, before Frenchman Lincou restored his advantage, winning the third 11-7.

As expected, Palmer drew level with a 11-7 win in the fourth game to send the game into a fifth and deciding one-point game. Twice Lincou appeared to win the all-important point but was overruled on both occasions by the referee who called let with Palmer, a former Bermuda resident, then forcing Lincou into an error to seal the match.

“I’ll keep this short because it’s been a few minutes since John [White] had a beer,” joked Palmer before being presented with his trophy.

“This has been the second Legend events this year; the first was in Aberdeen three weeks ago, which was pretty good, but this one will certainly be hard to beat. Although our squash might not be quite as good as it used to be, we still have a lot of fun playing.

“Both Thierry and me brought our families with us to Bermuda and it’s been great seeing our daughters mixing and playing — it’s been a fun week.”

Earlier in the evening Team Bermuda, featuring Nick Kyme and Patrick Foster, defeated John White and Lee Beachill 11-10 in a lighthearted doubles encounter, which featured plenty of showmanship.

“I have never previously lost a [Legends] doubles, so it must be John’s fault,” said Beachill who took several ‘liquid’ breaks along with White during the match. “The biggest thing for us is that the crowd enjoys it and we feed off that.”

Foster, the BSRA director, added: “I can’t believe I got the chance to go on with these guys. I have no idea how John White hits the ball so hard.”

In the opening match of the evening Peter Nicol, the mastermind behind the Legends tournament, faced Jonathon Power recreating a rivalry which was one of the most famous in the history of the game.

Canadian Power defeated Scotsman Nicol, winning the match 11-4.