BRADLEY Cowdroy’s £400 prize for regaining his Dorset Open title will come in handy for next month’s trip to Malta.  

The 20-year-old emerged victorious from a 44-strong field after a marathon 14-hour day at Greenbaize Snooker Club in his home town of Bournemouth. 

He lost just three frames in five best-of-five matches. Cowdroy beat Jason Pusser 3-1 in the last-four, courtesy of a 75 clearance from 50 points behind, and then wrapped up a 3-0 victory over first-time finalist Steve Nevett 3-0 at just after midnight. 

Explaining the importance of this annual event, Cowdroy said: “The guys here take a lot of pride in trying to win this and being able to call themselves the best player in Dorset for a year.  

“There’s a different dynamic and feel to any other tournament I play in and I think it’d be great to see more annual county events staged elsewhere. 

“There’s a big ‘hometown pride’ complex involved and it brings out the best in everyone. 

“It was a long day but winning the title back was one of my big targets this season so I’m glad I had enough left in the tank for the crunch matches at the end.” 

It was the left-hander’s third successive Dorset final. He beat Rikki Moore in 2020 and lost to his practice partner Dan Webb last year. Covid caused the cancellation of the 2021 event. 

The previous weekend, Cowdroy qualified for the European Under-21 Championship in Malta in March by finishing third on the Under-21 Premier Development Tour, the national junior circuit.