YOUNG Christopher Fox further boosted his growing reputation by claiming the men’s singles title at the annual Ramsgate open bowls tournament.

Fox, who is 18 and a member of the St Lawrence Club just up the road from the Royal Esplanade greens, trimmed the 2006 winner Neil Kemp (Margate) by 21 shots to 15 before a good crowd of spectators basking in a rare afternoon of warm sunshine.

A regular in Kent’s Middleton Cup team this season the new champion jumped into an early 8-0 lead and his distinctive yellow woods seemed drawn like magnets to the jack.

But Kemp, the veteran of a record 55 tournament finals, kept his nerve to fight back, and Fox ultimately needed five ends before bagging the clinching 21st shot to scramble over the finishing line and secure the £80 prize.

In the semis Fox eclipsed his own father Gary (Ramsgate) 21-2 while Kemp, who collected £40, beat Dave Chapman (Sturdee) by 21-15.

After being runner-up in the ladies singles on no fewer than three occasions Bernadette Farnham of the host club made the breakthrough this time.

She had a testing tussle in the final with Herne Bay’s Ellen Foster, who was bidding for her third title in five years before pulling clear by 21-16.

Farnham, always a gritty competitor, hit a purple patch around the halfway stage to overturn an early deficit but still found herself stuck on 20 for six ends before seeing off her rival to nail the trophy and £80.