MIKE Titcombe has finally realised his goal of winning a maiden Open Singles Circuit tournament when he captured the Dolphin (Poole) Open Singles title on Easter Monday.

It was the third time in a rich 10-week spell that the 20-year-old Swindon Westlecot player had reached a final but not fallen at the last hurdle.

Titcombe finally cracked his runner-up jinx with a superb showing to win the first set 7-6 against Dolphin player Martin Puckett.

However, he lost the second set 8-1 but bounced back to take the three-end tie-breaker 2-1 and claim his first OSC title, enjoying his best bowls pay day on the circuit by pocketing the £1,000 first prize.

Titcombe had to hold his nerve after being taken to a tie-breaker in each of his opening four games.

In round one, he beat Chris Wilkins 8-1, 3-7, 2-1, and in round two, recorded another tie-breaker success over Welshman Andrew Wason (Islwyn, Caerphilly) 0-7, 10-4, 2-1.

He completed his Sunday matches with another 2-1 success against Danny Denison (Torquay United). He won the first set 7-4, lost the second 3-8 but won the tie-breaker 2-1 to book a quarter-final against Nicole Rogers (Loddon Vale, Basingstoke).

The Westlecot player lost the first set 7-2 but bounced back to take the second 8-3 and won the first two ends of the tie-breaker to book his place in the semi-finals against Martin Shepherd (Chipping Norton).

This match proved to be Titcombe’s easiest as he accounted for Shepherd 2-0, winning the first 8-3 and the second 7-3.

The other semi-final saw home player Martin Puckett beat Scott Edwards (Adur, Southwick, West Sussex) 2-1, clinching victory on the last end of a tie-breaker.

In the final, Titcombe brushed aside two recent defeats in OSC finals to beat home Dolphin player Puckett and claim his first title.

Titcombe’s superb efforts in Poole see him rise to third in the OSC rankings, and he is certain to stay in the top 48 and qualify for the end of season Grand Final at Northampton in October for the first time.

The best of several other local players from the Westlecot club who took part in the Dolphin tournament was Steve Remington, who reached the quarter-finals.

Remington beat Keith Bailey (Clarrie Dunbar, Frome) in the first round 9-1, 5-6, 2-1, and club colleague Lucy Smith in round two 6-3, 8-1, and followed that up with a round three success over Ken Ferguson (Falaise, Hastings W Sussex) 8-3, 7-2.

However, Remington’s fine run was ended when he went down to Scott Edwards (Adur) 4-7, 5-6.