Lexden tennis player Dave Garman has added the British National Hard Court Championship title to his list of achievements in the sport.

The 73-year-old battled his way through five rounds to take the over-70s crown, reclaim the British number one position for his age group and book his place in the Great Britain team which will head to Turkey in October to contest the World Championships.

It is the seventh title that Garman, who plays mixed doubles for Lexden Squash Club and men's doubles for Frinton in the Goody's Colchester and District Tennis League, has won at various age levels in the super-senior (over-55s) categories and he was pleased to collect the win after a wrist injury hampered his early-season.

He said: "It is nice to win your own home championships, it is a nice feeling."

As well as British players, the championships in Bournemouth featured a number of international players, who were after world ranking points, and Garman said his toughest game in winning the title was his quarter-final tie against a German opponent.

Garman, who lives in Newton Green, is well aquainted with players from Germany as he regularly heads to Saarbrucken to play for them in matches in the German Bundesleague.

He said he travels there six or seven times each summer and was due to head there this weekend.

The World Championships will be Garman's next big outing from Great Britain, when the team will be looking to go better than the fourth-placed finish they had in New Zealand last year.

"We have a strong team and in New Zealand we just lost to the USA in the semi-finals," he said.

"I pulled a tendon in my wrist so could not play in the bronze play-off and we had to give away my game and finished fourth to New Zealand."