THORNBURY amateur Yanis Tsiopani will celebrate his 40th birthday in Portugal after winning the Lombard Trophy regional final at Walton Heath Golf Club.

Tsiopani partnered Thornbury Golf Centre professional Jason Fallon to triumph in a close run contest at the Surrey course.

The duo were involved in a four-way tie at the top after carding a six-under-par round of 66.

They were joined by Adrian Harris and David Fellows (Broadstone Golf Club); Paul Sherman and Ray Behan (Langley Park Golf Club); and Lee Cocker and Liam Clayton (Essex Golf & Country Club). But it was the Thornbury pairing who came out on top after a countback on the back six holes.

Tsiopani and Fallon will now play in the £41,500 grand final. The Lombard sponsored tournament, supported by Coca Cola is being held at beautiful Pestana Golf Resort in Vila Sol from September 22-23.

And for Tsiopani, the win could not have been better timed.

“I’m 39 now and will be 40 on September 22 which coincides with the Portugal final - you couldn’t make it up!” he smiled.“It’ll be a great celebration to get out there and play on the day. “I’m a bit shocked about getting through the final, it didn’t really sink in at first.” But bricklayer Tsiopani, who plays off a handicap of 13, says he is in good form right now. “My handicap’s come down and I’ve been winning a few events - this being top of the list of course,” he said. “I’ve been playing for around eight or 10 years now. But this is the best year I’vehad so far. I still consider myself a weekend golfer though.”

Fallon admitted it was a tense wait to find out who the winner was.

“We had to wait about an hour, but we’d played well and I knew we’d finished strongly with four birdies and a net eagle so I knew we had a chance,” he said.

“I’ve tried to qualify from this event a few times and never come close. But I wanted to play the Walton Heath course as soon as I saw it on the list of venues.”