DOVER bowler Gordon Charlton won the English Bowling Association national singles title at Worthing in Sussex.

Charlton, who plays for Sandwich BC, qualified for the finals by winning the Kent title and then battled through six more rounds at Worthing to take the championship. In the final he defeated Matt Clark of Warwickshire 21-18.

The 42-year-old Geordie, who lost in the final in 1993, will now represent England in next year's British Isles Championships and also has a strong chance of winning an England international recall. He last played for England in 1997.