NEIL Smith, from the Swindon Westlecot indoor club, won the two-day Dolphin Open Singles tournament held at the Poole-based club over Easter.

The 51-year-old Wiltshire men’s county player/manager beat world number 13 Mark Royal in the final, triumphing on the third-end tie breaker (4-6, 6-4, 2-1) to lift the title and £1,200 prize.

The victory for Smith, the Open Singles Circuit (OSC) administrator, is his first win on the circuit since December 2015 and also earned him100 ranking points to him up to seventh spot in the rankings.

It also virtually sealed a top-32 finish this season and qualification for the Grand Final play-offs at Potters Leisure Resort, Norfolk.

On his way to the Dolphin title in a field of 86 entrants, Smith played six matches and was only taken to tie-breakers twice in the latter stages of the tournament.

He opened with three comfortable wins against Nik Elphick (West Berks) 8-3, 9-1, Tom Poore (Dolphin) 9-1, 10-3 and Jamie Watkiss (Dolphin) 9-3, 8-2.

In the quarter-finals, Smith eliminated Andy Moore (Christie Miller, Melksham), 8-3, 10-1.

The semi-final against Adam White (Chawton Park, Alton) was a much harder affair as Smith lost the first set 10-2 but hit back to win the second 8-3 and then the tie-breaker 2-0.

And in the final against Royal, Smith lost the first set 6-4 but bounced back to win the second by an identical scoreline before clinching the title by 2-1 in the tie-breaker.

Westlecot’s other representative at Dolphin was Mike Titcombe, who went out in round two to Tom Doig (Nottingham).

The Easter period also saw Smith compete in the Torquay United tournament, which was won by Wayne Snook who plays for Holt outdoors in Wiltshire but for North Somerset side Clarrie Dunbar indoors.

At Torquay, Smith went out in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Snook on a tie-breaker.

In the OSC rankings, players with Wiltshire connections feature highly.

Melksham’s Andy Moore is the highest in fourth on 250 points, closely followed by Smith with 222 points and Snook on 204.

Titcombe has 136, Tom Warner (Five Rivers, Salisbury) 119, Westlecot’s Phil Gregory has 111, with Alex Jacobs (North Wilts) on 59.

There are only four qualifying tournaments left on the OSC calendar for players to score points and book a spot in the Grand Final.

They are Wellingborough, Northants (April 7-8), Bristol and South Shields (both on April 21-22) and the re-arranged Ipswich Open on April 28-29.