Newlyn Trinity's Nigel Nicholls won his first Short Mat Players Tour (SMPT) title on Sunday, when he came out on top in the British Open at the York & District Indoor Bowls Club.

He defeated Dom Read (Essex) 9-7 in a well contested final broadcast live to an internet audience.

To reach the final, Nigel came through the group stages second in Group 6 with four wins from five games. In the last 64 Nigel faced Bill Burn (ENG) winning 15-4.

The last 32 saw a comfortable 15-2 win over Stephen Gale (IoM). In the last 16 Nigel defeated Steve Puttock (ENG) 12-6 and in the quarter finals Mitchell Young (ENG) was defeated by the same scoreline.

In the semi-finals Nigel won 14-5 against Tony Ealham (ENG).

Nigel's victory moves him into top spot in this season's Order of Merit rankings and into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time.

Karen Watson (Saltash) reached the last 16 of the cup competition on her SMPT debut after coming through Group 9 in second place after three wins, a draw and a loss. In the knockouts she defeated Steve Killington (ENG) 12-6 in the last 64 and Gary Stewart (SCO) 10-6 in the last 32.

She was defeated 12-9 by Daniel Sands (ENG) in the last 16.

Peter Hore came through Group 15 in second place with three wins to take a place in the cup competition where he lost 9-11 to Martin Harries (WAL) in the last 64.

Three wins in Group 16 was enough to see Callum Beale (Withiel) through to the Cup competition where he lost to the Current Number 1 Stephen Proctor (ENG) 9-12 in the last 64.

Elise Daniell (Holmans) qualified for the plate competition by finishing third in Group 6 with three wins.

A 13-6 win over Nick Wyatt (ENG) in the last 64 was followed by a 17-5 win over David White (ENG) in the last 32.

The last 16 saw a 12-11 win over Stuart Hiddleston (SCO), Elise's run in the competition came to an end in the quarter-finals win a 16-5 loss to Andrew Jones (WAL).

Dennis Shorthouse (Landrake) was one of four bowlers in a tight Group 16 to win two games but placed bottom with progression into the shield competition where a Last 64 defeat to Christine Holland (IOM) 11-10 ended his participation in the event.

Dianne Shorthouse (Landrake) failed to pickup a point in Group 10 and was defeated 6-17 by Mark McHugh (ENG) in the last 64 of the Shield competition.